Tonight is leftover Szechuan chicken.
Is it still Hoppin’ John without black-eyed peas or a ham hock? I have some thick-cut lunch meat ham that needs eating, Italian sausage,a bit of leftover homemade salsa, and some other odds and ends in the fridge. I thought I’d cook it all up with some rice and pinto beans. A faux Hoppin’ John, but the idea of making a NYD meal out of leftovers from 2025 seems fittingly symbolic.
Yesterday, I had kind of a Szechuan green bean egg scramble.
Due to leftovers, it will be New Years Eve all over again! Shrimp cocktail made with jumbo tiger shrimp, homemade sausage rolls, and Greek Acropolis salad made with a tangy yogurt dressing. Plus a few glasses of sparkling Martini & Rossi Asti, which is my standard champagne substitute, and frankly I prefer it to a dry champagne.
That was my issue today, too. I realized too late that I didn’t have any black-eyed peas or ham on hand, and I just returned from visiting family for Christmas yesterday so I didn’t have a chance to go out any buy any. But I did have some great northern beans and bacon on hand, so instead of traditional hoppin’ john I have a bean with bacon soup simmering on the stove.
That actually sounds better to me!
How’d it turn out?
My faux Hoppin’ John turned out really tasty. Wife and son both went back for seconds. It’s funny how sometimes a meal thrown together from leftovers or odds and ends in the fridge can sometimes turn out better than an elaborate, planned out meal.
Tonight I’m once again making my wonderful baked chorizo sausage recipe. Not sure what to have with it. The store was out of the baked mac & cheese that I usually have. One option is a little tray of frozen mac & cheese. Or beans and fries. Or just simply have 'em in sausage buns. The chopped onion and pizza sauce mixture that the sausages bake on makes an excellent garnish, along with Dijon mustard. In fact I just talked myself into it – just a couple of sausage-dogs!
Sautéed golden-browned tofu and green beans, teriyaki-ish glazed.
Tonight was simple, low effort tacos: an Old El Paso “taco kit” with both fried corn and soft flour tortillas. I cooked up some ground beef and half an onion with the included spice/sauce packets, adding a little bit of additional spice. Chopped some lettuce, had some pre-shredded cheese, a jar of salsa and some store-bought guacamole. Easy-peasy dinner in almost no time at all. I made a salad to go with it- lettuce/tomato/carrot/onion/celery/bell pepper with a basic oil/mustard/vinegar dressing.
I bought the pre-shredded cheese (and the taco kit itself, and the guacamole) in an effort to help myself take less time making dinner and cleaning up after. I really try to get behind shredded cheese as a convenience, but every time I use it I am disappointed. I find it lacks both flavor and the correct texture. For my second helping I skipped the cheese, as it was almost tasteless against the rest of the ingredients.
I had a sudden inspiration for simple comfort food tonight!
Of the five chorizo sausages I baked the other night, three were consumed in sausage buns (one as a late-night snack) and they were delicious! The baked onion mixture makes a terrific garnish! There are now two left, along with lots of sauteed onion and green pepper all mixed in with pizza sauce.
My plan is to chop up the sausages, dump them into a pot of Bush’s Homestyle beans along with all the baked oniony stuff instead of freshly sauteed onions, add smoky barbecue sauce, and simmer for about half an hour. Then serve with fries from the air fryer.
Hey, cooking is an art, not a science, and it doesn’t always have to be haute cuisine!
Surprisingly good for a soup that only consisted of beans, bacon, onion, a bay leaf, pepper, salt, and some carrots and celery.
Tonight is roast pork tenderloin. I haven’t decided what kind of seasoning or sauce yet.
I was looking for something small and light after a big lunch today involving the leftover beans and sausage (there are yet more leftovers for tomorrow!), and something distinctly different.. So I’m feeling kinda fishy, so I think fish & chips, with the smallest piece I can fish out of the pack of beer-breaded haddock, and only a small amount of fries. I always look forward to the tang of the tartar sauce and malt vinegar.
In a better world, creamy coleslaw with a yogurt dressing would be available as a side, but alas, the local supermarket hasn’t had it in a while.
Tonight is pork chile verde stew made with poblano chiles, pork shoulder, onions, and hominy. Maybe sour cream.
Meh, I’m deferring the remaining beans’n’sausage for lunch tomorrow. Due to bad weather I didn’t get out today and have limited options, but there’s a steak & mushroom pot pie in the oven that I extracted out of the freezer and that will be had with fries.
If still hungry, there’s Buffalo chicken wings that can be hot and crispy in exactly 17 minutes.
Man, I love my air fryer! 
Last night I baked a block of tofu (cubed, tossed in soy, oil and cornstarch), sauteed green beans with ginger, and made a glaze/sauce with mushrooms, honey, soy, garlic, red pepper, rice vinegar, water, and corn starch. Ate it all over rice.
While shopping today I was inspired to pick up a tray of two marinated boneless chicken breasts. I’m not sure what the marinade is but I’ve had them before and they’re spicy and very tasty. You just pop the aluminum tray in a hot oven for about 30-35 minutes. Not a very cost-effective way to buy chicken, but you can’t beat the taste and convenience!
I have great plans for them! Some will be consumed with baked mac & cheese instead of the usual sausages. As for the rest, I happened to notice a jar of hot vindaloo curry sauce in the cupboard, so I’m gonna chop it up and make chicken curry on rice. Grilled lamb makes the best curry, but this is a close second.
Tonight will be the leftovers from a chicken picatta and some carbonarra I made last night.
There was a change of plan as there was other stuff to consume for dinner so I froze the marinated chicken and just thawed and baked it today.
OMG! I’ve had it before but had somehow forgotten how good it is, or maybe they’ve made the marinade even better. I still don’t know exactly what it is, it’s just called a “Texas marinade” with a very long list of ingredients.
I’m carrying through with my plan to use the remainder to make vindaloo chicken curry tonight, though it seems almost a sin to dump something so delicious on its own into a curry sauce. But I put “Texas marinated chicken” on my grocery list so I get more next time! 
This boneless marinated chicken is the kind of stuff that would be very good cold, sliced and served with something like potato salad. It ain’t cheap, but dang, maybe next time I’ll get two packs. They’re very versatile and they freeze well.