WEBVTT - Cook to make leftovers

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to cook to make leftovers. There are very

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<v Speaker 1>few scenarios in life where it is possible to save

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<v Speaker 1>both time and money, but by making a little extra

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<v Speaker 1>and cooking things that keep well, it is possible to

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<v Speaker 1>do both and perhaps even eat better than you otherwise would.

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<v Speaker 1>Because I work from home, I am responsible for procuring

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<v Speaker 1>my lunch each day. Going out to buy something would

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<v Speaker 1>take a fair amount of time, ordering in would be

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<v Speaker 1>quite expensive. I can cook, of course, but I am

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<v Speaker 1>usually trying to cram in as much as possible before

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<v Speaker 1>my kids get home from school. This is why I

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<v Speaker 1>love eating leftovers. I can just heat something up quickly

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<v Speaker 1>and I will eat something tastier than if I were

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<v Speaker 1>eating a bowl of cereal or a peanut butter sandwich.

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<v Speaker 1>It is also sometimes nice for dinners to cook once

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<v Speaker 1>and then get to eat a second dinner with minimal effort.

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<v Speaker 1>So in my house, Wednesdays in particular tend to be

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<v Speaker 1>a night where we cook to generate a lot of leftovers. Ideally,

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<v Speaker 1>this is something hearty like chili that can then be

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<v Speaker 1>reheated multiple times. My lunch is for Thursday, Friday, and

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes Saturday are then set. I also love when we

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<v Speaker 1>manage to do something like grill a bunch of steaks

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<v Speaker 1>on Saturday. This then can turn into dinner on Sunday

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<v Speaker 1>with some repurposing. Cook once and eat twice or more

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<v Speaker 1>is a great philosophy for life. This seems straightforward enough,

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<v Speaker 1>and indeed, cook enough for leftovers is pretty common advice. However,

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<v Speaker 1>I know many people have trouble making this work in

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<v Speaker 1>real life. That's because cooking for leftovers does require an

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<v Speaker 1>added level of meal and schedule planning that isn't always straightforward.

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<v Speaker 1>Schedules can be chaotic or shift from week to week.

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<v Speaker 1>Not all foods keep well or seem appetizing after a

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<v Speaker 1>day or two, and judging quantities can be an uncertain business.

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<v Speaker 1>If you make a lot of leftovers and wind up

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<v Speaker 1>throwing them away, then you have wasted both time and money.

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<v Speaker 1>But fortunately this planning isn't too hard. You just need

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<v Speaker 1>to take a realistic look at your schedule and choose

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<v Speaker 1>what you cook carefully to make sure the leftovers are

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<v Speaker 1>palatable and can be enjoyed in various ways. First, there

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<v Speaker 1>is schedule awareness, and not just at the day to

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<v Speaker 1>day level. I generally look at my week and figure

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<v Speaker 1>out which nights are going to involve lots of people

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<v Speaker 1>eating and which are not. If my husband and I

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<v Speaker 1>were going out for a Sunday night dinner, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>then it might not be worthwhile to cook extra on

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<v Speaker 1>Saturday because the kids would be happy on Sunday with

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<v Speaker 1>mac and cheese. If I am traveling, no one will

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<v Speaker 1>be eating the leftovers designated for lunch. As my husband

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<v Speaker 1>works in an office and my kids are at school.

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<v Speaker 1>In your family too, it might be helpful to identify

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<v Speaker 1>for which meals eating leftovers would be a good option,

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<v Speaker 1>And when this just doesn't make sense, you can then

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<v Speaker 1>choose which nights you will cook and how much based

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<v Speaker 1>on there being a spot for leftovers afterwards. As then

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<v Speaker 1>you see that Monday and Tuesday are both nights when

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<v Speaker 1>people are home, so you plan to cook enough on

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<v Speaker 1>Monday to mostly cover Tuesday. Or you see that you

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<v Speaker 1>are working from home on certain days like Wednesday and Thursday,

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<v Speaker 1>and you see that you will be home on Tuesday night,

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<v Speaker 1>and so you will cook enough on Tuesday to cover

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<v Speaker 1>your lunches the next two days. As for what you cook,

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<v Speaker 1>this requires some strategy, but I think there are generally

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<v Speaker 1>two approaches here. One is to cook something that you

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<v Speaker 1>can eat mostly as is a second or third time.

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<v Speaker 1>This works for things like chili or a slow cook

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<v Speaker 1>or chicken dish that you eat with rice or something

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<v Speaker 1>like that. These foods don't go immediately mushy as leftovers.

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<v Speaker 1>If desired, you can eat something different for a side

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<v Speaker 1>dish the second time if you particularly value variety. The

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<v Speaker 1>other approach is to cook a lot of a base

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<v Speaker 1>ingredient and then incorporate that into meals in different forms

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<v Speaker 1>over the next few days. If you're going to try

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<v Speaker 1>to get two dinners out of leftovers, this might be

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<v Speaker 1>the best approach, as your crowd won't complain about getting

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<v Speaker 1>the same dinner twice if it isn't actually the same dinner.

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<v Speaker 1>So the other night we grilled steaks on Saturday, which

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<v Speaker 1>we ate with veggies and baked potatoes. Then Sunday night

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<v Speaker 1>was steak Fijeda night, wrapped in tortillas with some veggies

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<v Speaker 1>and guacamole and salsa. The steak got it celebrated Encore.

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<v Speaker 1>This would work with any sort of protein chicken pork,

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<v Speaker 1>what have you. All of these could get a second

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<v Speaker 1>life as fajitas, or with sauce and pasta, or mixed

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<v Speaker 1>with eggs and veggies, or stir fried with veggies and

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<v Speaker 1>topped with some sort of exciting sauce. There is a

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<v Speaker 1>little prep work, but not a ton of prep work.

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<v Speaker 1>Dinner is often ready in fifteen minutes in these cases.

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<v Speaker 1>And finally, to make all this happen, you need to

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<v Speaker 1>cook more than you need for one meal and enough

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<v Speaker 1>to cover the additional meals the leftovers are designated for.

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<v Speaker 1>This does involve some guessing if you don't have a

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<v Speaker 1>career and say food service, but like anything, you can

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<v Speaker 1>experiment here multiple teenagers in my house, so food cooking

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<v Speaker 1>feels like an industrial process over here, and the answer

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<v Speaker 1>is always cook more. But if you have fewer or

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<v Speaker 1>smaller people, you can just try cooking what feels like

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<v Speaker 1>enough for two meals and then see aim for a

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<v Speaker 1>second meal that has got some flexibility. Something like fajitas

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<v Speaker 1>can often be bulked up with veggies if the protein

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<v Speaker 1>is more scant then you assumed it would be after

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<v Speaker 1>dinner number one, And if you made more than you

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<v Speaker 1>need for dinner number two, you could just use that

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<v Speaker 1>as a protein in breakfast someday. When you are around

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<v Speaker 1>people often resolve to save money and eat more healthfily

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<v Speaker 1>in the new year. Eating leftovers can certainly help with that.

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<v Speaker 1>You are not spending money on eating out, and if

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<v Speaker 1>your dinners involved, say vegetables, eating leftovers for lunch means

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<v Speaker 1>your lunch will involve vegetables, which might not have been

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<v Speaker 1>the case at a fast food place. Eating leftovers saves

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<v Speaker 1>time too, since you don't have to cook as often

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<v Speaker 1>or run out to a restaurant to get a meal.

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<v Speaker 1>But it does involve a little planning, So maybe that

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<v Speaker 1>can be the resolution for the year. Figuring out that

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<v Speaker 1>piece can make meals better all around. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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