Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183630 times)

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #800 on: February 29, 2016, 02:16:51 AM »
My weakness is the sales. I struggle with the instinct to grab just 2-4 duplicates when they are priced down and keep having to remind myself to only get 1 (or 2 if they are normally pricy) and only if I know it's either a staple or something I will make that week. Because there is always something on sale. Ok: it's not chicken this week, but I can eat pork, or fish or beef. And the irony is that I actually much prefer buying "random" meat and challenging myself to cook it rather than planning from the freezer. Power of habit, I guess...

Found a tin of tea with only two bags left at the back of my cupboard, and also emptied one out for my morning tea today. So that's 4 down, 16 left. The challenge is I'm out of one of my very favourite teas: jasmine tea.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #801 on: February 29, 2016, 04:22:51 AM »
Having people for dinner tomorrow and doing a chinese-style chicken dish with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

I usually serve it with bok-choy but I have a british cabbage in the fridge that needs using up and I'd rather not have to buy anything special.

Trouble is I've never cooked cabbage unless it's in one special dish that wouldn't go with this.

Just shred it finely and steam? Or stir fry over high heat? My mother used to boil it and yuck. This would go nicely with chicken and rice though, right?

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #802 on: February 29, 2016, 07:55:51 AM »
Having people for dinner tomorrow and doing a chinese-style chicken dish with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

I usually serve it with bok-choy but I have a british cabbage in the fridge that needs using up and I'd rather not have to buy anything special.

Trouble is I've never cooked cabbage unless it's in one special dish that wouldn't go with this.

Just shred it finely and steam? Or stir fry over high heat? My mother used to boil it and yuck. This would go nicely with chicken and rice though, right?

I would do this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/stir-fry-cabbage-recipe.html

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #803 on: February 29, 2016, 09:07:22 AM »
Having people for dinner tomorrow and doing a chinese-style chicken dish with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.

I usually serve it with bok-choy but I have a british cabbage in the fridge that needs using up and I'd rather not have to buy anything special.

Trouble is I've never cooked cabbage unless it's in one special dish that wouldn't go with this.

Just shred it finely and steam? Or stir fry over high heat? My mother used to boil it and yuck. This would go nicely with chicken and rice though, right?

I would do this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/stir-fry-cabbage-recipe.html

Thank you for that! Since the ingredients are really similar to the marinade for the chicken (which just goes in a casserole dish in the oven) I might just chuck the cabbage in with the chicken. Any reason this is a terrible idea?

It's a martha stewart recipe - chicken thighs, minced ginger and garlic, soy sauce, in a casserole dish, in the oven until it's falling off the bone.

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #804 on: March 01, 2016, 07:32:37 AM »
I would do this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/stir-fry-cabbage-recipe.html
Thank you for that! Since the ingredients are really similar to the marinade for the chicken (which just goes in a casserole dish in the oven) I might just chuck the cabbage in with the chicken. Any reason this is a terrible idea?
It's a martha stewart recipe - chicken thighs, minced ginger and garlic, soy sauce, in a casserole dish, in the oven until it's falling off the bone.

I'd be concerned about extra water coming out if you baked the cabbage with the chicken - you might end up with braised chicken & cabbage soup.  Also the texture wouldn't be as good.  What if you just doubled your original marinade and used the second portion for the stir fry?

EngineerYogi

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #805 on: March 01, 2016, 03:53:17 PM »
Anyone else freaking out as open spots appear in the pantry and freezer? I think I have uncovered an Inner Bag Lady and she apparently is afraid of personal food shortages. We have been eating food mostly from our freezer and pantry and now there are, gasp, open spots. I rotate stock but have never actually eaten it down, not even to move. We packed coolers with dry ice on our last two cross country moves. Boxes of food were moved as well. In the last 15 years I have never moved into a house and not had an instantly full pantry and freezer. It actually may be more than a little ridiculous. I definitely feel more secure with large food stocks though. I'm not a hoarder. I don't let the food go bad like DH's grandmother used to (she had an extra large chest freezer of JIC food that they never touched; grandad encouraged "shopping" there, which was fantastic when we were in college). I just keep several months worth of stocks.

I keep finding myself nervously wondering, as our stocks slowly are decreasing, about how I will ever afford to rebuild them. Assuming we get to a more financially secure, I want to change our diet back to Paleo/Whole 30ish and a lot of our current stocks are beans, lentils, and other cheap staples. It makes sense to just eat them now while money is tight. Every time I open the freezer or pantry I have a moment of panic though. Ugh!  I need to do a freezer and pantry inventory. I suspect it will show the continued presence of ridiculous amounts of food, despite actually having eaten it down some.

