• First and easiest, rewarm the leftovers, but create a buffet. Let the family choose, as if it were a restaurant. The younger children love this, but don't forget to give your restaurant a name. If you have small children and especially if they do not like leftovers, create a quick menu in which they can select their own dinner. My children loved the menu idea when they were younger, especially when mom sported the folded towel draped over one arm as their server.

• If you have eggs, possibly a little meat, some veggies and cheese, you can make a quiche. If you're doubting the men in your life will be receptive to quiche, you can call it "Ham and Egg Dinner Pie" or a "Chicken and Spinach Bake." You get the drift... You can make the quiche with either a homemade or store-bought crust, though the store-bought will be quicker. Provided you have a little creativity and a few necessary ingredients, you should be able to find a quiche recipe that will work.
  

• If you routinely have small amounts of leftover meat (ground beef, ham or sausage are the best) you can start a bag in your freezer to collect pizza toppings. When I have ground beef or chicken, I sometimes turn the pizza into a barbecue or cheeseburger pizza. I mix in a little barbecue sauce with the pizza sauce and top it with shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella.

• If you have an assortment of noodles or rice, veggies, and even a little meat, you can turn it into a soup. Just grab some stock, choosing an appropriate one based on the meat you have on hand, and rewarm in a pot. Add a few suitable fresh ingredients to stretch it into a big enough meal for your family. Depending on which foods you have left from a Mexican dinner, you might be able to create a taco soup. A minestrone can be created with leftover pasta and beans. The veggies, rice and noodles can also be good ways to stretch canned soup when your time is limited.

• If you have chicken and veggies, you could mix up some dumplings from a baking mix or even from scratch, and allow to cook until done on top of the chicken soup. In addition to stretching the meal, the dumplings will be helpful in thickening the soup.

• Betty Crocker has a series of recipes using Bisquick called Impossible Pies that are also great for using miscellaneous leftovers. While the recipes call for specific amounts of the veggies and meat, I'm certain that you could do a little substituting if you are comfortable in the kitchen. However, there are so many recipes for the Impossible Pies that you may not need to substitute.

If you enjoyed this post, please check my main page tomorrow or subscribe to the RSS feed (top right) for more "Spring Clean Out" posts.

Labels: cleaning, Everything Egg, food, frugality, fun with the kids, tips, Works for Me Wednesday

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, April 28, 2009 5 Comments

Labels: food, Kentucky, recipes

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Monday, April 27, 2009 10 Comments

• Place the eggs into a large pot and salt the water. (Salt will raise the boiling temperature of the water.)


• Place on the stove and heat just until they start to boil.


• When you see they are beginning to boil, cover and remove from heat.


• Let them sit for 20 minutes.


• At the end of 20 minutes, drain the water and refill the pot with cold water and ice to stop the cooking process.


• I usually peel them immediately, but this is a personal preference.


• Refrigerate after the eggs have cooled in the ice water.

Trouble peeling the eggs?

• Fresh eggs are the hardest to peel. Use these for cooking and the oldest eggs for boiling.
• Eggshells are porous, so you can add a drop or two of vegetable oil to the water as they cook. The oil will soak through the shell which will allow easier peeling. I tried this and it really works. I added too much oil though and it was a mess, so play around with the amount of oil you need as compared to the size pot you are using. I would not recommend this for the eggs you will be decorating since the decorations probably will not stick.
  
  This is what works in my kitchen. Have you found any egg-related tips that work for you?

You will find this post and many other tips at:

Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Labels: Everything Egg, food, recipes, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, April 07, 2009 16 Comments

• First and simplest, my kids love them as a filling, protein-laden snack. Just add a little salt and pepper and enjoy.


• A classic stand-by, egg salad is quite filling for growing children. Smash the eggs with a fork and add the salt and pepper to taste before adding the other ingredients. Add a little mustard, mayo and pickle relish to taste.


• Making meat loaf? Hollow out a cavity once the meat is in the pan, place 2 hard-boiled eggs in the cavity and place the remaining meat on top of the eggs so that they are covered. (Cheese is also great to hide inside the meat loaf.) Then, bake as normal.

**Update. I've received quite a bit of comments and questions about the eggs inside of meatloaf, so I found a recipe to show you what I'm talking about. It's not the same one I use, but the one at Eggland's Best will give you an idea of what it looks like.**

• Eggs are perfect in almost any salad - potato salad, macaroni salad, tuna or on top of a tossed salad.


• Of course, we can't omit the obligatory Deviled Eggs. I like to use a Crinkle Cutter to slice the eggs in half. (This is the same crinkle cutter that apparently makes carrot sticks taste better. You can read about it in this veggie post.) Prepare your favorite recipe and place into a pastry bag or a zippered plastic bag and snip off the corner. This makes refilling the eggs much neater and prettier than using a spoon. For extra flavor, sometimes I add ranch dressing and a little less mayo.


• If you still need unique ideas for Devilled Eggs, check out DevilledEggs.org. I would have never guessed there are more than 50 ways to fix these eggs.

If you need some pointers on boiling the perfect egg or a way to save on them through the year, check back tomorrow.

This post is linked to:

Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes


I Am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace

Labels: Everything Egg, food, holiday ideas, recipes, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Monday, April 06, 2009 10 Comments

As soon as I heard it was a Backwards Edition, I knew exactly what I wanted to ask you.

Our grocery bill has been steadily rising lately. My son is almost 13, and as those of you with pre-teen or teen boys know, boys this age cannot get enough to eat. I hear their appetites get even more insatiable when they are in their mid-teens.

