Leftover Leftover Leftovers

I think I have achieved leftover nirvana. I hate to throw away good food, but if I couldn't sell it the first time around, I don't hold out much hope for selling out the house on an encore performance. So I get creative. This week, we had a few cups of white rice, a cup of sweet peas, and a wee bit of marinara and sloppy joe meat sauce loitering in the fridge. I grabbed a couple pounds of ground beef, a couple of eggs, mixed the whole lot of them together and made a 13x9 pan of what I expected to be meatloaf. Oh, and of course I smothered it in the obligatory family-sized can of condensed tomato soup. I realize this may be another of my throwing good money after bad experiments, but I am an optimist at heart.

I presented this meal, which didn't hold together too well due to all the rice, to a mediocre reception. I had a whole pan of it, so I offered it the next couple of days. "Not this again!!"

So, tonight, realizing too late that I didn't have as much chicken as I thought I did, I grabbed a big bowl, scooped a bunch of "meatloaf" into it, and nuked it. Then I covered the top in mustard and ketchup, stirred it up, and told the kids we were having "Hamburgers in a Bowl." You know what? It worked. The only negative comment was from John, who thought it needed more peas. Okay, John, I'll remember that the next time I make you a regular hamburger.

You know, if I just whipped up some mashed potatoes, I could probably turn the remaining leftover leftover leftovers into a shepherd's pie....