We have been making the most of a fabulous week of weather here in the North Yorkshire for the second week of the school Easter holidays (hence the lack of posting this week)! Holidays for us mean lots of family activities and lots of cooking and eating together.   With two boys aged ten and nearly nine I have to make my food stretch and with these hacks for leftover food you will never throw any food away again!

Fabulous hacks for leftover food

Leftover porridge pancakes – It is no secret that we think that pancakes are a food group here in The Mad House and we gave these fab pancakes a try and they were delicious.  Good enough to cook an extra portion of porridge at breakfast for.

Homemade Taco seasoning – My boys love wraps and this fab frugal homemade seasoning is perfect for using with leftover beef to make a delicious meal

Never buy another basil plant again – We always have issues germinating basil seeds for some reason, but we love the stuff.  We will be turning any basil we grow into more basil with this fab how to.

Turn leftover sweet potato into these fabulous crackers.  These are a great snack and taste delicious.

My boys love curry and we often make fridge bottom curry with whatever vegetables we have left.

Leftover avocado, then mix it with cocoa and cream cheese to make the most creamy chocolate pots you have ever had.

You can freeze leftover cheese. Grate it and put in freezer bag with a teaspoon of cornflour (cornstarch) and shake.  Once frozen you can use straight from the freezer on pizza or grilled cheese.

Almost anything can become a quesada.  I find by popping it between two tortillas and cooking leftover food takes on a whole new lease of life.  Salami and cheese were a favorite of the boys this week.

I am really lucky that the boys are adventurous eaters, but I find that cooking with kids means that they are more likely to try new foods.

This week we took the opportunity to shop, cook and eat together and try out Lidl’s Iberian range.  For one week only, while stocks last, Lidl are hosting their Taste of Iberia week (9th – 15th April) and have a large range of Spanish treats (view the full offers leaflet here). We took a look at the leaflet and the boys decided on what we would buy (thanks to Lidl for a voucher) and then we popped to our local Lidl.

The boys cooked us a Spanish flavour meal on Friday night and they loved the Calamari (£2.49), Patatas Bravas (99p) and Tapas (£3.49 for the clay bowl too).  We had Iberian Ham on our homemade pizza this weekend and Spanish pastries for breakfast.

The boys had Cañitas mini chorizo snacks (99p) for lunches, along with Olives and tortilla.

We were really impressed with the range and have already been back and bought more calamari and prawns! See what The Crazy kitchen thought here (Helen got much better pictures than me)!

Shopping in Lidl is not new to me or the boys, as we are budget supermarket shoppers on a weekly basis.  Have you tried Lidl lately?

#FabulouslyFrugal

Do you have a post that is about thrifty parenting, decorating or lifestyle.  One that is about frugal food or crafts and art.  or even a post about making the post of what you have, then please do link up.  Each week we make sure we pin the post, feature some on our facebook pages and then we each have a round up on a Sunday.

Let’s all share that being frugal can be fabulous.

Please take a look at my fab co hosts and their posts, Cass at Diary of a Frugal Family, A Thrifty Mum and Emma at Mum’s Savvy Savings.