Eat ALL the food in your house

[ashley]

Curry-ish with cumin, coriander, and coconut milk. I think my first mistake was using canned pumpkin, which doesn't taste good to begin with. I roasted an onion and some carrots to start with, and pureed the whole thing at the end. Too much sweetness, maybe. It just tastes off.

[swick]

That's a tough one, maybe a splash of acid to balance the sweetness? some lime or lemon juice or vinegar of some sort?

[nikki]

Last night I made a huge pot of seriously gross pumpkin soup, and I'm so mad at myself for using the last of my vegetables on something I don't even want to eat. I will force myself to eat it, though. 6 torturous meals coming up!

I just tossed my rice noodle failure Friday night. That's totally an option instead of suffering through it. I give you permission to dispose of the gross pumpkin soup.

[ashley]

That's a tough one, maybe a splash of acid to balance the sweetness? some lime or lemon juice or vinegar of some sort?

I tried apple cider vinegar (I think lemon would have been better!), which maybe helped a little but I think the soup is just beyond repair. I've accepted defeat! I'm still going to eat it because I just can't stand to waste. I had another bowl tonight with lots of homemade whole wheat croutons, and it was better that way. Still not good, but edible. If it really starts to gross me out, I'll freeze a couple servings and deal with them later.

nikki, one of my next pantry items to get through is rice noodles! I bought lots of them thinking I was going to attempt to make pho, but then I never got around to it. I think rice noodles are really best in soups. I'd almost always rather have stir fries and whatnot over rice instead. But, since I'm out of rice now, I will have to tackle those noodles.

[Hotstreak]

I managed to clear all of my food out of the fridge, most of it from the freezer, and got the pantry down enough to fit in to one box before I moved.  I was very happy with it, and happy with the way my fridge looks now, too!  2 full months after moving, there's not anything in there I haven't used at least once a week except perhaps a condiment.  My cupboard is the same, nothing added since the move but still a few old things in there (canned chili, anybody).

I really found about a new aspect of living minimally.  Having less choice has not been a burden at all.  In fact it has helped carry over and the rest of my life, especially home, feels more simple(think about making food once or twice a week, instead of deciding what to eat 3 times a day).  What REALLY shocked me is that I didn't sacrifice any variety from my diet.  I buy what I need to cook, make it, eat it, and do something different the next week.  For instance I bought a jar of olives to snack on, and when they were gone I bought a jar of pickles.  Guess what, ya don't need them both at once!

Woohoo, freedom!

[nikki]

I managed to clear all of my food out of the fridge, most of it from the freezer, and got the pantry down enough to fit in to one box before I moved.  I was very happy with it, and happy with the way my fridge looks now, too!  2 full months after moving, there's not anything in there I haven't used at least once a week except perhaps a condiment.  My cupboard is the same, nothing added since the move but still a few old things in there (canned chili, anybody).

I really found about a new aspect of living minimally.  Having less choice has not been a burden at all.  In fact it has helped carry over and the rest of my life, especially home, feels more simple(think about making food once or twice a week, instead of deciding what to eat 3 times a day).  What REALLY shocked me is that I didn't sacrifice any variety from my diet.  I buy what I need to cook, make it, eat it, and do something different the next week.  For instance I bought a jar of olives to snack on, and when they were gone I bought a jar of pickles.  Guess what, ya don't need them both at once!

Woohoo, freedom!

Ya! Wahoo! I can totally relate to this approach to buying and eating groceries. What I can't understand are fridges and pantries stuffed so full that you can't even see everything in them.

I'd like some canned chili, by the way :-p   It's one of the few things that I *can* find in Korea occasionally, but it's always totally overpriced. And in the "international foods" section.

[Zamboni]

Congrats on getting your stores low for your move.  I managed to get my fridge fairly cleaned out, but my cupboards are fairly stocked again.  I'm just too much of a pack rat when a particular item is cheap I guess.

[ashley]

I'm down to stuff I really don't want to eat. Today I made a couple loaves of gluten free bread (I am so not gluten free!!) to use up some tapioca starch and rice flour I had accumulated. I really hate gluten free bread. I cubed it up, toasted it, and am soaking it in chocolate soymilk (from instant packets I also had in the pantry) for bread pudding. Do I really need to be eating that garbage? Nope!

[herisff]

Can you give the unwanted products away to people at work? If I can't use or eat something, there's usually someone at work who will use it or will give it a try. To me, that's much better than forcing myself to eat things I dislike! The other option, of course, is to throw it away and get it out of your life.

[bateloomer]

Oh my this post resonates with me.    I'm in a 2 person household and I love Costco.  I keep buying a bag of farro every time I go (every 2 weeks) because they WILL stop selling it.  It's only a matter of time.   Just like they stopped selling bulgar and israeli couscous. 

I have the space.  I have not found that the items are going bad (maybe a marinade or two have gone off - to the vinegar side).     

But I have too much, I know I do.   I'd like to be more proficient in the kitchen, and feel that arming myself with a stocked pantry will help.     

This ties in with my slow realization that I need to unclutter.   I like to have things around me and feel that scarcity equals discomfort and suffering.    ugggggg

[ashley]

Can you give the unwanted products away to people at work? If I can't use or eat something, there's usually someone at work who will use it or will give it a try. To me, that's much better than forcing myself to eat things I dislike! The other option, of course, is to throw it away and get it out of your life.

My office is tiny and things just tend to sit around uneaten. My mom's office is great for unloading stuff, though! That's a good idea. Maybe I'll just push some of it onto her to deal with.

[Gray Matter]

I'm going to give this another shot in January.  Company leaves January 2, so that'll be my start date.

[swick]

Had a couple of fun victories. I learned I could very easily make brined green peppercorns out of the ton of dried ones I have, which makes them much more usable... and darn they come in very expensive little jars at the store!

