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    Budget Cooking: Leftovers are Key

    The economy is down, food prices are up: What's a cook to do? I say, make recipes that taste even better as leftovers, so you'll be thrilled with your lunch (and dinner?) for the next day. The bulk of these suggestions are casseroles, which almost always improve with time, either cold or heated. Some of my favorite recipes (and a few I want to try):





    Baked Pasta Casseroles

    Cheesy Baked Shells with Broccoli from Real Simple
    Baked Multigrain Elbows with Gorgonzola and Spinach from Southern Living
    Baked Gemelli with Spinach, Ricotta, and Prosciutto from Martha Stewart

    Grain-Based Dishes
    Tuna Risotto from The New York Times
    Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa from Serious Eats
    Lazy Day Peanut Noodle Salad from 101 Cookbooks (pictured above)
    Butternut Squash with Cumin Couscous from Real Simple
    Israeli Couscous with Chard from TheKitchn.com

    And for the truly adventurous, YumSugar.com has reviewed a cookbook that claims you can make gourmet-tasting meals from the 99-cent store!

    What's your favorite budget cooking recipe or secret?

    Written by Kathleen Murray-Harris for Real Simple's Simply Stated: Food Blog

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      Childhood Favorites from the Shine Supper Club

      My after-school snack was a sacred ritual. I sat on the carpet in my parents' bedroom at a low table, the television turned to "I Dream of Jeannie," and ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into neat squares. I wasn't fussy about crusts. I just loved the sticky pairing of creamy peanut butter with syrupy golden sweetness drizzled from a honey bear in diagonals across the soft white bread. Nothing else--save for maybe apples and peanut butter in a pinch--could have made for as sweet an