As we are all having to look at our ever-decreasing budgets once again I thought it might be interesting to have a thread where we could list recipes that are delicious & very cheap, using up the scraps from previous meals. I am sure we all have our fall-back recipes & exchanging them with each other might help to bring more variety to all of our diets while saving money.
This French one is one of my favourites. It comes from a lovely blog (called Lucy's Kitchen Notebook) which is packed with great recipes.
http://kitchen-notebook.blogspot.com/2006/09/sunda.....gnate.html
I often make a smaller version of this as I am by myself & have even made it it using large chard leaves. You do need good robust bread however, none of that supermarket plastic pap !!
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
Good idea Nadine
One of the best ideas I've seen for using leftovers comes from the blogger Frugal Queen, it's for Sunday roast lunch remains. She uses all of it......meat (whatever kind), roast potatoes, veggies, stuffing, gravy.....chops it all up and puts it in a pastry case then freezes it. Voila - a meat and veg pie to do a family meal for another day. I've added peas or mushrooms to it in the past if we didn't leave quite enough of our Sunday lunch to fill a pie!
In the past, if I'd been over-generous with the portions of a pasta bake, chilli, spag bol, cottage pie, stew, whatever, and there was some left over, I'd throw it away (oh the shame!! ). Now I put it in a tupperware box and freeze it, even if it's only enough for one portion (mustn't forget to label it!!
). It's great for when we've been out and I haven't been organised enough to get a meal prepared beforehand, I just whip a couple of boxes out of the freezer and defrost/cook them in the microwave and add a bit of veg or some crusty bread. Then husband and I just have to decide which of us gets what individual microwave meal!
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
Leftovers, what are they ?
Usually I only end up with small amounts of cooked veg or roast chicken. If there's a lot it makes soup,otherwise it goes into pasta or risotto. Occasionally I will make a tortilla style omelette. I weigh out rice or pasta so there's rarely any left over. if there is then its rice or pasta salad for lunch.
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leftovers...not much chance with a family of locusts ...deliberate leftovers are a different matter , i do a stew pan of potatoes at a time, cook far more veg than i will use and it all gets recycled in the cauldron...todays cauldron is fridge stew!! all this weeks dodgy bits and bobs , chicken carcase and bits of veg from the garden , some tinned tomatoes that no one admits to opening ,... memo ...may do scones as i have some cream on the turn
I make my own ham, so once boiled I use the stock to make a pea and ham soup. If the stock is too salty then I freeze it into cubes to add to other foods. Tomorrow's soup will be the pea and ham soup with spaghetti squash, beans, pepper and onions leftover from tonight's meal.
I often add whatever is leftover from a previous night's meal to stock, sometimes using a stock cube to make a soup for lunch.
As someone still getting used to cooking for one (after my sis died last year) I have found that am trying to save stuff I don't stuff into my face in one sitting. Friday and Saturday was a pork chop for dins (pack of two). Friday I made mash and on Saturday I used the rest of the mash and made a kind of bubble and squeak using a handful of mixed stir fry veg (the rest is for dins tomorrow) mixed in with the mash and fried.... rather ruddy nice! Sundays din was a mini roast. Cooked 4 chicken breasts (to save money on heating up the oven again). One was for roasty dinner, 1 chicken boob I've just cut up, boiled in rice with a stockcube and peas to chill and take for lunch for me and my b/f on Monday. One chicken breast will be used to make a stirfry for Monday dins and the last will be sacrificed to my evil kittys as a Monday evning treat. Actually having cats does help you cut down on your meat waste!
Pizza
I make a simple press-in-the-pan crust of flour and cornmeal.
It is such a cheap and easy thing to make, as long as I have cheese for the topping.
Use up your mushrooms, bit's of meat, veggies, onions, etc....pizza is perfect for those tiny portion leftovers. sprinkle with garlic, oregano, basil, whatever you like.....
Will try to contribute but I rarely have left overs. I plan my meals each week and only buy what is needed. Comes from having tight budget!
Trying to enjoy life as it is
Last night - and tonight - leftover dinners.
Cooked a large piece of gammon, so shared with our son, as he's working long hours atm; and our daughter and family. Still had a lot of leftover gammon.
Last night, cooked small amount of pasta, till al dente, and at the same time, stir-fried onions and mushrooms. Chopped up some gammon into bite-size pieces, and added some peas, and mixed with the stir-fry, the I poured over a small pot of cream (about 150ml) added to a whisked egg. Cheese sprinkled on top. Baked. Delicious.
Tonight, similar, but onion and sliced potato cooked in oven with stock, till reduced, added some more peas and gammon sliced up into strips. Made a thick cheese sauce, poured over the top, sprinkled with cheese and breadcrumbs. Baked till crispy and golden, and served with some haricot verts.
Tomorrow, the last four gammon slices may have to be with chips, tomato and a fried egg !!!!
Oh, and also I made another big soup - 6 red peppers, 5 carrots, one potato, two onions, and two tins of tomatoes. Whizzed. Soup for a few days!
Yes, thankyou, Toni, I'm thinking of going to school tomorrow - for the first time this year!!!
I spoke to the teacher I work with earlier this evening - and two weeks ago, she made herself a cup of steaming hot tea, and promptly poured it over herself - she has spent the last two weeks going to the hospital daily to have the dressings changed - and still managing to teach!
Not yet - it should've been tonight, but she wasn't going either (I go with the same teacher), and she also told me that the pieces they are doing at the moment are quite difficult - I couldn't face that tonight.
Anton Bruckner; Mozart's Solemn Vespers; and Haydn.
There's a YouTube of Mozart's - here.
I haven't listened to it yet, as OH has gone to bed, but I'll have a listen tomorrow - it may even help me decide whether or not to go through with it !!!
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