My Recipe....for Saving

A spoonful of this, a handful of that...

One characteristic I've found essential to saving money is flexibility. If you're rigid about how things are done, you'll miss a lot of chances to cut your costs.

This evening, I did what I often do when it comes time to make dinner. Instead of starting with a recipe and gathering (or buying) the necessary ingredients, I looked into my fridge and my pantry to see what I had available. I live five miles from the nearest grocery store, so picking up "a few things" involves a ten-mile round trip and costs me $2 worth of gas and at least twenty minutes. I also hate to waste what I call "bits and pieces"....the last little chunk of this, the final piece of that, the spoonful or two of something that I didn't want to throw away.(I rarely eat more than I want of something just to "finish off" an ingredient.)

So....I started looking. I had a can of chili. One can of chili cost $1.60 and will basically feel one person if you have nothing else. Me, I like a more complete diet. So I kept looking.

A handful of rice left in the bag. One tortilla. About a fifth of a raw onion. Maybe a cup of frozen corn.

Are you seeing where this is going?

What else? About four inches of turkey sausage. A unopened can of black beans. A cup of shredded cheese.

Good enough. Plenty enough. I didn't have to go anywhere or buy anything and I could use up a lot of small amounts of food that might, if I let them spoil,end up in the garbage disposal.

So...grab.a casserole dish. Rice on the bottom, with a little water. A layer of corn next. Chop the leftover onion, the leftover sausage, layer those. A bit of the cheese. Drain and rinse the beans and add some of those. Cut the tortilla into thin  strips and layer that on. A little more cheese. A sprinkle of red pepper. (Don't overdo the red pepper.)  Three spoonfuls of chili on the top, the rest of the cheese atop that.

I baked it until it was bubbling, let it cool a few minutes and tried my impromptu Mexicali casserole. Delicious!

My point isn't to provide a recipe, it's to emphasize that flexibility can help you save. (For another example, see the 10 foot wraparound desk I build for less than $200.)  In this case, if I'd had two tortillas instead of one, I might have used some leftover chicken I had, the onions, the cheese, the final spoonful in the sour cream container and some bits of frozen bell peppers from my "bits and pieces" container in the freezer to make myself some fajitas. No chicken? Use an egg instead and have breakfast burritos....for dinner.

Get over the idea that you can only do things in a certain way. Flexibility, in so many ways, will help you cut waste, save time and save money.

Excuse me. I'm going to have a little more casserole. Then I'll put the rest in the freezer and day after tomorrow, have it for lunch.