Leftover Soup

To clarify, this isn't leftover soup, but soup made from leftovers. I know that the meal plan states that I'm making Ham and Bean Soup or Zippy Chicken Soup for dinner tonight. However, last week I made this soup from leftover beef and noodles. After heating up the beef and noodles for the lunch the next day, I think that we were all just "over it". I can't stand to throw out food, so the best way that I know to use up leftovers that no one wants is to turn it into something else. The elements of the leftovers are still there, but the flavors and textures are different.

Last Monday, I read an excellent post at Always Order Dessert titled, "10 Tips for Reducing Food Waste in 2010". Alejandra has some wonderful, practical tips for curbing the waste in your kitchens. We all deal with this problem. Not only is it sad and frustrating to waste food when so many in this world have to go without, but it effects the bottom line in our households. Here's a quote from the beginning of Alejandra's post, "a recent study found that Americans throw away 50% more food today than they did back in 1974. How awful is that? Not only is 50% more food going to waste, a lot of money is also being tossed away along with the slimy parsley and shriveled carrots."

My thoughts exactly! So how can we stop the waste? If you're looking for ideas, check out this post at Always Order Dessert. I'm pretty careful about avoiding waste in our household. When I plan my meals , I take inventory of the fridge and pantry and look for recipes that will use up those ingredients that are closer to expiration or produce that will not last much longer. When I purchase fresh produce, I have a plan in mind and know when it will be used. I try to purchase only as much produce and as many perishable items as we can consume between shopping trips. As Alejandra suggests, I am a "grocery day prep cook". I clean fruits and veggies soon after unpacking from a shopping trip, so they are at the ready for a healthy snack and therefore more likely to be eaten. If I make a larger quantity of food than we can eat in a day or two of re-heats, I freeze it for a later date. And finally, when I can, when I am feeling creative enough, I turn my leftovers into a whole other meal, like this soup.

No recipe today, I just pulled ingredients from the fridge, freezer, and pantry and figured it out as I went along. Here's what I started with: a container of leftover beef and noodles. I pulled out some beef broth, bouillon cubes, a freezer bag of soup veggies, an onion, and some parsley (because it needed to be used).



I diced and sauteed the onion in a soup pot until it was tender, then I poured in the soup veggies and cooked them for a bit with the lid on.



Next I dumped in my leftovers and added the broth (enough to make it look like soup) and a bouillon cube or two. After simmering and tasting, I ended up adding about half of a can of tomato paste (a little at a time until I got it just right), some Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.



I sprinkled the soup with some fresh parsley and served each bowl up with a slice of Texas toast and that was dinner. It was hot and hearty and my family was happy. Yay for leftover soup!


Anyone can tailor leftover soup to their personal taste based on what's in your fridge or pantry. I usually begin with veggies. So if you've got celery, carrots, or cabbage that are "on the verge" in your fridge, toss em' in. Potatoes too! I always buy a bag of soup or stew veggies when they go on sale for occasions such as this and I keep em' in the freezer. Once the veggies are sauteed or cooked, add in the broth of your choice and stir in leftover meat. Add in some noodles or pasta well-suited for soup such as ditalini, if you like. Season it until you get it right and you've got a whole new meal. Or maybe meals. If you make a large amount of "leftover soup", you can always freeze it. See, now doesn't that make you feel better than scraping leftovers into the trash? Make leftover soup or even stew next time!

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

Some of my friends say, "You're so organized. I could never be organized enough to plan all of my meals and make my grocery lists." Boy, do I have them fooled. This is what "organized" looked like in my house this morning.

I was trying to finalize my grocery list and sort coupons, in addition to guzzling the 2 cups of French Roast required to bring clarity to my morning.

Here is the finalized list. I post the meal plan and grocery list weekly on this blog, but in reality, I plan for 2 weeks at a time. I only shop every two weeks as well. We usually need one quick trip to the corner store in between big shopping trips to replace milk and fresh fruit. This list looks more substantial than the posted weekly grocery list for a good reason, that list only encompasses dinners. At least 3 of us in the household eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home every day. I have to purchase enough groceries to feed us for 14 days or approximately 54 meals.



I try to keep a running list. As we run out of an item, I write it down. Sometime during the two weeks, I make the meal plan for dinners. As the shopping trip approaches, I look through the current store ads and write down the specials. Finally, the day before, I sit down and make my shopping list. I make notes if an item is "on special", so I remember to look for that special. Next, I go through my coupons. If I have a coupon, I highlight the item on the list so that I know I need to give the cashier a coupon.

How do you all do it? I'm curious.

Why am I babbling on about grocery lists and coupons? Here's the thing; I'm trying to cut back on our grocery spending. I recently heard a statistic stating that the average American family spends $30 per person per week on groceries. So for a family of 4, that's $120/week. That means for my 2 week shopping trip, the bill should be around $240. I seem to come in about $40 over this budget every two weeks. That's at least $80 over for the month! $80X 12...let's see, that's $960...almost $1000/year! $1000 dollars!

I am looking at my receipt right now. I saved $50.53 with specials and store savings and another $19.88 with the coupons that I brought to the store. That's a grand total of $70.41 saved + I earned $2 off/gallon of fuel with the store's rewards program. Before you congratulate me on this savings, you should know that I still paid way more than I had budgeted this trip. It's not that I'm just throwing stuff into the cart. Impulse buying. I really, really stick to my list. So where have I gone wrong? What can I do better? Readers, please sound off! I'd love to hear comments and/or suggestions on this one.