The next time you’re whipping up your favourite chili, burgers, stew, lasagna or soup recipe, consider shopping for twice the ingredients and making two batches. A little extra up front chopping and mixing could help you save time later and save money now.

The old “cook once, eat twice” method has been around for ages but many of us forget to use it once we are in the throws of a busy family life. The idea behind “cook once, eat twice” is that you cook extra of one key ingredient on one night and then utilize that ingredient a day or so later in a completely different fashion. For example, you might cook a roast of pork on Sunday night and then serve it again on Tuesday night as pulled pork sandwiches or Asian pork lettuce wraps. Or you could roast two chickens on Sunday night and save the second chicken for a chicken pot pie on Monday night.

Using up every last bit of food in your refrigerator can help you save money and time. Consider these uses for common leftovers:

• Rice – Add to your favourite lunch soup. Add to fajitas for texture and taste. Use in a healthy vegetable stir-fry. Make a soothing dish of rice pudding.
• Bread – Before your bread goes stale, make homemade croutons or bread crumbs. Whip up a batch of bread pudding. Make some stuffing and freeze it for future use.
• Cooked hamburgers – Chop them up again, season with some chili powder and cumin and use in tacos.
• Ham roast – Dice up leftover ham and add to your favourite mac and cheese recipe. Finely chop the ham in a food processor along with a little sweet pickle, onion, celery and mayonnaise for a satisfying sandwich filling. Treat the family with breakfast for dinner and serve Eggs Benedict.