What do you do with "leftover" flour from kneading and rolling out dough?

A friend asked me what I do with the leftover flour on the counter, after rolling out or kneading dough.

I told her that since I usually clean the counter before working dough on it, that I usually assume the flour is clean enough to go back into the flour bin.

Yesterday, I was making burger buns, and over-estimated how much flour I would need to work the dough on the counter. (My head is in a fog, from the changing of the clocks. I'm having a hard time focusing, period.)

Usually I'm pretty close in my estimation of flour needed. Not so, yesterday. And my dough was on the sticky side, so there were bits of dough in the leftover flour. Not something I wanted to scoop back into the bin.

Well, on the menu last night were sloppy joe's. I usually add about a tablespoon of flour to the beef-veggie filling for SJ's. When I scraped the flour on the counter into a pile, it came to about a tablespoon. So, for yesterday, I was able to just scoop that counter flour into the SJ filling as it cooked. Nothing wasted. I know, 1 tablespoon of flour won't save me a fortune. But I could not have allowed myself to just throw that out, now could I?!

If I add up all of the little bits of money saved, sometimes just fractions of a cent, I know that over a lifetime it will amount to something. It's like picking up pennies. If you pick up 1 penny per day, in a year's time, you have found $3.65. In 5 year's time, you've picked up $18.25. In 20 years, that one penny per day, either found or saved, will amount to $73.00. In the next 20 years, if you add one penny-saving bit of work to your agenda each day, you will have $73 more to spend, save, invest or give. I think that's worth it.


What would you have done? Do you save the counter flour from working dough? How do you usually use that flour?

Easy Rice and Spinach Bake

This is a great, frugal supper recipe, using leftover cooked rice, eggs, cheese, frozen spinach and milk. While nice and easy for supper, this also makes a good brunch dish.

The veggies could be switched up, using broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or green beans. (If using fresh, raw veggies, steam them briefly in the microwave before adding to the other ingredients.) Fresh spinach can be used, if steamed and drained before adding. For fresh spinach, begin with about 1 pound leaves. Chop then steam.

The cheese could be increased up to 2 cups, if your family likes more cheese. And the topping could be grated cheese, in place of a crumb topping, especially helpful if you're following a gluten-free diet.

The black olives can be left out, or something like water chestnuts, canned mushrooms, or pimento can be substituted. You can also add cooked meat, for an even heartier dish (about 1 cup diced cooked meat, such as ham, sausage, turkey or chicken).

Be creative! Think of this recipe as a guideline for how much of each basic ingredient to use, and how long to bake it.

To make 4 hearty servings or 5 to 6 side-dish servings:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 small onion, diced
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Mozzarella, Provolone and/or Cheddar cheese (I use a pizza blend cheese)
2  1/2 cups cooled, cooked rice
1/2 of a 10-oz package of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, liquid pressed out (about 3/4 to 1 cup packed, once thawed and drained)
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1 teaspoon each freshly chopped parsley, thyme and/or basil leaves
salt (about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) and dash black pepper

bread crumb topping:

1 teaspoon butter and 1 small slice of bread, ground into crumbs

Melt butter in small skillet and toast the bread crumbs in the melted butter for about 3 minutes, over Medium flame.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and 8-inch by 8-inch square casserole dish.

In a small skillet, over Medium-High, saute diced onions with 2 tablespoons butter, just until soft.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Stir in milk, cheese, cooked rice. Add spinach, olives and seasonings.

Pour into prepared casserole dish, and top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

This rice bake can be made in the morning or evening before, to just before topping with bread crumbs. Keep refrigerated. Then just before baking, top with the crumbs and bake. Allow an extra 5-8 minutes for baking from refrigerator temperature.