Cook Once, Eat Twice --- Delicious Economic Meals For Busy People

In these tight economic times, it is wise to find creative ways to stretch your food budget. Here is an idea you can use --- “Cook Once, Eat Twice.” Not only is it a money saver, but a time saver as well! You can serve the first meal for a Dinner party or Sunday Supper and the leftover meal for a dinner that gives “fast food” a whole new meaning!!! Here is how it works:

First, we check our weekly grocery food ad from Jungle Jim’s. Two sale items really catch my eye for Cook Once, Eat Twice. One is the Pork Tenderloins – buy one, get one free (And the Great Thing About This Is You Have a Second Package of Pork Tenderloins for A Whole Different Time!) and the second is the Beef Rump Roast on sale for $1.89 per pound.

Here is how we make two meals for a family of 4 for under $15 --- that’s under $7.50 per meal for the whole family! I will be showing the Pork Tenderloin meals during my television segment, but I will also give you the recipes and the information for the Beef Rump Roast meals below.

First, the information on the Beef Rump Roast Meal: Cook Once

Beef Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker
3 ½ lb. Beef Pot Roast $7.56
5 lb. bag of Potatoes $1.59
2 lbs. Carrots $1.49
1 Onion $.051
2 Cups Peas $1.25
Package of Onion Soup Mix $.059
Canned Soup or Can of Cola $1.29
Total: $14.28
Parsley garnish adds $.30 more

Second Supper -- Eat Twice: Beef Shepherd’s Pie
Beef Shepherd’s Pie
Chopped Leftover Beef Roast
Chopped Leftover Carrots, Potatoes, Onions and Peas
Remainder of the 5 lb. bag of potatoes, boiled, and mashed with milk,
salt & pepper to taste

***No additional cost except for a little milk for the mashed potatoes

2 Separate Meals – Cook Once, Eat Twice - Under $15 - Under $7.50 a Meal for 4

Recipes

Slow Cooker Beef Rump Roast and Vegetables

4 lb. Beef Rump Roast
2 lb. Carrots
2 ½ lbs. Potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters (half of the 5lb. bag on sale)
1 Onion, Peeled and cut into quarters
1 packet Dry Onion Soup Mix
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup or can of Cola or liquid of choicer
2 Cups Peas, frozen
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Garnish: Chopped Fresh Parsley

Place the roast in the slow cooker with the vegetables (if you desire, you can brown the roast in a skillet before placing in the slow cooker). Sprinkle the packet of dry onion soup mix over all and top with the can of mushroom soup or cola (do not use diet cola) – you can also substitute some wine and water --- water ever liquid you desire -- your choice of liquid will affect the flavor of the sauce for the meat and veggies. Using the undiluted cream soup provides a thickness to the sauce.

Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Add the frozen peas the last hour of cooking. Can sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.

Put Roast on platter and surround with the vegetables. Remember to remove a portion of the meat and vegetables for your second supper before serving if you desire. Serve with strained sauce/gravy.

Second Supper --- Shepherd’s Pie

Leftover Roast Cut into pieces or shredded
Leftover Potatoes, Carrots, Onions – chopped
Leftover Peas
Rest of the 5 lb. bag of potatoes, peeled and cubed

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add peeled and cubed raw potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and mash, adding milk and melted butter to reach the consistency of mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an oven casserole dish.

Gently toss the chopped leftover vegetables with the chopped or shredded meat. Add leftover sauce/gravy to moisten but not too saucy. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes. Bake in the preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly and potatoes are golden brown.

And now for the Cook Once, Eat Twice luscious, beautiful, nutritious summer dinner of Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin and Matchstick Veggies PLUS our second dinner of Confetti Pork Fried Rice --- 2 Separate Meals for 4 Under $15 --- that’s $7.50 per dinner for 4!


First Elegant Light Dinner: Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin with Matchstick Vegetables

2-3 lb. Package Pork Tenderloins $6.65 (half the price since 1 free)
3 Red & Yellow Bell Peppers $3.63
3 Zucchini $.77
2 lbs. Carrots $1.49
8 Cups Cooked Rice $1.06
½ Cup Green Onion $.39
Cilantro for garnish $.31
Total for First Elegant Pork Tenderloin Dinner: $14.30

Second Eat Twice Fun Supper: Confetti Pork Fried Rice

4 Cups Leftover Rice
2 Jumbo Eggs $.16
Leftover cubed Pork
Leftover cubed Vegetables
½ - 1 Cup Frozen Peas $.53
Leftover Green Onion slices

Total for Both Pork Tenderloin Dinners: $14.99

(Optional Fresh Bean Sprouts --- 1 cup – a fabulous addition at only $.29 more!)

