Day Four Meal Ideas
Lia took over the computer yesterday for her Friday Story Time by Lia, but I’m back on track today with my Day Four Meal Ideas. This was day three with some shrimp ideas if you missed it! http://themarthareview.com/day-three-meal-ideas/
These are meals from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Now remember my challenge is to not buy food or eat out in January unless we have gift cards. We received an Outback Steakhouse gift card for Christmas so we went there for Wednesday dinner! I had all you can eat French Onion soup with salad, Rich had Baby Back Ribs with salad. We also had a free Bloomin’ Onion from points I didn’t even know we had! We were too full to eat everything so I brought two loaves of their delicious bread and the left over bloomin’ onion home.
You guessed it, the leftovers from Outback went for Thursday’s dinner! I pulled out a package of stew beef from the freezer and cooked it with peppers and onions for Rich. Since we still had left over ham and riced cauliflower on hand, I fried them together with peas plus a side of the left over broccoli slaw for my dinner. The bread and bloomin’ onion were compliments of Outback!
You might have read my blog from day two where I made ham and potato soup with our Thanksgiving ham bone. Well Thursday I made the same kind of soup from our New Year’s Day ham bone but I made this a bit different. I added peas instead of green beans and I tossed in some cheddar cheese. When the peas cooked, they split open and gave the soup broth a green look, just like split pea soup! I cooked it in my Blue Diamond pressure cooker/crock pot but since I didn’t make it until late in the evening I put the entire pot in the refrigerator until yesterday morning. The ham fell right off the bone and everything was so mouthwatering tender.
For dinner yesterday I had the delicious soup with left over bread from Wednesday’s Outback Steakhouse dinner! I also made cottage cheese with whipped cream and pineapple salad the other day and had leftovers of that. So yesterday’s meal was basically left over from a few different meals plus the soup! Yes there was left over stew beef with peppers and onions from Thursday so I served that over pasta for Rich. Everything except the soup was leftover and even the soup could be considered left over by using the ham bone!
Now you may remember January is the month where I clean out the freezers and pantry before I shop for more food! So what did I do, I made four meal prep container of my soup to freeze giving me even more food to use up before we shop! The soup is very thick so all I have to do is add a bit of broth or water and heat it up, each container will make two servings. I don’t like to waste things, especially food so from one ham bone plus some left over cut up ham pieces, 6 potatoes, an onion, frozen peas, and shredded cheddar cheese I made enough soup for eight meals.
My week of meal ideas is just about finished, I wonder what I’ll come up with to write about next week! Until then may you all have a wonderful weekend!
I love that you repurposed the leftover blooming onion. Yum! I’m loving your focus for this month. We did a get rid of food in your cupboard last November until Thanksgiving. We also used some gc that we had.
That’s a good time to clean out the freezers Cheryl. Maybe I’ll try that next time so I can refill it for the beginning of the year! I love repurposing everything!
I will compliment you on being frugal with the food and not wasting anything. I would question the nutritional value of foods being reheated so often. Keep on doing what you are doing but maybe try to add a fresh salad to each meal for the vitamins and minerals.
Thanks Chef William, many of my recipes come from you! As for reheating, I only reheat a meal portion at a time, not all that’s leftover if that helps. As for salads, we always have them, usually in the evening for a “snack” since our main meal is early in the afternoon. Thanks for stopping by!
I love using leftovers and like you I am working through our Pantry and Freezers which David and C don’t like. But I don’t want them to be full of food that gets left behind and not used. Then thrown away. Waste not want not is what my grandmother always said. Have a great weekend and I am glad to see you back in the #UBC.
I love leftovers Glenda, I got the ideas from my grandmother!
I am usually left speechless whenever I hear you discuss your meal ideas. Extremely creative meal planning .
My grandmother could make a dinner for the seven of us for practically out of nothing Amrita. I’m following her footsteps.
Martha, I love reading about your meals! You motivate me! <3
Thanks Kebba, I’m happy you are motivated with my meals. I love coming up with meals that I can stretch for more days.
Best of luck to you with your challenge for this month. With the way prices are so out of line, every family is doing what they can to stretch meals and food budgets.
Yes it’s scary the way prices are increasing Angel! Thanks for visiting.
Those Meals look so good! Tomorrow Matt and I are going to use up some of our vegetables we have. I will probably fry up my onions and maybe the green peppers. Not sure what else I will have with it.
Today, I made a simple meal for lunch. I took some boil in a bag brown rice, cooked that in the microwave, then I added in some leftover mushroom pasta sauce and added a tiny bit of old bay. I loved it. Matt tasted mine and asked for some for dinner. He loved it so much he said we are adding that to our meal rotation. Have a good weekened.
That sounds delicious Amanda. Some meals are so easy and inexpensive but healthy and filling.