Onward though. Another batch of rice and beans are getting converted to premade entrees for DH to take to work. Trying a savory oatmeal recipe (I am trying some way to make oatmeal palatable to me; the rest of the family likes it but I find it abhorrent) as well. I've been premaking casseroles and lunches from our stocks. As a bonus, eating out has essentially been eliminated by the sheer volume of food we have at home. (Shuffles feet in embarrassment.)

I'm like you. I looked into my fridge yesterday and the light was reaching some of the back corners and bottom shelves, a phenomenon I'm certain I've never seen before!

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #806 on: March 04, 2016, 06:11:38 AM »
I would do this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/stir-fry-cabbage-recipe.html
Thank you for that! Since the ingredients are really similar to the marinade for the chicken (which just goes in a casserole dish in the oven) I might just chuck the cabbage in with the chicken. Any reason this is a terrible idea?
It's a martha stewart recipe - chicken thighs, minced ginger and garlic, soy sauce, in a casserole dish, in the oven until it's falling off the bone.

I'd be concerned about extra water coming out if you baked the cabbage with the chicken - you might end up with braised chicken & cabbage soup.  Also the texture wouldn't be as good.  What if you just doubled your original marinade and used the second portion for the stir fry?

Thanks plain jane, I stir fried it and it was delicious! I got so many compliments on the meal :) My guest sent a thank you email and mentioned how great it was again! Beaming over here.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #807 on: March 05, 2016, 09:16:53 PM »
Glad the cabbage was a hit!

I've been out of town, so I hit the store and stocked up on produce, and grabbed some butter and a favorite salsa, but otherwise didn't get any non perishables or protein.  Need to take stock of the pantry tomorrow and see what else we can start eating down.  Thinking some of the lentils have been around the house far too long.  Of course, I did bring back about 10# of frozen chile, some big cans of chipotles, two bottles of hot sauce, and dried chile from my trip to New Mexico.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #808 on: March 07, 2016, 02:45:56 PM »
Last Fall during Chili Cookoff season, DH bought several 2LB packages of ground pork, used just one and the other had been sitting in the freezer since.  Saturday I soaked pinto beans overnight, and boiled them yesterday.  I cooked up the sausage, added the pinto beans, ketchup, brown sugar, onion and garlic powders and baked it for an hour at 325, then uncovered for another 30.  DH had two bowls last night, and has a ton of leftovers for lunches this week.

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #809 on: March 11, 2016, 02:22:54 AM »
My freezer is looking orderly and half-empty. This week: out a portion of black bean soup, some bread and all the tortillas. In 2 portions of curry for lunch and some feta cheese that was on sale for $ 1 because they vere on the use by-date. Feta freezes excellently, so I'm happy.

In other news: 5 down, 15 left of my giant tea-collection. I've gone through all the christmas-teas and opened a lovely rose earl grey the other day.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #810 on: March 11, 2016, 04:41:19 AM »
My freezer is looking orderly and half-empty. This week: out a portion of black bean soup, some bread and all the tortillas. In 2 portions of curry for lunch and some feta cheese that was on sale for $ 1 because they vere on the use by-date. Feta freezes excellently, so I'm happy.

In other news: 5 down, 15 left of my giant tea-collection. I've gone through all the christmas-teas and opened a lovely rose earl grey the other day.

Doing well on the tea Anje! I was just getting on top of my stash, when my DH went to a conference and came home with sample packets. I don't want to be ungrateful for free tea, but at the same time it feels like using it up is now a chore!

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #811 on: March 14, 2016, 12:54:21 PM »
My freezer is looking orderly and half-empty. This week: out a portion of black bean soup, some bread and all the tortillas. In 2 portions of curry for lunch and some feta cheese that was on sale for $ 1 because they vere on the use by-date. Feta freezes excellently, so I'm happy.

In other news: 5 down, 15 left of my giant tea-collection. I've gone through all the christmas-teas and opened a lovely rose earl grey the other day.

Doing well on the tea Anje! I was just getting on top of my stash, when my DH went to a conference and came home with sample packets. I don't want to be ungrateful for free tea, but at the same time it feels like using it up is now a chore!
Ha!  I love free tea, so feel free to send it my way.  I just finished a major tea clean-out at work and at home.  Now I only have a few types of tea that I really like.

