A LITTLE PRAIRE HOUSE COMPANION

It was a 5^th grade Social Science project assignment for one of Mother’s Little Helpers. Memory fails me on many of the details but the outcome was a handmade pie crust.

Maybe the class was learning about life before electricity and modern appliances or maybe it was to replicate foods of wagon trains and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. But whatever the reason, I recall being grateful for two things.

First, was to be able to share the experience of baking in the kitchen with my middle Little Helper. A pie crust is so versatile; so much can be done with it. As a bottom crust, it’s a quiche. As a top crust, it’s [Shepherd’s] pie.

What a life skill to learn! Pour some leftovers such as chicken and vegetables into a pie plate with a liquid binder such as gravy, cover with a pie crust and there’s a meal. Chicken pot pie!  My 10 year old had learned a lesson in reinventing leftovers.

The second thing that I was grateful for?

 It wasn’t a project that I heard about the night before it was due!

Sound the bugle! Today’s tip: If your family does not like to eat the same meal days later, reinvent the ingredients into a new meal. Having stock on hand in the freezer, many leftovers can be made into soup. Another idea is a casserole which only requires a meat, a vegetable, a carb and a liquid binder such as gravy. Some meat leftovers lend themselves to a stir-fry while others can be stuffed into jumbo pasta shells. The tip is that wasting leftovers wastes both money and resources. Not a very frugal thing to do!