Holiday Leftovers: Food Safety Tips and Recipes
A holiday meal is a special occasion, usually full of foods we do not eat every day. With a little planning, leftovers or “planned-overs” from the holiday meal can last several meals.
The secret to a quick meal is not how fast you can cook, but rather how you plan and organize. You can have a meal on the table in 15 minutes.
It is not a matter of time as much as a matter of planning ahead so you can enjoy an unhurried dinner. If you have meats thawed and ingredients on hand, most things can be tossed together in about the same time as it takes to order and wait for the food at a restaurant. Slow cooking something in the oven or crock pot is a hand option for making tasty food with little food preparation time.
Menu planning saves time and money. Find a time each week when you can think through meal ideas. Planning weekly meals allows for good use of leftovers and requires only one weekly trip to the grocery store. By planning, you will most likely eat a wider variety of food while limiting the number of trips to store while helping save you money.
By preparing your own meals, you can enjoy more nutritious foods than you get from fast food restaurants or frozen meals. You also choose what, when, and where you eat. A good starting point is to see how much food is left in your refrigerator, freezer, and panty at the end of the week. Are you purchasing too many perishable foods? Is your freezer stocked with healthy individually portioned dishes. How much food do you throw away each week? Buying less food and shopping weekly can save money and time.
When menu planning is mentioned, people often think of planning for a large family; however, it is just as important for one or two people. If you wait until late in the afternoon to figure out what is for dinner, chances are you will order pizza, go out to eat, or have another bowl of cereal.
A holiday meal is a special occasion, usually full of foods we do not eat every day. With a little planning, leftovers or “planned-overs” from the holiday meal can last several meals.
Most of us feel lonely every now and then. Sometimes that feeling passes by fairly quickly, but there can be situations, events, and certain times of year where loneliness can linger. During the holidays, it seems that there is an expectation to celebrate a certain way, and embrace the good cheer of the season.