Did my normal weekend thing and cooked.

Big vat of pasta sauce. I cheated and instead of buying veggies I bought the arctic gardens frozen chopped "spagetti" mix. What a timesaver. They might become a regular in the winter (blend of onions, carrots, celery and green pepper diced small). I think the bag 1.5lbs - was less than $3 - no waste. This time of year likely better quality and the same or cheaper than buying fresh.

I put together the bag of veggies, 3 cloves of garlic, a bay leaf and some salt and pepper, 2 28oz tins of diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato paste and a can of pastas sauce and dumped it all in the slow cooker. I didn't add a lot of seasoning as I am planning to incorporate it into other dishes.

After a couple of hours I took out four cups of the sauce and added to it in a dutch oven 4 cups of diced potatoes, 2 cans of black beans and a 1/2 TBSP of cumin and a teaspoon of basil. Cooked it on low on the stove until the potatoes were soft - 5 servings of black bean stew

I then used a cup of the sauce to add to a spinach, cheese tortellini and ground turkey pasta dish. I also added some sour cream to make if more of a rose sauce. Again 5 servings.

I took the rest of the spagetti sauce after it had cooked a few more hours (about 4-6 cups more) and made it smoother rather than chunky by using the immersion blender in it. I have that split up between two tupperwear containers.

I fried up a pound of ground beef too as well as some mushrooms. I seasoned that with salt but otherwise left it as a raw ingredient. I think I'l make barley strogonoff with it but I have a small problem - I don't have any barley. So will have to do that either tomorrow or when I get the barley - I will likely freeze the cooked meat until then.

I know I must sound crazy with all the cooking I do. But I proved it last week when I ran out of things to eat and bought my lunch - cooking ahead and freezing is necessary for me to both eat properly and not spend a fortune eating out.