Cook Once, Eat Twice Meal Ideas + Cutting Down on Food Waste

[blanq]

I have been better about cooking at home, and eating out less in an effort to save money, but it has created two new problems for me: I am spending more time in the kitchen than I would like to and I am throwing away way too many leftovers. So, I am throwing away money and time!

We are a family of three, and a lot of recipes seem to make larger portions. Even when I split casseroles (casseroles are not my favorite, BTW) into two portions and freeze half, I end up throwing stuff out. My DH sometimes will take leftovers for work, but I don't eat them as I always take a WW or Lean Cuisine to work. Our DS has school lunches, and doesn't like leftovers at all (unless it is chicken nuggest or pizza!). Any ideas for cutting down on food waste?

I would like to cut down on cooking time too, and I have heard others at work talk about making two different meals out of same ingredients (with a little variation). But, no one at work has actually done this, or had any recipes to share. Do you? I have tried "Once a Month Cooking", but guess what? I throw away too many leftovers. Yikes, I am in a vicious cycle!

Please help! I am trying to get to WDW in October. Getting my food budget under control, but not strapping me to the kitchen, is a key!

 

[pjlla]

First off.... since a WW or Lean cuisine frozen meal is probably costing, at bare minimum with a coupon, $1.00 each, I would skip those for now and eat the leftovers. And let's face it, most of the time those frozen meals cost WAY MORE than $1.00. You don't always have to have exactly what you had last night... save it for a day so you don't get bored eating the same thing two days in a row.

I don't have lots of great ideas for using up leftovers, but Taste of Home Magazine usually has a section where they talk about new ways to use leftovers. Check your local library or ask a friend if they have the magazine around. But I'll give you the few ideas I do have.

Most meats can be made into sandwiches the next day (ham, roast beef, chicken)... they can be sliced or made into "salad" (chicken salad for example).

Leftover veggies can be added to canned soup or be added to canned broth to make new soup.

You could freeze individual size portions of your leftover casseroles and save them for a night when you don't have time to cook. Or save them until you have several and have "smorgasbord" night. Everyone gets a little of each, or everyone gets to choose which one they want.

I hope this doesn't sound critical, but I am "hearing" in your post that the members of your family believe that leftovers are "inferior". You all need to get past this feeling! There is nothing wrong with leftovers. I love them because sometimes it means I don't have to cook again! (And I hate to cook). I personally don't mind leftovers... but if I did and was faced with eating them, I would think about Disney! Everything is more bearable when you think that it is saving you money for Disney!

Hope this helps...............P

 

[frannn]

I either buy a cooked roasted chicken at Costco for 5., or an uncooked chicken for .89/lb in the supermarket. We have roasted chicken for dinner the first night. I pull as much leftover chicken off the bone as can before I put the leftovers away. I use this cooked, leftover, boneless chicken the next night by heating it with a jar of gravy and a can of veggies. You can eat it over rice or noodles. Very easy & yummy! Or, I give my MIL the leftover chicken & she makes chicken salad.
In addition, pasta and meatballs one night can turn into a meatbal sub the next night.

 

[Taja]

When I was cooking for my parents, uncle and myself, I used to cook one day each weekend for three weekends, then take two weekends off. Keeping in mind, I used a slow cooker and roasted things together in the oven at the same temperature, when possible, so my "cooking" time wasn't spent babysitting the food the entire time! I also was doing laundry, cleaning the house and gardening at the same time!

After trial and error, I learned approximately how much food was needed for each meal and froze it in "meal" sized portions, rather than splitting it arbitrarily. I could move it from freezer to refrigerator the preceeding night and have the entree ready to go when I arrived home from work the next evening. I threw out far less food, as the two weeks that I didn't cook used almost everything in the freezer. I had about ten different entrees to rotate throughout the five-week period.

Always be sure to date and label your frozen food packages. I purchased a vacuum packaging system (pretty expensive at the time, they're much more reasonable now) that helped to maintain the quality of the food. But double bagging it in storage zip top bags works quite well.

The other time saver was--and still is--preparing my produce as soon as I arrive home from shopping. Clean it, dry it and store it properly. With practice and reasonable preparation, you can have healthy, good-tasting (not necessarily spicy, as my family wouldn't eat it!) meals on the table in about 30 minutes. With minimal waste!

 

[Taja]

Oh, one other thing!

