Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183622 times)

seemsright

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #650 on: October 10, 2015, 04:21:20 PM »
Glad to see this thread still going as I could use it right now.

I have tons of work travel this month, so avoiding buying stuff that won't get eaten will be a huge plus.  In addition, we have a beef quarter coming shortly, so making room in the freezer will make it way easier to put the new meat in in some sort of order. 

Have some beans and grains that I need to admit we're never going to eat, so they need to be cooked up and fed to the chickens.  Also need to suck it up and figure out what to do with the heart and tongue from last year's beef quarter.

Haven't been doing smoothies but have a couple cans of pumpkin and lots of vanilla whey powder, so "pumpkin pie" smoothies are going to be a staple breakfast for the workdays that I'm not out of town.  I've also been working on eating down the stash of various fruit preserves by mixing them into plain yogurt.  I got way overzealous with the jam-making when I first learned to can, but we never have toast, so there aren't many opportunities to use the stuff.

Beef tongue makes great tacos.
Beef heart makes great BBQ beef put the heart in the crock pot cover with BBQ sauce and then cook on low all day. It is so good with some raw onion on a roll or not. One of my fav

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #651 on: October 11, 2015, 06:18:01 AM »
I have a slight twist on this.  DH and I overspent this month on groceries (damn Costco!), and I want to make it up in October.  So, my goal for a family of five:

$600.00     October's monthly grocery allotment
-272.31      Amount overspent in September
-100.00      School lunches for October
$227.69    Total Amount Budgeted for October Groceries

This won't be easy, but should be doable as we have food in the pantry and freezer, including a turkey, and still have a box of veggies each week from the CSA (not sure when that stops, but sometime in October).  It'll be made a little more challenging by the fact that I'm hosting my mom and aunt for a long weekend, and we're taking friends to the cabin for another weekend, but with lots of planning and foresight (NOT my forte), we should be OK.

I'll check in periodically this month.

If you tell us what you hav, perhaps we can offer up ideas :).

This is me (Miss Two-Twenty-Seven Until November) and I've already fucked it up.  Made it until October 10.  I haven't quite figured out how to wrangle Costco.  I like going there, because some things are much cheaper than I can find at any of the other local grocery stores, but I ALWAYS OVERSPEND.

I put a turkey on (had been residing in my freezer forever--decided to cook it and get multiple meals out of it), did some menu planning for the next week (which includes entertaining my folks and an aunt for four days), and I went with a list of fill-in ingredients.  But then I wasn't thinking of the fact that everything you buy is in bulk, so instead of the one can of black olives I need for my recipe, I now have eight.  Same with diced tomatoes, quinoa, etc.  Grand total = $270.

But I did some things right, too, so I don't want to count it as a complete failure.  I went off a list, I didn't buy impulse purchases, and I didn't buy anything prepackaged (which, I'll be honest, we normally do).  So...a failure that with potential to redeem?  I've kicked the goal for ending up flush in the grocery budget into the next month, hoping I can get half-way there this and the rest of the way there by the end of next month.

Once I get through my houseguests, then I'll be looking for advice for some random ingredients.  I don't mind serving unusual combinations to my own immediate family, but prefer recognizable dishes for guests, thus all the fill-in ingredients.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #652 on: October 11, 2015, 08:35:38 AM »
Glad to see this thread still going as I could use it right now.

I have tons of work travel this month, so avoiding buying stuff that won't get eaten will be a huge plus.  In addition, we have a beef quarter coming shortly, so making room in the freezer will make it way easier to put the new meat in in some sort of order. 

Have some beans and grains that I need to admit we're never going to eat, so they need to be cooked up and fed to the chickens.  Also need to suck it up and figure out what to do with the heart and tongue from last year's beef quarter.

Haven't been doing smoothies but have a couple cans of pumpkin and lots of vanilla whey powder, so "pumpkin pie" smoothies are going to be a staple breakfast for the workdays that I'm not out of town.  I've also been working on eating down the stash of various fruit preserves by mixing them into plain yogurt.  I got way overzealous with the jam-making when I first learned to can, but we never have toast, so there aren't many opportunities to use the stuff.

Beef tongue makes great tacos.
Beef heart makes great BBQ beef put the heart in the crock pot cover with BBQ sauce and then cook on low all day. It is so good with some raw onion on a roll or not. One of my fav

Thanks!  So does the beef heart cook in a way that it shreds after slow-cooking?  I've always thought that it didn't  have the same type of muscle fibers and was afraid it would just sort of turn to mush with a long stewing treatment.

Lengua tacos are great as long as the tongue is cooked enough to be tender.  Not a fan of the rubbery little cubes I've gotten from some taco stands.

dorothyc

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #653 on: October 11, 2015, 10:25:59 AM »
I have a slight twist on this.  DH and I overspent this month on groceries (damn Costco!), and I want to make it up in October.  So, my goal for a family of five:

$600.00     October's monthly grocery allotment
-272.31      Amount overspent in September
-100.00      School lunches for October
$227.69    Total Amount Budgeted for October Groceries

This won't be easy, but should be doable as we have food in the pantry and freezer, including a turkey, and still have a box of veggies each week from the CSA (not sure when that stops, but sometime in October).  It'll be made a little more challenging by the fact that I'm hosting my mom and aunt for a long weekend, and we're taking friends to the cabin for another weekend, but with lots of planning and foresight (NOT my forte), we should be OK.

