DiscussionsEasy Weeknight Dinners

I used to have a cookbook that had recipes you could make and then totally change the leftovers or main ingredient for another meal later in the week.  That's what I'm after.

I have two weekdays covered with a local 2 for 1 pizza deal, and a margarita deal restaurant lure.  Any ideas on something I could cook on Monday or Tuesday that would be freezeable or repurposeable for Tuesday or even Friday?  I have in mind like Thanksgiving when you eat roast turkey one day and then some kind of turkey concoction for the next few days until it's gone.  

Ex.: I recently bought a whole grilled chicken during a grocery trip.  Ate some that day for dinner with antipasto and bread. Heated up some with barbecue sauce & fries the next day for lunch.  Same night stuffed some into a bake off recipe, for dinner.  Following day, shredded some on top of pizza for lunch with jalapenos and pineapple.  Get the idea? That's what I'm looking for cook once, eat twice ideas.  

Just off the top of my head I would recommend cooking an inexpensive piece of beef or pork in a crockpot. The first night I serve it with veggies and the sauce made in the crockpot. Next night can be soup using the left over meat or tacos or tostada with the meat as your base. Even hot sandwiches will work with the leftover meat. I have even made it work for 3 nights making enchiladas or burritos with the leftovers or a hash using the meat , diced onions and diced potatoes. Lots of choices and I love that the crockpot makes silk out of a sows ear- cheap cuts of meat become tender and yummy. ( For beef cuts I add tomato sauce  or speghetti sauce with some water to cover the meat , for pork I like to find green chili sauce with added water to cover. Lots of flavor while the meat cooks.) Good luck , hope this works for you and your family.

I buy chicken breast and cut them in half or pound them out so they are thinner(they cook quicker) cook them in a skillet (I cook twice as many as I need).  Put on the stove a pot to boil water for linguinie while cooking the chicken.  After the pasta is done add alfrado sauce to it and half of the chicken cut up.  The other half of the chicken I add either BBQ sauce or honey mustard sauce and put it between a bun and serve with a pasta salad and brocolli salad that I made over the weekend.  They both in the fridge and serve well later and I have two completly different dishes to eat.  This is also very easy to adjust to how many servings you need, more people add more pasta and chicken, less people you can freeze in individual serving or have more leftovers.

I cook a few pounds of boneless chicken (you can use bone-in chicken if you want to save money but have a little more work to do) in a crock pot with a package of taco seasoning and a cup of water for about six to eight hours  (depending on amount of chicken, boneless or bone-in, etc). Let it cool slightly on a plate, then shred.

Use some of the shredded chicken to make quesadillas. Just need flour tortillas and shredded cheddar or colby/jack cheese. My husband likes grilled onions in his quesadillas; my kids don't. Anything you want to add is up to you. Spread half of the tortilla with the shredded chicken, cheese, and whatever else you want on the quesadillas. Fold in half and grill on a pan over medium-high heat, turning when slightly browned. Or grill on an indoor grill.

For the other half of the shredded chicken, use Pillsbury's Cheesy Mexican Bubble Bake (recipe on their site), substituting the shredded chicken and a 16 oz bottle of taco sauce for the 18 oz container refrigerated taco sauce with seasoned ground beef or shredded chicken.  I don't add the salsa, either, but that's up to your taste. I also use more cheese. My family's a cheesy family.

Two meals from one cooking of chicken. And the cooking is easy. Just throw it in a crock pot and forget about it for a few hours. It does all the work for you. All you have to do is shred.

Today I mixed 1 lb ground beef with 1 lb of ground pork. Seasoned it all with sea salt and pepper and divided in half. Made Hamburger patties for grilling tonight. Into the other half of the meat I added 1/2 c. grated parmesan with 3/4 fresh bread crumbs, 1 tsp each of garlic powder, dried basil and dried oregano and 1 egg and shaped meatballs  and froze to make meatball subs later in the week. Another variety would be a meat loaf 1 night and spaghetti/meatballs the other....Hope this helps.

I had a make a mix cookbook that had ideas like that.  Also try once a month cooking there are cookbooks as well as ideas online.

For me I would make a meatloaf mix and make meatballs out of part of it and a loaf out of the rest...one night have meatloaf, one meal meatloaf sandwiches, then use meatloaf once or twice.  Another idea would be pork roast and use the rest for pulled pork.

Spaghetti (then make into Ziti later)  From Menus 4 Moms

2  28oz cans crushed tomatoes

1  6 oz can tomato paste

2 - 3 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning, to taste

Garlic Salt, to taste

1/4 cup red cooking wine, optional

1 lb ground beef, cooked

2  4 oz cans mushrooms, drained or 1 pkg fresh sliced mushrooms, sauteed in butter

Spaghetti, cooked according to directions

Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients except pasta and Parmesan cheese and simmer for 2-3 hours.  Serve over pasta with Parm. Save leftover sauce for Baked Ziti, below.

Baked Ziti

12 oz uncooked ziti (or small tube pasta)

Sauce from above or 2 lbs cooked ground beef and 28 oz jar of Prego with meat.

2 eggs

15 oz Ricotta

2 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella, divided

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions.  Meanwhile stir Prego into browned ground beef, or use your prepared sauce.  In a separate bowl, combine eggs, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella and the Parm.  Drain pasta and add it to the cheese mixture.  Stir to coat.  Spoon 1/3 of the meat sauce into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan then top with 1/2 of the pasta and cheese mixture.  Repeat layers ending with sauce on top.  Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 5 more minutes or until melted.  Let stand 5 minutes or so before serving.

This recipe makes a ton, so you can either make it and eat leftovers the next day or two, or divide into two or three pans and freeze what you don't want to make that night before baking.  If you plan to freeze some, cook your noodles just 2 or 3 minutes less than you normally would.  Then when you want to use it, just thaw and bake as normal.  *My note:  I always make this and put into 2 8 x 8 pans.  It does make a "ton" like she says.

Enjoy.  (And check out Menus4Moms.com.....she rocks on cooking ahead, etc.....

brown up enough ground beef for two meals.  make a taco/nacho-type meal with one portion and then make a pasta sauce with the rest.  

also the whole meatball/meatloaf idea works well.  meatballs freeze well and you can use many different sauces to top them with for different flavors to keep things from getting boring :)