To minimize the mess when cutting up a watermelon, place a cookie sheet under your cutting board: Even though my cutting board has a juice groove, it cannot catch all of the juice that a watermelon produces. The cookie sheet prevents my entire counter from becoming a sticky mess. Do you have any tricks forRead More

Monday – Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup and a Garden Salad. Tonight is dessert night and I am going to try my hand at making a gluten free version of Rhubarb Cake. Tuesday – Grilled Pork Chops, Peas with Basil, and a Garden Salad Wednesday – Use leftover pork in Chili Pork Burritos, Refried Beans, SpanishRead More

Since I spent last week in bed, I have a fridge full of veggies that need to be used up. My menu is designed to use up as many of them as I can, so I don’t have an ugly food waste picture on Friday. Monday – Swiss Chard and Garbanzo Bean Soup and SaladRead More

Each week I participate in Food Waste Friday hosted by The Frugal Girl. Monitoring my food waste, and documenting it with a picture, keeps me accountable and motivates me to remain vigilant in my goal to minimize, if not eliminate, food waste in my household. We did not waste food again last week. I wouldRead More

I would prefer to have magazine cover kitchen counters: completely clear, except for the strategically placed bowl of fruit.  I also wish that everyone who resided in my house realized that wiping down the counters was part of cleaning the kitchen, but I digress. I have come to realize that some clutter is good forRead More

Last week’s menu had my family scheduled to enjoy Mother’s Day Dinner with friends. Unfortunately, Rew and I both came down with a cold on Saturday. My older kids demonstrated their mad microwaving skills and heated up a freezer meal to make Pulled Pork for my Mother’s Day dinner. Last week, I saw several recipesRead More

Sometimes I wonder why I post my dinner menus. It seems a little silly to broadcast to the world what we are eating at Chez Leftovers. However, I find a lot of recipe ideas from viewing other blogger’s menus, so it only seems fair that I return the favor. When viewing other blogger’s menus and recipes,Read More

Once A Month Cooking can be adapted to whatever you want or need it to be. Not a casserole person, then don’t make any. Like to use lots of fresh vegetables in salads and stir-frys, then pre-cook meat, beans, and rice to use in those meal and then add fresh vegetables the night you prepareRead More

I have had a busy day resolving issues with the DMV on our truck so that I could legally pick up a load of hay for the horses. Now that I know the animals all have food, I can turn to the menu for my family. 😀 I found a few new recipes while IRead More

The seasoning for this dish was inspired by the Vegetable Lasagna I made last week. The zucchini layer was so delicious that I ate a lot of the zucchini slices that were intended for the lasagna. Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon olive oil1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced1 medium summer squash, thinly sliced1 teaspoon basil1 teaspoon oregano1 teaspoonRead More

I was so pleased with the Vegetable Lasagna that when I found out a friend was having surgery, I decided to make it for her and her family. The memory of how long it took me to assemble the lasagna was fresh in my mind, so I was determined to find ways to reduce theRead More

I make menu plans because it saves me time, money, and reduces our food waste.  In a previous post, I shared how my menu planning has changed over time. I thought it would be nice to share how some of the bloggers I follow, do their menu planning: Laura at I’m Losing It creates aRead More

I am getting my menu up late today, not because I got home from my trip after midnight last night, but because this morning I found out that my credit card number has been stolen, the DMV has still not mailed my tags, and my computer is infected with a virus. After I post thisRead More

This week is unusual, both because of the large quantities of leftovers and because I will be out of town visiting my Dad for 3 of the days, leaving my husband and teenagers to fend for themselves (taking my 3 yo with me). I will make large meals on Wednesday and Thursday, so they canRead More