I'm in the middle of a freezer clean-out.  I defrosted and cooked most of the chicken breasts in the freezer.  I only have one bag of soup left in the freezer.  Now I need to tackle our condiments...so many jars of jam, types of mustard, and other random things we've collected.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #812 on: March 14, 2016, 01:03:33 PM »
I grocery shop once a month so I usually need to be creative a day or two beforehand.  Currently in the slow cooker are chicken breasts wrapped in bacon covered in the last of the canned apples from our tree last fall.  Tomorrow will be boneless pork chops covered in the rest of the apples.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #813 on: March 14, 2016, 02:46:11 PM »
I grocery shop once a month so I usually need to be creative a day or two beforehand.  Currently in the slow cooker are chicken breasts wrapped in bacon covered in the last of the canned apples from our tree last fall.  Tomorrow will be boneless pork chops covered in the rest of the apples.

Wow, sounds good. Hav u tried the bacon wrapped chicken before?

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #814 on: March 15, 2016, 05:50:00 AM »
My freezer is looking orderly and half-empty. This week: out a portion of black bean soup, some bread and all the tortillas. In 2 portions of curry for lunch and some feta cheese that was on sale for $ 1 because they vere on the use by-date. Feta freezes excellently, so I'm happy.

In other news: 5 down, 15 left of my giant tea-collection. I've gone through all the christmas-teas and opened a lovely rose earl grey the other day.

Doing well on the tea Anje! I was just getting on top of my stash, when my DH went to a conference and came home with sample packets. I don't want to be ungrateful for free tea, but at the same time it feels like using it up is now a chore!
Ha!  I love free tea, so feel free to send it my way.  I just finished a major tea clean-out at work and at home.  Now I only have a few types of tea that I really like.

I'm in the middle of a freezer clean-out.  I defrosted and cooked most of the chicken breasts in the freezer.  I only have one bag of soup left in the freezer.  Now I need to tackle our condiments...so many jars of jam, types of mustard, and other random things we've collected.
I wouldn't worry about 15 (or 20) types of tea if they were all different types that I love. But some of them are just ok-ish teas that I bought but never finished. And so my goal is to end up with only the teas I love and drink regularly. And only 1 of each type at the time (not 3-4 like now).

I'm eating my way out of fridge and freezer before easter, while at the same time compiling a looong list of food to get for entertaining and so on for the holidays. Oh well. At least then the pile of food is new.. I don't like tossing food, but a jar of greyish pickles ended up in the bin.

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #815 on: March 15, 2016, 10:10:06 AM »
I wouldn't worry about 15 (or 20) types of tea if they were all different types that I love. But some of them are just ok-ish teas that I bought but never finished. And so my goal is to end up with only the teas I love and drink regularly. And only 1 of each type at the time (not 3-4 like now).

Have you considered bringing the ok-ish teas into work and leaving them in the kitchen?

I'm really pleased with my attempts to eat down the kitchen before our trip.  If everything goes to plan, the only perishables that I need to address is a bag of carrots (the plan is to peel & shred, then I can keep them in the freezer in 1 cup portions for baking or to bulk out ground meat), and some chickpeas (add a bit of liquid on top and then into the freezer).

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #816 on: March 15, 2016, 11:17:13 AM »
I wouldn't worry about 15 (or 20) types of tea if they were all different types that I love. But some of them are just ok-ish teas that I bought but never finished. And so my goal is to end up with only the teas I love and drink regularly. And only 1 of each type at the time (not 3-4 like now).

Have you considered bringing the ok-ish teas into work and leaving them in the kitchen?

I'm really pleased with my attempts to eat down the kitchen before our trip.  If everything goes to plan, the only perishables that I need to address is a bag of carrots (the plan is to peel & shred, then I can keep them in the freezer in 1 cup portions for baking or to bulk out ground meat), and some chickpeas (add a bit of liquid on top and then into the freezer).

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #817 on: March 15, 2016, 11:26:20 AM »
I wouldn't worry about 15 (or 20) types of tea if they were all different types that I love. But some of them are just ok-ish teas that I bought but never finished. And so my goal is to end up with only the teas I love and drink regularly. And only 1 of each type at the time (not 3-4 like now).

Have you considered bringing the ok-ish teas into work and leaving them in the kitchen?

