Hostess Tip:
Stretch your grocery dollar with strategic meal planning

I have a Midwestern way of thinking about groceries. Where the rest of the world sees a fresh green pepper glistening in the grocer’s misted produce section, I see a pepper cut into thirds. One third of the pepper would go into quesadillas, one third is reserved for salad and the last third is chopped into weekend omelets. The key to cross-training with your groceries is to think of main items in thirds or halves and to improvise with what you have on hand.
I have a sample list of typical items found in my grocery cart along with my practical-minded approaches to making every purchase work hard for my family.

• One loaf Texas Toast = Big grilled cheese and soup dinner, Garlic bread for spaghetti dinner, Excellent weekend French toast or Indulgent croutons

• Two pounds hamburger meat and one pound Italian sausage = Spaghetti sauce, (1/4 lb. or less) hamburger meat reserved from initial frying to season for quesadillas later in the week, a sprinkle of sausage reserved is good in an omelet or inside a calzone

• Leftover spaghetti sauce = Thicken with a little corn starch and it makes a fabulous calzone filling or pizza sauce and only takes about one or two cups

• Tortillas = Quesadillas, Sandwich wraps

• One pound deli counter turkey = Sandwich wraps, Topping for a large salad

• Fresh bunch spinach = Sauteed side dish in bacon grease and carmelized onions, added to canned soup for vitamins, Use instead of lettuce for turkey wraps

• Blueberries on special 2 quarts/$5 = Pancakes, Frozen yogurt smoothie for Friday night snack

• Bananas = Snacks, Smoothie ingredient, Topping for frozen waffles with peanut butter and walnuts