No Cooking for a Week!

Our readers since the inception of this blog may remember that the first evening meal we had was chili, with cornbread and cooked apples.  We have mentioned the chili a couple of times since we had a hard time determining the number of servings that pot held.  We charged ourselves for $1.04 per bowl for 8 servings.  Lori ate bowl number 10, the last one, for lunch on Tuesday.    There are still apples left.  We have a large pot of potato soup in the refrigerator waiting to be eaten. 

We don’t mind leftovers as we have mentioned previously.  We actually enjoy them.  This week, we will reap the benefit of leftovers in that there will be no cooking all week, only heat & eat.  Here’s what we’ve had so far or are planning  this week for our evening meal (generally breakfast & lunch are already heat & eat or eat as is meals):

                Monday:  Hamburgers & potato patties from last week

                Tuesday:  Potato soup

                Wednesday:  Roast and trimmings remade in to what Lori’s family called “hash”

                Thursday:  Potato soup (probably the last of it)

                Friday:  Remaining “hash” from Wednesday

Even for us, though,  there comes a time when enough is enough.  When that happens we generally freeze the leftovers in single serving portions for use another time.  It is very handy for packing lunch.  John has taken leftover hamburger helper for lunch several times for a change of pace from sandwiches.  While at this time, we’ll continue to eat leftovers until they are gone we thought this was a good time to point out that this is an easy way to stretch the food budget and it is also an easy way to add variety given the freezer space. 

Then there is the issue of time.  A big pot of chili or soup can be put in the slow cooker before leaving for work in the morning.  It is hot and ready to eat when dinner time arrives.  Remainders can be refrigerated or frozen for those occasions when time is short.  The remainder of most meals can be frozen for future use.  In just a few weeks a wide variety of home prepared low cost meals are right at one’s fingertips.  Investing only one or two cooking occasions each week can yield results for weeks.