Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183659 times)

jeninco

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1700 on: April 20, 2017, 10:08:47 AM »
Not sure if you eat meat (you could surely substitute soy crumbles for the beef).
http://www.nwedible.com/thai-red-curry-cabbage-salad/

We 1.5 or double the sauce, and make rice on the side for the teenagers. It's fine as a big 'ole salad by itself, however.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1701 on: April 20, 2017, 02:27:16 PM »
Made a mistake today and left my lunch pack at home amd had to buy lunch at the office. I will eat the lunch pack tomorrow.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1702 on: April 20, 2017, 02:36:25 PM »
Not sure if you eat meat (you could surely substitute soy crumbles for the beef).
http://www.nwedible.com/thai-red-curry-cabbage-salad/

We 1.5 or double the sauce, and make rice on the side for the teenagers. It's fine as a big 'ole salad by itself, however.
Sounds easy and delish, and we're big fans of cabbage 'round here, thank you :O)


plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1703 on: April 20, 2017, 03:40:01 PM »
Guys, Thai curry paste. Hit me up with your best ideas - please! I have red, green, yellow, massaman and sour (tamarind) curry pastes in HUGE quantities. A TINY jar of red curry paste here is like 6-7 dollars so (quite a few) years ago we went Stateside and I found a little Thai grocery store and bought ALL the curry pastes.

Thai curry pastes are great as marinades for satay meats.  Mixed to make a quick peanut sauce.  I have been doing a bunch of braised yellow beef curries lately.  I really like coronation chicken and coronation egg salads - I usually make them with Indian curry blends, but a Thai blend might be an interesting experiment.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1704 on: April 20, 2017, 08:38:56 PM »
Guys, Thai curry paste. Hit me up with your best ideas - please! I have red, green, yellow, massaman and sour (tamarind) curry pastes in HUGE quantities. A TINY jar of red curry paste here is like 6-7 dollars so (quite a few) years ago we went Stateside and I found a little Thai grocery store and bought ALL the curry pastes.

Thai curry pumpkin soup.

For a variation on my pumpkin soup recipe*, I put a glug of olive oil and a big spoon of curry paste (I prefer red in this recipe) in a pot and cook for a couple of minutes then add the rest of the ingredients.

*750g pumpkin, 250g potato, 1 large onion, 1 litre of chicken or veggie stock, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, simmer until veggies are soft, puree with immersion blender.

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1705 on: April 21, 2017, 06:32:33 AM »
In my quest to use up my old bag of dessicated cocnut I've ended up needing to buy more. Turns out it's lovely boiled with rice, very good in addition to oat for breading, tasty in energy balls and all around a thing I want to keep around. Without this "use it up" project none of these tasty treats would have been discovered - so thank you all for inspiration.

I've also realiced that my favourite nuts are hazelnuts. By far the cheapest (excepting peanuts) and so good in a homemade trailmix with rasins (splurge with some dark chocolate and it's like a nutella-trailmix)

Ohh so many good ideas for coconut! Yay! I'm working on a 25 lb box :D I make my own coconut milk and am dairy-free so it is just a staple in our house, but I'm always looking for new ways to use it! The rice sounds AMAZING.

Hazelnuts are the cheapest nuts for you? Right, your not in the US, AUS? I have a hard time keeping track of where everyone is from :) One of my favorite things about living in Turkey was how Hazelnuts were in everything! Although having Fistoberlik for breakfast (it's basically ground up hazelnuts and sugar) every morning as part of breakfast probably wasn't great for me.

Didn't get a chance to make Bagels yesterday, I got sidetracked with other work. That's okay though, means I can do it today and don't have to come up with a new idea for dinner. 

Guys, Thai curry paste. Hit me up with your best ideas - please! I have red, green, yellow, massaman and sour (tamarind) curry pastes in HUGE quantities. A TINY jar of red curry paste here is like 6-7 dollars so (quite a few) years ago we went Stateside and I found a little Thai grocery store and bought ALL the curry pastes.

And we love the stuff, but it turns out you don't need more than a tablespoon or two in a full batch of curry. It doesn't really go bad since it is just salt and chilies and aromatics, and I have a ton to use.  I'll sometimes use it as a soup base like I did last night, and we'll make coconut curries quite often - but I need more creative ideas. At this point, I'll have enough curry paste for the rest of the decade!
Northern Europe. Cashews and pistachioes, by example, is nearly two times as expensive. And that's the cheapest I find. Hazelnuts are low demand (they group it with baking goods, not on the snack ile), and that makes all the difference.