I'm really pleased with my attempts to eat down the kitchen before our trip.  If everything goes to plan, the only perishables that I need to address is a bag of carrots (the plan is to peel & shred, then I can keep them in the freezer in 1 cup portions for baking or to bulk out ground meat), and some chickpeas (add a bit of liquid on top and then into the freezer).

Fiance & I have around 30 boxes of tea,which  I don't like mostly,  and will not drink- but my sweetheart loves any tea. He gets some free from work from time to time, and I've helped mom reduce her larger collection , and brought it for him as well. Ah well . it does get drank tho. & I do get the types I do enjoy for free.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #818 on: March 15, 2016, 12:38:00 PM »
I grocery shop once a month so I usually need to be creative a day or two beforehand.  Currently in the slow cooker are chicken breasts wrapped in bacon covered in the last of the canned apples from our tree last fall.  Tomorrow will be boneless pork chops covered in the rest of the apples.

Wow, sounds good. Hav u tried the bacon wrapped chicken before?

Thank you, riverff.  I've had bacon wrapped chicken, just not made in the slow cooker, nor covered in apples.  It was really good and tender, and DH said it was apple-y, LOL.  The pork chops are cooking today, and I have my grocery list and coupons ready to go.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #819 on: March 15, 2016, 01:02:41 PM »
I grocery shop once a month so I usually need to be creative a day or two beforehand.  Currently in the slow cooker are chicken breasts wrapped in bacon covered in the last of the canned apples from our tree last fall.  Tomorrow will be boneless pork chops covered in the rest of the apples.

Wow, sounds good. Hav u tried the bacon wrapped chicken before?

Thank you, riverff.  I've had bacon wrapped chicken, just not made in the slow cooker, nor covered in apples.  It was really good and tender, and DH said it was apple-y, LOL.  The pork chops are cooking today, and I have my grocery list and coupons ready to go.

Great :)

jooles

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #820 on: April 06, 2016, 11:37:13 AM »
Officially reviving this challenge in my house today.

Eat down the house for the rest of April.

Goals -

reducing spending on food

use up unloved food that you already own.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #821 on: April 07, 2016, 04:30:22 AM »
Made a meal plan for the rest of the week yesterday which was totally out of the freezer and store cupboard. Things are getting emptier and easier to see and use, hurrah!

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #822 on: April 07, 2016, 10:19:51 AM »
I wouldn't worry about 15 (or 20) types of tea if they were all different types that I love. But some of them are just ok-ish teas that I bought but never finished. And so my goal is to end up with only the teas I love and drink regularly. And only 1 of each type at the time (not 3-4 like now).

Have you considered bringing the ok-ish teas into work and leaving them in the kitchen?

I'm really pleased with my attempts to eat down the kitchen before our trip.  If everything goes to plan, the only perishables that I need to address is a bag of carrots (the plan is to peel & shred, then I can keep them in the freezer in 1 cup portions for baking or to bulk out ground meat), and some chickpeas (add a bit of liquid on top and then into the freezer).
I did that with some teabags I didn't care for. But I much prefere lose leaf tea and no one at work (besides me) will drink that.

It's a creative and rewarding process, though. I discovered that rice boiled in tea rather than water is a nice variation. That cookies or cake with tea (in them, not served alongside) is good. And there are several tea-rubs and marinades that caught my interest. Tea-jam is also an actual thing. I might try it when I've eaten the old jam.

I'm almost out of two other types of tea. One a very lovely rose tea I'll be sad to be out of. But I'm still at 15.

SAfAmBrit

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #823 on: April 18, 2016, 08:49:18 PM »
So have slowly read through 17 pages of posts and resolved to join. I started Friday. I do not seem to have as much as some in the freezer/pantry, but there is definitely things that must be eaten. We are a mixed family of 1 vegetarian, 1 pescatarian (me) and 2 omnivores. 1 omnivore (SO) allergic to chicken, wheat, soy and dairy (He is a challenge). This week-end I made vegetarian chilli (it was so good - and this forum forced me to find the recipe - thanks) - lentils finished, sad peppers and old shredded carrots done - 5 meals frozen. Made cornbread to go with - packet expired 2013 :-). Asked my son to buy Gurum Masala yesterday- came back with 3 packets of Tikka Masala??? (It says Masala mom, great son Masala means MIX!) Well he is, at this moment eating Tikka with chicken and rice that has been at the bottom of the fridge with a bag of assorted rice that has been in the pantry for years. 2 more meals frozen - bonus. Also emptied a jam jar making the Jam Tarts mentioned on about page 8. (Got rid of old powder sugar and all purpose flour). Made marinara sauce (3 more portions frozen) to go with endless pasta in the pantry. Enough frozen food to keep 3 adults going until next week-end (I get fed by the hotel I work at). This forum does wonders to make people think outside the box.

