Whether your leftovers are planned or just accidental, they can help you to save money when you actually use them instead of tossing them, as most people tend to do. Here are three different ways you can do leftovers.
The Bait and Switch
If you go for a restaurant meal, each order a favorite and then when it arrives, halve each plate so that you only plan on eating half of the meal (fill up on any bread and salad that is brought to the table). Get the other halves of your meals to go and plan on eating them the next night. If you really have a hard time with leftovers, switch your meals in the restaurant, so that you will be eating your favorite dish only as a leftover.
The TV Dinner
Use leftovers to make up individual TV dinners. For example, if you have a little bit of mashed potatoes left over, you can freeze it in a muffin cup. Pop it out and place it in a container with a slice of frozen meat loaf and a cup or two of frozen peas. You can make up TV dinners right after you finish a regular meal, or just Freeze bits of your meal individually until you have enough to make a complete dinner. Make sure to label everything. These dinners are great to have on busy days or when you just don’t want to cook.
The Smorgasbord
Once a week (or more often if necessary), take out all of the leftovers that are sitting in your fridge and have a smorgasbord or buffet from them. Let the family choose what they want to have and then just heat and eat. How do you choose who goes first when you have kids? In my house, it is whomever gets to the kitchen first when called, or we do it by youngest to oldest.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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