I promised information about creative use of leftovers, so they don’t seem like leftovers.  The secret is to make a completely different meal with them.  No one really likes to have more of the same thing you had the night before, and reheated food is never quite as good.  Here is an example of a roasted chicken dinner.  The first night you will serve a roasted chicken with stuffing, salad and a vegetable. Night two, you will remove some of the leftover chicken from the bones and make chicken tacos or chicken burritos and serve them with rice, black beans, chips and salsa.  Night three, more chicken can be removed from the bone and you can serve chicken Alfredo with tortellini pasta and green salad.  When you are preparing the third night’s meal, break up the chicken carcass, and place all the bones and meat scraps into the slow cooker along with all the left over vegetables and water, and begin making a chicken stock.  Night four, you can strain your stock, and make chicken noodle soup, or go Chinese and make egg flower soup or won ton soup from your stock.  Unless you tell them, your family won’t even realize that you’ve been serving them leftovers. 

My youngest son once called me the queen of leftovers, because he could never tell for sure when I was using them.  You can save so much money if you use your leftovers instead of tossing them in the garbage

I was speaking to a group the other day, and they said that the hardest part about cooking and eating at home was deciding what to fix on a daily basis.  Then, if they made the effort  and decided what to fix for dinner, they often didn’t have the ingredients on hand, and would end up going for fast food anyway.  There is a specific plan I have used for years that makes all your decisions on one day of the wee, and insures you have what you need on hand. 

Most communities have a specific day of the week when the newspaper puts all the grocery ads in the paper.  Here it is Wednesday, and the “food day” paper is free.  If yours is not free, most stores have the circulars available in the stores, or have their weekly sales on line.  In very small communities, there may be no sales flyers at all, but you can still use the essence of the plan.  We shop early on Saturday morning, and I sit down on Thursday or Friday evening and plan the following week’s menus based on what’s on sale in the stores.  I’ll select two or three of the meats that are on sale, and  add on fruits, vegetables and other side dish items, writing down each day’s menu and my shopping list at the same time.  I’m not a coupon user any longer, but if you clip coupons, you can attach any appropriate coupons to your grocery list.  We love pizza and pasta, so I make sure that we have what we need on hand for at least one of these dishes.  I also plan for leftovers.  (I’ll talk more about how to use leftovers so they don’t seem like leftovers tomorrow.)

Finally, my grocery list includes stocking up on any items that are priced very low.  For example this week one of our stores has whole fryer chickens on sale for 69 cents a pound with a limit of three.  I’ll buy three and freeze 2 of them for use later. 

I seldom include prepared or convenience foods on my list.  Instant oatmeal packets cost about 33 cents an ounce and the big round box costs 9 ½ cents an ounce.  3 servings a week for two kids would save you just over $100 during the school year if you bought the round box instead of the convenience packets.  It really doesn’t take any more time to make it either.  Both need boiling water or the same time in the microwave.  So, we are talking just a few seconds of difference in prep time.  If you do the math, you’ll find the same kinds of savings in the prepared bags of lettuce, hamburger helpers, slow cooker meals in a bag, and other convenience foods comparing them to making from scratch.       

This is the time of year that the first of the spring fruit and vegetable crops are getting ready.  Asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, artichokes, and others, depending on where you live.  I have a large freezer, a food dehydrator and a whole bunch of canning jars.  I have already frozen about 50 pounds of asparagus, and will finish off the rest today.  I purchased my asparagus from a local farmer, and instead of the $1.89 at the grocery store, I paid just 80 cents a pound.  And… the quality and taste is so much better because it is fresh.  Those food items that I can freeze, dry or can I will try to purchase from a farmers market or direct from the farmer to get the best quality and usually the best price. 

Even if you don’t preserve your own food, you can save money by purchasing your food while it is in season locally.  Right now, fresh corn on the cob is about 90 cents an ear.  In July and August you will be able to get about 10 ears for 90 cents.  If you don’t already pay attention to the seasonal prices of the foods you love, its time to begin.  You will save quite a bit of money every time you go to the store if you simply buy fresh fruits and vegetables when they are in season. 

Egg shell Jewelry… made from some of those saved colored egg shell pieces.

You can make beautiful little one-of-a-kind gifts with some of the most unusual items.  Egg shells, whether colored or plain are very versatile.  You’ll want to use your biggest pieces of shell for a beautiful necklace.  Cover both sides of the shells with a two part epoxy which you can get at any craft store.  Set the pieces on a piece of ceramic tile or an old dish lightly coated with Vaseline to dry.  You can get a similar effect and strengthen the shell pieces with multiple coats of clear nail polish.  Make sure each coat dries for at least 3 hours when using nail polish.  When completely dry, drill a small hole in the top of the shell. You can find a great hand drill and drill bits here:  http://www.bobbibopstuff.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_18&sort=20a&page=3  the bits are at the bottom of this page:  http://www.bobbibopstuff.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_18&sort=20a&page=2

If the color isn’t quite right or if you want to embellish the color, use acrylic paints on the shell to get the desired effect.  Put a clasp through the hole and add a jump ring big enough to string your chain, thread or ribbon through.

You can make earrings with shells that are similar in size and shape, or add several pieces of shell to your ear clasps with jump rings.   

There are only 248 days until Christmas.  Amazing how quickly the time passes.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some ideas for making gifts.  Most things will be quite simple requiring basic skills.  Even if you aren’t crafty, you’ll be able to do most of these.  Keep in mind that hand crafted items are usually appreciated far more than something you can purchase at a store.