Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You decided to make chicken dijon. The recipe called for four chicken breasts, but the breasts came three to a package, so you bought two packages. For the garlic, you bought a full head, most of which is still left. Ditto the 1/2 onion that was left after you chopped up the other half and the full bunch of thyme that you bought, only to use two sprigs. After your recipe is finished, you discover that it wasn't that good, so you don't really want to make it again, but you're now stuck with a bunch of leftover ingredients that are only good for making - you guessed it - another batch of chicken dijon.

Of course, you could freeze the chicken breasts, refrigerate the thyme and onion, and put the garlic somewhere in your kitchen. This means that, in a few days, you will end up throwing away the thyme and onion (along with everything that the onion has scented). Maybe a month down the road, you'll try out the garlic, only to find that the cloves have dried up. Finally, you will end up chucking the chicken breasts in a year or two when they show up in the back of your freezer, badly freezer burned and covered with frost.

There's another option. Based on the leftover ingredients in your kitchen, Supercook suggests recipes that you can make. Basically, you input all the foods that you have lying around, and the site will generate a list of dishes. Some may require the purchase of other ingredients, but the site will help ensure that you're not stuck with a pile of rotting vegetables and freezer burned meat. Besides, you might just discover your new favorite dish!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He recently threw away a hambone that had been taking up space in his freezer since Thanksgiving.