CREATIVE COOKING: Don't plan meals very far ahead, although I know that's efficient. It's just not my style. Do you find mealtime approaching and limited supplies available for preparing dinner? Don't panic.Be creative! Make a mental list of the main food supplies you have available and then think creatively. You'll be amazed at the results.
Suppose you have potatoes, carrots, onions, various frozen vegetables, rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, milk, eggs, cheese, butter or margarine and some left over meat. No need to list your spices and herbs - we'll use them later. We could fill a cookbook using those main ingredients - but you don't need a cookbook. Mix and match the ingredients to see how many different dishes you can imagine:

• pasta with spaghetti sauce
• pasta with spaghetti sauce and leftover meat
• meat, mashed potatoes with gravy and a salad
• rice with stir fry vegetables (with or without meat)
• vegetable soup
• stew
• shepherd's pie
• hash
• hopple popple (pan fried potatoes, onions, meat and eggs)
• omelet
• baked potato with toppings
• Mexican casserole
• etc.