There’s something about Easter. Whether it’s the better weather, the long weekend, or just really getting into the swing of Spring, it’s just altogether a lovely holiday. Hopefully, you have packed it with lots of activities like easter egg hunts and bringing the family together for some delicious food and obviously lots of chocolate! 

However, similar to Christmas you may find yourself with a lot of leftovers and packaging to recycle, so we’ve pulled some ideas of what you can do with your food leftovers and Easter egg boxes. 

Savoury Easter Leftovers

Leftover Lamb Curry

If you’ve chosen to make a traditional lamb dinner this Easter, then you may have a lot of lamb left. Make the most of it and have an easy to prepare but tasty meal in the days after. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp of oil
  • 2 red onions (chopped)
  • 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp tomato puree
  • 450g cooked, diced lamb (or however much you have in your leftovers)
  • 200ml water
  • ½ tin chopped tomatoes 
  • 1 tbsp coriander leaf
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt
  • Rice (to serve)

Method:

  1. Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan. Once heated through, add the onions for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  2. Add your spices (the turmeric, chillies, curry powder, ground coriander), and the tomato puree, and cook for a further minute. 
  3. Add the diced lamb, water, chopped tomatoes, lemon juice and coriander leaf, and stir.
  4. Simmer for 15 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce slightly. Check occasionally for taste and add further spices or seasoning for taste. 
  5. Serve with rice. 

Easter Leftover Quesadillas

These are a big family favourite, and easily adaptable to suit everyone's tastes (and what you need to use up). These are great to enjoy at home, or easily transportable for work or school lunches. 

Ingredients:

These will vary depending on what you want to use. To make 8 quarter wedges, you will need:

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 4 flour tortillas
  • 150g grated cheese

You then may want to add:

  • 150g cooked chicken (diced)
  • 4 broccoli florets (finely chopped)

Or 

  • 150g cooked ham (diced)
  • 4 tbsp green peas

Or mix your flavours by grating up leftover carrot, roast potatoes or sweet potatoes. 

Method:

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan at a medium heat. Once heated through, put one tortilla in the pan. Then add in your chosen fillings (if you are using the same filling for all, then you need to use around half your ingredients, so you have some left for the next one), making sure to leave a narrow border around the edge. Put another flour tortilla on top and press down gently. 
  2. Cook for around 3 minutes (or until the underside is golden), whilst gently pressing down with a metal spatula. Then using the metal spatula, carefully flip the quesadilla over, and cook the other side until golden brown (and the cheese is melted). 
  3. Slide onto a cutting board or plate, and cut into quarters. 
  4. Repeat the process with remaining tortillas and ingredients. 

Sweet Easter Leftovers

Leftover Easter Brownies

Now, some of you may be thinking, leftover chocolate, are you crazy? But if you do find yourself with an abundance of easter eggs, these brownies are a great option. As well as being able to mix and match your favourite chocolate eggs together, brownies are also a great after dinner snack. 

Ingredients:

  • 175g butter (and extra for greasing)
  • 200g chocolate (broken into smallish pieces, plus any extra you want for decoration)
  • 225g light soft brown sugar
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 100g plain flour
  • 30g cocoa powder

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/fan 160°C. Grease a 20cm baking tin, then line with nonstick baking paper, leaving a little hanging over the edge so that you can easily remove your brownies later.
  2. In a microwaveable bowl, add the butter and 150g of the chocolate. Place the bowl in the microwave for 1 minute, take out and stir, then keep heating in 10 second increments until the mixture is fully melted. Take out of the microwave and put to the side for a moment. 
  3. Pour the sugar and eggs into a different bowl, and whisk until combined. Then stir in your melted chocolate mixture before sifting in the flour and cocoa, and the remaining 50g chocolate. Then mix well until fully combined. 
  4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and wiggle the tin slightly so the mixture evenly spreads across the tray. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. (Tip - If you want to add decorations to the top, carefully remove the brownies at around the 15 minute mark, add your decorative chocolate to the top of the brownies, and then place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes).
  5. Once your baking time is up and the top has formed a thin crust, you can remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 30 - 45 minutes. Then using the greaseproof paper, carefully transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
  6. Cut into 36 small squares and store in an airtight container in a cool place.  

Packaging Leftovers

It’s not just food that can go to waste. Easter leaves us with a ton of packaging clogging up our homes. Luckily most of it is recyclable now, so a bit of time flattening boxes and popping them in the recycling is a good idea. But if you want to reuse a little before you recycle, we have a few ideas.

Cardboard crafts for kids:

An abundance of easter egg boxes and brightly coloured foils, means you can take on some bigger craft projects (that are easily dismantled and recycled after play time). 

We might be biased, but we love the idea of creating a little village, by decorating each box as a different house. Kids can then run their cars down the ‘roads’, their dolls can go in the houses, and they can have fun playing on a bigger scale. Maybe they even want to make the cars and trucks themselves, and decorate the boxes as their favourite vehicles.

Why not make the most of the nicer weather, and the high number of boxes, and make as tall a rocket ship as they can by stacking boxes and sticking them together!

Cardboard crafts for home:

If you’re just into crafts and not worried about entertaining little ones, you can use Easter egg boxes for a number of things. 

Why not create your own jigsaw? Take apart an Easter egg box until it’s flat, and cut out the desired size for your jigsaw. Then either add a photo, or draw an image on one side. On the other side, draw your jigsaw pieces. Cut it out, and you have a super quick but usable jigsaw, and an easy activity for if family are still visiting. 

Or if you’re looking to combine this with your spring cleaning, or decluttering efforts, use the cardboard to create draw organisers, so everything has its place and is easily found. 

If you want more room for family get togethers and are looking for a new home in the East Midlands, you can find all of our available properties here.