What Ree Drummond Does With Leftover Food When Filming Ends

One of the reasons that Ree Drummond's Food Network show, "The Pioneer Woman," is so enduring is that it's filmed at her home, which is on a working cattle ranch. Viewers get a front row seat not only to Ree's kitchen, but sometimes to the early morning and late night tasks of the ranchers that work there. Because she's cooking at home, lots of Ree's recipes yield more servings than the average family might be used to making. It makes you wonder what she does with all that leftover food once the cameras stop rolling. Well, it turns out there are plenty of mouths to feed at any given time.

Naturally, her family is the happy recipient of the soups, sandwiches, pastas, and decadent desserts that Ree is famous for making. Before most of her children grew up and moved out of the house, there were five kids living at home, plus her husband, Ladd — not to mention the cattle ranching crew on site every day. But even if the family isn't home when Ree is working, the "Pioneer Woman" crew of about 25 people happily help make those leftovers disappear. And, finally, when no one can eat another bite, the Drummond family dogs are more than willing to polish off even the coldest morsels from the pots, pans, and plates.

Clearly, Ree Drummond is rarely alone at home, especially when she's filming episodes of her television show, so any leftovers likely get polished off in record time. But, for the rest of us, leftovers can be great for a day or two before they get redundant. And I, for one, hate throwing away food that's still good to eat. The easiest answer is to freeze food like the pros do and let today's leftovers be next Friday's dinner. Repurposing your extra food is another good idea and can help you create an entirely new meal from what you've already cooked.

You can transform leftover rice into arancini appetizers or fried rice; extra meat can become taco filling and salad toppings, or bulk up pasta and casseroles; and leftover vegetables make excellent additions to egg dishes, soups, pizza, and calzones. Leftover fruit from breakfast or brunch can become smoothies. You could make the smoothie and pour it into ice trays and freeze — or, simply purée the fruit and freeze for use in cocktails, sauces, and syrups. Maybe Ree Drummond isn't on board with bread-baking, but you can repurpose leftover bread by making croutons or breadcrumbs. If you're really itching to get rid of leftovers without repurposing them, you can wrap them up for friends, neighbors, or your teenager's hungry friends.