Family Meals 

So how do you pull it all together on those nights when …one child has scouts, one has lessons or a game, you have a meeting, and everyone needs to eat – really quick! My answer is to mix and match!

Bake once - eat twice (or three times) is a favorite technique of mine.  I just love cooking those big dinners on Sundays or holidays and that means leftovers.  (Did I say leftovers?  No, no, no!)  Don't call them that because it puts the wrong idea in your family's mind.  They are prepared foods! 

The trick is to use the prepared foods in totally different recipes such as:

• Baked ham then ham & potato soup, eggs Bennedict, chef salad.
• Roasted chicken then chicken pot pie, won ton soup, chicken wraps.
• London broil then beef tips, bar-be-que beef, vegetable-beef soup.

This cooking approach saves you time and money because:

• You save time by cooking once and serving two or more times.
• You save on your utilities budget by doing the longer cooking only once.  This also keeps your kitchen cooler during the summer.
• You save grocery money by buying larger cuts of meat so the bone, skin, etc. that you will throw away is a smaller percentage of total poundage.
• You can buy less expensive cuts of meat because you will be cooking it for a longer period of time but only cooking the longer time once.

• Once prepared, twice baked is another option for a quick dinner!  Robin Miller on the Food Network shows you how to plan ahead for a twist on meal planning.
• Recipe Zaar has many recipes in using the bake once, eat twice approach to quick suppers.

Coming in future weeks to continue mix and match meals:

• Slow Cooker Cooking
• Carry Out and Home Delivery
• Meals To Go