I'll check in periodically this month.

If you tell us what you hav, perhaps we can offer up ideas :).

This is me (Miss Two-Twenty-Seven Until November) and I've already fucked it up.  Made it until October 10.  I haven't quite figured out how to wrangle Costco.  I like going there, because some things are much cheaper than I can find at any of the other local grocery stores, but I ALWAYS OVERSPEND.

I put a turkey on (had been residing in my freezer forever--decided to cook it and get multiple meals out of it), did some menu planning for the next week (which includes entertaining my folks and an aunt for four days), and I went with a list of fill-in ingredients.  But then I wasn't thinking of the fact that everything you buy is in bulk, so instead of the one can of black olives I need for my recipe, I now have eight.  Same with diced tomatoes, quinoa, etc.  Grand total = $270.

But I did some things right, too, so I don't want to count it as a complete failure.  I went off a list, I didn't buy impulse purchases, and I didn't buy anything prepackaged (which, I'll be honest, we normally do).  So...a failure that with potential to redeem?  I've kicked the goal for ending up flush in the grocery budget into the next month, hoping I can get half-way there this and the rest of the way there by the end of next month.

Once I get through my houseguests, then I'll be looking for advice for some random ingredients.  I don't mind serving unusual combinations to my own immediate family, but prefer recognizable dishes for guests, thus all the fill-in ingredients.

Sounds fair enough. Consider it pantry principle shopping à la Amy Dacyczyn.  When I've needed to really stay on budget, because I only took cash with me, for example, I keep a running total on a calculator with the memory add and memory recall functions. As some things are taxable I can make mini calculations and get a more accurate total.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #654 on: October 11, 2015, 11:23:38 AM »
I have a slight twist on this.  DH and I overspent this month on groceries (damn Costco!), and I want to make it up in October.  So, my goal for a family of five:

$600.00     October's monthly grocery allotment
-272.31      Amount overspent in September
-100.00      School lunches for October
$227.69    Total Amount Budgeted for October Groceries

This won't be easy, but should be doable as we have food in the pantry and freezer, including a turkey, and still have a box of veggies each week from the CSA (not sure when that stops, but sometime in October).  It'll be made a little more challenging by the fact that I'm hosting my mom and aunt for a long weekend, and we're taking friends to the cabin for another weekend, but with lots of planning and foresight (NOT my forte), we should be OK.

I'll check in periodically this month.

If you tell us what you hav, perhaps we can offer up ideas :).

This is me (Miss Two-Twenty-Seven Until November) and I've already fucked it up.  Made it until October 10.  I haven't quite figured out how to wrangle Costco.  I like going there, because some things are much cheaper than I can find at any of the other local grocery stores, but I ALWAYS OVERSPEND.

I put a turkey on (had been residing in my freezer forever--decided to cook it and get multiple meals out of it), did some menu planning for the next week (which includes entertaining my folks and an aunt for four days), and I went with a list of fill-in ingredients.  But then I wasn't thinking of the fact that everything you buy is in bulk, so instead of the one can of black olives I need for my recipe, I now have eight.  Same with diced tomatoes, quinoa, etc.  Grand total = $270.

But I did some things right, too, so I don't want to count it as a complete failure.  I went off a list, I didn't buy impulse purchases, and I didn't buy anything prepackaged (which, I'll be honest, we normally do).  So...a failure that with potential to redeem?  I've kicked the goal for ending up flush in the grocery budget into the next month, hoping I can get half-way there this and the rest of the way there by the end of next month.

Once I get through my houseguests, then I'll be looking for advice for some random ingredients.  I don't mind serving unusual combinations to my own immediate family, but prefer recognizable dishes for guests, thus all the fill-in ingredients.

Sounds like you hav a lot of different options. & in bulk, so should last a while. I really recommend switching out recipes for similar ingredients you already hav. Or better yet, forego recipes (,I don't use recipes, except if learn to make something like yogurt,;Soymilk, or really specific baking (sugar free, gluten free, and vegan ,). This is a really excellent time to get creative!
I tend to eat really simply, so these are the types of food I keep on hand:
I cook a largish amount of simple foods and combine daily in mydish with slight variations: some kind of legume, a grain, vegetables cooked & raw, fruits mostly. Also on hand: oats, some sort of spicy addition, and some alternative milk or yogurt.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2015, 11:28:05 AM by riverffashion »

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #655 on: October 11, 2015, 12:45:32 PM »
I still have $100 left in our food budget this month. But that will be cutting it close.

Need to stock up on beans, to continue making my "chipotle" salad bowls for dinner. Having a blast with that.

I'm determined to stay on budget this month. Not a lot of food in the house right now, but will do.

Making batches of both pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins to freeze/breakfast.

Have oatmeal. Quinoa. Red lentils. Wild rice... Kale... Salad lettuce.

Okay beans and I need more veggies. 

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #656 on: October 15, 2015, 06:18:28 AM »
Also need to suck it up and figure out what to do with the heart and tongue from last year's beef quarter.

