What's for dinner? Garbage soup

Big holiday meals mean lingering holiday leftovers, some of which never seem to get finished up. Raise your hand if you had containers of unidentified foodlike objects in your fridge for a week or more past Thanksgiving.

(And if you still have them? Eeewww. Go clean them out right now.)

There's a better way to deal with dabs of mashed potatoes or a few spoonfuls of green beans. When life hands you leftovers, make "garbage soup."

Designate a jar, container or freezer bag for foods left over from a meal that you think will be forgotten in the fridge: the last few bites of corn, an eighth of a cup of gravy, the rice from the bottom of the pot, scraps of meat left from carving the roast or the chicken.

When the bags are full, pour some stock (homemade or store-bought) and seasonings into a pan. Add canned tomatoes or tomato puree if you want. Simmer this mixture for 15 or 20 minutes, then add the contents of the freezer bags. Heat thoroughly, adjust the seasonings, and dinner is served.

Frugal twice over
This potage de garbage is always rich and interesting because of the sheer variety of ingredients. It's never the same dish twice, though, because of that variety.
But it's frugal every time, for two reasons:

• "Not enough to save" bits of food that would otherwise have been thrown out are instead turned into a hot meal.
• Knowing the makings are on hand might keep you from ordering a pizza. After all, it takes about as long to wait for a delivery as it does to make the soup.

This tactic also works during the non-holiday season, of course. Any time there's a dab of this or that, toss it in the freezer.

Or maybe more than a dab: If you've eaten leftover chicken, potatoes and vegetables three nights in a week and there's still enough for another meal, there's no reason you can't turn it into future soup. Better that than setting it aside for "later" and having the leftovers turn into a science experiment in a far corner of the fridge.

More on MSN Money:

• Save big bucks on spices and herbs
• What you need for a 'can-do' kitchen
• A simple way to save on supper
• 10 reasons to buy old bread
• Save big on sandwich meats
• How to re-grow your grub
• Save money with a 'pantry challenge'