Cook Once, Eat Twice

January 3, 2024 General /Family

In a Dinner Bind? Cook Once and Eat Twice (or more!)

By: Bridget Swinney MS, RDN, LD

It’s 5 pm, your kids are asking what’s for dinner and you have no idea! Do you ever feel like there’s just no time to cook? That’s when we usually turn to fast food or take out — which is more expensive and less healthy than home-cooked.

Luckily there is a solution to this problem. Cook Once — Eat Twice. You can do this with any cooking technique, but when you combine it with using a slow cooker, Instant Pot, or air fryer it’s a double win!

Steps to Cook Once, Eat Twice

Plan ahead. This step is vital because you need to have enough food on hand to make at least two meals out of what you cook. Start by writing out some meals your family likes. A balanced meal has a protein food, a vegetable or two, and a starchy food like potatoes, corn, peas, brown rice, pasta, bread or tortillas. If you want to try something new, check online for meal-prep ideas.

Canned tuna or salmon
Canned beans
Canned tomatoes and tomato sauce
Pasta sauce
Canned corn
Quick cooking brown rice or other quick cooking whole grain pasta
Fresh onions and garlic

Protein foods are a big step in planning as they take longer to cook. These are especially good
cook-ahead proteins:

Leftover Ideas for All Types of Protein:

Rotisserie, baked or roasted chicken

You can eat it as prepared the first night, with quick to make side dishes like microwave potatoes and a cabbage or cucumber salad. Here are ideas for another night (or lunch to go).

Cook canned tomatoes (or fresh cherry tomatoes) with cumin, paprika, chickpeas, or white beans and fresh cilantro. Serve with chicken, or for a vegan meal, over brown rice.
Make a fresh chicken salad. Chop chicken and add chopped peaches or mango, greek yogurt, and any of these ingredients: chopped celery, onion, parsley or cilantro, raisins, curry powder or cumin.
Sheet pan fajitas. Consider cooking chicken tenders with onion and bell peppers on a sheet pan. Serve over rice and use leftovers in a wrap.
Pulled chicken. Who doesn’t love a barbecue sandwich with chicken? Mix shredded leftover chicken with barbecue sauce and cooked veggies, or try this slow cooker recipe here.

Roasted brisket, ground beef, or pork

First serve with sweet potatoes and green beans (or other veggies), cooked in the microwave or stovetop.

Add barbecue sauce to the meat and serve atop a baked sweet potato, or chop the potato and mix with meat and barbecue sauce.
Make burritos or tacos. Serve with a salad.
Make a “bowl” with leftover meat and brown rice or corn, beans, cooked veggies, and chopped tomatoes or salad. Serve with Italian dressing. Each family member can make their own.

Make pork chili by cooking canned beans with crushed tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Add leftover meat to the mix and simmer for 30 minutes. Or add green chiles for a Green Chile Stew.
Cook ground beef with your favorite spices. Make half of the cooked ground beef into tacos by adding onion, chili powder, salsa, and garlic. Add the other half to marinara sauce to put over spaghetti or spaghetti squash for another meal.

Vegetarian Nights

Cook your favorite dried beans or lentils in the slow cooker. Beans are super healthy because they’re rich in iron, B vitamins, protein and fiber. Lentils don’t need soaking and cook quickly. Eat them the first night by themselves or over brown rice. Beans are also great with a sprinkle of grated cheese. Ideas for leftovers:

Bean quesadillas: Mash cooked beans with a little bit of the water used to cook them in. Add your favorite spices and sautéed veggies like onions, mushrooms, and zucchini, then spread between two whole grain tortillas to make a quesadilla. You can also top a baked tostada shell with beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.
Bean soup: Sauté onions, celery, carrot, and garlic. Add 2 cups of cooked beans and 2 cups of broth and simmer about 15 minutes. Put half of the beans into the blender and blend until smooth; add back to the rest of the beans. Stir, season to taste and serve with avocado. (Here’s another super quick black bean soup recipe.)

Canned tuna or salmon

Stock up on tuna or salmon when it’s on sale and you can make lots of dishes! You can also use any cooked leftover fish to make the following recipes.

Tuna pasta salad — basically a cold version of tuna casserole! Mix tuna, frozen peas, your favorite dressing, or mayonnaise and a dash of white wine vinegar with leftover pasta or corn. Other add-ins include chopped parsley or cilantro, chopped olives, chopped bell peppers, chopped onion, grated carrots, Italian seasoning.
Tuna salad: you probably have your own favorite way to make tuna salad. To make it even healthier, use a combination of Greek yogurt and mayonnaise. To make it go further, add chopped boiled eggs, chopped celery, corn, cucumber, minced carrot, or bell pepper. A bit of finely chopped onion, green onion, cilantro, or parsley also spices it up. Here are some different ways to eat tuna salad: