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Left Over Dance
What does singing, dancing, and
the rain have to do with leftovers?
by Christine Gerber Rutt
All materials copyrighted
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Straight To Leftover Recipe
It was a particularly frustrating day, as most rainy days spent alone with a 2 year-old are. My daughter was hyper and I was grumpy. We were
both hungry.
When I looked in the refrigerator, all I saw were the leftovers of leftovers. The day before I'd already turned the leftover rice and carrots
into stir-fry by adding frozen peas and soy sauce. The green beans were a mushy mess from re-heating. The kidney beans didn't seem to go with
anything and I couldn't even remember what mystery ingredients I had used to make the gooey, green sauce. "Blah," I said, sticking my tongue
out in the refrigerator. "Blah!" my daughter repeated.
I had just made a landmark mistake. I had suggested that our lunch might not be the equivalent of a fine dining experience at, oh, say,
Grandma's House. In the manner of a compost bin, my daughter usually ate anything that presented itself on the table, or the floor for that
matter. The only times she didn't was when dining at Grandma's House and grandma whispered, as loud as an elephant bull, "She wouldn't like
it. It has mustard in it." If I showed dissatisfaction with the food, my daughter would never eat it. The next moments were critical.
I reluctantly took the peas, the carrots, the beans, the kidney beans and the Mystery Sauce out of the refrigerator. Attempting to cover up
my former mistake, I lifted the containers in the air and sang, "Beans, beans! They won't make you mean! Carrots, carrots! They'll turn you
to a parrot! Peas, peas. Can I have some please? Beans and peas and carrots! Yeah!"
Uninspired though it seemed to me, our Leftover Dance had begun. My daughter stomped her feet, waved her arms and flapped her elbows as we
poured everything into a frying pan. After it was warm, I danced the plates and forks to the table. The grand finale—the frying pan!
Naturally, singing and dancing across the kitchen. The final, sparkly flourish was a small bowl of nutritional yeast. To my daughter's
immeasurable delight I let her, gasp, spoon some sprinkles on top of her food by herself. She ate. And she asked for more sprinkles.
The next week it rained again, she came running to the kitchen and shouted, "Peas, peas! I please? Carrots, Parrots! Carrots, Parrots!" She
flapped her elbows, waved her arms and stomped her feet."
And so we did the Leftover Dance. We squawked around the kitchen, flung open the refrigerator door. Uh-oh. We only had some leftover carrots,
a seriously deficient meal.
After rummaging through the freezer I found some spinach and peas. I scoured the refrigerator again and found some tofu. Lifting my arms in
the air I shouted, "Spinach turns you green! Carrots make you clean! Mix some tofu in the pot and then we all scream, Yea-a-ah!"
The leftover dance is still swaying. Sometimes with carrots, sometimes with beans but always with a generous helping of By-Myself-Sprinkles.
Leftover Dance Recipe:
˝ cup tofu, cubed
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 c vegetables or grains, pre-cooked
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Pepper to taste
1. Cube tofu and sprinkle it with soy sauce.
2. Spray pan with cooking spray or small amount of oil.
3. Brown tofu over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
4. Add vegetables. Cook until warm.
5. Serve
6. Let child sprinkle nutritional yeast, a.k.a. "sprinkles", on top.
Variations:
This can be adapted to virtually anything you have in the refrigerator or freezer.
About The Author:
Christine Gerber Rutt is an American writer, translator, and book reviewer living in Switzerland.
She can be reached at: gerberrutt@freesurf.ch
* This article is available for your publication, for a F-E-E.
This article may NOT be reprinted without monetary compensation and written permission from the author.
For reprint rights or comments/questions about this article, please contact the author.
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