riverffashion

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #824 on: April 18, 2016, 09:22:36 PM »
Future Hub & I do mini versions of this- we do a shop about every 2-2.5 weeks (costco) and eat it down. Working thru a 10lb. bag if carrots currently haha.
Also, he works at a grocery, so he brings home items sometimes for $1 each (or free). Most recently- corned beef, BBQ beef ribs, bacon, chorizo(he eats so much meat! I eat very little). Best of all he brought approx. 10lbs. of raspberries! I drink a daily smoothie , mostly vegetables but a little fruit, so this is perfect. Pull a container out of the freezer at a time. Yum.
But we really get our stock very low before we do another shop, and then it's basics- lots of produce, tortillas, yogurt and the like.

SAfAmBrit

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #825 on: April 24, 2016, 05:11:22 PM »
So family was fed on all the food made last week-end. Just used the last of the chicken and used the second packet of Tikka Masala. SO is getting the final frozen liver and bacon made the last time my mom visited. 1lb frozen cod to make fish cakes for me - getting a little harder to think up meals now but that's the fun of the challenge. Only buying eggs and milk tomorrow. Any ideas for thin sliced beef round steaks?

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #826 on: April 25, 2016, 04:56:47 AM »
I've been having the flu the last weeks, so food has been going bad in my fridge. But I salvaged some produce and some turkey meat and made fajitas this weekend. Have set menu for the week: fajitas, pizza and spring rolls for lunch/dinner. Cinnamon buns and smoothies for snack/breakfast.

In other news: 7 down, 15 left of my giant tea-collection. I restocked on my favourite summer tea (jasmine green tea) and found a bag of tea I didn't know I owned at the back of the cupboard.. It's an assam earl grey, so that should make for excelent morning tea.

EngineerYogi

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #827 on: April 25, 2016, 10:56:42 AM »
So family was fed on all the food made last week-end. Just used the last of the chicken and used the second packet of Tikka Masala. SO is getting the final frozen liver and bacon made the last time my mom visited. 1lb frozen cod to make fish cakes for me - getting a little harder to think up meals now but that's the fun of the challenge. Only buying eggs and milk tomorrow. Any ideas for thin sliced beef round steaks?

Marinating that and using it thinly sliced in stir fry or fajitas would be good. Definitely do a 24 hour marinade period first though.

carolina822

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #828 on: April 26, 2016, 09:41:36 PM »
A bit late to the game on this one, but when I realized how much f-ing money I spent on grabbing dinner out during tax season when I was too exhausted to cook for myself (and that's with lunch being bought for us every day at the office, so that part was free!), I'm feeling fat and stupid and poor and there is plenty of food in my freezer to eat. So I'm going to eat it.

I made spaghetti the other night with turkey sausage that I had bought, then froze, because I was too freaking lazy to even brown some meat and toss in a can of tomatoes. Ate that for a couple of meals, then froze the rest of the sauce. Yeah, not supposed to freeze meat twice - don't even care. I pulled a container of mystery soup (it appears to have okra and corn in it, so we'll see) out to thaw for tomorrow. I know there are a couple of freezer bag meals in there that are probably a lost cause - did one of those once-a-month cooking days at least a year ago and didn't take full advantage of it. Maybe I'll try that again sometime (probably not).

I cleaned out my fridge tonight and there were rotten peppers, leftover soup that was growing mold, and leftover chicken that was too far gone to even feed to the dog. There were a couple bags of lettuce that were about to go bad (it seems like ALL my lettuce goes bad before I motivate myself to make a salad) so I made a giant salad with the non-rotten peppers and carrots and I WILL finish eating it before it wilts, dammit! I waste a ton of food from being too lazy to cook it, and spend too much money on takeout that's not even that good. Must. Stop. Now.