As for curry paste: if you eat fish then thai fish cakes are my current favourite. They contain curry paste. Or you could probably make a vegetarian version with chickpeas (my current theory is that one can make anything out of chickpeas).

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1706 on: April 22, 2017, 03:14:54 AM »
Taco mince from the freezer, salsa from the freezer (we never finish a full jar before it goes mouldy so I portion if out and freeze it), tortillas from the freezer... sensing a theme here.

Tomorrow will bake the sweet potato and red onion to go in salad for lunches.

CutTheFat

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1707 on: April 22, 2017, 07:42:28 AM »
I am, once again, drowning in unopened bottles of wine.

As soon as I give someone a bottle or invite people over to drink some of my stash, my boss turns around and gives me more for Easter. And I don't drink the stuff!

I took half a dozen bottles home to my parents and implored them to drink it, cook with it, give it away, whatever inspires them.

Why don't you make vinegar of it?
How do you make vinegar out of wine?  Can you use oxidized wine? 

CutTheFat

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1708 on: April 22, 2017, 07:46:41 AM »
I still have 3 blocks of cream cheese in the fridge from Christmas.  Although past it's date it is totally fine.  DD is really the only one that uses it, for bagels but it isn't being used fast enough.  I used a block in a recipe for Easter.  Should I freeze the rest until needed?  Will it be fine for bagels once defrosted?   

Sydneystache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1709 on: April 22, 2017, 07:58:42 AM »
Wild mushroom risotto tonight.

Used butter, arborio rice, stock, wine, onions, garlic.

Added the one thing I bought from Lithgow today - wild mushrooms - saffron milk cap (lactarius deliciosus) which are in season.

Felt better, less stuff in the pantry.

geekette

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1710 on: April 22, 2017, 09:11:02 AM »
I still have 3 blocks of cream cheese in the fridge from Christmas.  Although past it's date it is totally fine.  DD is really the only one that uses it, for bagels but it isn't being used fast enough.  I used a block in a recipe for Easter.  Should I freeze the rest until needed?  Will it be fine for bagels once defrosted?   

Cheese doesn't freeze well, and here's an article from Cooks Illustrated for an explanation.

I put a block in potato soup, and that seems to freeze well enough (I generally use my stick blender to smooth it out after thawing, though).

Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1711 on: April 22, 2017, 10:49:58 PM »
I am, once again, drowning in unopened bottles of wine.

As soon as I give someone a bottle or invite people over to drink some of my stash, my boss turns around and gives me more for Easter. And I don't drink the stuff!

I took half a dozen bottles home to my parents and implored them to drink it, cook with it, give it away, whatever inspires them.

Why don't you make vinegar of it?
How do you make vinegar out of wine?  Can you use oxidized wine?

You'll need to add a vinegar bacterie culture (mother of vinegar) to the wine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar

rachellynn99

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1712 on: April 23, 2017, 04:21:25 PM »
This week I have a pint or so of white mushrooms to use up, as well as some leftover baked beans, 3 sweet potatoes, 5 apples and half a bag of tortilla chips that are getting stale. Those are just the items I want to make sure we use up by the end of the week before they go bad. I really need to NOT go to the store before the rest of  the month is out.

I also want to keep our budget super super low for groceries in May- so I need to buckle down and eat out of the pantries, freezers etc.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1713 on: April 23, 2017, 07:20:49 PM »
As of this morning with my breakfast of rice cakes with butter and Vegemite, we've officially finished off the stash of snacks I brought home from my office at the start of parental leave.

Coconut flour was hanging around in the pantry... I previously made the coconut flour cookies linked to in this thread, and we liked the taste but they gave Mr Happier a stomachache. Bugger. Now I've started subbing it in for normal flour in apple crumble topping, and it tastes awesome without causing any issues. Plus making crumble on a regular basis makes me very popular!

My sister left marshmallows in my pantry so that's a nice excuse to make myself a hot chocolate every now and then.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1714 on: April 23, 2017, 08:47:39 PM »
This week:

Used up peanut butter making cookies for a class I was teaching.

Today, made sesame crackers and used up some flax seed in them as well.

