A tasty use for leftover cranberry sauce

The condiment with the ham is nothing more than whole berry cranberry sauce stirred with yellow mustard. I served this with ham the other night, and it was a hit. It's a sweet-tangy sauce, much like a honey mustard.

While I used yellow mustard, this would be yummy with Dijon mustard.

I blended about 1 part yellow mustard with 2 parts cranberry sauce.

It was delicious with ham, but would also be a good dipping sauce for chicken strips or pretzels.

A super simple use for leftover cranberry sauce.

Stewardship and how it is linked to frugality

One of the elements of my faith is the understanding, between me and God, that everything I have, has been given to me. And that I don't really "own" any of it, but have been entrusted to be a good steward of what's been given to me.

Fulfilling this role, as a good steward, has a few purposes. 1) it allows me, personally, to be more generous when giving to others; 2) it helps to protect resources for others in this world, now and in the future; and 3) being a good steward preserves what has been given to me, to use in times of greater need.

On Monday, I started this new week out using stewardship while managing my kitchen.

Specifically, I preserved every ounce of goodness that came out of our New Year's ham. In the bottom of the roasting pan from the ham, liquid accumulated during the cooking process. I scraped the fat off of the chilled liquid, and stored away in the freezer, to use in cooking later. And I froze the defatted liquid to save for making a ham and lentil soup, on Friday.

I also began menu-planning for the next several weeks. The months of January and February seem to be devoid of great deals in my local supermarkets. Since I am well-stocked in supplies, and I pretty much know what all I'll have on hand, for the next 2 months, this is an ideal time of year to menu-plan for a 6-week block.

I did my planning on my laptop. I have a Mac that came with Numbers (the application that provides a format for making charts). I used Numbers to make a 6-week calendar, and plugged in my meals.

I began with a blank table, like this. I selected one with an alternating colored/white pattern.

I then filled in the days of the week at the top, and numbered all of the colored blocks, for the dates of the months.

Once I had a blank calendar, I filled in my meals. I have a copy of this on the fridge, so family members can check to see if something in the fridge is slated to be used in another meal.

By planning out what I'll be preparing in the next 6 weeks, I can ensure that little will be wasted, meals for my busier days will be provided, with less work for me, and I can focus many of our meals on the inexpensive foods that I stocked up on, in the fall, allowing us to keep our grocery budget at its low level.