OT: "Recycling" Dinner

[arkienurse]

In my efforts to keep my grocery bill down, here is what I did in the past week. Last Thursday I cooked a bone in ham that we were given for Christmas. Friday we had scrambled eggs and ham. For Sunday dinner, I put the ham bone on with pinto beans, so Sunday we had Pintos, mac and cheese, cabbage, and corn bread. Monday was so dreary that I took the leftover beans and a pound of hamburger and made a pot of chili. Tonight, I took the leftover chili, a can of corn, a handful of dried bell pepper, and some rice and made a goulash dish. Now I could carry it further tomorrow and make a tamale pie type dish with a cornbread crust and some more chili powder, but I am afraid that DH might rebel. For certain, I have lunch for the rest of the week, as I love dishes like this.
Do have to say, I am normally a very picky eater, and had never made chili with ham flavored beans before. It certainly gave the chili an interesting flavor.

So does anyone else recyle food like this? Or do you just tend to serve the leftovers as they were originally served???

[lrprn]

So does anyone else recyle food like this? Or do you just tend to serve the leftovers as they were originally served???

If my first main dish has good "stretching" potential - like a beef roast or broiling a chicken - that can go into other casserole-type dishes, then I absolutely use the leftovers in other dishes later in the week. Thanks to you, Arkie, I'm going to try mixing more casserole-type dishes together afterwards too - good idea!

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Yes its a great way to save money. I will buy a whole chicken, then roast it in a cooking bag over a bed of mire poix (onions, carrots, celery). The bag seals in the moisture and the chicken comes out moist. The chicken and carrots are eaten, then I use the stock liquid with the onions and celery to boil with lentils to make some knock your socks off soup. I'm single and it cost about $10 to do this and I can eat for a week.

[Minnymouth]

Check out the "lifestyle adjustments" section of the forum for some great tips on how to cut corners, recycle food, and adjust to filing bankruptcy.......