Made hummus using up the last of the second (why?) variety of chickpeas, plus more sesame seeds

Meyer lemon rinds from the freezer were used for kombucha flavoring

Have been making smoothies and the frozen fruit and whey protein stashes are both getting lower.

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1715 on: April 24, 2017, 06:50:35 AM »
Made roasted cauliflower & broccoli for lunches this week and finished the sesame-miso oil.  Started to use up my NZ honey in tea.  It is quite crystallized now, and I have another container of honey.

I made up an orange-tamarind braised blade roast recipe over the weekend that I think turned out pretty well, so I'm committed to finding more uses for that container of tamarind paste and finishing it off already.  If you have any ideas for tamarind paste beyond pad thai, I'd love to hear them.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1716 on: April 24, 2017, 09:03:18 AM »
Made roasted cauliflower & broccoli for lunches this week and finished the sesame-miso oil.  Started to use up my NZ honey in tea.  It is quite crystallized now, and I have another container of honey.

I made up an orange-tamarind braised blade roast recipe over the weekend that I think turned out pretty well, so I'm committed to finding more uses for that container of tamarind paste and finishing it off already.  If you have any ideas for tamarind paste beyond pad thai, I'd love to hear them.

I make a juice concentrate. The Carribean, Asia, Middle East, Mexico all have variations: here is one that uses paste: http://caribbeanpot.com/refreshing-tamarind-juice/ When I make mine, I usually just boil the paste with hot water, strain it and add honey to taste. Maybe balancing with a little lemon or lime juice if it is needed. It is pretty strong concentrate so I cut it with sparkling water for a tamarind soda.

Crystallized honey. I was over at a friends house and we were having tea and she remarked that she JUST learned that if honey crystalizes, it doesn't actually mean it is "bad" and you don't have to throw it away! She was super excited at all the money she was going to save as she was throwing out a container or two a month. It was a test of my poker face. I'm currently SLOWLY working through a 33 lb bucket of honey we purchased a few years ago before we went mostly sugar-free.

I did find a good recipe for using honey up: Paleo Lemon Cream Pie - https://livinghealthywithchocolate.com/desserts/paleo-lemon-cream-pie-7667/ except I added an extra tsp of gelatin to the filling and turned it into a lemon and huckleberry cheesecake. It turned out more like a mousse/no bake cheesecake than a traditional NY (Since the filling isn't baked) so I might rename it to call it a mousse cake.  It also used up some dehydrated almond pulp that I had kicking around.

It turned out really good, the friends we went to for dinner were blown away (esp the Mr. who is highly skeptical of anything that is "healthy) Turns out you can make a decent dessert without gluten, dairy, eggs or "refined" sugar. It's nice to figure out a recipe that I can rely on to be "fancy" and meets those needs for special occasions and where I don't feel like I'm having to force my dietary restrictions on other people. And I won't have to panic when my question of "what shall I bring" is answered with "dessert" :)

Hubs ate the last bagel without telling me, so his breakfast this morning was a quick porridge made from coconut pulp, chia seeds, flax, raisins a bit of cinnamon and the scrapings of a jar of hazelnut spread we picked up in Turkey in 2013. Nice to get that out of my fridge :D


Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1717 on: April 24, 2017, 11:03:55 AM »
I collected all leftover portions of vegetables from the fridge: red chili pepper, sloppy salad leaves, sloppy sellery, mushrooms and half a squash. Got a pack of fish cakes out of the freezer. Wokked all the veggies and added wild garlic puree that I made last week from selfpicked leaves. Added a pack of kidney beans. Grated a leftover piece of cheese and mixed that trough. The fish cakes were heated separately. The salad leaves were left in cold water for half an hour and served on top of the wok mixture. The result tasted very acceptably, even without any other spices. The salad leaves were really crunchy.

CutTheFat

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1718 on: April 24, 2017, 07:54:13 PM »
I still have 3 blocks of cream cheese in the fridge from Christmas.  Although past it's date it is totally fine.  DD is really the only one that uses it, for bagels but it isn't being used fast enough.  I used a block in a recipe for Easter.  Should I freeze the rest until needed?  Will it be fine for bagels once defrosted?   

Cheese doesn't freeze well, and here's an article from Cooks Illustrated for an explanation.
I am, once again, drowning in unopened bottles of wine.

As soon as I give someone a bottle or invite people over to drink some of my stash, my boss turns around and gives me more for Easter. And I don't drink the stuff!

