Lin came home from work just as I was starting dinner. He looked in the pot and asked what we were having. “It looks like gruel,” he said. I replied … “No. It’s creative leftover usage.”

When I made the Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan recently, I froze half of it. Well, the cooked eggplant didn’t take to freezing too well and was way too mushy. What to do? Make a stew and serve it on a bed of spicy cheese noodles. He wasn’t calling it gruel after he tasted it!