5 Best Leftovers

It's an interesting thing, the leftover. In some ways great, in others awful. Ultimately, it can become mold in your fridge, but there are foods that make great leftovers for the athlete-minded.

1. Rice

Rice is great just because of how easy it can be. Whenever I make rice, I always make too much of it. I'll do a chicken and rice type dinner, but make maybe 3 times the amount of rice I need, depending. The rest goes in the fridge. Rice is a high carbohydrate, easily digested grain for your diet. It makes a great energy source for any athlete. But why rice? Check out all it's good at! Heat it up with a bit of soy sauce in 1 min. Saute some veggies and maybe an egg and you can have fried rice in 15 min. Get creative and make your own sushi! Cook some beans and mix in the rice to make a very high protein, plant based meal! Use the rice in casseroles and cold salads. There's a lot you can do!

2. Pizza

I like to tell people that pizza is great because it can fit all the food groups. Crust is bread, tomato sauce and veggies for vegetables, maybe pineapple for fruit, cheese for dairy, and an assortment of meats you can add. Cold pizza can be real quick to grab and eat or heat up and eat. The trick here is to make sure the pizza is healthy. It's probably not going to work this way with a lot of the fast food pizzas. Thin crust is always better than thick when it comes to too many calories or fat. More veggies than meats always helps. Going homemade is easier than you think and almost always healthier! If you don't have the ability to do it yourself, it is possible to order out and get an awesome pizza too. Pizza works well with athletes because it can be quick and tasty. Just watch out for the heartburn! Follow it up with a glass of milk.

3. Grilled Chicken Breasts

There's so much you can do to these guys. Slice it up and put it on a salad, hot or cold. Put it on homemade pizza! Just heat and eat! Add to soups, noodles, and rice. Make a chicken breasts sandwich or make some chicken salad. Cooking more at once and using it as leftovers can stop you from buying the less healthy versions of chicken or buying and eating some of the other fattier meats. Poultry is always lighter on the fat side than red meats and when skinless, is also low in cholesterol too. Chicken is always a great protein source at any time of the day for athletes.

4. Salad

There's this idea in my head that works perfectly. Get a giant bowl or resealable container, a cutting board, and a real nice knife. Go nuts on your favorite lettuces, peppers, mushrooms, nuts, fruits, hard boiled eggs, and meats. Toss it all together in the container and keep it in the fridge! This salad should last you maybe 3 or 4 single salads worth! In a time when it is hard to get the vegetables needed in the diet, this is a great method to use to save time and money. For athletes, the carbs associated in these salads will be high in fiber and more complex giving you longer lasting energy and help your body feel more natural and healthy (helps fatigue, indigestion, and headaches!). Plus the bits of protein you can throw in there (nuts, egg, meat) can be just what you muscles need and in the right ratio (about 3 carbs to 1 protein for recovery).

5. Steel Cut Oats

OK. This is kind of a curve ball, I know. For those of you who don't know what steel cut oats are, they are a roughly processed oatmeal. It's incredibly high in fiber, protein, and carbohydrate...so perfect for all you athletes. It is made in the same manner as oatmeal with a catch. It usually takes a long time to cook. In the morning this is pretty difficult. My mother showed me this method of making it the night before and throwing it in individual containers and then putting it in the fridge or freezer. In the morning, it's just a microwave away. This stuff is extra tasty, gluten free (the one's I've had) and reeeeal good for you, especially in the morning. Get on it.

So utilize your fridge, make extra the next time you cook, and try out some steel cut oats. You'll see it will save you money, energy, and time while fueling your constantly used bodies!

Quick shout out to my Illini friends who made the USA wheelchair track team! Aaron Pike, Ryan Chalmers, Brian Siemann, Josh George, Amanda McGrory, Anjali Forber-Pratt, Jessica Galli, and Tatyana McFadden! Glad to know you all, and good luck.