I took half a dozen bottles home to my parents and implored them to drink it, cook with it, give it away, whatever inspires them.

Why don't you make vinegar of it?
How do you make vinegar out of wine?  Can you use oxidized wine?

You'll need to add a vinegar bacterie culture (mother of vinegar) to the wine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar
I put a block in potato soup, and that seems to freeze well enough (I generally use my stick blender to smooth it out after thawing, though).

Thank you both!

GoConfidently

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1719 on: April 30, 2017, 11:11:38 AM »
I still have 3 blocks of cream cheese in the fridge from Christmas.  Although past it's date it is totally fine.  DD is really the only one that uses it, for bagels but it isn't being used fast enough.  I used a block in a recipe for Easter.  Should I freeze the rest until needed?  Will it be fine for bagels once defrosted?   

Creamed spinach or squash is a delicious use of cream cheese
Cream cheese frosting for a cake or cupcakes
Lots of dips (savory or sweet) and spreads start with cream cheese
Cheese cake
Stuffed three cheese manicotti
Etc.....

 


plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1720 on: May 02, 2017, 06:39:47 AM »
Ham, so much ham.  I told the SO to pick up the smallest spiral cut ham they could find.  They brought home a full ham.  I chunked off as much as I could easily get at, and now we have a large amount of ham plus a huge ham bone with lots of meat still on it in the freezer.

We are avoiding potato/starch for the SO.  I need ideas.  Lots of ideas.

pbkmaine

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1721 on: May 02, 2017, 10:25:49 AM »
Ham, so much ham.  I told the SO to pick up the smallest spiral cut ham they could find.  They brought home a full ham.  I chunked off as much as I could easily get at, and now we have a large amount of ham plus a huge ham bone with lots of meat still on it in the freezer.

We are avoiding potato/starch for the SO.  I need ideas.  Lots of ideas.

Pick up a bag of 12 bean soup mix in the dried bean section of the grocery store. Add it to the ham bone and add water to cover. (If the ham bone is gigantic, you may want two bags.) Cook until beans are almost done, then add celery, carrots and onions. If you like garlic, add a chopped clove or three. Makes a delicious soup that freezes well.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1722 on: May 02, 2017, 04:31:07 PM »
Ham, so much ham.  I told the SO to pick up the smallest spiral cut ham they could find.  They brought home a full ham.  I chunked off as much as I could easily get at, and now we have a large amount of ham plus a huge ham bone with lots of meat still on it in the freezer.

We are avoiding potato/starch for the SO.  I need ideas.  Lots of ideas.

https://www.savorylotus.com/creamy-sweet-potato-bacon-chowder-dairy-free/

I made this with ham and leftover chicken instead of bacon.  My sweet potato hating husband loved it.  Don't add any salt, the ham will provide plenty.

Also, split pea soup.

Or use it in a breakfast hash (cauliflower rice base if you are low carb)

DTaggart

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1723 on: May 03, 2017, 10:08:23 AM »
I've been kind of taking a break (ie being lazy) from the use it up quest, but that's mostly because all of the easy wins are done and there's only a handful of oddball things left, most of which is sugary junk food that I just don't want to eat. But, I am pleased to report that as of 6:34 pm last night, THE PICKLES ARE GONE!!!!

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1724 on: May 03, 2017, 10:31:10 AM »
I've been kind of taking a break (ie being lazy) from the use it up quest, but that's mostly because all of the easy wins are done and there's only a handful of oddball things left, most of which is sugary junk food that I just don't want to eat. But, I am pleased to report that as of 6:34 pm last night, THE PICKLES ARE GONE!!!!
I'm in a similar spot.  Except I ate all of my sugary junk food, and I have a lot of weird things that I don't like (my DH bought them).

Sibley

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1725 on: May 03, 2017, 11:39:53 AM »
I'm moving on 5/27. I know I won't eat everything, but have been trying to eat what I can. Goal is to get the pantry stuff into 1 box. I have some travel this month, though the big chunk was just rescheduled to June. The interesting thing is the pantry is stuffed full, as is the freezer and the fridge. However, about 75% of it is my roommate's, who is also moving. Thus, NOT MY PROBLEM!

