I have always prided myself in being able to squeeze a dollar bill until it cries out for mercy. I use coupons when I shop and buy things at garage sales. We grow our own vegetables. We buy used cars. You would think that all this penny-pinching behavior would mean that we have a load of money in the bank, but we don’t. We have a daughter with a paid-for college degree and wedding. We like nice vacations, electronic gadgets and big TV’s. We buy poultry feed for 27 chickens who have names and give us an average four eggs a day, so I guess they would be considered pets rather than livestock. Except for our house, we live practically debt-free. These are the reasons that we watch our everyday spending. One of the biggest ways to save money is to cook and eat at home. This means coming up with ideas for inexpensive meals when one is married to a husband who hates leftovers. He not only hates leftovers, he hates hot dishes. He especially hates hot dishes made with leftovers. I know you feel my pain. He is living in Minnesota, the hot dish capital of the world, and he hates hot dishes. Oh, I can occasionally get by with a tuna-noodle hot dish, or perhaps the one with those frozen potato bits on top. Occasionally. Now mind you, he doesn’t complain. He wouldn’t be happily married for all these years if he did. He just won’t eat much of it, and that means leftovers. Leftovers of leftovers. That, my friends, hurts a dollar-squeezing, penny-pinching Farm Woman who prides herself on being a good cook straight down to the core. For this reason, I must skillfully prepare dishes that don’t seem like either leftovers or hot dishes. Chicken and dumplings, for example, one of his favorites, and not a hot dish because it is cooked in a pot and not baked in a covered dish in the oven. (Don’t laugh, this is not MY logic!) Roast beef hash is cooked in a skillet. Do you get my drift here? If I chopped it up, added a can of mushroom soup and put tin foil over the top it would be considered a hot dish, and would become more leftover leftovers. There is one exception to this, and that is wild rice hot dish. He loves it. Of course, that is a side dish so TECHNICALLY not a hot dish for that reason and I never make it with leftovers (*wink wink*). Oh, and by the way, he is a Southerner and south of the Mason-Dixon Line they call them “casseroles” and not “hot dishes” or the you-know-they’re-from-Minnesota single word “hotdish”. Happy anniversary to my Southern-born meat and potatoes quiet man from your sushi-eating chatty Yankee bride. Thanks for being a good sport for the last 34 years.
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The Backyard Pioneer
The Minnesota Farm Woman 
hahah i didn’t even know what a hot dish was. I always called them casseroles to and i am here in CT. A born and bred Yankee. now my man is from the South to. but this is the best part. Whatever I cook. he eats. never whines or complains hell never even offers up a suggestion of what he might want for a particular meal. But he is a meat and potatoes guy. If i give him a salad it better have some meat in it. But it keeps me going and I love creating new dishes and casseroles for him to enjoy
Tammi
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You are one lucky woman, Tammi. Does your Southern man like biscuits and gravy? Mine got them more often when we were younger. Now that we watch our cholesterol, he gets them once or twice a year.
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As half of a wallet friendly couple I feel you. We make pretty much everything at home. I kinda like it though because I know whats going in my food. But my husband is the same with the leftovers. Occasionally, and I mean occasionally if he really likes something I can get him to take it to work the next day. He grew up on a farm with 2 brothers so he says there was never any leftovers, and I believe it. We always had leftovers. Right now my father is living with us and he doesnt cook so he is generally glad to eat any leftovers. But I can only recall a handful of times in the 4 + years we’ve been together where I got to serve leftovers. But he grows us a beautiful vegetable garden and has taught me, the city girl, a lot of great many things so I can deal with no leftovers 🙂
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It is nice if you can cook just enough. I like to buy meat in larger portions when it is on sale. That is another story….my husband can easily have a pound of leftover roast as a snack. *sigh*. Thanks for reading and commenting. Enjoy that veggie garden!
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Oh this story is so hilarious…and hits pretty close to home. My husband doesn’t like leftovers, casseroles, pasta’s…keys to living on a tight budget. Like yours, mine rarely complains, you just know cause he won’t eat much of the meal but then is looking for something to snack on later. So therefore, I’m left with trying to finish off these leftovers for my lunches and stuff before it goes bad. My husband doesn’t like casseroles because he doesn’t like his food touching…I am so serious…I will fix a pot pie…he literally takes it apart. He will take all the peas out and eat them first (another quirk, he eats things one at a time), then it’s off to the carrots, then chicken, etc. It is so frustrating. I have these school cafeteria trays just so no one food touches anything else…cause if that corn touches those mashed potatoes, well, there is a line of mixed up corn and mashed potatoes left on the plate…I kid you not! One time, not too long after we got married and I had gotten these trays, I made spaghetti (he will allow this pasta dish ever so often)…I put the spaghetti noodles in one compartment, the sauce in another, the bread in one and a small pile of parmesan cheese in another. His daughter about died laughing when she carried it into her father…but he didn’t blink an eye, and ate his meal.
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Hahahaha! I am surprised at the number of us whose husbands don’t like leftovers or hot dishes. I haven’t heard from any men, though…I wonder what their take on the matter will be? Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Christine – to put it simply, I love your writing voice. You plain-spoken, perfectly detailed, tongue in cheek style speaks to the heart. I eagerly await your thoughts… Deb
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Thank you!!!
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Being that I am a born, bred and raised in Minnesota farm girl, I know all about hotdishes. 🙂 I also know that most likely jello will be served with that hotdish.
Since I grew up with us growing and raising what we ate..and making everything from scratch it felt natural to continue doing so once I was grown up. We don’t live on a farm but we do live in a small rural farming community and our garden keeps on growing bigger every year.
Thankfully, my husband doesn’t mind leftovers(or hotdish)…which he gladly takes to work with him for lunch. Growing up, my father did not like leftovers so I watched my Mom be really creative with how she used them…although with so many mouths to feed it wasn’t too often that leftovers were abundant.
I really like the way you write…so real and honest and from what I’ve read so far you wear the Minnesota nice quite well.
Happy Anniversary to both of you!
Nice to meet you Minnesota Farm Woman!
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Awww…thank you so much! Your kind comments keep me going. Nice to meet you, too!
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Another musing that made me laugh, Farm Woman! After we first moved to MN, my hubby would brag to his family about what great “potlucks” MN ladies made. He would laughingly tell his siblings that the key to a great Minnesota hotdish was that they all seemed to start with a Cream-of-Stuff base. (I’ve never mentioned the likelihood of their also containing leftovers.) 🙂
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Don’t even tell him about the leftovers! Thanks, Princess, for reading!
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My Grumpy doesn’t care for soups and stews; only likes chili without beans! He loves steak, steak and more steak. When he’s not having steak, it’s some other meat in a steak form, or ribs. Every meal is somehow supposed to have bread too. With one exception- and it’s on the menu for tonight- tacos. He thinks tacos are an “easy” dinner for the weekend. For this “easy dinner” I will chop and cook stew meat; slice tomatoes, lettuce, avocados jalapenos and olives. I’ll have to make a batch of salsa. The tortillas are fresh, must be deep fried. First, though, I’ll slice and fry a dozen or two into chips to go with the salsa. But at least he doesn’t expect fresh bread!
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Two peas in a pod.
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😉
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Love your blog! Glad you clarified what a ‘hot dish’ is, I had all kinds of things rolling through my mind. 🙂 Hubs is okay with casseroles but I’m not. 🙂 On the other hand I love soups and stews and could eat them everyday and he doesn’t sigh. With these challenges you’d think we’d be thinner!!
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True! I would be a lot thinner if I didn’t fix his favorite meat and potatoes so much. Thanks for reading! Chris
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