Puffed Up

Am I the only person in the world that always makes way too much food for dinner?
Somehow, no matter what I am cooking, I always end up with copious amounts of leftovers.
This would be fine if we were leftover kind of people, but we aren't.

Sadly, I have a serious problem throwing anything out. 
I hate wasting food, so instead, I end up freezing everything that is leftover and then forgetting what I have in freezer.
In doing this, our freezer becomes so jam-packed, that when I open the door, bags of frozen vegetables, popsicles and mystery leftovers avalanche out onto the floor in front of me.
I's quite dangerous.

I really need to get some kind of caution sign for that sucker.

Think this will do?

This week, because we literally have zero freezer space, I started using up some of the frozen leftovers.  The first thing I came across was frozen Superbowl Chili.
I loved the chili I made on Superbowl Sunday!
It was full of beans, corn, sweet potato,, and fire roasted tomatoes.
We served it over elbow macaroni and topped it with super sharp cheddar, green onions and oyster crackers.
We ate more than we should have, fell into chili comas and never saw the end of the game.

Despite it being so delicious, the thought of just reheating it didn't really seem appealing, so I decided to make it a little more fancy.

I found some puff pastry in the freezer, (imagine that!) and let it thaw for about 45 minutes.  Once it was easy enough to work with, I unfolded it and cut 1 inch strips up each side.  After that was done, I filled the center of the pastry with chili, topped it with grated cheddar cheese and alternately folded the strips to make a lazy lattice. 
Once everything was tucked into the pastry, I brushed it with an egg wash and baked it for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. 
Once it was slightly browned and puffy, I took it out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before sprinkling it with cilantro and serving it with a side of sour cream.

Let me tell you something:
You can't go wrong with chili and puff pastry.
It's just not possible.
This was so delicious and converted me into a leftover fan.
Never thought I'd see the day.

Loving Leftovers,
Lana