How about beef tongue in Madeira sauce, for example http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/member-recipes/recipe-detail/212/#gjC46iwvDSCdViM0.97

It is a Belgian/French recipe.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2015, 06:20:16 AM by Polaria »

seemsright

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #657 on: October 15, 2015, 01:26:12 PM »
I am starting over. And this time as the food stores go down I am going to rethink how I shop, eat and cook. Learning how to keep a minimal kitchen has not been easy for me at all. I grew up in a house that never had any food and when I got on my own I kept my kitchen STOCKED. It has gotten better over the years. But I still keep way too much on hand.

It is time for me to learn and be at peace with only 10 options for dinner in my kitchen.
One step at a time in the journey called life.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #658 on: October 16, 2015, 08:19:41 AM »
I'm the same way, seemsright!   Slowly getting better.  I still stock up when there are deals, but have simplified a lot.

Right now eating a jar of pears I canned last year.

The new beef quarter went in the freezer yesterday, but I'm going to challenge myself to use up all of last year's before opening g any new packages.

I won't mind demolishing the last two lamb chops, either.  Have been waiting for a day when DH is gone since there aren't enough for two.

NeverLost

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #659 on: October 16, 2015, 08:45:37 AM »
I'm in on this!  I have practically blown my grocery budget for this month already (on the 16th) and need to get my shit together so I don't go way over this month.  We took an unexpected shopping trip to a Trader Joes an hour from home when we were in that neighborhood and I spent a ton on snacks and frozen foods.  The next day we went to the pumpkin patch and I spent $35 on pumpkins, caramel corn and jams.  It was good since we're now stocked up for a while, but I have only $55 left in my budget!  I think it may be impossible to not go over but I need to make sure I don't go hundreds of dollars over!  So far, I've come up with a spicy udon veggie stir fry (have tons of udon noodles), a tapenade pasta (I bought olive tapenade at trader joes) and a French onion soup, since I have about 7 large sweet onions mom my gave me since she bought the Costco bag of them. 

I have three large butternut squashes from my grandma's garden.  I don't really want to do a soup since I have just recently made pumpkin bisque twice and I think my family is sick of it.  I know I am since I had to take the leftovers!  I found this recipe that I am going to try:

http://www.naivecookcooks.com/caramelised-butternut-squash-pizza-with-basil-pesto/

So now I just need about 10 other butternut squash recipes that aren't a soup. I had this one pinned and it looks amazing, however I would have to buy the shells and ricotta so we'll see.  Also, the only milk we have is almond milk so I'd have to figure out something there too. 

http://rachelschultz.com/2013/10/08/butternut-squash-ricotta-stuffed-shells/

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #660 on: October 16, 2015, 10:17:47 AM »
I'm in on this!  I have practically blown my grocery budget for this month already (on the 16th) and need to get my shit together so I don't go way over this month.  We took an unexpected shopping trip to a Trader Joes an hour from home when we were in that neighborhood and I spent a ton on snacks and frozen foods.  The next day we went to the pumpkin patch and I spent $35 on pumpkins, caramel corn and jams.  It was good since we're now stocked up for a while, but I have only $55 left in my budget!  I think it may be impossible to not go over but I need to make sure I don't go hundreds of dollars over!  So far, I've come up with a spicy udon veggie stir fry (have tons of udon noodles), a tapenade pasta (I bought olive tapenade at trader joes) and a French onion soup, since I have about 7 large sweet onions mom my gave me since she bought the Costco bag of them. 

I have three large butternut squashes from my grandma's garden.  I don't really want to do a soup since I have just recently made pumpkin bisque twice and I think my family is sick of it.  I know I am since I had to take the leftovers!  I found this recipe that I am going to try:

http://www.naivecookcooks.com/caramelised-butternut-squash-pizza-with-basil-pesto/

So now I just need about 10 other butternut squash recipes that aren't a soup. I had this one pinned and it looks amazing, however I would have to buy the shells and ricotta so we'll see.  Also, the only milk we have is almond milk so I'd have to figure out something there too. 

http://rachelschultz.com/2013/10/08/butternut-squash-ricotta-stuffed-shells/

Butternut squash is actually excellent as a simple side dish:
Halve squashes and remove insides. Drizzle inside of squashes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, or whatever herbs or spices you have on hand. Bake, interior side down. Bake until soft and skin is a little crisp - fork will poke thru skin into flesh easily.
Roasted garlic is excellent accompaniment to this above dish. Leave whole garlic head completely intact, skin and all.
Cut small portion off non root end and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt etc and bake.
Also, as a sweet dessert , bake in similar fashion or peel, remove inside, and cut in med. sized pieces and simmer. Add  sugar, cinnamon, or whichever sweeter spices  you enjoy. Can eat only sqash or top with whipped creme or ice creme.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 10:20:06 AM by riverffashion »

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #661 on: October 16, 2015, 10:58:15 AM »
Butternut squash is actually excellent as a simple side dish:
Halve squashes and remove insides. Drizzle inside of squashes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, or whatever herbs or spices you have on hand. Bake, interior side down. Bake until soft and skin is a little crisp - fork will poke thru skin into flesh easily.
Roasted garlic is excellent accompaniment to this above dish. Leave whole garlic head completely intact, skin and all.
Cut small portion off non root end and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt etc and bake.
Also, as a sweet dessert , bake in similar fashion or peel, remove inside, and cut in med. sized pieces and simmer. Add  sugar, cinnamon, or whichever sweeter spices  you enjoy. Can eat only sqash or top with whipped creme or ice creme.

