I like cooking dinner. I just hate planning it. And I am not a big fan of throwing something together at the last minute (those kind of meals are rarely very healthy and often not too tasty).
As a mom to a big family, cooking dinner is a big part of my job…and dinners need to be BIG. My kids are old enough that they don’t tolerate mac n’ cheese like they used to, so I need to be more creative and plan a little better for meal time.
Left over tips from my kitchen
- I plan one to two “left-overs” nights into my weekly meal plan.
- When there is a full meal portion left over, I immediately package it up in a freezer-safe container and freeze it for later.
- I always look for different ways to (re)use meats.
– Last week, the slow-cooked pork loin roast became BBQ pulled pork a few days later.
– Whenever I get a rotisserie chicken, I use those left overs to make chicken enchiladas, chicken tortilla soup, or chicken pot pie (or countless other chicken recipes).
– I make extra taco meat (with black beans and rice mixed in) and save it for taco salads later.
- Left overs make the perfect lunch, especially when there is only a small amount left after dinner.
- Too much left overs? This past week, I made an amazing soup, but made a little mistake in the amount of broth/water that I added to the veggies. It turned out way too watery, so I ended up having to add more of everything to thicken the supposed-to-be-thick-and-creamy soup up. After I had eaten it for lunch and dinner twice, I passed the rest on to my friend, who enjoyed it as a NEW meal.
How do YOU use your left overs?
I am thrilled to be working with Toni Spilsbury, the author of The Organized Cook™ Cookbook. She’s got some pretty exciting things going on, including free weekly meal planning, 12 Days of Thanksgiving, and her blogger Affiliate Program, and weekly twitter parties – starting this week!
#MealPlanning Twitter Party – Join me!
This Thursday, October 13 from 8-9 pm MST, I will be a panelist at the #mealplanning twitter party with @organizedcook.
Party guests can win prizes including a $100 grocery gift card, subscription to The Organized Cook™ Weekly Meal Plan and copies of The Organized Cook™ Cookbook. We’ll be talking about family meal planning for busy moms, asking questions and sharing tips.
Be sure to RSVP for the party and enter to win (And get this – you can get an extra entry just by saying in a comment why you love me. How’s that for a cool contest?!).
It gets better – #mealplanning parties will be happening weekly, so there will be tips and helpful information coming regularly! Hope to see you this Thursday!
Disclosure: I am being compensated for my participation in this campaign and for my part as a twitter party panelist. Meal planning, left overs, and just plain eating are things that I get pretty passionate about, but as always the thoughts, opinions, and ideas expressed on my blog are my own.
© 2011, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
Thanks for that soup! My family LOVED it. :)
I love the idea of passing things on to friends. That is a great idea :)
Love your ideas, especially the taco meat w/black beans & rice mixed in. You can use this for one of my favorite taco salads. Just add lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, nacho cheese Doritos and about a half bottle of cream parm or ranch dressing to your warmed up mixture. And now I’m hungry!
I take leftover chili and add taco seasoning to it. Makes for a yummy taco salad or a dip for tortillas. With other things I throw them all together in a soup pot with a can of tomato juice for a “This n That” soup.