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Long ago, I sat my kids down and explained how our food budget works. While I can squeeze extra plates out of our $31-per-person-per-week budget, it just made more sense if everyone contributed.

So, the kids arrive with groceries. I’ve encouraged them to bring what’s in their fridge, but they prefer to make a stop at Costco and stock up on fresh vegetables and meat.

When the weekend ends, I’m left with a kitchen full of leftovers — bits of food and parts of meals left in the fridge.

If we can turn these leftovers into meals, we won’t need to spend much of our budget this week.

Here’s a look at how we used the leftovers after the last long weekend to make meals for ourselves.

List of leftovers

• 4 ounces of cooked pot roast
• 1 cooked chicken, cut up
• 6 slices of deli meat
• 1 piece of lasagna
• 1 full loaf of whole wheat bread
• 1 frozen pastry pie top
• 1 bag of homemade salad
• 2 large baked potatoes
• 5 Brussels sprouts
• 1/2 stalk of celery
• 3 cups of tapioca pudding
• 1/3 container of cottage cheese
• 1 package of scone mix
• 2 cups of fresh blueberries
• 1 pack of three bell peppers

The first thing we do is to figure out how to keep this food fresh and usable.

The meat is the highest priority, so it must be divided into meal-size portions and frozen.

Pot roast is cut into slices or chunks. Chunks are bagged and put in the freezer. Slices are set aside to be used on top of salad for the first meal.

Chicken is separated with large pieces and small bits wrapped and frozen separately.

The lasagna becomes part of beef noodle soup. Cut it up so you have long noodles and freeze. Deli meat — freeze. Blueberries — freeze.

Then we look at the fresh salad and peppers. We want to use the salad for the first meal. That way, it will still be fresh and crispy.

Meals and recipes

Meal 1

A bowl of salad with creamy dressing topped with cold roast beef slices.

Meal 2

Using the lasagna, make beef noodle soup by combining the last of the roast beef with the lasagna. Add cooked carrots and beef broth to thin the soup.

Meal 3

Beef noodle pot pie — drain off some of the soup broth so you have a stew consistency.

If there is not enough filling, prepare some fresh potato chunks to add.

Layer the stew into a baking casserole dish.

Cover with the pastry top. Brush the pastry with egg wash. Bake at 350 F until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbly.

Serve with green beans or peas.

Meal 4

For the grilled deli meat and cheese sandwich:

Fry the meat slices in a hot frying pan until browned. Drain on paper towels. Frying the slices removes some fat and makes the meat taste like bacon. Make a sandwich with the cooked meat and some cheese.

Grill until the bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Serve with a small salad or pepper strips.

Meal 5

Follow the directions for the scone mix.

Add 1 cup of the frozen blueberries to the dough. (Reserve the second cup for the tapioca desert.)

When baked, drizzle a simple white icing over the top. Serve as lunch with cottage cheese and jam.

Meal 6

For Parmesan baked potatoes with Brussels sprouts:

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Butter the cut side of the potato.

Set the potatoes cut side down in a frying pan. Put on a lid. Toast potatoes on medium heat until heated through and crisped on the buttered side.

Cut the sprouts in half. Boil just until fork tender. Drain the sprouts and set aside.

Turn hot potatoes so cut side is up.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Turn heat to low. Add the cooked sprouts to the pan. Put the lid back on. Heat for 5 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the sprouts.

Serve Parmesan-crusted potatoes and Brussels sprouts with a side of fresh crispy pepper strips.

Meal 7

For chicken in barbecue sauce:

Coat the large pieces of chicken in sauce.

Bake 20 minutes until the chicken is hot and sauce has caramelized. Serve with rice and peas.

Meal 8

For celery and chicken salad with toasted almonds:

Chop 2 cups celery. Add the celery to the small bits of chicken.

Moisten with mayo, mustard and relish.

Add 2 tablespoons of toasted almond slivers.

Serve each person half a warm pita stuffed with celery, chicken and almond salad.

Side could be potato chips.

Dessert

Measure 1/2 cup of tapioca pudding into each bowl. Add the remaining 1/2 of the frozen blueberries.

Top with toasted sliced almonds.

That’s almost a week of meals.

Next shopping trip, I can spend my whole weekly budget on a delicious roast.

Waste not, want not!