Two Meals, One Leftover

If y'all read my post on Monday, you might remember me talking about the abundance of food we had on Easter Sunday.  Food for days.  I was in charge of making the world's most simple and savory pot roast. I only made one, but at the very last minute I got nervous not thinking we would have enough so I sent Mr. Spouse back to the grocery store to grab another.  Between the first roast, the ham, the pork, and the chicken and sausage, we didn't even make a dent in the last-minute-pot-roast I insisted on rushing out to get before the festivities began. 

 #sosorryMrSpouse

My husband isn't usually a leftover kind of a person.  He may be okay to eat leftovers for lunch the following day, but anything more than that probably won't happen.  I, on the other hand, could eat leftovers for days...especially when said leftovers are in the form of pasta.  We had this crockpot full of pot roast that wasn't even touched and I wasn't about to let it go to waste, so you can imagine how elated I was when Mr. Spouse said, "Don't go grocery shopping this week...let's just eat the pot roast for dinner."  WHA?!?!?!  I mean, I was definitely jumping for joy at the though of not having to run out for more groceries, but I also was thinking I might not want 5 full days of pot roast for dinner (as much as I do love leftovers). 

#overkill

I really do love pot roast.  Especially this simple & savory version.  But lawd.  Needless to say, it was of the utmost importance that we repurpose our protein so that we wouldn't tire of it.  Mr. Sposue ended up working late 2 nights this past week (spring sports are always a killer), so I only had to come up with two new-to-us meals.  I enjoyed the pot roast in all it's simple glory the nights he was working, but I was ready to change it up by the time Wednesday rolled around!!!  

If you have some leftover pot roast hanging around, maybe consider repurposing it for either of these two meals!!!  

When I lived in Dallas, I taught in Plano for the first 7 years of my teaching career.  We loved to enjoy Friday Happy Hours at the BEST little restaurant in old downtown Plano...Kelly's Eastside.  They always had the most delicious happy hour fare...for FREE!!!!! GAH!!!  I would always get the brisket quesadillas.  ALL of their food is insanely amazing, but those brisket quesadillas.  LAWD.  That was also one of our go-to post Sunday church meal spots, too.  My whole family loved it.  I miss that restaurant like crazy!

I wouldn't have thought to have brisket in my quesadilla, just like I wouldn't have imagined pot roast in quesadilla form either.  But that's just what I did.  Let's just say I was missing Kelly's and hoping I could kind of recreate that magic in my own kitchen.  I didn't come close, but these pot roast quesadillas were SO good!!!  

POT ROAST QUESADILLAS

2 flour or whole wheat tortillas

Shredded colby & monterrey jack cheese (to taste)

Pico de gallo (to taste) 

Pot Roast

Pot Roast gravy

Cooking spray

I used flour tortillas for this dish and sprayed the cooking spray on one side of each tortilla.  Place one tortilla in a lightly greased skillet and then take some of that gravy from the pot roast (we had tons leftover from the simple and savory recipe) and spread a thin layer on the bottom of the tortilla.  Top with the shredded cheese, pot roast, and then the pico de gallo.  Turn on the heat to a medim/high temperature.  Spread a thin layer of the pot roast gravy on the other tortilla and then place that on top (sandwich style).  Allow time for the bottom tortilla to brown and using two spatulas, carefully turn over to brown the other tortilla.  Heat until both sides are brown and cheese is melted.

Let me just say it again.  These were SO good!!!  I loved the addition of the pico de gallo...I could eat it with everything.  I typically get the pre-made tubs at the grocery store.  This was a definite winner and one we'll be sure to recreate when we have pot roast leftovers in the future!!!

I was considering a pot roast panini of some sort for last night's meal.  I'm sure that would've been great!  But we just had quesadillas the night before, so I wanted something a bit different that would incorporate more than just the pot roast and another helping of cheese and gravy.  I had a box of puff pastry shells I bought for something totally different, but I figured it would be fun to use them for this meal instead.  I also had a tub of mashed potatoes (you know those Country Crock refrigerated tubs?! #cheating) and wanted to use those as well.  Enter the Pot Roast Puff Pastry Bite.  

POT ROAST PUFF PASTRY BITES

Puff Pastry shells

Mashed Potatoes (homemade or refrigerated)

Pot Roast

French Fried Onions (optional)

This is too easy not to try!!!  Bake the puff pastry shells as directed on the package.  While the pastry shells are baking, heat up your pot roast and leftover or refrigerated mashed potatoes.  Remove the pastry shells from the oven and hollow out the center (just remove the tops and the doughy filling).  Place a spoonful of the mashed potatoes in the hollowed out center of the pastry shell.  We filled ours to the top, of course.  Then place a generous amount of the pot roast on top of the potatoes.  We had some leftover french fried onions from the green bean casserole we made on Sunday, so we put those to good use to and crumbled them right on top of the pot roast.  

They really were the perfect little bite!!  The pastry shells stayed intact and we were able to eat them just like we would a sandwich.  Mr. Spouse returned for 3rds and piled his high, so a fork and knife were essential for that serving :)  I absolutely LOVED the different textures of this meal and the flavor...well...OUTSTANDING.  This made the perfect dinner servings, but if you were so inclined, I could see these being served as a generous appetizer, too.  We will DEFINITELY be revisiting this meal in the future!!!