When cooking to freeze, cut your seasoning by about 50% and do not use salt! The freeze/thaw/reheating cycle intensifies flavours. You can add a sprinkling of fresh or dried herbs/spices when you reheat to freshen the flavour a bit. Let each person add salt and/or pepper individually at the table.

 

[poohtown]

my family isn't big on the leftovers either so I really try not to have any. After some practice, you'll figure out just what size roast to buy and chicken. Each person gets 1 baked potatoe instead of making a big casserole dish, etc. However, when I do have some leftovers - like this week I had 1/2 a chicken breast, half a can of beans, a small piece of roast- I will cut it up and add it to rice or soup.

The big trick to leftover pasta is add more sauce!!!

 

[powellrj]

I always try to make 2 meals from every piece of meat I buy. Examples are:
Night 1 Chili
Next night Chili Mac- mix the chili with macaroni and simmer and cover with cheese

Night 1 Baked Chicken
Next night chicken and noodles, chicken and rice or chicken pot pie

Night 1 Pot Roast
Next night beef and noodles, beef stew, stir fry

Night 1 Ham
Next night ham and cheesy potatoes, ham and beans

Night 1 Pork Roast
Next night pork BBQ, Pork LoMein

Night 1 Meat Loaf
Next night mash up meatloaf and add to spaghetti sauce for spaghetti w/meat sauce

I will try to cook ahead so meals are ready when I get home. I will mix up the meal for the next night when I am picking up after dinner and then its ready for the next day. It also helps if you skip a night before you re-serve an item. Have chili one night and skip a night before you make chili mac. Good Luck!

 

[Jenn]

If I have enough leftover to make just one meal, I will put in in a tupperware container and freeze it. Then, one day later in the week or the next week, I take it to work for lunch. I leave it in the fridge to thaw a bit, then microwave it to heat it up. I figure that's about the same as a frozen entree, right?

I recently read a great idea, but haven't tried it yet myself. Keep a tupperware container or freezer bag in the freezer and add the leftover veggies/rice/potatoes each night. Then, once a week or every couple of weeks, make a stew or soup and add all those veggies.

With chicken or turkey, I will make a pot pie and freeze it for another night. I simply cut up the meat and add a can of cream of chicken soup, and place it in a pie dish. Then, to use it, I thaw it in the fridge and add a Bisquick topping before cooking it (recipe is right on the box).

For beef (roast or steak), I will make a stir fry the next night so that it seems like a different meal all together.

 

[wide awake]

Planning on time between the first appearance and the leftover is important. You can also split your recipe while you're making it...for example use half your meatloaf mix for meatloaf, the rest for meatballs that you freeze. Any leftover meat can be cut up and then simmered with spices and water to use for taco or burrito filling...you can also shred the meat, and layer a tostada shell with refried beans, the meat, leftover salad and dressing. I also love leftover meat on a salad with an appropriate dressing. Omelets can be filled with a variety of fillings...meats, veg, chili, etc...If you're set on taking frozen dinners for lunch check out the calorie count on the regular ones...they're usually right about the same for 25% of the price. The freezer bag for vegetables is a great idea...I make a big pot of soup or beans once a week and that is my breakfast for 4-5 days...easy, cheap, not fattening, and healthy. The more you cook the less problem the leftovers will be...you'll learn your own tricks, which ones your family will eat, etc.

 

[Kay1]

It's a little cold here in Tampa Bay, so today I made potato/corn in the crock pot. I put aside about half before I stirred in cheese, and I'm going to turn that into clam chowder tomorrow by adding canned clams and there juice.

 

[MrsPete]

Buy a bunch of those cheap Gladware containers and FREEZE your leftovers in one-serving portions. FOR FREE you just got your frozen lunch meal.

 

[disneysteve]

When we make pizza, I'll chop up a generous amount of all the toppings: spinach, olives, pepper, onion, mushrooms. Whatever doesn't go on the pizza all goes in a container. The next day, DW will cook up some pasta and saute the extra veggies for lunch. Also, we always have extra pizza. I just wrap that in foil and either take it for lunch the next day or have it over the weekend (we usually do pizza on Thursday nite).

When we make tacos, same thing. All the extra toppings get thrown together in one container and the extra meat (we use ground turkey breast, 1% fat) goes in another. The next day, DW will warm the meat in a bowl, add the toppings and crumble some tortilla chips in it and have a taco salad for lunch.

