Leftovers can be challenging.

My curse however, is that I hate (hate!)

Here are my favorite ways to repurpose leftovers into incredible new meals.

A pizza in a cast iron skillet.

Lets start with leftover meals.

Leftovers as pizza toppings

Do I have a borderline problem witheating personal pizzas?

But that continual experience has given me the confidence to say leftovers make for great pizza toppings.

A half-eaten casserole on a plate with a fork.

If pizzerias can put chopped chicken cutlets and penne on their pizza, so can you.

Heres how I like topizza my leftovers.

Pasta noodles are a versatile main ingredient too.

A bowl of oatmeal with ground meat, herbs, ginger, kimchi and a half of a boiled egg.

While Im usingThanksgiving leftovers here, you certainly arent limited to that.

(Its okay to layer carbs with carbs.)

Make a delightful brunch casserole

Casseroles are always a wondrous mish-mash of ingredients.

Rice and vegetable salad on a table.

What makes them sliceable is the addition of some sort of flavorful binder, like eggs or cheese.

you’ve got the option to casserole anything from leftover waffles to rice and beans with this method.

Risotto is another one of those helpful carbs that act as a vehicle for your once-fresh food.

Fried hard boiled egg salad with peppers.

Though this recipe is geared toward Thanksgiving leftovers, the concept stands for any leftover protein and veg.

Make the best oatmeal of your life

For the longest time, I thought I hated oatmeal.

It turns out, I was just not adding enough fun stuff to it.

Your leftover dishes from the week are already cooked and full of flavor.

Here’s my recipe forspicy, savory oatmealwith herbs and kimchi.

Recipes for common leftover ingredients

This section is devoted to my most common leftover ingredients.

Ill lean on these recipes to keep them from becoming trash.

So I have more than one way to use up leftover rice.

This crispyrice cake,this fake risotto, andthis comforting rice saladare all good to have in mind.

Im not even exaggerating, it actually grows more stalks while it’s in there.

Use it to make a filling quiche and mix in any leftover vegetables you might have in the fridge.

Avoiding eggs to save money?

But some weeks will wrap up and Ill have a few that I never got to.

Unless I feel like crushing three or four cold eggs, so instead Ill make ayam kai dao salad.

Cold plain pasta

I find it infuriating that the proper serving of dry pasta is two ounces.

This works for both plain boiled pasta or pasta that has a light coating of sauce.

Add butter to a frying pan and tip the cold carbs into the melted butter.

Serve it immediately to enjoy the new crunchy-soft texture of your stir-fry-revived pasta.