We try our hardest to cut down on any food waste in our house. That being said, we have to get rather creative with our leftovers. Especially if we’re making large batches. We unintentionally had leftover Carnitas and Elotes on hand and a Sweet Potato that was threatening to go bad, the combination is so obvious.

Leftovers for DAYS!

Often we are asked why we don’t meal prep to help cut down on waste. The simple answer to that one is because we get REALLY bored with the same food over and over again. However, we cook or smoke a large cut of meat (brisket or pork butt) at least once a month. This requires some creative thinking when meal time rolls around on what to do with the leftovers.

The same week we made our Elotes for a Crowd! we made Carnitas in our Instant Pot. We didn’t plan it, but I would definitely plan that combination again…if we were into that sort of thing. This is by FAR the man of the family’s favorite leftover dish that has come from the Elotes.

Neil and I both work from home and a huge perk to that is being able to have lunch together in between work times. It’s doubly great since most of the time we can cook together! As seems to be a bit of a trend, we had a lone sweet potato that was begging to be used in our pantry. The perfect split for a lunch for two!

Microwaves are great!

We don’t usually have a LOT of time to get into complex recipes, so this combination was perfect. To save about an hour of cook time, we nuked the potato. Yup. Microwave. No shame here! While we microwaved the potato, we heat up the carnitas and elotes (separately) in a skillet. A microwave would work here too, but ours was in use. Obviously.

Related Links:

Elotes for a Crowd! – Large Batch Elotes

Elotes Stuffed Artichoke – Easy Appetizer or Low Calorie Lunch

Elotes Soup – A hearty corn chowder. The perfect way to warm up this fall!

Instant Pot Carnitas

Microwaved Sweet Potatoes