Use-it-Up Game

Ever play that game at a baby shower where you see how many words you can make from the baby's full name?

I thought about that today as I cleaned the fridge. Not that I spend all my Saturdays deep-cleaning the house! We haven't been grocery shopping for a while, so our fridge doesn't have much in it. (We've been out of town, and I've been at a conference the past two days.) Plus, I finally went through and threw out all the leftovers, so there's even more shelf space than before. Perfect time to wipe it out, right?

Here's what was left after the purging-and-cleaning:

milk
juice
5 eggs
2 hard-boiled eggs
1 head of fresh broccoli
2 little florets of cooked broccoli
about 3/4 cup chocolate ganache (a gift from my birthday)
lentil-rice casserole
broccoli-potato soup
3 laughing cow cheeses
small bit of homemade whipped cream
canister of Cool-Whip
1 can spiced Mexican beans
apricot-jalapeno jam
tiny bit of onion
colby cheese block
mozzarella cheese block
popcorn
In the fridge door: condiments, butter, parmesan cheese, fresh ginger, club soda, etc.

So here's where the game comes in. I started to think, just how many meals could I make out of what's here?

I didn't restrict my list to exactly what's in the fridge--it takes flour to make pancakes, for instance. But everything on the list could be made with what I had on hand. Here's what I came up with:

Main Dishes:
scrambled eggs with cheese, toast
pancakes with whipped cream
french toast
lentil-rice casserole
broccoli-potato soup
bean burgers with a side of broccoli
quesadillas with cheese and beans (and homemade tortillas using Lindsey's recipe)
Mexican pizza (using beans, cheese, onion--we make our own crust)
homemade macaroni and cheese

Snacks:
popcorn (barbecue-spiced popcorn for adults--Jacob makes a fabulous bbq spice mix)
hard-boiled eggs
laughing cow cheese
yogurt (if I had 1 tsp. of yogurt to use as starter)--which I could use to make smoothies as well
peanut-butter-and-jelly tortilla roll-ups (if I made tortillas)
homemade ginger ale--not really a snack, but I put it in this category anyway :)

Desserts:
homemade pudding
lemon bars
fruit fondue with chocolate ganache
crystallized ginger dipped in chocolate ganache

I could also use the apricot-jalapeno jam on top of meatloaf, or in meatballs. I could use the beans the same way.

This is not actually my meal plan (it needs more fresh fruits and veggies and more protein), and don't worry, I'll go shopping soon! It's just a fun brainstorming activity to help me creatively use up my leftovers. A great book that taught me a lot in this area is The Use-It-Up Cookbook by Lois Carlson Willand.

What do you think? Any more ideas for me? How do you creatively cook with what you have on hand, and find uses for leftovers?