I LOVE butternut squash with cinnamon. May I worship both of you now? :-)

NeverLost

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #662 on: October 16, 2015, 01:39:05 PM »
Thanks!  I'll give it a try!

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #663 on: October 16, 2015, 09:13:09 PM »
Butternut squash is actually excellent as a simple side dish:
Halve squashes and remove insides. Drizzle inside of squashes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, or whatever herbs or spices you have on hand. Bake, interior side down. Bake until soft and skin is a little crisp - fork will poke thru skin into flesh easily.
Roasted garlic is excellent accompaniment to this above dish. Leave whole garlic head completely intact, skin and all.
Cut small portion off non root end and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt etc and bake.
Also, as a sweet dessert , bake in similar fashion or peel, remove inside, and cut in med. sized pieces and simmer. Add  sugar, cinnamon, or whichever sweeter spices  you enjoy. Can eat only sqash or top with whipped creme or ice creme.

I LOVE butternut squash with cinnamon. May I worship both of you now? :-)

Yes. Ha!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #664 on: October 16, 2015, 10:48:10 PM »
So now I just need about 10 other butternut squash recipes that aren't a soup.

We made a recipe for Thanksgiving a few years back that was good and fairly inexpensive. You cube the squash, toss with sauteed onions and rosemary, throw it in a baking dish and top with cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. (We adapted this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/butternut-squash-gratin-with-rosemary-breadcrumbs-104303  and just made it simpler/healthier with less butter, no sugar, less cheese, etc.)

I'm probably too late for the person looking for cucumber recipes, but I'll throw this out there anyway: one of my favorite salads to make is cucumber + tomato + walnuts + a little fresh goat cheese, tossed with a vinaigrette.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #665 on: October 17, 2015, 07:39:27 PM »
So now I just need about 10 other butternut squash recipes that aren't a soup.

We made a recipe for Thanksgiving a few years back that was good and fairly inexpensive. You cube the squash, toss with sauteed onions and rosemary, throw it in a baking dish and top with cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs. (We adapted this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/butternut-squash-gratin-with-rosemary-breadcrumbs-104303  and just made it simpler/healthier with less butter, no sugar, less cheese, etc.)

I'm probably too late for the person looking for cucumber recipes, but I'll throw this out there anyway: one of my favorite salads to make is cucumber + tomato + walnuts + a little fresh goat cheese, tossed with a vinaigrette.

Throwing butternut-worshipful glances in your direction too, Ms. D. Slice!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #666 on: October 17, 2015, 11:23:42 PM »
I'm actually just about everything I had- except I'm still going thru the tea and cinnamon ( which I love together ) & the cayenne. Other than that I'm done. So I purchased a 1lb. Each of quinoa & lentils, some spinach & a bag of carrots and cooked some of them all together, with a little cayenne & plan to eat this until I'm out. I don't mind eating the same healthy foods for a few days at all. When I'm out, I get something a little different ( different vegetables mostly ) .

Okay folks. I ran out of everything, so I replenished my supply. There's a sale 20% off all bulk items at the natural foods store my fiancé works, plus our 27% team member discount. I've got back into Zero Waste again recently, which means buying in bulk section with my own bags-. And buying my produce loose. Also, am vegan so i was doing much of my shopping in bulk section anyway. So I was able to get a couple pounds or so of all the usual suspects:


Oats, black beans, lentils, soy beans (for making soymilk etc), brown rice, quinoa, chickpeas, flax seeds, and a few cinnamon sticks (to tone down soy bean taste).

I will eat this supply before purchasing more food, except produce.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2015, 02:24:04 PM by riverffashion »

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #667 on: October 17, 2015, 11:43:18 PM »
I have so much food stashed all over the place  Today I rearranged the home-canned goods in the basement and brought some upstairs to increase their chances of getting used.  Am going to shoot for not buying any fresh fruit until I use up the berries in the freezer, the last couple melons from the garden and put a big dent in the canned peaches, pears and assorted fruit preserves, which I've been stirring into homemade yogurt.

Then there's the dry storage stuff like split peas, red lentils that I was obsessed with a couple years ago but haven't eaten lately, a giant bag of white rice etc, etc.  There are even some spaghetti squash from last year's garden that still appear to be good.  Need to cut one open and see.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #668 on: October 23, 2015, 11:57:21 AM »
Here's one of my favorite savory butternut squash recipes (most are sweet): http://www.theppk.com/2012/10/roasted-butternut-alfredo/

It's also good used in lieu of pumpkin in baked goods or chunked and put into stews or chili. You can also peel it, chunk it up, and roast it in a 400 F oven for ~30-40 minutes with liberal amounts of olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and coriander if desired. Just stir once 1/2 way through roasting. Most veggies are good this way, actually :) In my house we roast everything we can find! Good luck.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #669 on: October 23, 2015, 12:07:56 PM »
I tried the shells recipe I posted earlier and it was wonderful!  Will make again soon for sure!

http://rachelschultz.com/2013/10/08/butternut-squash-ricotta-stuffed-shells/

I am putting the roasted butternut alfredo on the menu for next week... yum!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #670 on: October 24, 2015, 09:57:39 AM »
There was enough whale for two dinners. I sliced it thinly and seared it today, and served it as wraps with julienne carrots and swedes, with sweet and sour sauce.

