Cook Once, Eat Twice
Planning your meals each week can help you save time and money! Save the most money when you eat at home and "cook once but eat twice." Cook once but eat twice means that you make large amounts of certain ingredients to use in a recipe the first night, and then use the same ingredients to make a completely new recipe on another night.
Here are a few meal ideas to help you get started:
- Make large batches of brown rice. Serve as a hot side dish with kidney beans and salsa the first day. Then use leftovers in a cold rice salad or wrap like JSY's Black Bean Wraps. For a quick dessert, mix unseasoned rice with prepared instant vanilla pudding and raisins.
- Cook a large box of pasta and use it to make JSY's Pasta with Beans or Swiss Chard with Pasta the first day, then top with JSY's Lentil Spaghetti Sauce on another night. Or stir in chopped raw veggies and bottled salad dressing for a quick pasta salad.
- Cook a full bag of dried beans at the beginning of the week. Use the beans in great JSY recipes like Three Bean Salad, Mushrooms and Beans, Spinach and Beans, or Bean and Tuna Salad throughout the week.
- Make JSY's Skillet Summer Squash or stir fry a large batch of veggies such as onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and broccoli. Serve as a side dish for dinner, then use leftovers in a hearty omelet you can have for breakfast or lunch.
- JSY's Easy Tomato Sauce, Lentil Spaghetti Sauce, Spring Vegetable Hash and Summer Sauce can be used to top pasta, rice, potatoes, or eggs. You can even use them to make home-made pizza!
Starting to get the picture? Make your food do some multi-tasking and have homemade meals in no time! Planning meals around your favorite fruits and vegetables also helps boost your fiber intake while lowering your fat intake.
