Creation night

Most everyone has leftover night.  Some call it "clean-out-the-fridge night."  We rarely have enough of anything to have the same plate for everyone or even a cohesive plate.  Sometimes I have to use what I have to create new dishes.  Since I'm the only one who reliably eats my leftovers, I usually have nothing or very little in the fridge when leftover night rolls around, so I have to scrape together whatever I can and create something appetizing, hence "creation night."

I use this technique at lunchtime, too, most days.  I use this time to increase my intake of foods and seasonings that my family doesn't like.  I've been trying to increase my family's intake of anti-inflammatory foods, but they - my husband included - don't like the flavors of most.  I've been trying to find ways to include them in foods they like.  So far, I've been mostly unsuccessful.

I don't know the origin of this picture that has been floating around Facebook, but I linked it to another blog post that uses it and has some great links at the bottom.

Tonight I decided to try adding the seasonings to prepared foods that already have a lot of flavor.  I thought that if I could make them work in store-bought goods, I could carry my successes over to homemade goods.  To the leftover, store-bought potato salad I added generous amounts of turmeric, garlic powder and parsley.    To the store-bought ketchup, I added generous amounts of turmeric and garlic powder.  Someone what disappointing to me, but good for my experiment, I couldn't even taste them but for a slight garlic aftertaste.

Garlic and turmeric aren't listed in the chart above, so here are a couple of links:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/TIP04432/Turmeric-for-Brain-Body-Health.html

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02027/garlic.html

I'm optimistic.  Homemade ketchup is on my short list.  Potato salad isn't even on my list, but it could be.  Certainly other dishes could take the same doctoring with the same results.

Feeling good about my success, I tried to save a sour plum.  It felt ripe, but it wasn't sweet.  I didn't want to waste it, so I threw it in the oven with a little brown sugar and some gingersnaps crumbled on top.  That stupid plum ended up more sour than before!  Explain to me the science behind this.

Anyway...I'd love to hear how you've made over your leftovers!