Tomorrow will be a more traditional day, will heat the leftovers in a creamy sauce, and serve with mashed potatoes.

Reader

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #671 on: November 01, 2015, 09:19:21 AM »
I've also been working on eating down the stash of various fruit preserves by mixing them into plain yogurt.  I got way overzealous with the jam-making when I first learned to can, but we never have toast, so there aren't many opportunities to use the stuff.

Thanks for the great idea! i have been wondering what to do with my half bottle of raspberry jam.

Oats, black beans, lentils, soy beans (for making soymilk etc), brown rice, quinoa, chickpeas, flax seeds, and a few cinnamon sticks (to tone down soy bean taste).
how do the cinnamon sticks work to tone down the soy bean taste? do you boil it with the soya milk?
« Last Edit: November 01, 2015, 09:25:13 AM by HappyStoic »

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #672 on: November 01, 2015, 12:41:17 PM »
I've also been working on eating down the stash of various fruit preserves by mixing them into plain yogurt.  I got way overzealous with the jam-making when I first learned to can, but we never have toast, so there aren't many opportunities to use the stuff.

Thanks for the great idea! i have been wondering what to do with my half bottle of raspberry jam.

Oats, black beans, lentils, soy beans (for making soymilk etc), brown rice, quinoa, chickpeas, flax seeds, and a few cinnamon sticks (to tone down soy bean taste).
how do the cinnamon sticks work to tone down the soy bean taste? do you boil it with the soya milk?


Yes. I make soymilk (really easy to do) and when its ready to cook, I add a cinnamon stick and boil together for about 20 minutes. It counteracts the pungent soybean taste perfectly.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #673 on: November 11, 2015, 07:24:06 AM »
Hi everyone, would love any ideas / recipes to use up ricotta cheese. I have a tub and have never used it before.

Would prefer main courses rather than deserts, but whatever you've got, throw it at me! Thanks.

seemsright

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #674 on: November 11, 2015, 09:42:59 AM »
Take some pasta...cook it up.
Take some pasta sauce (any would work homemade or from a jar) heat some up, take some greens put in hot sauce, dump in your ricotta cheese then take that mixture and mix in your pasta.

You will end up with a lasagna type thing.

I would just eat it with some peaches and honey and a spoon.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #675 on: November 11, 2015, 01:57:39 PM »
Hi everyone, would love any ideas / recipes to use up ricotta cheese. I have a tub and have never used it before.

Would prefer main courses rather than deserts, but whatever you've got, throw it at me! Thanks.


Manicotti is really good. They're giant round noodles you can stuff .I can't figure out how to add a link, but Google recipes for manicotti. Really is very simple. Manicotti shells are stuffed with ricotta in casserole dish and baked.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #676 on: November 12, 2015, 04:13:05 AM »
A baked pasta dish is a great idea, thank you both!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #677 on: November 12, 2015, 04:29:19 AM »
I finally cracked open the can of light cocounut milk that I've had for over a year. I made my husband a pumpkin pie that was remarkably good if I do say so myself. I'm going to use the rest of the can for either some chia pudding or a curry veg stew. The stew calls for more cocunut milk than I have left, but I figured I'd just put more veg broth in... hope that won't make it weird. Of course, I could just reduce the whole recipe. Doh!


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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #678 on: November 15, 2015, 01:52:51 AM »
I work 12 hr night shifts and have gotten into the bad habit of not taking food or not wanting what I do take and running over to the grocery store in the middle of the night to get something else. This is both a waste of $ and not great for my waist as what I usually grab is junk food/candy.
I've got some vegetables, not much fruit, 2 lbs of hamburger meat, leftovers and some other random things in the house. I'm going to challenge myself to eat what I have for at least the next 10 days and not spend any $.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #679 on: November 15, 2015, 06:20:48 AM »
I work 12 hr night shifts and have gotten into the bad habit of not taking food or not wanting what I do take and running over to the grocery store in the middle of the night to get something else. This is both a waste of $ and not great for my waist as what I usually grab is junk food/candy.
I've got some vegetables, not much fruit, 2 lbs of hamburger meat, leftovers and some other random things in the house. I'm going to challenge myself to eat what I have for at least the next 10 days and not spend any $.

Not sure which vegetables you have, but I have a great recipe for ground beef:
Tomato, bell pepper, scallions, garlic .I use a lot in terms of ratio : 1:1 vegetables to meat.  even amounts of each vegetable.. Dice. Sauté in pan for a minute or so.
Add the ground beef and generous amount of  mint leaves, a little chicken bouillon cube (& salt& pepper if desired) to taste. Stir until cooked.
I add diced green beans to vegetables in first step, they go well with the combination.
This dish is excellent with handmade tortillas &/or rice (Guatemalan dish). Or of course can use regular tortillas.
Or sometimes I fry potatoes to accompany.
Is also good as cold dish.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2015, 06:23:30 AM by riverffashion »

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #680 on: November 16, 2015, 04:45:43 AM »
Hi everyone, would love any ideas / recipes to use up ricotta cheese. I have a tub and have never used it before.

ricotta toasts with grilled zucchini & balsamic or za'tar
stuffed pasta shells with roast squash/sweet potato puree & parmesan
dolloped on pizza along with favourite toppings

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #681 on: November 18, 2015, 09:53:06 AM »
Thanks riverffashion - that does sound good. I had the meat, leftover onion, and some green beans. So, that's what I got out of it and cooked some rice to go with it.