Elegant Teriyaki Pork Dinner and Confetti Pork Fried Rice Supper –
Cook Once, Eat Twice -Two Dinners for 4 Under $15–Under $7.50 Per Dinner for 4

Recipes

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin with Matchstick Veggies

2-3 lb. Pork Tenderloin
Recipe of Teriyaki Marinade (below)
(or you can use a bottled Teriyaki marinade/sauce)
3 Red Bell or Yellow Bell Peppers
3 Small Zucchini or Asparagus tips
4 Carrots, scraped
¼ Cup Sliced Green Onions
8 Cups Long Grain White Rice, Cooked
Fresh Cilantro and/or extra green onions for rice

Teriyaki Marinade

¼ Cup Low-Sodium Soy Sauce (I prefer the Yamasa brand found at
Jungle Jim’s – yum)
¼ Cup Dark Asian Sesame Oil
¼ Cup Dry Sherry
2 Tab. Granulated Sugar
3 Green Onions, sliced thinly
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Tsp. Fresh Ginger, grated

Mix marinade ingredients in glass measuring cup. Reserve ¼ Cup of marinade for vegetables. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Remove pork tenderloins from packaging and rinse. Remove the silver skin. Place tenderloins in a re-sealable plastic bag or glass pan. Pour remaining marinade over the pork tenderloins. Refrigerate 4-6 hours, turning occasionally.

At suppertime, if grilling, preheat grill to high and lightly oil grates. If roasting, preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly oil roasting rack.

Cut vegetables into ¼” matchstick-type strips. Toss with reserved marinade.

Time your rice to co-ordinate with the time to cook the pork. (The 8 cups cooked will be enough for both dinners.)

**Please see note below on cooking rice.

Remove tenderloin from marinade and discard marinade. Grill or roast pork tenderloin for 35-45 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 155-165 degrees, medium to well done. Take meat from heat and cover with foil. Allow meat to rest about 10 minutes to redistribute juices – meat will continue to cook slightly. (Pork is safe to eat when cooked medium – still pink in center.)

While pork is resting, arrange vegetable strips in steaming rack and place rack over boiling water. Cover and steam 3-4 minutes or until crisp tender. For a great flavor enhancer, you could also cut vegetables in sections large enough to grill – grill the vegetables and then slice into matchstick-type strips.

At this point, remember to reserve enough pork and steamed vegetables to use for the second meal, approximately 1 ½ Cups of pork and 1 ½ Cups of mixed vegetables and at least four cups of rice. Cool – then refrigerate. You can cut your meat and vegetables into bite-size pieces before you refrigerate them or when you are ready to make your second supper, whichever is most convenient.

Arrange steamed vegetable matchsticks in a circular pattern on each dinner plate, alternating the colors. Arrange overlapping slices (3 do nicely) of the pork in the center on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle with sliced green onion. Serve with rice on the side, remembering to reserve 4 cups of the plain, cooked rice for the second supper. (For the rice you are using for the first supper, you can add fresh chopped herbs and some melted butter and/or freshly squeezed lemon juice if you like. You can also pack the seasoned rice in small cups or ramekins and then turn over to the side of the dinner plate (you can even use an ice cream scoop) – this is an elegant presentation and cuts down on serving dishes, too. Or you could serve the rice in rice bowls for a change of pace. This is an elegant presentation of your colorful, flavorful, and nutritious Teriyaki Pork Dinner.

Here is some BONUS COOKING INFO:
Rice 101

Have you ever heard someone say that after they have eaten Chinese food, they are hungry an hour later? You probably have never heard a Chinese person say that! Although Westerners tend to eat rice with our Chinese meal as a side dish, it is the main part of the meal for Chinese people. In fact, in China, rice is eaten at every meal. Chinese prefer plain white rice and sometimes brown rice cooked only with water – as I will show you – it is also my preference. (Some westerners cook rice with broth and butter and salt. I prefer to cook rice plain and then add seasonings before serving if desired.) The concept is that plain rice serves as a blank canvas upon which the flavors and textures of the food play.

Fresh cooked rice is soft, tender, and somewhat sticky --- great to pick up with chop sticks! Although rice is the preferred starch in most Chinese dishes, in Northern China, noodles are the staple starch. You will see both eaten regularly. (In celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, many foods are eaten for their significance, including rice and noodles. Sticky rice cakes symbolize the sticking together of the family and good luck in the New Year. Noodles are served for Lunar Year birthdays to symbolize long life.)

