Bread never goes to waste in the Sando household. As the loaf starts to get stiff, I slice it up and lay it on the grates in my oven. In the morning, it's super dry, and then it gets packed into an airtight tin until it's ready to help. I have an old gas stove with a pilot light, so the bread dries quickly, but any oven will do, it just may take longer.

Beans and bean broth never get wasted either. In this case, I added some leftover chicken stock to the beans and bean broth, and then there was soup. It was delicious but not so fancy, so I placed a piece of the stale bread and a few crumbles of queso fresco in a soup bowl. The bean mixture got ladled on top, and just for kicks, I added a very few pickled onions on top.

I have to admit, I get a kick out of a dinner that is so delicious and so frugal. The rest of my life is indulgent enough. Really, there was no suffering in this situation.