Monday, November 24, 2008

Using Leftovers

I have been very conservative lately with our grocery budget. Due to my obligations at home with two under 2, a husband and a homeschooling Senior i have had to stop using coupons as much as before. I still clip the ones I know I will use, such as soy milk, diapers, wipes, baby food, etc. Some of the things we do is eat very little meat. This is more of a personal preference for my husband than a budget issue. We probably eat meat about 2 times per week. I usually always make beans once. Tacos and Pasta are also regulars. We eat lots of salad, fish and other fresh and frozen veggies.
When I make beans I usually have lots of leftovers and in the past I have either froze them and forgot about them or thrown them away. I thought I would try to plan our menu to use the beans in at least one or two other meals. For instance, I will make beans one night with cornbread and rice. Then use them with tacos the next night. I have also used them in chili, taco soup and meatloaf. I am going to post my recent meatloaf recipe! I am very proud of it! It was delicious. My almost 2 year old ate it for about 3 meals.

Meatloaf
1/2 lb ground beef
3/4 cup black beans (chopped finely in mini chopper)
3/4 cup cooked rice
1/3 can of stewed tomatos (chopped finely in mini chopper)
meatloaf seasoning of your choice (as needed to taste)
whorstershire sauce (as needed to taste)
1 egg white
1/4 cup milk (extra if needed)
crackers, bread crumbs (as needed for consistency)

Combine all ingredients and form into a loaf. Top with ketchup if desired. Cook at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

I am planning to add carrots and spinach next time I make it.

Another thing I do is buy whole chicken. Then I spend one morning or afternoon boiling it. I then shred it and use it in soups, casseroles or anything else I can think of. One whole chicken usually yields at least 2-3 meals.

I also have leftovers from the weeks meals on Thursdays. Below is my menu for this week for my family.

Monday Pasta and Veggies
Tuesday Eggs & Pumpkin Pancakes (recipe on moneysavingmom.com)
Wednesday Out of Town
Thursday Thanksgiving
Friday Beans, Turnip Greens & Cornbread
Saturday Smothered Pork Chops, Greens, Salad
Sunday Meatloaf, Potatos, Salad

It is possible this menu will change due to the holidays. We may have some leftovers from Thanksgiving we will need to eat!

I hope to post my menu more often. It will be neat to look back and see what we have eaten when I get in a rut!.








2 comments:

Marli said...

Great menu! you should add your link to Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday... sharing your posts like that helps get some traffic to your blog too :)
http://orgjunkie.com/2008/11/menu-plan-monday-nov-24th.html

Marli said...

OH also I have a pumpkin recipe too and I haven't gotten around to posting it yet. It was yummy! Tell me how MSM's turn out!