Rice:

While Chinese cooks used to wash and rinse rice to clean and remove impurities, most rice today is enriched with vitamins and iron and washing and rinsing will wash away those nutrients. It is not necessary to wash and rinse rice before cooking it, although many Chinese cooks still do for the sake of tradition and some feel it makes the rice fluffier.

Cooking Rice:

How much water and rice you use will depend on how you like your rice. Use the measurements below as a guideline. Add less water for firmer rice and add more water for softer rice.

1 cup rice and 2 cups water = approx. 4 cups cooked rice
1 ½ cups rice and 3 cups water = approx. 6 cups cooked rice
2 cups of rice and 4 cups water = approx. 8 cups cooked rice
3 cups of rice and 6 cups water = approx. 12 cups cooked rice
**make sure you use an appropriate size of saucepan for the amount of rice to be cooked

Put water and rice in flat bottom saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir the rice from bottom up and around the sides. Cover and cook at a simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Cook until there is no visible liquid on top and there are holes on the surface of the rice. Watch the rice and if it begins to boil over, place cover askew and reduce heat to low. When rice is cooked and tender, remove from heat and allow rice to stand five minutes. Fluff with fork or chopsticks.

Keeping rice warm:

Rice cooked in saucepan will keep warm for 30 minutes if kept covered at room temperature after taking from heat and keeps about an hour in a rice cooker.

Storing and Reheating:

Best way to keep leftover rice is in a re-sealable plastic bag in refrigerator. If using for Fried Rice, you can loosen the rice clumps right in the bag or you can break apart with wet hands. If eating the rice or using for another recipe, rice is easily reheated in a microwave oven, covered with plastic wrap – two cups heats in just three minutes on high covered.

Second Day Supper

Yesterday or the day before, we made a delicious, nutritious Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin and Matchstick Veggies with Rice for our family or friends. We reserved enough ingredients to make a new dinner today -- healthy and colorful Confetti Pork Fried Rice. Not only have you cut your preparation time down to almost nothing, your actual cooking time is minimal as well. All you need to do is set everything next to your stovetop, ready to go. This allows you to stir fry quickly and efficiently.

Fried Rice is a way Chinese cooks use up leftover rice and pieces of cooked meat. Fresh rice would never be cooked just to make fried rice. Actually fresh rice is too soft and tender for stir frying and would get mushy from the constant stirring. For the best fried rice, always use day-old rice, preferably day-old long grain rice which is firmer and will standup up to a second cooking better than short grain rice. So, you can see that making our Confetti Pork Fried Rice from our leftover ingredients just seems right since that is how Fried Rice was originally created – to use up leftovers – leftover rice, veggies, and meat.

Confetti Pork Fried Rice

4 Cups Cold Cooked Rice (day old long grain rice works best)
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten*
4 Tabs. Peanut, Canola or Wok Oil
1 ½ Cups Cooked Pork, cut into bite-size cubes
1 ½ Cups Cooked Vegetables, cut into bite-size cubes
½ Cup Frozen sweet green peas, thawed
¼ Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced (more for garnish)
1 Cup Fresh Bean Sprouts
2 Tabs. Soy Sauce or to taste
(can also season with salt, pepper, sugar – if desired)
Dash Dark Asian Sesame Oil

*I prefer to whisk ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of Dry Sherry into my beaten eggs for great flavor – a tip given to me by a very good Chinese chef.

First, make sure grains of rice are separated. This can be achieved by placing the rice in a large bowl and with wet hands simply break up the rice from clumps to separate grains. Set aside. If you have stored your rice in plastic bags, you can simply break up the rice clumps in the bag and set aside.

Lightly beat the eggs, adding the salt and dry sherry if desired. Set aside.
Cube the pork and vegetables into approximately the same bite-size pieces.

Arrange all the ingredients, measured out, by the stovetop.

Heat oil in wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking, add eggs and scramble by pulling the spatula gently through the eggs until they puff up lightly but are still loose. (Don’t overcook)
Immediately stir in the rice and stir for a couple of minutes to heat the rice and mix the eggs in with the rice.

Raise the heat to high and add the vegetables. Stir vigorously until well mixed. Add the soy sauce and continue to stir until entire dish is heated thoroughly. Right before removing from heat, add a dash or two of sesame oil if desired. Serve hot from the wok. Garnish individual servings with fresh chopped cilantro, chopped green onion or even a dash of hot sauce!

This is the ultimate fast food, as after quickly cooking the egg, the remaining ingredients are already cooked and just need to be heated. You’ll be surprised how fresh tasting and delicious this fried rice dish is!

Variations: You can add more than two eggs if your family desires and if you want to add a little heat, you can always sprinkle a little red pepper flakes in as well.

Cook Once, Eat Twice on a Budget!!

Jungle Jim’s Margie Potts