Free Meal

One way I stretch our meal budget out is immediately after cooking a meal, and before it even gets near the table (or the kids will instantly suck it in like a vortex) is to put a portion in a Ziploc container, freezer bag or other freezer safe container and put it in the freezer.

Later on I use these meals are used in a variety of ways.

1. Frozen lunch, grandpa and I use these instead of the ones from the freezer section of the store that are bad for you anyway. I've noticed that it's much easier to get the kids and Grandpa to eat leftovers a week or two later that it is the very next day.
2. Sometimes I pull out a couple and have a "pot luck" style dinner where people can choose a bit of this and a bit of that for dinner, add some veggies or a salad and we have a meal in a hurry on a busy night.
3. Soups, I throw into the crock pot, and heat it on low all day for a hot meal that is ready when we get home. Or just heat it up in the microwave when I forget to put it in the crock pot in the morning!

None of these cost me anything additional in time or money since I already made the dinner, plus it leaves a bit less on the dinner table to curb the helpings of seconds and occasionally thirds - which also helps the waist line in the long run also not only the pocketbook!