The other really good idea I have is the soup bins. Keep a soup bin in the freezer. (One for chicken and one for beef if you have room!) Toss in all leftover veggies, all leftover scraps of meat and of course pour in the leftover gravies and broth from your crock-pot, roasting dish or gravty boat. When the soup bin is full transfer ingredients to your crock-pot or soup pot and warm up some yummy bread. Yummy stuff there…and its what I call “freesoup” because it was made from the scraps that would have been trashed!

If nothing else save your leftovers in a storage bag [LABEL IT, trust me on this one!] You will think of something to do with it when you are desperate enough, I promise.

I'm not a fan of MSG or HFCS and we certainly go out of our way to avoid them in our daily diet.

can of tuna, or chicken, or ham (or leftovers)
cooked macaroni (whatever shape you have)
chopped onion & celery if you have them
frozen peas, thawed (or leftover — not canned, too mushy)
shredded carrots, if you have some

toss together with just enough mayo or miracle whip to moisten, or another salad dressing that sounds good to you.

When I was little and my parents were in weight watchers, mayo was a huge no-no, so they mixed their tuna with yellow mustard which was a “free” food. Sounds weird, but actually not bad. And it’s cheaper than mayo.

for longer term – try to find a “salvage” grocery store. I go to one called BB’s Grocery Outlet, for amazing deals on stuff that grocery stores have rejected because it’s slightly damaged, or a little past the sell-by date. I’ve gotten gourmet soups there at 3 cans for a dollar, rather than the $3 each that they sell for elsewhere. (That’s how I know that Wolfgang Puck’s tomato soup is amazing!) Cans of refried beans are almost always 3/$1. I’ve also gotten 5 pound blocks of cheese for way less per pound than grocery stores sell it for. I cut it up and freeze it – crumbles when you thaw it, but I use it for cooking so it doesn’t matter. easy, cheap protein!