Hello ,

I emailed you last night about the end of the Dining On A Dime ebook sale (which you can still pick up for $9.95 at http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/dime ) and mentioned that I made Bacon and Bean Soup for dinner. The bacon was leftover from yesterday's breakfast and the beans had been sitting in my freezer since early last week. They were leftovers as well. It made for a tasty dinner that came together quickly and used up a few of the leftovers that were hanging out in the back of my fridge and freezer.

I do this quite a bit and thought I'd share a few quick tips with you this morning for using up leftovers and creating delicious new dinners out of them.

Quick Tip #1 - Freeze It and Serve It Again Later

If I have quite a bit of food leftover, and I know it freezes well, I like to throw everything into freezer bags or containers and freeze it. I wait at least a week before pulling it out again, unless everyone in the family loves it (we can eat enchiladas 3 times a week without anyone complaining).

With things that aren't very popular at our house, I often wait a few weeks before pulling the dish out of the freezer to thaw and reheat.

It helps to keep a freezer inventory sheet that lists each dish, the approximate quantity and when it was frozen. This keeps me from having stuff in the freezer too long and shows me at a glance what yummy dishes are hiding in there.

Quick Tip #2 - Make Something New Out Of It

Those little odds and ends of food that are leftover can be used to make some delicious new dinners. Take the bacon and bean soup I mentioned earlier for example. I could also have used those two ingredients to make a yummy baked beans side dish.

Almost any type of leftover can be turned into some sort of soup. Just add some leftover cooked rice, pasta or diced potatoes, a couple of cans of veggies, or leftover vegetables from dinner last night, a few cups of broth, a dash of seasonings and you have a steaming cup of soup or stew ready to go.

My favorite meat to use in these types of meals is leftover hamburgers. They make wonderful beef and vegetable type soup. We like it so much, we end up cooking an extra burger or two on purpose just to be able to make soup from it the next night.

Here are some more tips on turning leftovers into dinner for you.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/leftoverdinner.htm

I'll be back tomorrow with your regular newsletter.

Susanne - The Hillbilly Housewife

P.S. Please don't forget that today is the LAST DAY that you can get the Dining on A Dime ebook for $9.95 at
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/dime