Making Meals Last

I often find myself searching for recipes for meals that can last for one or more days. Left-overs are inexpensive, time savers that can be reinvented into new dishes or side items. In this economy, we are all making our dollars stretch as far and as long as we can. Sunday evenings are the typical times of the week when I try to plan out all of my meals. Since I know I will have to bring a lunch everyday to work, I usually resort to quick, re-heatable meal ideas or perhaps even a Lean Cuisine or two.

I believe this task can be extremely difficult, or near impossible, for people who do not like to or know how to cook. Resorting to buying dinner and lunch every day is expensive and frankly, can be way unhealthy.

Here are some of my ideas I’ve had in order to stretch meals and my dollar without stretching my waistband:

Casseroles

Casseroles are easy, one pot meals that you can make on a Sunday night for the week. Typically, casseroles feature noodles, cheese, meat or fish and vegetables but you can get creative with what you put into it. One thing to be careful of is fat and salt content when cooking with larger portions of cheese, heavy cream or canned soup. Stick to low fat canned soup options, 2% cheese and pile in the veggies for a good dose of fiber. You can also use whole grain noodles or brown rice for your carbs.

Salads

Pasta, rice, fruit, green…there are so many different types of salads you can make in advance. Instead of baked pasta dishes which again can be loaded with fat, opt for lighter pasta salads featuring fresh tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. A cold wild rice salad with peas in a white wine vinaigrette will be a great side item to a sandwich instead of chips. Fruit salads are wonderful for when you crave something sweet and green salads can be made a night before you want to eat them, just don’t dress them! Your lettuce will get too soggy and limp.

For one of my favorite pasta salad recipes, you will need:

• One Package of Whole Wheat Pasta (Penne, Rotini, Bow Tie
• Several different sized tomatoes (Grape, cherry, heirloom, whatever you like!)
• One Shallot
• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic. minced
• Fresh Basil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• White Wine Vinegar
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• Toasted Pine Nuts

Boil the pasta in salted water. When finished, you can rinse with cool water or simply place in the fridge if you have the time. When the pasta is cool, it’s easier to work with. Chop the garlic, shallots, basil, tomatoes, and place in a bowl with the pasta. The pine nuts should be toasted until they are light, golden brown at 350 or 375 degrees in a toaster oven. Add the pine nuts, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Add a splash of white wine vinegar and some salt and pepper to taste. Toss again, then place in the fridge to marinate. Serve chilled

Soups and Marinara Sauce

Soups and sauces are wonderful to keep frozen in individual portions to reheat at a later date. You can use your tomato sauces to top off an eggplant sandwich, toss in a bowl with penne, or use as pizza sauce for a homemade pie. I also notice that soups can be tastier after a day or two because the herbs and flavors all have a good, long chance to get to know each other.  Use low sodium broths for your soups for a healthier option.