I have no problem with eating the same thing multiple meals in a row, or eating things that most people wouldn't combine for a meal. So I'll just continue to eat whatever I find and feel like. Wish me luck :)

Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1726 on: May 03, 2017, 11:41:49 AM »
This weekend on a camping trip we ate selfdried trip food, a 2015 batch. They had been stored in the freezer as well as being dried. They tasted okay. Now I have only 2016 batch left, which we can eat this summer.

SimpleCycle

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1727 on: May 03, 2017, 02:08:23 PM »
I keep joking that we need to have a pickle buffet, because I have so many random jars of pickles.  I need to reclaim the fridge space!

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1728 on: May 03, 2017, 02:34:14 PM »
I'm moving on 5/27. I know I won't eat everything, but have been trying to eat what I can. Goal is to get the pantry stuff into 1 box. I have some travel this month, though the big chunk was just rescheduled to June. The interesting thing is the pantry is stuffed full, as is the freezer and the fridge. However, about 75% of it is my roommate's, who is also moving. Thus, NOT MY PROBLEM!

I have no problem with eating the same thing multiple meals in a row, or eating things that most people wouldn't combine for a meal. So I'll just continue to eat whatever I find and feel like. Wish me luck :)
We just did this-sold our home 04/28 and are now living in a hotel into our new home closes at the end of the month.  I ended up packing up about 10 cans of broth and tomatoes, flax seed, coconut flour, some sugar free Torani syrup and two types of salt.  I tossed a bit of leftover sugar and corn starch because I didn't want critters getting into them while in storage.  5 cans tuna, a can of chicken, and about half dozen refrigerated condiments are with us (and being utilized!) in the hotel room.

Good luck.  :D

dorothyc

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1729 on: May 04, 2017, 12:06:56 AM »
I thought I was done!

Found 20 or more ancient plain gelatin packets. Maybe I'll just add them to juice or tea and drink some daily until they are gone.  It's supposed to be really good for your hair skin and nails. I could use that.

Any other ideas that aren't marshmallows?

I wonder if I could add a packet to my stir fry sauce to thicken it?

You can use plain gelatin as a nourishing hair treatment - per Mommypotamus.

https://www.mommypotamus.com/gelatin-hair-mask/

I haven't tried this, but I made her shea butter and baking soda deodorant and the charcoal toothpowder and they both worked really well

Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1730 on: May 05, 2017, 05:30:50 AM »
I thought I was done!

Found 20 or more ancient plain gelatin packets. Maybe I'll just add them to juice or tea and drink some daily until they are gone.  It's supposed to be really good for your hair skin and nails. I could use that.

Any other ideas that aren't marshmallows?

I wonder if I could add a packet to my stir fry sauce to thicken it?

Maybe you could make chocolate bonbons and fill them with gelatin/sirup mix? Also all sorts of other cushy/gummy candies come to mind.

About the stir fry sauce, that is maybe a bit weird, as gelatin stiffens in the fridge at cold temperatures. But maybe you could use it in some cold sauce.

PMG

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1731 on: May 05, 2017, 06:43:01 AM »
I'm down to 6 packets of gelatin and now expect no trouble using it up.

My favorite use is adding it to stir fry sauces, there is some mention of this in a link someone posted up thread.  It does not get hard and weird as you use a smaller proportion of gelatin to liquid than fit jello.  I'm still using a little starch to thinken and packet of gelatin just adds a nice body to the sauce. 

Also made fruit juice finger jello. That used a lot quickly.

May try the hair mask as my hair could use some help.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1732 on: May 05, 2017, 11:49:18 AM »
I'm down to 6 packets of gelatin and now expect no trouble using it up.

My favorite use is adding it to stir fry sauces, there is some mention of this in a link someone posted up thread.  It does not get hard and weird as you use a smaller proportion of gelatin to liquid than fit jello.  I'm still using a little starch to thinken and packet of gelatin just adds a nice body to the sauce. 

Also made fruit juice finger jello. That used a lot quickly.

May try the hair mask as my hair could use some help.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

yay for suggestions! Sorry I didn't see this post earlier, I would second the homemade gummies, My sister got me little gummy bear molds and they are so adorable, everyone loves them! Also got some for Christmas shaped like Lego bricks. They appeal to my husband's childhood memories and whimsy :)

Panna Cotta is also a super simple dessert that uses gelatin. I make a dairy-free version with coconut milk, super yum!

