I have always found it a challenge to cook using what is hanging around the house already. Odds and ends that never seem to go together, things you’re not sure are still good. It’s so much easier to just start new.

However, I have decided it is an important skill to start using up leftovers and have made a concerted effort to cook with them. I made a simple dinner of a BLT salad and grilled cheese last night.

The meal used up many things: some salad greens, half a container of grape tomatoes, a loaf of bread and some bacon. Why do they make the packs so big?! I often  have to wrap up some pieces and preserve them cryogenically in the freezer.

The secret to having a great grilled cheese versus a good grilled cheese? Grated cheese. It’s an extra step, but it makes all the difference. Here, I use the six-year-old Balderson from Costco. My mom says it’s not a grilled cheese unless the cheese is orange, but I beg to differ.

I crumbled the bacon and threw in these great little grape tomatoes. I actually bought them because I was swayed by the packaging. They came in this little UFO container, and the tomatoes were extra crisp and delicious. I’m unsure if the container played a part, but I did notice the shape helped keep the tomatoes from weighing on each other.

And the end product. A perfect melty and crispy grilled cheese (with bacon thrown in) and a BLT salad with a balsamic dressing and sprinkle of cheese. And, most importantly, several ingredients now freed of their impending refrigerator doom.