We have a kitchen area at work and I know the guys ordered chinese the other night so there should be soy sauce packets or something left around if I need to add some more flavor to it. I work tonight and tomorrow so I'll take enough tonight to last both days.
The last night I worked was Mon and it snowed all night so there was no temptation to leave and run to the grocery store.

Today is day 4 of my no spend challenge and I'm at $0.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #682 on: November 18, 2015, 11:47:17 AM »
Made the curry soup recipe from Thug Kitchen. I added more spices to it, and I think it's quite tasty. Used up noodles and coconut milk.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #683 on: November 18, 2015, 04:56:58 PM »

 Used half a jar of Alfredo sauce that needed to get use out of the fridge. Made spaghetti sauce with canned tomatoes, TVP, Alfredo, and spices.


Also cooked up and got into the freezer 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters.  That's shredded for future use now.  The bones are cooking over tonight for bone broth, and once they' we softened up enough, they're dog food. Tonight, the dogs got skin and fat and they're happy as clams. Also, I have created a monster, otherwise known as the world's happiest cat. I'm afraid I gave him scraps while I was separating out the chicken. I'll probably never work in peace in my kitchen again.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #684 on: November 19, 2015, 05:22:38 AM »
Also cooked up and got into the freezer 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters.  That's shredded for future use now.  The bones are cooking over tonight for bone broth, and once they' we softened up enough, they're dog food. Tonight, the dogs got skin and fat and they're happy as clams. Also, I have created a monster, otherwise known as the world's happiest cat. I'm afraid I gave him scraps while I was separating out the chicken. I'll probably never work in peace in my kitchen again.
that's quite a monster meal! i can imagine the waggy tails and purry cat as you're whipping all these up.

Rural

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #685 on: November 19, 2015, 12:50:26 PM »
Also cooked up and got into the freezer 10 pounds of chicken leg quarters.  That's shredded for future use now.  The bones are cooking over tonight for bone broth, and once they' we softened up enough, they're dog food. Tonight, the dogs got skin and fat and they're happy as clams. Also, I have created a monster, otherwise known as the world's happiest cat. I'm afraid I gave him scraps while I was separating out the chicken. I'll probably never work in peace in my kitchen again.
that's quite a monster meal! i can imagine the waggy tails and purry cat as you're whipping all these up.


 Oh they're happy, all right. And I made bone broth, cooking it overnight in the crockpot with enough apple cider vinegar to leach the bones, so they should be safe for doggy consumption tonight. Once the bones crumble between my fingers, I know they won't splinter inside the dogs.


Ironically, our supper last night was vegitarian! But we have quick convenience food in the freezer now.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2015, 12:52:26 PM by Rural »

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #686 on: November 20, 2015, 02:14:23 AM »
I'm eating out of the freezer again. Goal is to eat those ods and end that inevitably end up in there as I'm a "throw away no food" sort of household.

This week I ate quinoa salad with some cubes of salmon I froze because I simply couldn't eat more and they were on their use-by date and the last of some mozarella from a date-sale months ago. Also made thai pumpkin soup with all ingredients from the freezer. Tonight I'm in for a break with fajitas, but next week I'm tackling leftover black bean soup, chili and chickpeas.

If I find time I might make a big batch of rubarb&strawberry jam this weekend. Have a tub of frozen rubarb in there too..

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #687 on: November 29, 2015, 03:07:05 PM »
haha- I haven't checked this forum in a while and just noticed this thread.

Earlier this week, I told my wife, "wow! there is nearly nothing in our pantry."

Then, today I found some cans of chunked pineapples in the pantry. I also remembered having some frozen chicken in the freezer, so I added some bar-b-cue sauce, pineapple, chicken, some seasonings, and potato chunks into a slow cooker and it's been cooking for the past couple of hours. 

Let's see how it turns out.  Worse comes to worst, I got rid of a few things that have just been sitting there.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #688 on: November 29, 2015, 03:12:15 PM »
haha- I haven't checked this forum in a while and just noticed this thread.

Earlier this week, I told my wife, "wow! there is nearly nothing in our pantry."

Then, today I found some cans of chunked pineapples in the pantry. I also remembered having some frozen chicken in the freezer, so I added some bar-b-cue sauce, pineapple, chicken, some seasonings, and potato chunks into a slow cooker and it's been cooking for the past couple of hours. 

Let's see how it turns out.  Worse comes to worst, I got rid of a few things that have just been sitting there.

It sounds like it won't be long until you eat all the food in your house ha-ha.
The meal you've got cooking sounds good to me. Let us know how it turns out.

SeaEhm

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #689 on: November 29, 2015, 08:32:54 PM »
haha- I haven't checked this forum in a while and just noticed this thread.

Earlier this week, I told my wife, "wow! there is nearly nothing in our pantry."

