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Premeditated Leftovers™

Prep-Ahead Meals, Cooking Tips, and Frugal Living


Easy Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake

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Two weeks ago I gave a dinner party for 15 and on the day of the party we had 80+ wind gusts that did significant damage to my back yard and the pasture fences. Instead of making the elaborate homemade dessert that I had planned for the party, I was being blown about trying to makeRead More

Menu Plan – Week of November 16th

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I realized today that I make the first four dinners on this week’s menu about once a month.  They are easy fall back meals for busy times or exhausting weeks. I am still getting my strength back after a nasty flu, so I am content to rely on the old standards; my kids are justRead More

Pantry Party: Turkey Tetrazzini

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Jane at The Thrifty Countrywoman is having another Pantry Party. This month’s party features recipes that are made from Thanksgiving leftovers, as well as items commonly found in the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. I think everything in this recipe, except the mushrooms, are commonly found in the kitchen. A lot of the ingredients will beRead More

Menu Plan – Week of November 2nd

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Monday – Tomato Basil Pie and Garden Salad Tuesday – Penne with spinach and Chicken Wednesday – Roast Beef, Rice, and Glazed Carrots Thursday – Use leftover Roast and Rice to make Chinese Orange Beef Friday – YOYO Dinner Saturday –   Teriyaki Chicken, Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto, and Garden Salad Sunday – Use leftover chickenRead More

Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe and Menu Plan

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There are several family recipes that call for a can of cream of mushroom soup. I am sure my grandmother loved the convenience that canned soup provided her, but I never really cared for the taste. The canned variety also contains flour, soy and MSG, which means my daughter and I should not eat it.Read More

Food Waste Friday

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This probably should have been included in last week’s awful food waste picture, but I was holding out hope that when opened it would still be useable. It wasn’t.  The coleslaw was an impulse buy several weeks ago, when it was a loss leader at our local store. It is a good example of whyRead More

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Baking this batch of cookies was the most fun I have had baking in years! I had help, lots of help from my youngest son. When I started pulling out the ingredients, Rew pulled out the step-stool and asked for a spoon. He stayed with me and helped through the whole process. The funny thingRead More

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

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I posted this recipe as soon as I harvested my first pumpkin of the season, but I wanted to post it again now that I have pictures of the final product. Frosted Pumpkin Cookies 2 cups sugar2 cups shortening 1 – 15 oz. can pumpkin (I used 1 3/4 cups home pureed pumpkin)2 eggs2 teaspoonsRead More

Menu Plan – Week of October 19th

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It is going to be another pantry week. In the past I have had pantry weeks because of unexpected expenses, illness, and bad weather. This pantry week is a spontaneous response to my two year old’s sudden interest in the potty chair (YAY!). We are doing well so far and I don’t want to spoilRead More

How to Cook Swiss Steak in a Pressure Cooker

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Swiss Steak is one of my fall back recipes. It uses items that I usually have in the pantry, refrigerator, and/or freezer. And when I cook it in my pressure cooker, I don’t have to plan too far in advance. The recipe is  fairly flexible; adapt the ingredients to use what you have on hand. The pressureRead More

Making Croutons and Wild Rice Stuffing

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You can make croutons from any leftover bread including the heals of bread loaves and uneaten hamburger buns. How to Make Croutons: Brush both sides of the piece of bread with olive oil and dust with garlic powder, onion powder, and any other spices that sound good ( I added sage to the croutons pictured).Read More

Cornbread Casserole

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One of my husband’s cousins makes a delicious cornbread casserole using packaged cornbread mix. My kids and I loved it and each year I vowed to come up with a similar cornbread casserole recipe from scratch. One Thanksgiving after tasting my cousin’s corn casserole, I came home and finally modified my cornbread recipe to create myRead More

We are Swimming in Tomatoes

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We had our first freeze last weekend; we even had a bit of snow! It melted quickly here on the valley floor, but enough stuck in the mountains that some ski runs will open this weekend. Before the temperatures dropped, I was determined to harvest every thing I could from my garden. I picked everyRead More

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Dairy Free)

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This is my family’s favorite mashed potato recipe. Instead of butter and milk, I use olive oil and vegetable broth. It is is so flavorful that nobody will ever miss the butter and milk.  I use a potato ricer to easily create super creamy mashed potatoes. I like to make my mashed potatoes a couple hours before dinnerRead More

Easy Pumpkin Pie Spice Bundt Cake

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I found a recipe for a pumpkin pie spice bundt cake using a box of spice cake mix in a from a homeschool friend. I didn’t have any spice cake mix on hand, so I modified the directions to make it work with the yellow cake mix I had in my pantry. The Pumpkin PieRead More

Sweet Potatoes Khmer

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As those of you who regularly frequent my blog know, on Fridays I document our food waste. One of the most obvious ways that I know to avoid food waste is to cook food that your family actually likes. But sometimes there are those food items that you prepare at holidays because they are aRead More

Easy Sugar Cookies and Butter Cream Frosting

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Decorating Sugar Cookies is a traditional holiday activity. Below are tips to make decorating cookies a little easier. Tips for Decorating Sugar Cookies How to Make Colored Sugar: Put plain white sugar in bowls and then add a couple drops of food color to make colored sugar. I also make colored coconut in this manner.Read More

Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.