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Cook Once, Eat Twice

January 2nd, 2012 at 07:51 pm

Remember the adage, measure twice and cut once? The purpose was to make sure the measurement was correct before cutting something and possibly making a mistake.

Well, I like the idea of cooking once and eating twice or more. Yesterday I fixed a slice of ham. It was a thick slice bought at Aldi. I had made scalloped potatoes and cornbread and green beans to go with our New Year's meal.

Today, my last day of vacation, we had some errands to run, including running dh's vehicle in for a recall. We got home and I suggested we have a rerun of yesterday's lunch. DH was fine with that and we had a hearty meal on a windy, cold day. I still have some ham and potatoes left as well. Part of the ham will be a lunch this week with the leftover potatoes. The rest of the ham will be cut up and I'll make ham and beans for dh. I don't particulary care for ham and beans, but he likes it and apparently I've found a simple recipe to make a lunch size portion of them for him. I have to admit I use a can of navy beans, but I have been lucky and found them on sale.

I cut up the ham in small pieces and saute' it with onion and celery, then I add a little chicken broth. I then drain some of the liquid off the beans, but keep enough so the beans don't get dry. I add a half of a teaspoon of cumin and tumeric and let them simmer for about an hour, adding broth as needed. I put them in a dish he can heat up in the microwave and he's a happy boy.

I really think the idea of cooking once and eating twice saves money. I know I prefer cooking a whole chicken in the Crockpot and although we usually don't eat an intial meal off of it, I do make 2-3 dishes from the chicken and broth, depending on the size of the chicken.

On New Year's Eve we did go out to eat and we had some vegetables we couldn't eat on our plates. I asked to have a box with the skin from my baked potato. We got home and I added a couple of vegetables that were sitting around here with some herbs, and made a very rich vegetable broth. It has been strained and is in the freezer awaiting my next soup adventure.

Tonight we are having chicken and sweet potatoes. The chicken breasts were reasonable at Aldi when we went and I think there are more than two. Two will be used for us tonight, but the others will be made in a casserole with rice and vegetables for another meal this week. I'll just cook them all so I have them.

I did that the other day with sweet potatoes. I baked the 5 small ones we had. We had two for a meal and the other three I used to make a small sweet potato casserole for another meal. Sure saved time.

Well, the kitchen is calling, so I guess I better heed the call. Please share if you have some ideas on cooking once and eating twice.

6 Responses to “Cook Once, Eat Twice”

  1. Amber Says:
    1325536951

    Cook once and eat twice will be my motto for the New Year. Today I placed a roast in the slow cooker for dinner tonight, which will also serve for lunch and dinner tomorrow Smile And dinner at your house sounds great Big Grin

  2. DeniseNTexas Says:
    1325544115

    I cook once and eat at least twice sometimes and like it. The problem I have is that I cook for just myself and something might sound good and taste good tonight but I might not want it tomorrow or the day after or the day after that, etc. Because of that, I often just make a very small batch of whatever, just enough to feed me once.

    Tonight I'll cook once and eat twice and will post a blog entry about that later. Smile

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1325548127

    Sounds good, ladies!

  4. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1325548136

    If I can get myself motivated ... I plan on making a couple corn casseroles and cottage cheese roasts - once cooked and cooled, divide them up in meal sized portions and freeze -- meals for several weeks with only cooking once. Big Grin

  5. CB in the City Says:
    1325552703

    I am constantly repurposing leftovers. I try to never throw food away (but of course I have to sometimes). I especially like to make soups and breakfast casseroles that use up all the bits and pieces.

    Leftover ham is also great to use in split pea soup.

  6. CCraw Says:
    1325595678

    I often cook a big batch of something, eat a couple of times and freeze the rest in individual bags and bingo I have my own TV dinners. This is especially good when I'm very busy at the gate and have little time to be cooking. Just heat in the microwave and I'm set!

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