3/19/09 | Leftovers: Chicken and Potatoes
[ Currently Eating: Leftover Meatloaf ]
I realize I’ve sort of been ignoring Leftover for Lunch here on Cheap Eats. I used to post them up at least once a week since I do eat a lot of leftovers. I’ll try to get that back into the posting schedule. It also saves me a lot of time because I don’t have to write a fricken novel (or love letter) for these type of posts.
Eating leftovers is one of the keys for people looking to save money on food in these tough times, especially for those single professionals who do cook on occasion. You don’t have to cook every day, though you could. But when you do, try and make extra of whatever meal it is and then pack it up for lunch the next day.
The incremental time, effort and cost of making a little extra is nearly negligible - unless you’re making lobster, steak and other fancypants meals. I know it ain’t glamorous and your co-workers may make fun of you. Listen: who cares what they think?
This is a photo from a few months ago of a half roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli. It’s not pretty, the chicken isn’t perfect, but it sure gets the job done for a quick lunch.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I made oven-fried chicken with oven roasted potatoes, carrots and celery for dinner the other night, and the leftovers are going to be another dinner: HASH!! All I’ll have to add is some bacon (BACON! BACON!) and an egg on top, and everybody loves it.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
@peggasus - oh yeah, I love Hash! We did that with the leftover corned beef, cabbage and potatoes from st. patty’s.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:32 am
I guess that’s one “good” thing to come out of the recession. Now when I bring leftovers in to eat the next day my coworkers are more likely to say, “Damn. That was smart…”
March 20th, 2009 at 6:40 am
I do this all the time. Not only does it save money, but I don’t have to spend half my 30 minute lunch break waiting to buy food. My co-workers usually comment that my food smells good, so they don’t make fun of me. One of them spends $50 a week in our store’s cafe, and that’s after his 50% employee discount. I find it hard not to make fun of that!
March 20th, 2009 at 11:01 am
@caleb - I wonder if more of those people who had never brought lunch before are now bringing leftovers in.
@holly - $50 a week is a lot, but I think I used to spend even more than that for lunch at my old job. AND I used to bring lunch at least once a week!