Thursday, August 14, 2008

Cook Once, Eat Twice


I need to make the most of my time as a homeschooling mom. For me, that doesn't mean cooking from a can or a box, but it does mean planning wisely. I made a double batch of pitas on Monday. We ate some that night for supper with chicken salad. I traditionally serve my chicken salad on store-bought croissants, but that means spending approximately $8 on croissants alone! Since I didn't need to go into town, I decided to be thrifty and serve the salad on pita bread instead. My double batch of pitas cost less than $2!


We ate more of the pitas stuffed with homemade egg salad for lunch yesterday. And today, I baked a few of the pitas at 350 F for about 7 minutes, and then cut them into wedges. I made some hummus, and called it lunch. It certainly was worth the time to bake the pitas at the beginning of the week.

For supper Tuesday evening, we grilled pork chops. I purposefully grilled more than we needed, and immediately set the extras aside. While cleaning up after dinner, I cut the extra pork chops into chunks, and refrigerated them. I made Pork Fried Rice for supper last night, and part of my work was done! A little planning goes on long way in stretching your time and your money!

16 comments:

Karen said...

What great ideas, Tracy! We're having pork fried rice in the near future, too. I made a big pork roast, and I plan to make half of the leftovers into pork fried rice and the other half into pork hash (with potatoes, carrots, and onions). This is the way that my mother, a Depression-Era baby, taught me to cook. What a blessing that you're teaching this to your daughters!

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Those are some great ideas for planning ahead!

We moms can use all the help we can get.

Do you have your pita recipe posted somewhere already or would you consider posting it? We love them but I will not pay alot for this kind of stuff, and I too cook mostly from scratch.

Thanks!

Tracy said...

Mrs. Rabe,

In the sentence, I made a double batch of pitas on Monday, click on the word pitas. It'll take you to my recipe at my cooking blog!

Akprestons said...

Wow! I sure hope I can become as thrifty and thoughtful with meal planning/kitchen management as you by the time kids come along. That's one of my husband's biggest gripes is that I have no idea how to manage food! lol (but he still compliments me on my efforts!)

I'll definitely be back!!

love jessica

Susan said...

Great ideas!!! I like to plan ahead like that too. Just plain smart thing to do.
Susan

Anonymous said...

Oh boy do I wish I was one of your kids. You guys eat so good and so much variety. I think the variety issue is one of my toughest when it comes to making meals. Then again, I don't have your gift to cook and bake.

Yummy! That's always something good to eat at your house.

Momma Roar said...

Great plan! I love the my kiddos are still small enough and don't eat huge portions that we can stretch our meals that way.

I really do try to plan our meals, but if I don't get to it over the weekend, it rarely happens - it is very frustrating at times.

I must remember to post a hummus dip recipe - onions and cucumbers and feta cheese. It is soooo good and healthy too! :)

I will try to get everything I need to make it so I can post with pictures. I've been buying pita chips to eat it with, but I'm finding them so salty. This time, I'll have to try it with these!!

Lori said...

Tracy,

Hi! How are you? Hope you are having a great summer.

What a great idea. I'm going to check out your recipes. I love to cook ahead too.

Beck said...

I want to try making pitas next week, too! What an inspiration to see photos of the process!

Terri said...

I do this all the time and you are right, it does help to plan ahead. Great idea!

Karen said...

I like the way you think!
Hummus is a favorite here, too, that we serve with veggies.

Anonymous said...

Very smart indeed!

And the new blog decor is *lovely*. (o:

Short Stop said...

Such great ideas, Tracy. I've been thinking a lot about how to strech out meals, and how to make more and more things from scratch instead of buying them. Your ideas are always so helpful.

Croissants are delicious but SO expensive. Have you ever tried to make them? I've heard it's complicated, but if anyone could make them, you could! :)

randi said...

Hi Tracy,

I was actually going to comment on the Olympic unit study--what a great idea!---but then I noticed the bowl of eggs and I had to mention that you and I have the exact same bowls. Mine is a dinnerware set and I love the color, but I do find that the bowls are hard to store in the cupboard because they stack so high!

sherry said...

Bingo. :o)

Time and expense. Exactly why I make 3 meals per week rather than something new every night.

Example: Rocky grilled chicken breasts on Thursday evening then cut them thin and at an angle so they'd go further. We enjoyed a few slices with a fruity salad and bread. Last night I saute'd some onion and julienned carrot then tossed in small cubed chicken and defrosted broccoli and corn from last week. In another pan I made chicken gravy. Lizzie made biscuits. Into a bowl went a helping of chicken and vegies then a ladle of gravy and topped with a biscuit. Took no more than about 20 minutes. And we have leftovers for lunch today!

:o)

Toni said...

Your so right about double batch cooking. I`ve started making extra reakfast items to freeze for a quick breakfast once school starts. I also plan on making bread and rolls and freezing them! The pork fried rice is a great idea. Thanks for all the time saving ideas!!