Then, today I found some cans of chunked pineapples in the pantry. I also remembered having some frozen chicken in the freezer, so I added some bar-b-cue sauce, pineapple, chicken, some seasonings, and potato chunks into a slow cooker and it's been cooking for the past couple of hours. 

Let's see how it turns out.  Worse comes to worst, I got rid of a few things that have just been sitting there.

It sounds like it won't be long until you eat all the food in your house ha-ha.
The meal you've got cooking sounds good to me. Let us know how it turns out.

5 hours later, I get an itch to do some research about cooking times.  This leads me to find articles about frozen chicken and slow cookers.  Next, I eventually find that the USDA does not recommend cooking frozen chicken in a slow cooker.  They talk about how slow cookers stay at a temperature that helps bacteria grow for long periods of time.

Basically, I found a way to make my house smell good for about 4 of those hours and learned a pretty good lesson to ALWAYS THAW YOUR MEATS!

I immediately looked at my wife and said, "Let's eat at In-N-out tonight."  20 seconds later, I see these tubes of Pillsbury crescent rolls and I get to town making some other food from the fridge.

This time, sliced chicken nuggets & cheese filled crescent rolls and another variation with slicked chicken nuggets, pineapples, and BBQ sauce (to redeem my other failure) haha

« Last Edit: November 29, 2015, 08:34:56 PM by SeaEhm »

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #690 on: November 30, 2015, 05:38:36 PM »
Last month was really expensive and, even though I have only been in my new place eight months, the food storage is overflowing. Time to pantry shop!

So far, I cleared out the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers for yesterday's lunch, and the last of a batch of Massaman curry for dinner. I had half an apple left over from another cooking project so I chopped that up and threw it in and it was really good! Today I finished up some quinoa and half of a container of black bean and sweet potato chili. I was thinking about the last slice of apple pie for dessert, but I may be too full.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #691 on: November 30, 2015, 05:39:19 PM »
haha- I haven't checked this forum in a while and just noticed this thread.

Earlier this week, I told my wife, "wow! there is nearly nothing in our pantry."

Then, today I found some cans of chunked pineapples in the pantry. I also remembered having some frozen chicken in the freezer, so I added some bar-b-cue sauce, pineapple, chicken, some seasonings, and potato chunks into a slow cooker and it's been cooking for the past couple of hours. 

Let's see how it turns out.  Worse comes to worst, I got rid of a few things that have just been sitting there.

It sounds like it won't be long until you eat all the food in your house ha-ha.
The meal you've got cooking sounds good to me. Let us know how it turns out.

5 hours later, I get an itch to do some research about cooking times.  This leads me to find articles about frozen chicken and slow cookers.  Next, I eventually find that the USDA does not recommend cooking frozen chicken in a slow cooker.  They talk about how slow cookers stay at a temperature that helps bacteria grow for long periods of time.

Basically, I found a way to make my house smell good for about 4 of those hours and learned a pretty good lesson to ALWAYS THAW YOUR MEATS!

I immediately looked at my wife and said, "Let's eat at In-N-out tonight."  20 seconds later, I see these tubes of Pillsbury crescent rolls and I get to town making some other food from the fridge.

This time, sliced chicken nuggets & cheese filled crescent rolls and another variation with slicked chicken nuggets, pineapples, and BBQ sauce (to redeem my other failure) haha


If that advice about not slow cooking frozen chicken were really accurate, I should have died twice a week for about the last decade.

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #692 on: December 01, 2015, 08:24:20 AM »
Used up frozen chick-peas, some chicken stock and a bag of frozen pumpkin for a Moroccan stew this weekend. Today I'm freezing the last of the sauce (there somehow is always more sause than meat) for minestrone soup. I know it's "free" food and I know I hate waste, but leftovers from eating out the freezer somehow still really bothers me. Feels like that freezer will never empty.

Oh, well.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #693 on: December 01, 2015, 03:41:12 PM »
Used up frozen chick-peas, some chicken stock and a bag of frozen pumpkin for a Moroccan stew this weekend. Today I'm freezing the last of the sauce (there somehow is always more sause than meat) for minestrone soup. I know it's "free" food and I know I hate waste, but leftovers from eating out the freezer somehow still really bothers me. Feels like that freezer will never empty.

Oh, well.

I quite like chicken soup with beans or chickpeas or lentils thrown in - I do cook the beans separate though (and from scratch).

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #694 on: December 02, 2015, 04:29:33 PM »
Used up frozen chick-peas, some chicken stock and a bag of frozen pumpkin for a Moroccan stew this weekend. Today I'm freezing the last of the sauce (there somehow is always more sause than meat) for minestrone soup. I know it's "free" food and I know I hate waste, but leftovers from eating out the freezer somehow still really bothers me. Feels like that freezer will never empty.

Oh, well.

I quite like chicken soup with beans or chickpeas or lentils thrown in - I do cook the beans separate though (and from scratch).
I dub any soup with stock, herbs and beans/chickpeas "minestrone". I'll add any meat I have - chorizo, meatballs, chicken or just veggies. My absolute favourite soup in the world: odds-and-ends soup heavy on the herbs.

I too cook my own beans from scratch. The tinned ones just doesn't taste the same.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #695 on: December 02, 2015, 08:15:41 PM »
Used up frozen chick-peas, some chicken stock and a bag of frozen pumpkin for a Moroccan stew this weekend. Today I'm freezing the last of the sauce (there somehow is always more sause than meat) for minestrone soup. I know it's "free" food and I know I hate waste, but leftovers from eating out the freezer somehow still really bothers me. Feels like that freezer will never empty.