I haven't set an official food budget yet, but that's the main drain on my funds that gives zero return to me. I'm going to Chicago next weekend for a quick vacation and I know that's not MMM when you're still paying off debt, but the trip is mostly paid for already and is something of a last hurrah before getting even more to the grindstone. I'd like to spend no money on food at all between now and then. Yeah, a whole week - lol - but hey, it's a start.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2016, 09:45:16 PM by carolina822 »

SAfAmBrit

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #829 on: May 07, 2016, 07:50:37 PM »
So making progress and learning lots of new things to make which has been a hit with the family. The Tikka Masala and chicken are gone, had some cream left over so made an egg flan/quiche with red potato, caramelized onion and some old cherry tomatoes that were in the fridge. Cream, cherry tomatoes, red potatoes, eggs and onions gone. Making Mexican one pot quinoa tonight, (if you haven't tried it you should - so good and very little effort - about $1.50 p.p. serving and uses lots of random ingredients). Other than fresh ingredients - still no shopping. Have not yet cooked the thin round steak but found a marinade I can make with ingredients I have so maybe tomorrow for the meat eaters. On the plus side my herb and tomato plants are now producing so no more store bought tomatoes or herbs. Will learn to dry the thyme, oregano and rosemary - any tips would be welcome. Need to start freezing the parsley.

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #830 on: May 09, 2016, 03:23:50 PM »
Emptied out the top shelf of my cupboard last week. I now have nothing (save my bamboo steamer) that needs to go there. Haven't had spare room since I moved in.

Also made a plan to eat out the freezer completely. Today I made curry and used up the final frozen chili from last years harvest (I still have a lot of dried chili, it was a nice chili-season), some pumpkin, chickpeas and green beans as well as the stock from last months boiled pork. When that's eaten I will make pumpkin soup and then some hummus. Snack this week is more cinnamon buns. I make a boatload and then eat one (or two) a day until I'm out.

My challenge is a bag of frozen plums. Only catch is: I made plum Gin on them. They taste good (and boozy) so I planned on using them for dessert with ice cream, but they turn brown once they thaw, so... Not nice. Any ideas?

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #831 on: May 09, 2016, 03:36:20 PM »
My challenge is a bag of frozen plums. Only catch is: I made plum Gin on them. They taste good (and boozy) so I planned on using them for dessert with ice cream, but they turn brown once they thaw, so... Not nice. Any ideas?

Found a thread on Chowhound with someone having a similar issue (frozen plums, but no booze)... suggestions include making a puree and then a sorbet; plum jam; plum ketchup or chutney; plum cake; plum butter; plum wine. Maybe one of those will work for you? http://www.chowhound.com/post/frozen-plums-289959?page=2

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #832 on: May 11, 2016, 03:22:19 AM »
My challenge is a bag of frozen plums. Only catch is: I made plum Gin on them. They taste good (and boozy) so I planned on using them for dessert with ice cream, but they turn brown once they thaw, so... Not nice. Any ideas?

Found a thread on Chowhound with someone having a similar issue (frozen plums, but no booze)... suggestions include making a puree and then a sorbet; plum jam; plum ketchup or chutney; plum cake; plum butter; plum wine. Maybe one of those will work for you? http://www.chowhound.com/post/frozen-plums-289959?page=2
Thank you, Dollar Slice!
I think I might try making plum butter. The liquour might lend it a nice undertone and they will be much more usable once alcohol-free and spreadable.

savedough

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #833 on: May 11, 2016, 11:19:08 AM »
I haven't been on the forums in months, but I wandered back in today and saw this thread.   I have done a pretty good job of cooking out of my freezer and pantry lately in anticipation of a bountiful harvest (though in Montana, that harvest is always later than everywhere else).

I have a bunch of lemon herb and spicy breaders - they were given to me and we don't eat a lot of meat.   I've tried using them to bread veggies, but it isn't my favorite way to eat vegetables.   Any ideas on how I could use them?  Could I make crackers with them somehow?

Tonight I'm making paella and using the last of the frozen peppers and peas (not authentic obviously, but still delicious).

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #834 on: May 11, 2016, 11:33:40 AM »
I have a bunch of lemon herb and spicy breaders - they were given to me and we don't eat a lot of meat.   I've tried using them to bread veggies, but it isn't my favorite way to eat vegetables.   Any ideas on how I could use them?  Could I make crackers with them somehow?

You could use them to top various kinds of casseroles. Great on baked mac and cheese, etc.  Or, hmm... poached dumplings like in matzah ball soup? And I've seen recipes for Ritz cracker crumb crusts for quiche/tart/cheesecake type dishes, I bet you could sub crispy breadcrumbs for cracker crumbs.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #835 on: May 16, 2016, 05:11:45 PM »
Time for me to join and fully commit. Crunch time is on. Moving in 5 weeks! Must empty everything!

