For dinner, I baked a chicken and made a heap of mashed potatoes. Today, I sliced the chicken breast for sandwiches, used the leftover mashed potatoes for shepherds pie, and am boiling the chicken bones for soup.

It’s the kind of cooking I grew up with. Plan ahead, cook something large that can be repurposed throughout the week. It’s hearty and nutritious.

I’m not sure if my mom always cooked this way or if it was after our life circumstances changed and money was tight. I was about to say there was never enough money; but, maybe that’s not true. Maybe we made due. Set our priorities in a way that there was enough money. We had a house. We had food. We had a car.

There are so many lessons I learned growing up that help during the pandemic. Today, though, the one that’s sticking is how to cook like this. Plan ahead, reuse what’s left for other meals; don’t waste.