Gonna try something I never thought of...

**Dave'sGirl** · 09-30-2006, 09:15 AM

Last Sunday I had friends over for spaghetti dinner. I love sharing my sauce idea...no meat, it's thickened with spinach (frozen) and shredded carrots with chopped zuchhini, mushrooms chopped tomatoes etc. Anyway, I also make really good meatballs (out of ground turkey) so I decided to make two sauces on Sunday, one with meatballs and sausage and one with all my veggies. It was a big hit but I still had a lot left over, even after sending some home with one of the couples.

I have been on a tight budget lately so when I figured out how much this cost me I was a little disappointed with myself, spending so much on 'entertainment'. Well, to my surprise this ended up to be the best grocery investment I've ever had!

I ate that sauce all week long...spaghetti and meatball subs. I truly don't mind leftovers. That got me thinking, I might from now on, till the budget gets a little looser (I'm working OT so it should get ahead soon) I may just cook a BIG meal on Sunday and then just eat it for lunch/supper for the week.

It really worked well for me. Now I'm thinking maybe a casserole this week. Hmmmm

**carolyns** · 09-30-2006, 09:38 AM

thats a great idea, a very frugal one. and if you can base that meal on what is on sale or clearance, all the better. spaghetti is a popular one here; i make a ton of noodles (on sale alot) and i have it as the main meal two nights for myself, son and husband; son takes it for lunches at school twice and i take it into work at least one other night of the week. i also get the store brand garlic toast and make four at a time for each meal. it truly helps that we love spaghetti!

**littlemotherhaywood** · 09-30-2006, 09:46 AM

When it comes to stuff like sauces, we always make it in a big batch and then freezer it either in servings or enough for the whole family. I do the same thing with soup. Right now we have three different kinds of soup and a ton of alfredo sauce in the freezer. It makes those nights when you don't know what to make so much easier. Last week I made a pot of black bean soup and I ended up eating it all week by myself. Guess my family didn't care for it

In any case, I love making a lot at once and then having leftovers for the week and the freezer. Plus, it saves you so much time.

**Dave'sGirl** · 09-30-2006, 09:47 AM

While on this thought process I just went to my freezer to see what meat I have in there and am I ever mad at myself! I have 6 packages of chicken in there & I didn't label them...GRRRR. I'm sure about 4 of the packages but two I don't know what they are. Probably they are the packages I put in the freezer that are leftover bones and skin from cutting the meat off of a sale package of whole pieces but I'm not sure. I am planning on soup from them but if I plan on soup making and they are thighs or something won't I be surprised!
Anyway, lesson learned, lable the packages going into the freezer, they don't look frozen like they do when you first put them in there thinking you'll recognize them...geesh

**suzysaver** · 09-30-2006, 11:06 AM

Tuesday before work I chopped up a bunch of broccili and onions and put in the crockpot with some chicken stock and milk and left for work. I came home and seasoned and added some cheese for a huge pot of cream of broccili soup. We ate it that night and I ate it for the next 3 days. Your right this really saves and leftovers are always good for me, hubby has issues with some of them.
Your so right about labeling those frozen packages, sometimes you get to digging around in there and simply can't identify it. I hate wasting those ..but how long and how freezer burnt is that? Thanks for the remind, and I will be digging around in there today...looking for any of those mystery meat packages.

**peanut** · 09-30-2006, 12:03 PM

Oh dear! Dh has had enough of leftovers I think. Last night I told him we were cleaning out the fridge and having leftovers. He suggested Chinese buffet. We went in the end. He was feeling deprived again. OTOH I now have leftovers for lunches for the next couple of days at least.

**autumnlynn** · 09-30-2006, 04:48 PM

I'm big on left-overs. I just can't bear to throw good food away.

Your spaghetti sauce sounded really good and healthful, too.

**kabin63** · 09-30-2006, 05:20 PM

We are very big on leftovers here. Hubby takes them everyday except payday, he eats with his buddy from work that day. He doesn't mind it unless it's something I've concocted that came out miserably....LOL not often, thank God. I made a cassarole last week that we ate on for three days. Works good that way. Sometimes I make a lot of spaghetti sauce and freeze leftover sauce, but either way, always a good idea.

**Mojjo** · 09-30-2006, 05:48 PM

This has really worked for us too. We had been eating freezer meals for lunch, but now that we come home we are eating all the leftovers and not throwing anything out. Pluse we don't have to buy the frozen meals eitehr...it's been such a frugal "find" for us.

**crazyBMB** · 09-30-2006, 08:25 PM

I had thawed out 2 lbs. of ground beef for somthing and then I wasn't able to make what I wanted. I later seasoned it and then added mex spices to one batch, one w/ Italian spices and one w/ basic seasonings. I was able to make 5 different meals plus leftovers. This was an accident but I made the most of it and it worked out well.

**jettsmom** · 09-30-2006, 08:35 PM

I love leftover spaghetti. It's always better the second day.

I had a lot of sauce leftover and used it for homemade pizza. It worked well.

Spaghettie sauce freezes well too.