Make Two Meals in One: Ideas for Cooking Once and Eating Twice

BY Chef K.T. Murphy January 9, 2021

In this article information on Make Two Meals in One: Ideas for Cooking Once and Eating Twice If you’re like most people, you lead a pretty busy or maybe even an incredibly hectic life. Instead of heading for the drive-thru for a quick meal, plan your meals so you can make two meals out of your efforts. Basically, think of how each piece of meat or meal you make can be turned into another quick and delicious offering on another day. Not only is this healthier for you, but it also saves you plenty of cash as well.

Roast Chicken

Roasted chicken or even pieces of cooked chicken are so versatile. You can take the meat and slice it up for sandwiches or salads. Chop the chicken finely and mix in a bit of mayonnaise, mustard and pepper to make chicken salad sandwiches. Use the carcass to create a low-sodium chicken broth or soup. Keep frozen piecrust on hand so you can make a quick potpie.

Spaghetti Sauce

Traditional spaghetti with meat sauce has more uses than you may have previously thought. Use it as a base for crockpot chilli or place it on top of a plate of cheesy nachos. You can even try it in your next batch of shepherd’s pie.

If you have a meat-free tomato-based sauce, it makes a great pizza sauce, soup base or vegetarian chilli. Wherever you use plain tomato sauce, you can throw in spaghetti sauce instead. Another example from my mother, she would take left over elbo’s with sauce and fry it up in the pan. We did not eat spaghetti I was from an Irish family from NYC. Italian and Irish did not get along because they were fighting for the same jobs to feed there families. Guess thats a nice way to say it.

Roast Beef

Buy a roast in a larger portion than you’d normally buy because there is plenty you can do with the leftovers. Make a hearty beef barley soup or slice it in to a salad. You can also buy some buns, slice it thinly and serve it with au jus for a delicious beef dip meal.

Baked Ham

Baked ham makes a great macaroni and cheese or other pasta topping. Of course, ham and pineapple pizza is always a hit, too. And don’t forget about omelettes, quiches and more.

Mashed Potatoes

Do you ever make too many mashed potatoes and then end up throwing them away, instead of using them again? No need because you can turn them into something exciting and new. Use leftover mashed potatoes for shepherds pie or make it a whole new side dish by adding bits of bacon and cooked onion. Mother, would take the mash potatoes and fry them with onion mixed in. Great with stewed tomatoes and a little cheese.  I still do this for my boys.  My mother would wasted nothing she would take the leftovers from the week and put them in a pot and call it slumgulion that was thursday before daddy got paid and the refrigerator need to be cleaned out. Please remember shopping was done every other day, if not everyday. The ladies would go to the butcher, then over to the bakery. You only went to the Acme on fridays.

Rice

If you serve a meal with white rice, it’s easy to turn that same rice into a stir-fry the next day. Just sauté some vegetables, add a little soy sauce and top your rice. What about a nice rice-stuffed tomato or pepper? If rice pudding is a family favorite, you’ve got your core ingredient all ready to go.

Extending your meals takes a bit of forethought, but it’s well worth it. When planning your meals, think of how you can extend them and plan accordingly. Try to extend at least one item from each meal to another and soon it will become second nature. Once it becomes a part of your regular routine, you’ll see the savings in your grocery bill and the dinner hour will suddenly become less hectic.

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Always show some love, cook for someone!

Keith Murphy

Chef Murph

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