So, here are my questions for you:

1. If you have/ had a pre-teen or teen boy, please share with me your experience with their appetite and food requirements. He is my oldest and this is uncharted territory, so I'm feeling clueless.


2. What ideas do you have for healthy, but frugal snack ideas to hold him over to the next meal? I'm talking VERY filling here...certain snacks, like cereal bars, don't even make a dent in his bottomless pit of a stomach.

I'm looking forward to reading your experiences and ideas. For the sake of our grocery budget and my son's belly, I hope you have lots of ideas for me. Thanks!!

You can read other blogger's dilemmas and their reader's solutions at Works for Me Wednesday, hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Labels: food, teens/pre-teens, Works for Me Wednesday

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 19 Comments

Labels: food, plan ahead, time-savers, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 6 Comments

Labels: Challenge, Corporate Shout-Out's, food

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Friday, March 27, 2009 3 Comments

Are you shortening the life of the cheese in your fridge? Plastic bags and plastic wrap seem to be the most popular way in America to store cheese. In fact, we bring the cheese home from the store wrapped in plastic, then we replace the original plastic wrapper with a new plastic wrapper. Cheese is a living organism and needs to breathe, so the plastic should not directly touch it.

The best way to store hard to semi-hard cheese is in foil, parchment paper or wax paper. Foil is the only way I store block cheese and it always lasts for a very long time with no signs of mold or drying out. We have used it for semi-hard to hard cheese, from cheddar and Gouda to Parmesan, and it works beautifully.

For more kitchen tips and recipes, visit Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes.

Labels: food, tips, Works for Me Wednesday

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10 Comments

Labels: food, frugality, plan ahead, recipes

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, February 24, 2009 3 Comments

• Save the heels in the freezer until you accumulate enough and turn them into a big batch of french toast. It may not be gourmet, but it still tastes good and fills hungry bellies.


• Make a triple-decker sandwich with the heel being the center slice. The guys in your life will thank you. They say the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. "They" knew about triple-decker sandwiches.


• Croutons - These are just pieces of hardened bread, so why not use the firm bread you already have on hand? There are numerous recipes online, so search a site like Allrecipes.com and look for a recipe you like.


• Cut into strips and top with garlic butter (softened butter mixed with crushed garlic.) Then broil for just a few to make homemade bread sticks.


• Use your food-processor and turn the ends into bread crumbs for meatloaf or meatballs.

Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day: Before you throw away the ends of the bread loaf, be creative and see what else you can do with it.

What are your ideas? If you use those last bits of bread, what do you do with it? If you still want to save even more on bread, read this post.

For more frugal tips, visit Biblical Womanhood and Cents to Get Debt-Free.

Labels: food, Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day, frugality

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Thursday, February 19, 2009 13 Comments

You can read more kitchen tips at Tammysrecipes.com.

Labels: food, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, February 10, 2009 1 Comments

But, we had a problem. The best salad ever was missing a major ingredient- those little crispies that make a salad special...croutons. There were none in the house and this salad just HAD to have some. So, I reached for our kid's ranch-flavored Goldfish crackers and sprinkled some on top. I was unsure what to expect, but they were fantastic! (And kinda fun too.)

Labels: food, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, February 03, 2009 0 Comments

Labels: food, Friday's Frugal Tip of the Day

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Friday, January 30, 2009 2 Comments

• Let them choose. Next time you are at the store, let your children pick out a new food to try. My children seemed more excited and less fearful of the new foods when we did this. We tried mango, kiwi and star fruit. The kids loved it all! Now, they often make requests in the produce department.
  

• For celery, of course you can try the ol' peanut butter on top stand-by. But, add a few raisins for "ants on a log." This is a treat at my house!
  

• For carrots and cucumbers, try one of the crinkle cutters. I got mine from Pampered Chef, but I'm sure you could find it at any store that sells kitchen gadgets. After you use the Crinkle Cutter, the food looks like the crinkled french fries. I have heard from a reliable source that veggies taste better this way.
  

• Cut them into different shapes. If you normally make apple wedges, try thin apple slices. Or even better, cut the apple horizontally to show the star inside. Sometimes we just need the same favorites to be just a little different. You could make cucumbers different by leaving the peel on but scoring it for a striped effect. This is best with the hothouse variety that have thinner peels.
  

• Try raw. My kids despise cooked squash. Carrots have to be cooked just right, but give it to them raw and it is like a whole other food! Healthier too, go figure.
  

• Use color. Lots of color is always healthy and appealing to most. In addition to the standard party platter type veggies, my kids love purple cabbage cut into bite-sized pieces and red and green pepper slices. Hey, you never know until you try it.
  

• Use variety to elimate boredom. Would you rather have a small bowl of carrot sticks or a bowl with a few carrot sticks, a small piece of celery, a few cucumber slices, a couple slices of pepper? Keep a variety of fresh produce sliced and ready in your fridge so you can easily pull out an assortment for lunches and snacks. I find prepping them all at once saves me time later.
  

• Use trickery. When all else fails, disguise. A dollop of ranch or Thousand Island will make most veggies more palatable to kids, at least in my experience. Chop them finely and you can sneak some into tuna or chicken salad, lasagna, and pizza. The ideas of where to hide them is endless and there are even a few books out now devoted to this. I have never had the need to try trickery, but it seems priceless if you are threatened by mutiny in your home, should you be brave enough to serve another vegetable.

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to serve fruits and veggies so that boredom doesn't set it. What ideas or tips do you have?

Labels: food, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Wednesday, January 21, 2009 0 Comments