*But that's how I do it. *I don't go to the
> store knowing what's for dinner. *I go and see what's cheap and good
> quality, and that's what's for dinner.
>
> Ken

Exactly.

And if your husband doesn't like leftovers, it may be because you are
serving then as LEFTOVERS. If you think of them as the start of a new
dish, and don't serve them in the same form, he may like the new dish
you present.

A lot of folks fall into this trap. Leftovers represent the same meal
recycled. I learned to treat leftovers as a new ingredient to make a
new totally different dish with. Like the chicken I got last week.
Part of it was as a fresh roasted chicken. The rest of it is cooked
chicken, which can be used in countless things, all totally unrelated
to a freshly roasted chicken. Broth, soup, hash, salad, and countless
other things. Same with anything you cook. Don't treat it as the
same dish, but as the starting point for another dish. Roast pork can
become something else. Same with roast beef. That spaghetti sauce you
made, could be made into lasagna.

See what is good at the market, without having a preconceived menu.
Devise your menu from what you see at the market, with the idea that
some things will be extended into other dishes. Make them
stretch..you can do it without much pain at all. That's what a good
cook does. You husband and anyone else doesn't even have to have a
clue that you are making something from a leftover: to them it is a
brand new dish.

And shop seasonally. Don't buy asparagus in December. The only place
it is in seaon then, is the southern hemisphere, and even then, not
really. You will pay out the wazoo then. Find a seasonality chart
and go by it. The stuff you buy seasonally will be cheaper, and
better quality. And abundant. Now in the northern hemisphere it is
high summer so summer veggies are abundant and fresh and cheap. Cook
with those, let the other stuff go.. Treat it as the treat that it
is, not to be seen again til next year.

Again, give us an idea of what stores you are using to shop. You
might be in an area where there are discount stores, which can really
help. Same with ethnic markets. Shop those when you can. And you
might want to look at how you shop and what you buy. Not every meal
needs to have a huge amount of protein- you can make your choices go a
long way, if you consider how you want to cook them.

And branch out with your cooking. The rest of the world uses much
less meat than we do, and they do just fine. In fact, studies are
showing we need much less protein than is commonly thought that we
do. And not all good quality protein is animal protein: thousands
upon thousands of folks live on vegetarian sources and do great with
is. If you can make the switch just one day of the week, that can
help immensely.

However, all this is moot, if you are unwilling to make any changes.

Christine