C.O.S.T. Cooking....Cook Once Serve Twice

I wanted to share the benefits of COST cooking. Leftovers don't have to be a bad thing. With a little planning you can stretch your grocery budget. With our "cleverly disguised leftovers" options your family won't even know the difference.

So here's my COST Cooking week...

Day 1: I steamed 3 lbs of ground beef (using Tami’s Tip). I seasoned 2 lbs of the meat with Garlic Basil seasoning. I also made a large bag of spaghetti and a pot of spaghetti sauce. We had spaghetti that same night.

Day 2: I diced up chicken breast and sprinkled with Garlic Lemon seasoning. We made Chicken quesodillas.

Day 3: I made 2 batches of Dream Spaghetti with leftovers from Day 1. I used 2 8×8 glad pans. We ate one this night and the other is in my freezer for next week. The kids ate this up so fast! I’m glad I have more!! Served with a salad.

Day 4: Beef Tacos, using the unseasoned ground beef from Day 1. I sprinkled Taco Soup and Enchilada Soup to the meat, added a bit of water and warmed it up. I used the leftover sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes from Day 3. We also had chips and salsa.

Day 5: We had Beef Stew tonight. This was so yummy! Plus, I used a slow cooker liner which means I don't have to clean the crock pot! Also made 2 8×8 pans of Texas Corn bread. One was for tonight and the other is in the freezer.

Day 6: Tomorrow we'll be having Cranberry Almond Pasta salad with Day 2 leftover Garlic lemon chicken.

Day 7: Beef Pot Pie using Day 5 leftover stew.

What have you had this week?


Dream Spaghetti

8 oz spaghetti noodles
3 cups prepared Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce
1 1/2 lbs cooked ground beef
8 oz cottage cheese
4 oz sour cream
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Combine sauce and cooked beef.

3. Combine cottage cheese and sour cream.

4. In a 9x13 pan, layer bottom with cooked pasta, spread on the cheese mixture, top with meat mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Serves 6-8

Beef Stew

3 lbs Stew meat
1 Homemade Gourmet Sunday Roast Seasoning
1 Can cream of mushroom
1/2 can water
1 bag frozen stew vegetables

1. Combine all ingredients in a crock pot.

2. Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.

This is a great freezer meal. Make a couple of batches when stew meat goes on sale! Put all ingredients in a slow cooker liner and then put the bag into a gallon size freezer bag.

Low Carb spaghetti

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.
Pierce 1 medium spaghetti squash several times with fork, place in a shallow baking pan, and bake until tender, about 40-60 minutes
Cool, cut open, remove and discard seeds, and scrape squash out with a fork.