Also, when I'm making meatballs, hamburgers, meatloaf, I'll bloom and mix in some gelatin. It helps keeps them moist :)

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1733 on: May 05, 2017, 01:28:05 PM »
Ohh also if you are looking for something totally fancypants and gift worthy, these gum drops are AWESOME and use gelatin http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/all-natural-homemade-pomegranate-gumdrops/

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1734 on: May 05, 2017, 05:12:39 PM »
Not sure if there is a better thread where this is more suited, but as far as I'm concerned you guys are the fountain of knowledge when it comes to cooking.

I'd like to start bulking out my bolognese with lentils to reduce our red meat consumption and lower the cost (lean beef mince is $12/kg; split red lentils are $4.74/kg).

I've never cooked with lentils before. I've read a couple of lentil bolognese recipes, and a couple of lentil/beef recipes, but I would love some help adapting my method.

Saute diced onion and garlic in olive oil.
Add a kilo of lean beef mince, brown.
Add 700ml passata, stir.
Add a cup or so of red wine, stir.
Add herbs (fresh or dried, depending on what I have) and salt* and pepper.
Simmer for about 40 minutes to reduce liquid.

Everything I've read recommends red lentils for bolognese.

Dumb question time:

Where above should I add split dried red lentils?

How much should I add?

Should I soak them first or just rinse?

Do I need to hold off on adding salt until after the lentils are cooked? (I read that adding salt early can make them tough.)

And would this freeze ok?

Fresh Bread

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1735 on: May 05, 2017, 07:33:45 PM »
I normally add a bunch of vegges to my meat to pad it out, I haven't really done a meat/lentil mix but I have had just lentils/tomato sauce on pasta. You'll need to add the lentils with or after the passata and wine but they only take about 20mins so they maybe just mush after 40mins, although it's not really an issue if it's just padding. They'll need liquid in a 3:1 ratio to cook properly, but you can include the wine in that. Lentils expand a lot so maybe try a 1/4 cup first time and then build it up?

I have also heard that thing about the salt, but when I make lentils in my slow cooker I cook them in stock i.e. salty broth with no ill effects.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1736 on: May 05, 2017, 07:40:57 PM »
I normally add a bunch of vegges to my meat to pad it out, I haven't really done a meat/lentil mix but I have had just lentils/tomato sauce on pasta. You'll need to add the lentils with or after the passata and wine but they only take about 20mins so they maybe just mush after 40mins, although it's not really an issue if it's just padding. They'll need liquid in a 3:1 ratio to cook properly, but you can include the wine in that. Lentils expand a lot so maybe try a 1/4 cup first time and then build it up?

I have also heard that thing about the salt, but when I make lentils in my slow cooker I cook them in stock i.e. salty broth with no ill effects.

Thanks Freshwater.

SimpleCycle

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1737 on: May 15, 2017, 07:25:03 PM »
We bought so much food this week, I feel like the week will be a net gain.  Just put 8 dry quarts of strawberries in the freezer, and a big batch of roasted veggies for the fridge.  But we're eating some cheese and ground beef from the freezer, and a container of sweet potato stew.

PMG

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1738 on: May 16, 2017, 07:19:49 PM »
Made a salad the other night, added a pile of almost turning fruit, including an apple I chopped up and doused with lemon juice so it wouldn't brown before our picnic, then I poured the lemon juice off the apple and into the jar of tea I was making.  Pretty pleased with all those flavors mingling and not wasting a drop.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1739 on: May 17, 2017, 04:14:40 AM »
I made a cake from ingredients I found in the freezer, including spices that I otherwise don't use. And some brown trackle.

pbkmaine

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1740 on: May 17, 2017, 06:44:10 AM »
I made a cake from ingredients I found in the freezer, including spices that I otherwise don't use. And some brown trackle.

Is brown trackle molasses?

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1741 on: May 17, 2017, 07:01:55 AM »
I'm doing a pot of pork and beans today with the remaining sliced pork belly and small white beans.  This gets me down to one canister of white beans (bought a huge bag of them at a farmstand last summer).  I'll make masa cornbread to go with it.

I've been working through the pesto from the freezer.  DH previously purported to dislike it, but I've been a little bolder in using it and he's eating it happily.  I'll take credit for my homemade pesto tasting better than the storebought stuff.  ;)

Haven't really been eating breakfast on weekdays, so progress on the coconut milk, chia seeds and whey protein has stalled. 

