[Most of the things I post about food, are not recipes but concepts. No measurements. You just have to figure it out from what you have in your kitchen and what your family likes. What follows is along those lines. It's how I deal with leftover Chinese food. I hope it's helpful to someone.]

Bull (my husband --it's a term of endearment, honest!), brought home Chinese food the other day and, as usual, we had leftovers. There were two boxes of rice and a container of egg drop soup sitting in the fridge. When we eat Chinese food, these are the two things of which we always have extra, so let me tell you what I do with them.

If you have enough rice, you could make chicken and rice (that's right, from Chinese food to a classic Southern comfort food) and then use what's left to make a yummy soup. If not, then you could just make one or the other.

Boil some chicken and reserve the broth. Separate the meat from the bones, and pull the meat up into bite-sized pieces. Set aside half the chicken meat. Next, add the egg drop soup to the reserved broth.

That's just about it. Not much left to do but put it all together!

Now, put some chicken in a pot along with about 2/3 of the rice and enough broth to keep everything wet while it heats up. Season with salt, pepper, and whatever you like (we like hot sauce). Put everything else in the fridge for tomorrows supper.

The next day, chop up some carrots, onions, and whatever veggies you like in your chicken and rice soup, and saute them 'til softened. Add them to your pot of broth, along with the rest of the chicken, and bring to a simmer. Add the leftover rice (and any of the chicken and rice you may have left from the night before) and season to taste.

WR