Going to spend my evening starting the inventory!

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #836 on: May 27, 2016, 05:49:22 AM »
Cleaned the kitchen cupboards this weekend. Stocks are running down very nicely!

However, there were a couple of spices / spice mixes I just don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any ideas or recipes to use up:

  • Jalfrezi spices
  • Tandoori spice mix
  • Chinese 5 spice
  • Ras el hanout
  • Cajun ragin

They are spice packets with no further information on them. I literally have no idea what to do with them. Like, I know jalfrezi is a type of curry, but have no idea how I would go about making one. I suppose I could just use them to season meat? TIA.

EngineerYogi

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #837 on: May 27, 2016, 08:55:25 AM »
Cleaned the kitchen cupboards this weekend. Stocks are running down very nicely!

However, there were a couple of spices / spice mixes I just don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any ideas or recipes to use up:

  • Jalfrezi spices
  • Tandoori spice mix
  • Chinese 5 spice
  • Ras el hanout
  • Cajun ragin

They are spice packets with no further information on them. I literally have no idea what to do with them. Like, I know jalfrezi is a type of curry, but have no idea how I would go about making one. I suppose I could just use them to season meat? TIA.

http://meljoulwan.com/2013/01/02/paleo-sweet-potato-soup/ uses ras el hanout and is tasty

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5242279411/slow-cooker-lemongrass-and-coconut-chicken uses Chinese 5-spice and is tasty too

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #838 on: May 27, 2016, 10:53:56 AM »
Cleaned the kitchen cupboards this weekend. Stocks are running down very nicely!

However, there were a couple of spices / spice mixes I just don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any ideas or recipes to use up:

  • Jalfrezi spices
  • Tandoori spice mix
  • Chinese 5 spice
  • Ras el hanout
  • Cajun ragin

They are spice packets with no further information on them. I literally have no idea what to do with them. Like, I know jalfrezi is a type of curry, but have no idea how I would go about making one. I suppose I could just use them to season meat? TIA.

http://meljoulwan.com/2013/01/02/paleo-sweet-potato-soup/ uses ras el hanout and is tasty

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5242279411/slow-cooker-lemongrass-and-coconut-chicken uses Chinese 5-spice and is tasty too

Thank you! The slow cooker is my favourite, and soup is a lunchtime staple for me, perfect suggestions.
 

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #839 on: May 27, 2016, 11:54:34 AM »
Cleaned the kitchen cupboards this weekend. Stocks are running down very nicely!

However, there were a couple of spices / spice mixes I just don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any ideas or recipes to use up:

  • Jalfrezi spices
  • Tandoori spice mix
  • Chinese 5 spice
  • Ras el hanout
  • Cajun ragin

They are spice packets with no further information on them. I literally have no idea what to do with them. Like, I know jalfrezi is a type of curry, but have no idea how I would go about making one. I suppose I could just use them to season meat? TIA.

I couldn't remember exactly what was in Chinese five-spice, but I knew I disliked it. So I looked it up and it's anise, clove, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel (at least according to Wikipedia). That explains why I don't like it, since I can't abide anise. Anyway, that's my 2 cents, in case it helps.

Anje

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #840 on: May 30, 2016, 07:01:06 AM »
Thawed and used a packet of frozen preecooked springroll-mix from last year this weekend. I've been avoiding it for months, yet it made very good spring rolls. Appart from a yar of crab meat everything in there is now food from the last 2 months that I know I eat regularly.

Got out a box of coconut milk last night - I plan to make sweetened condenced milk from it. A tiny jar of that stuf costs an arm and a leg ($5) and a box of coconut milk+sugar costs me less than 2.

In tea news I've been drinking ice tea by the gallon the last week. Turns out loose leaf tea, a frech nectarin and a spoonfull of honey makes ice tea better than the one you get out and about. My tea-stash is shrinking.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #841 on: May 30, 2016, 05:17:52 PM »
Speaking of tea report - I brought maybe 8 tins of tea to work (honestly the type I don't tend to enjoy, but others do)  - for us staff to drink, but mostly for spa clientele. Excellent.
Mostly down to stock we enjoy at home now - black and green for me and a few others the fiancée drinks.
Any progress is progress folks. Well done.

savedough

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #842 on: June 01, 2016, 10:10:59 AM »
Cleaned the kitchen cupboards this weekend. Stocks are running down very nicely!