Sunday night I made a ground beef and butternut squash curry and finally used up the last of the mango amchur powder.

Weather is conducive to kombucha making again, so spare bits of ginger and fruit are going into secondary fermentation of my fizzy beverages.

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1742 on: May 17, 2017, 09:50:54 AM »
I've rededicated myself to eating down our food stores.  I'm using up the half eaten bags of frozen vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower for lunch today).  For breakfast, I made oatmeal with the random packages of stuff that I collect from buying Starbucks oatmeal on travel (they give you a lot of packages of stuff, and I just keep them).  I also defrosted some chicken sausages, and I will have one with my vegetables for lunch. 

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1743 on: May 17, 2017, 02:23:28 PM »
Eat all the food in our house before the move has now changed to eat all the food in our hotel room before we close on our home next Friday.  :)

Tuesday I used a large can of chicken and leftover salsa from last Friday's take out in a slow cooker tomatillo chili recipe.  I just used the rest of the deli turkey in a wrap for lunch.  Tonight's dinner wraps will consist of a can of tuna I stocked up on months ago at .50 a can.  Tomorrow night's dinner will be last night's leftover tamales and chili.  Next week we'll eat leftover Easter ham I brought from our previous home and has been in the hotel room mini fridge freezer.  :)

Total grocery budget is about the same this month in the hotel vs an average in home month.

Scotland2016

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1744 on: May 17, 2017, 03:52:38 PM »
Any suggestions for coconut flour and coconut flakes? They are leftover from a diet my husband did, and he doesn't even like coconut...

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1745 on: May 18, 2017, 04:53:09 AM »
Any suggestions for coconut flour and coconut flakes? They are leftover from a diet my husband did, and he doesn't even like coconut...

I've coated chicken breasts or strips thereof in coconut flakes to make a kind of breadcrumb goujon effect. Just dipped in egg, then flakes, then fried.

You can taste a subtle undercurrent of coconut, but I tend not to like it generally, and find it perfectly bearable.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1746 on: May 18, 2017, 06:35:57 AM »
Any suggestions for coconut flour and coconut flakes? They are leftover from a diet my husband did, and he doesn't even like coconut...

I use it for making wheat-free pancakes sometimes.  Google "coconut flour pancakes" because the ratios are totally different than for regular flour.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1747 on: May 18, 2017, 08:38:22 AM »
Any suggestions for coconut flour and coconut flakes? They are leftover from a diet my husband did, and he doesn't even like coconut...

I use it for making wheat-free pancakes sometimes.  Google "coconut flour pancakes" because the ratios are totally different than for regular flour.

I can't do dairy and I have found that flaked coconut makes the tastiest and cheapest milk replacement. I have found. 1.5 cups coconut, 4 cups water blend in high speed blender and strain. Pulp can be stirred into cereal, added to granola bars and all sorts of things.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1748 on: May 18, 2017, 08:56:59 AM »
Glad to hear updates from everyone!

I'm slowly making progress. Have done a couple of restocks buy have been so much more intentional and conscious about what we are buying.

I have not bought any more cocoa despite having been out of it for a while. I found a bunch of tins we had been given years ago and have been working our way through that.

Luckily, it is *almost* smoothie weather so we have an easy way to use up lots of various odds and ends.

We have been out of vanilla for a while, gone through all my powder I made from my last batch of homemade vanilla, gone through any vaguely vanilla/spice flavored alcohol. I was going to buy a bottle in Costco but it was crazy expensive! I knew there had been some production issues but that is just silly. So I need to source some cheaper beans and look into making another batch. It has pushed me into using up some of the other extracts I have in the cupboard (lemon and almond) but those don't always work flavour wise and we use a lot of vanilla apparently.

The 'Spy family came for a visit and we were able to christen their new Instant Pot. It was a first for all of us, I can see the appeal - would definitely help with using up those harder things to cook that take more advanced planning than I seem to be able to do. We needed Creole seasoning, for the recipe so I managed to make a big batch out of all the random spices I already have and was able to send an extra jar with them for the road.

Scotland2016

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1749 on: May 18, 2017, 01:00:09 PM »
Thank you for the coconut flour/flakes suggestions! They were helpful. I made brownies with the coconut flour and coconut oil, which I forgot to mention, and they were decent. As in, we will willingly eat them, but probably won't make them again once the coconut collection is gone.