Oh, well.

I quite like chicken soup with beans or chickpeas or lentils thrown in - I do cook the beans separate though (and from scratch).
I dub any soup with stock, herbs and beans/chickpeas "minestrone". I'll add any meat I have - chorizo, meatballs, chicken or just veggies. My absolute favourite soup in the world: odds-and-ends soup heavy on the herbs.

I too cook my own beans from scratch. The tinned ones just doesn't taste the same.

Yes, cooking simply  from scratch is healthy, delicious, cost effective, and little effort on my part (at least my cooking anyway!) . I mostly eat vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. With a little fruit from time to time. When I feel like a little " extravagance " I will make yogurt or soymilk or the like. (Also simple to make, though more steps required. )

Zamboni

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #696 on: December 28, 2015, 04:11:00 PM »
Oy, time for me to start this challenge again!

At a minimum, I must get to the bottom and back of my freezer. I spent more than ever on food this past year, and a good portion of it seems to be stashed away.

Today I made spicy turkey stew with the leftover carcass from Christmas Eve. Tomorrow we'll probably have turkey again, but with the last of the stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy that will hopefully be edible from the drippings I saved. It's amazing how much food is on a medium sized turkey.

On the short term future agenda:
quiches to use up the frozen spinach and two pie crusts
swedish meatballs from IKEA (why oh why did I buy those???!!!) & potatoes
cranberry chicken
chicken jambalaya with parker house rolls
french dips
pasta with meat sauce
pasta with meal balls
pizza
ham and cheese omelets
chana masala and rice
various soups
buffalo chicken wings
smoothies
salad with salmon on top
chocolate chip cookies
oatmeal cookies

I think, to make all of that, the only thing I will need to buy is sub rolls for the French dips. And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head as I haven't even gone to look in there.

It's a ridiculous life of luxury and opulence that I lead. It will be interested to see what I end up spending on groceries this month. Surely, if I really felt creative, I could spend $0. Craziness.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #697 on: December 28, 2015, 08:17:05 PM »
I've been unofficially following along since mid-November. I don't buy a lot of food but I also get lazy about cooking the same stuff all the time so I thought this would be a nice challenge. I cooked a pound of dry pinto beans and some rice today. Tomorrow I'm making a quiche with spinach and pork sausage and a left over pie crust from thanksgiving. I have a lot of breakfast food left and some beef stew in the freezer. I can easily make  it to January 4 (my goal date) but coffee is running low.  Life is too short to not have coffee in the morning. I still have a ridiculous amount of baking supplies, but I don't want to gain 10 pounds so I'm ok with that staying for now. If I buy a small amount of groceries this week ($20) I can make enough meals to last a long time and I have some time off this week to cook and freeze.

My grocery list for $20:
Whole chicken
Jar of pasta sauce
Veggies
Milk
Ricotta cheese
Coffee
Eggs

Meals that will make:
Roasted chicken (1/4 eaten as is, some reserved for soup/chicken salad, stock)
Roasted veg and quinoa salad
Lasagna
Mexican chicken soup
Chicken noodle soup
Tuscan sausage and kale soup

Add those to what I already have, and I'm good for at least four weeks but longer if I'm diligent. Good thing I like soup.

Zamboni

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #698 on: January 03, 2016, 05:07:03 PM »
Okay, here is a story of pure ridiculousness:

French dips was on my list of things to make and I had everything but the rolls. So, I took advantage of an opportunistic purchase of some awesome looking wheat sub rolls at the Dollar Store of all places. Totally random purchase, since I was there to get a pregnancy test. Supposedly the Dollar Store pregnancy tests work just fine, and according to it I am not pregnant, which is a good thing.

Anyway, the brand name fancy pants sub rolls were there just by chance and I got home all stoked to thaw the beef roast . . . but then I couldn't find it in my dinky freezer. Dug around under some stuff. Looked in the freezer door. WTF? Where did it go? Did I thaw it already?  Hmmm, no. Maybe I used it and I forgot? Weird.

So, when I was out the next day getting some beer, I bought another roast (bonus points for it being on super sale.) No, my beer consumption has nothing at all to do with needing a pregnancy test. Got home all psyched to make French dips au jus  tomorrow in the slow cooker. And then I got some ice from my drink . . . and there was the other roast, the one I was looking for in vain, frozen solid and for some reason in the ice cube bin, stashed below the ice cube tray.

Oh yes, definitely time to clean out my stash of provisions.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #699 on: January 04, 2016, 05:13:00 AM »
My goal for this week is to meal plan as many meals as I can for January using items out of the pantry and freezer. I have so many tins. The freezer is mainly meat, so I will have a lot of veggies to buy.

I was really good with Christmas leftovers, and the only thing remaining is some smoked salmon. I opened the packet on December 29th, so I'm wary of using it... but then it was so expensive it will annoy me to throw it away (not to even think of wasting food which I hate as well).

I thought maybe I could cook it up in some pasta and that would kill anything nasty? Probably better than eating it raw. Hmmm. Or a quiche? Or would you all throw it out and be done with it?