Cooking with Leftovers
CheapCooking is a mindset above all. And it often comes in stages. You mighit jump in at a different stage than someone else depending on your upbringing, knowledge, circumstances, and time available. I used to eat out a lot back when there were two incomes and no children. And it was fun! We worked long hours and generally either ate out or picked up take-out for dinner, although on the weekends we tended to cook. Then I had children and stayed home, which meant the income was cut nearly in half and it wasn't much fun to go out anymore (crying babies just sort of ruin the whole atmosphere!) not to mention the budget couldn't handle it.
Then I was a single mom, working full time and still trying to put a good dinner on the table each night. I began spending some part of the weekends cooking ahead, mostly for the upcoming week. For a while I played with freezer cooking. There are some great web sites and chat groups about this method. I'm sure it saves a ton of money and time, but I had begun to enjoy cooking. It is part of my evening routine and I like it. I also prefer fresh cooked meals. But I still try to keep some emergency dinners in the freezer and use the freezer for starters, like marinated chicken, chopped and frozen vegetables, meatballs, and other things I can make a meal out of pretty quickly.
Making Broth
Chicken broth is one of the things I just cannot imagine buying at this point. It's become second nature to save bones, make broth on a slow evening, skim the fat off the next day, and either freezer it in portions or make soup that night. I have made beef broth a few times but I don't naturally come by beef bones so it's more of an effort. I sometimes make vegetable broth as well for a change. I also typically save water I've cooked vegetables in, so I've often got a jar of it in the frig that I can pull out and use for soup or cooking. I don't save the water from strongly flavored vegetables like broccoli, but carrot and potato water are easily used up. I get some satisfaction out of making delicious chicken broth out of stuff many people throw away. Plus, not only does it save money but it tastes better than store-bought broth!
Using Up Leftovers
Another stage of CheapCooking is not wasting what you've got. There are some leftovers I like. Some things just get better after sitting a day, like stews and chile. Some things don't suffer much in the reheating, like eggplant parmesan. I can easily plan a meal that will feed us two nights without waste. Sometimes I throw the second night's portion in the freezer because I don't want to eat it again right away. Other times, I make extra of something and have it happily for lunch a few days following. But sometimes you just don't want the exact same thing again! That's when the creative cook can turn leftovers into some completely different delicious thing. Scrambled eggs with leftover vegetates taste great. Quiches and pizzas or homemade pot pies or "hot pockets" are also great for using up bits. Burritos are another example. Stews and casseroles are another way to use up some leftovers and turn them into something a bit different than the way you first served the item. Here are a few more, with some detailed notes on how they came about.
Soup from Leftovers
One night I pulled some chicken broth from the freezer, about 6 cups, and started microwaving it to melt. In the meantime, I heated 1/4 cup or so of olive oil in my soup pot, peeled and chopped and onion and added it to the pot and left it to soften a bit while I fixed the rest of the vegetables. I had a yellow squash from the garden and a few tomatoes from the garden, so sliced and diced them. When the onion had softened a bit, I put the chicken broth in, although half of it was still frozen. It melted quickly enough and when it started simmering I added the yellow squash and carrots.
I looked through the refrigerator and saw the leftover cooked carrots from last night, a small bowl of chopped lettuce from tacos the other night, and a bit of leftover salsa . I added them all to the pot. I debated about adding some rice or pasta but decided on lentils instead. They cook up quickly and are healthy--what a bonus! I threw in half a cup or so. The soup would have been different, but just as good, had I used some leftover rice or pasta or different beans. I added some chopped parsley and dried thyme , salt and pepper , then tasted. Once the lentils were cooked, about 30 minutes later, I pronounced it done and served with some grated Parmesan at the table.
This used up a bunch of stuff that might have languished otherwise. I do love following new recipes for soups and making something that will turn out exactly the same each time, but this "once in a lifetime" soup, which is different each time you make it, is frugal and healthy.
Pasta with Leftovers
Another night I made pasta with a combination of fresh vegetables and leftover chicken. I put the pot of water onto boil and went out to the garden to pick some cherry tomatoes, both red and yellow pear ones, some small yellow crookneck squash, and some basil. I was thinking of a pasta primavera kind of thing, so I heated up some olive oil and chopped half an onion and a garlic clove and started them sauteing.
While they were cooking, I sliced up the yellow squash and halved the various cherry tomatoes, then sliced up the basil into thin strips. I also sliced up some baby carrots. I added them all to the onions and garlic after a few minutes. They smelled good--and even better after I added some seasoned pepper and salt. As I was pouring a glass of cheap white wine for myself ($2 Chuck: this is CheapCooking after all!), I figured the wine would help the vegetables so added half a glass to the pan.
When I put the wine back in the frig, I spotted the leftover tarragon chicken. I chopped up one of the pieces and added it and some of the leftover sauce to the vegetables. When the pasta was done and drained, I put some on each plate and topped with the leftover vegetable chicken mixture.
Again, I can never make this exact dish again. But the idea of making a pasta sauce with leftovers and fresh vegetables is one I can use over and over again. Each time I do something like this, I get a bit more confidence that some other thrown-together-dish will also be good.