About once every 3 months, DW cooks up a pot of sweet and sour meatballs. Then we freeze them in single serve portions. About once a week or so, I'll take that for lunch at the office.

She also makes her own spaghetti sauce every couple of months and we freeze that in single serve portions which we'll gradually use over the next few weeks.

 

[tar heel]

My family would never get away with refusing leftovers. Geesh. I work, clean a large house, etc., and I'm certainly not going to cook something new every night. If they have to have something new, then they can have a new peanutbutter sandwich! I cannot comprehend making spaghetti, beef stew, chicken and dumplings, etc., for one meal. Our biggest treat is Indian curry -- it takes me three-four hours to make, and I usually make enough for three-four meals. One key is to learn to warm up the leftovers so that they taste good -- usually by heating on low even if it's in the microwave. Some things don't do well in the microwave BTW.

I plan virtually everything I cook to be two meals. I vary the sides some, often mixing and matching them. I try to do two big meals on the weekend that make enough to have during the week. Tonight we grilled two London Broils, one of my family's favorite meals. We had mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and Italian bread with it. I made a broccoil salad while I was cooking, which DH and I will have with our London Broil sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. The potatoes can be served tomorrow with chicken. We'll probably have the rest of the broil and new sides for dinner Tuesday or Wednesday.

I'm a little confused about why you would prefer a LC or WW meal to your own leftovers. Besides the obvious cost and nutrition issues (sodium content -- yikes), wouldn't your own food taste better?

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I agree with the others that your family needs to change their outlook on leftovers. We are a family of four - two teen boys. Our leftovers are usually eaten before bed, or sometimes for breakfast in the morning. My oldest has been known to eat a couple of chicken sanwiches or hamburgers, fruit and vegetable for breakfast. Who am I to complain? It's better than doughnuts or sugar cereal!!

Gladware containers are the best.... freeze in portion sizes and you have lunches, or quick meals for everyone. I just can't imagine throwing out leftovers.... we fight over them here!

 

[Taja]

My philosophy is to cook the basics (particularly meat, as it takes a while) on the weekend. Sear the exterior, and slow cook beef or pork roasts and boneless, skinless chicken breasts to provide the base for other dishes. The only thing I make in its entirety is Beef Burgundy (about 3 or 4 times each year). We aren't big casserole or soup fans, although I do make a few.

Serve the chicken glazed with apricot preserves (you can buy the low-sugar type). Warm it on low heat, as the sugar in the preserves will burn on higher heat. Serve it with gravy for a country-style meal. Make salads, sandwiches, soups or casseroles. Or tacos (not something we eat, but many do!). Combine your imagination with your knowledge of your family's likes and dislikes. You aren't serving leftovers, just preparing the base in advance!

You can do the same thing with beef and pork roasts--although I don't recommend the apricot glaze!

Occasionally, we'll have steak, pork chop or salmon steak, which can be prepared quickly. It's a matter of learning to shop with an eye on the future and knowing what you can freeze and for how long. I buy meat when it's on sale, package it properly and freeze it for future use.

Oh--if you can find London Broil on sale for $1.99 per pound or less, have it ground and use it for hamburgers! It's very lean, so be careful not to overcook it. I always make the hamburger patties when I get home from the store, wrap them individually and freeze them. You can thaw as many as needed the night before you use them. They're steakburgers!

I get home from work about 6:00 or 6:30 at night after a 10 to 12 hour day. If I had to prepare a meal from scratch, we wouldn't eat until 10:00 p.m.!

 

[disneymom3]

Taja--I think you are my hero! Tar heel, your "new peanut butter sandwich" has me LOL! That is my philosophy too. If you don't like what is being served for dinner, feel free to go hungry.

So many good ideas on here! I strongly second the idea of Gladware. DH always takes last nights dinner to work in the morning. Works great and he likes it much better than a sandwich or fast food.

For your casseroles, split them into three instead of two if you want less leftovers.

I am just thrilled because we are using some Christmas money to buy a freezer. Then I can get even more into the planning. I love cooking ahead and planning out the meals because the one thing I hate about making dinner every night is deciding what to have.

 

[sweet maxine]

I'm laughing about tar heel's peanut butter sandwiches too! LOL!!!! I think I've told my kids something along the same lines before, and they usually end up "loving" whatever I've cooked for that night. I just make sure to always have a supply of bread and a jar of peanut butter and jelly to back up my "threats" with!