However, there were a couple of spices / spice mixes I just don't know what to do with. Does anyone have any ideas or recipes to use up:

  • Jalfrezi spices
  • Tandoori spice mix
  • Chinese 5 spice
  • Ras el hanout
  • Cajun ragin

They are spice packets with no further information on them. I literally have no idea what to do with them. Like, I know jalfrezi is a type of curry, but have no idea how I would go about making one. I suppose I could just use them to season meat? TIA.

My kids LOVE tandoori cauliflower and peas.  For the cauliflower, I drizzle with oil and seasoning and bake it.  I make two heads at once for my family of five because they love to take it in their lunchboxes.

The Cajun spice is good on potatoes - Cajun fries (think Bojangles) - or eggs or ham and beans.    We add Cajun seasoning to ground beef, corn and black beans when we run out of taco seasoning (or cumin specifically bc I make my own) and it is still good.   Funny, Cajun seasoning is something I would never need to "use up" - it is always being added to my list.

I got a good deal on chocolate chips and now I am wishing I hadn't bought them.   We like cookies and muffins, but I dont really want my kids eating multiples of those every day.   They are bulk so I cannot donate.  Can I use them in a sort of mole sauce?   I think it would be way too sweet and too sweet for sauces is a code word for the leftovers wont get eaten in our house.  No one likes BBQ sauce or sweet ketchup, Miracle Whip or Honey Mustard in my house.   I live with weirdos ;)

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #843 on: June 01, 2016, 10:20:46 AM »
I got a good deal on chocolate chips and now I am wishing I hadn't bought them.   We like cookies and muffins, but I dont really want my kids eating multiples of those every day.

You can refrigerate or freeze cookie dough. When I make chocolate chip cookies I bake one small pan at a time so there aren't tons of them around to eat all at once.

Rural

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #844 on: June 01, 2016, 11:32:38 AM »
I got a good deal on chocolate chips and now I am wishing I hadn't bought them.   We like cookies and muffins, but I dont really want my kids eating multiples of those every day.

You can refrigerate or freeze cookie dough. When I make chocolate chip cookies I bake one small pan at a time so there aren't tons of them around to eat all at once.


You can also freeze cookies, or you can freeze chocolate chips.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #845 on: June 01, 2016, 11:49:43 AM »
I got a good deal on chocolate chips and now I am wishing I hadn't bought them.   We like cookies and muffins, but I dont really want my kids eating multiples of those every day.

You can refrigerate or freeze cookie dough. When I make chocolate chip cookies I bake one small pan at a time so there aren't tons of them around to eat all at once.

Good advice for someone named savedough!

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #846 on: June 02, 2016, 04:57:05 AM »
Thanks for all the tips savedough! I don't seem to use seasoning mixes much, they're not that common in the UK, but it makes perfect sense that cajun would be good on fries, thank you! Sweet potatoes fries are a favourite so that would be easy.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #847 on: June 03, 2016, 12:50:22 PM »
Used up the rest of the pepperoni, fresh spinach, feta and Greek olives in a salad for today's lunch, finished a bag of flavored sunflower seeds for a snack last night, and warmed up most of the rest of the spaghetti squash from the freezer last night for supper.  I am so glad there is such thing as freezing leftovers.  :)

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #848 on: June 06, 2016, 04:04:44 AM »
Leftovers for lunch yesterday and today. Friends were good enough to feed us last night, and what a feast it was!

I have been doing so well clearing out the cupboards that I have loads of clips in the drawer - you know the ones you would put on top of a bag of rice or something after it's opened? I was always scrabbling around for these before, borrowing one from something that could live without it so that something else wouldn't go stale. I was shocked when I saw I had about 10 free at the moment. Things are changing for the better!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #849 on: June 06, 2016, 07:38:53 AM »
Love to see all the progress :)

I'm finding it tough to balance between stocking up and eating down. We use to live fairly remotely so we had huge stock up trip a few times a year and would eat down everything in between. Since moving last year to a place where everything is more abundant, I find that I am still stuck in the "hoarder" mindset of not knowing when I will get something again so must buy lots. Of course, sometimes this makes good financial sense. Sometimes, not so much. It is those purchases I am trying to deal with now :)

Our diets have changed over the past year as well so trying to figure that out in relation to our food stocks have been interesting as well. 

My goal this week is to consolidate all the bits and pieces of things and get them into one place so I know what I have to use up.

 

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