Prepping a different home-cooked meal every night cannot only be difficult but also expensive! By cleverly using leftovers, you can fill out your week and save money.

Everybody needs to eat, but it’s also important not to break the bank enjoying your dinners. That’s right! Our series on how to put leftovers to good use is back. Today, we’re going to show you how to take a slow cooker brisket and turn it into a decadent Philadelphia cheesesteak.

Much like roasted chicken, brisket gives you the dual benefit of being tasty and large enough to recycle the next day. This recipe is low-maintenance and creates a savory, moist entrée. Simply set the ingredients in your slow cooker, and it’ll do the rest for you.

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Slow-Cooker Beef Brisket Recipe

For the Brisket

• 4lb of beef brisket
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 2 tbsp of salt
• 1½ tbsp of pepper
• 1 tbsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsbp of paprika
• ½ tsbp of onion powder
• 2 large sweet onions

Directions

1. Season both sides of the beef brisket with the salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder.
2. Cut the sweet onions into slices.
3. Place the onions and brisket in a slow cooker, and pour the beef broth over top.
4. Heat on high for five to six hours. The brisket should be tender enough that a fork can easily pierce the surface.
5. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and the onions to a bowl. Let it rest for five to ten minutes.
6. Slice the brisket thinly against its grain.
7. Serve with vegetables of your choice.

The great thing about cooked cuts of beef is that you can do almost anything with the leftovers! You could do barbecue, make a stew, or put together a sandwich. Cheesesteaks, for example, take everything that’s great about brisket and give it more flavor.

A traditional Philadelphia cheesesteak is made with sautéed rib eye on a crusty roll with Cheez Whiz. You can use any kind of cheese for a cheesesteak, but traditional ones call for the orange stuff from a can. If you’ve never had a cheesesteak, we’ll get to fixing that now.

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Cheesesteak Sandwiches Recipe

For the Cheesesteak

• Leftover beef brisket
• Leftover onion
• ½ cup of sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 2 slices of your choice of cheese per sandwich, 1 cup of shredded cheese (total) of your choice, or Cheez Whiz
• 2 sub rolls
• 1 ½ cups of red sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Slice the brisket into thin chips, roughly 1-inch around.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat and add the mushrooms.
3. Brown the mushrooms.
4. Add the butter and stir.
5. Add the leftover brisket chips and onions, and stir until they’re cooked through.
6. If using shredded cheese, sprinkle half of it on top of the chips and stir until it’s melted.
7. If adding red sauce to the sandwich, heat it in a small saucepan over medium heat.
8. Spoon the sandwich filling into the sub rolls and cover it with (the rest of) the cheese of your choice and optional red sauce.
9. Enjoy!

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Note: The recipes above should serve two people, and the first meal should provide enough leftovers to help make the second. While we generally try to share recipes that are healthy for you, the goal here is to save you money and time. This means the recipes will be tasty and easy, but they won’t necessarily help you shed pounds.