I love making soup with leftovers, especially leftover ham from a baked whole ham. It makes the best bean soup (I use the 15 bean kind), and you could always serve grilled cheese sandwiches with that. I also dice extra ham to use for fried rice, omelets, chef salads, and ham & swiss cheese "impossible" pie (the Bisquick kind). You can really do a lot with a baked ham, and it doesn't last long at my house!

Whenever I have leftover corn (canned- creamed or whole kernel), I use it to make cornbread. I add any leftover sour cream I have to the recipe --I usually use the Jiffy mix kind -- and it's even more moist and yummy!

A roast can be used in so many ways for leftovers. Cut the leftover roast up and use it in soups, or mix it with barbeque sauce for bbq sandwiches, or even plain for roast beef sandwiches. I throw any leftover veggies into the soup pot and add a can of diced tomatoes, and some seasoning, and it makes the best soup! I have also used leftover spaghetti sauce or taco mixture as a soup base.

I also hate that end-of-the-day "what should I cook for dinner?", and we do our share of take-out. Wendy's is not too far from my house, thank goodness!!

 

[Jaklackus]

I have the 'left overs aren't good enough' whining in this house all of the time and my favorite....'soup and salad is a snack not lunch!' protests on the weekends. And everyone wonders why they're so chubby around here .....they actually expect a full course breakfast, chicken and mashed potatoes for lunch and some other full on difficult meal for dinner. I have attempted to start 'dinner salad nights' around here(not working well BTW) where we have chicken one night and salad with chicken the next night or for lunch...again the problem with this menu planning is that my DH and my stepson never embraced salad as a meal...just something to eat while the rest of the meal was being cooked. We did invest in a big freezer and a food saver and I will bug DH to make a big batch of chili and spaghetti sauce to freeze every 6 months or so...I make meatballs and meatloaf at the same time..I always have a bag of frozen meatballs ready to go...we don't do heavy duty soups often , but I will freeze left over hamburger soup and turkey soup every chance that I get. I have a smart pot crock pot with a removable crock and it's huge...I start that up with a pot roast, potatoes, carrots, etc. etc or BBQ pork and just keep heating it, refridgerating it, until I feel I have tortured everyone enough(I will eat it until the very end...but DH will eventually break and cook something different by day three).

I know that I've rambled but this has been on my mind alot lately it's so expensive to cook like this all of the time...and frankly I'm sick of eating so heavy all of the time...I like nothing more than a fresh spinach salad with hard boiled egg but DH gets offended when I eat light while he's eating like it might be his last meal ever.

 

[blanq]

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I really do appreciate every one of them!

The Gladware is a great idea! I picked some up and will freeze single size portions of leftovers. Then we won't have to get sick of the leftovers, by having too many doses of the same food too close to one another. My DH works 12 hour shifts at work, and really does like a hot and decent meal. I think he will eat up our leftovers, if I handle them this way.

I understand why I got some of the comments about the WW & Lean Cuisine meals. I do stock up on them when my local grocery store has 1/2 price sales on them, and then I add coupons. I recently picked up 10 WW meals for less than $10. I am watching my weight (I have been watching it go up for so long, that now I am trying to watch it go down). I have been having a light breakfast, lo-cal frozen entree & salad for lunch, a piece of fruit for snack, and then a smaller portion of whatever we are having for dinner. Portion control is really hard for me, so at this point I am not willing to give up my portion-controlled lunch.

I have not been having a hard time with my food budget; I have developed a budget and have been able to stick within it. But I figure that getting a handle on the food waste would maybe allow me to reduce that budget further, with the excess being plunked into my WDW fund.

Last night I did pick up a 3lb package of hamburger on sale. I cooked it all up and then divided it and made: hamburger gravy (to have on mashed potatoes), taco meat and BBQ's. I took some of each, and put in my new Gladware containers, and froze them BEFORE we are having the meals. Leftovers before they can be leftovers!

Thanks again!

 

[sanctus]

I learned to make soup in a deli, so I only know how to make soup BIG. From one batch of soup I usually get 2 dinners plus some lunches. I freeze soup in the same bowls I serve it in, then once it's frozen, pop it out of the bowl and put it in a ziploc bag. I take them for lunch - grab a bag and a bowl, put soup back in the bag and nuke it.

Also, don't just keep leftover veggies for soup. Start two containers in your freezer - one for beef meal leftovers and one for poultry. When a container is full, make soup. Never the same soup, and always interesting. LOL