From these I made a green peppercorn gravy...but I was out of milk. So I made some cashew milk out of some raw cashews I haven't had a clue what to do with. I used the milk in the the gravy and some mashed potatoes - couldn't tell, just made them super creamy!

I made some double stuffed potatoes using a bag of potatoes that was about to go and got lots of odds and ends from the fridge and freezer used up - cheese ends, broccoli left overs, frozen kale, bits of sausage. I made enough for my hubby to eat for lunches for a couple of weeks!

I also made date squares and muffins using up more of my pantry ingredients.

Oh and I recently found out that you can make "Beer" bread with soda water from a soda stream and I have been substituting one cup of flour with some cornmeal from the 25 pound sack I am working through - makes some great toast which I have been making to use up all the random jams we have.

[ashley]

Awesome job, swick! This is such a rewarding challenge. I love seeing my stock dwindle.

Yesterday I did end up going shopping. Spent $50 (more than I planned, but I think I was just excited to be grocery shopping), but I bought mostly fresh foods that will allow me to use up some random stuff I already had. I also grabbed 5 huge freezer bags full of vegetable scraps from my mom's deep freezer and made stock last night. I made almost 2.5 gallons, and I still have one bag of scraps left!

Last night I started making a dent in my rice noodles and dehydrated soy meat and made vegan pho. It was so delicious, and I only had to buy bean sprouts, basil, and dried mushrooms. I have enough dry ingredients and stock to eat pho for weeks.

I've been eating my gluten-free bread pudding for breakfast, and it's really not bad. The bread had a weird flavor on its own, but I guess chocolate can fix anything.

[HappierAtHome]

I learned I could very easily make brined green peppercorns out of the ton of dried ones I have, which makes them much more usable... and darn they come in very expensive little jars at the store!

Any chance you would share the technique? I love peppercorn sauce but the jars of peppercorns are way too expensive for it to be a regular treat in my household.

[swick]

I learned I could very easily make brined green peppercorns out of the ton of dried ones I have, which makes them much more usable... and darn they come in very expensive little jars at the store!

Any chance you would share the technique? I love peppercorn sauce but the jars of peppercorns are way too expensive for it to be a regular treat in my household.

I think I will try this recipe next:
http://www.ehow.com/how_7510656_brine-green-peppercorns.html

but I just followed the instructions here:
http://www.greenpeppercorns.com/green-peppercorns-in-brine.htm

They are super yummy!

[HappierAtHome]

I learned I could very easily make brined green peppercorns out of the ton of dried ones I have, which makes them much more usable... and darn they come in very expensive little jars at the store!

Any chance you would share the technique? I love peppercorn sauce but the jars of peppercorns are way too expensive for it to be a regular treat in my household.

I think I will try this recipe next:
http://www.ehow.com/how_7510656_brine-green-peppercorns.html

but I just followed the instructions here:
http://www.greenpeppercorns.com/green-peppercorns-in-brine.htm

They are super yummy!

Thanks! Can't wait to give it a go (and then eat yummy mushroom sauce with steak and mashed potato).

[Freckles]

OK, I'm going to join in.  After facing the data on our spending yesterday, it's clear that we need to spend a lot less on food.  The cabinets and freezer are pretty full so I'm sure we can all get fed without much grocery shopping next month.  The kids will be excited because there will be a lot of pasta in our future.  And I'm going to have to find a lot of good lentil recipes because my husband keeps buying bags even though we don't touch the ones already in the cabinet.  :/

[nikki]

Where actual substantial food is black, condiments and spices are green, and baking/cooking supplies are orange, I have:

• 3 eggs
• 5 slices of bread
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 apple
• 1.5 servings vegetable soup
• bag of Korean corn chips (not Frito's--they really taste like roasted corn)
• 2 coffee cookies
• 1 & partial jars strawberry jam
• flour, baking powder, salt, sugar
• bread crumbs
• butter, cooking oil
• frozen veggie scraps to make a pot of stock
• ketchup, mustard, 1000 island, red wine vinaigrette, bulgogi marinade
• pizza delivery packets of hot sauce, garlic butter dip, and parmesan cheese
• soy sauce, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, rice wine vinegar
• pepper, rosemary, oregano, thyme
• and to drink: coffee, 1 bag chamomile tea, 4 bags black tea, pre-made cup of citron tea

So, creative challenge for you all: what would you make with ONLY the above to last you two days, assuming you eat three meals a day and at least one snack a day? I'm not going shopping until next year (I love saying that!), and I already have a few options planned out. I'll share my ideas later today or tomorrow to give anyone a chance if they'd like to take a stab :-p

EDIT: If you want to really be in my shoes, your only cooking equipment includes a one-burner electric hot plate, microwave, and toaster oven (no temp controls). No oven.

I'm already eating breakfast for today, so I suppose you can take that one meal out: fried chicken breast (coated in breadcrumbs), roasted carrot with rosemary, and rice with toasted sesame seeds. Obviously I'm eating the last carrot and the last of the rice!

[Elaine]

So I'm not going to try to fully empty my stock of food (I like having a small stock on hand in case), but I am trying to go for the next week without buying groceries. We bought a couch this week so that's major spending compared to normal, on the up side- We only spent $92.94 on groceries all month (for two people). I think I might make some pasta, and then some rice and bean style dishes to begin the week.

[marblejane]

Where actual substantial food is black, condiments and spices are green, and baking/cooking supplies are orange, I have:

• 3 eggs
• 5 slices of bread
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 apple
• 1.5 servings vegetable soup
• bag of Korean corn chips (not Frito's--they really taste like roasted corn)
• 2 coffee cookies
• 1 & partial jars strawberry jam
• flour, baking powder, salt, sugar
• bread crumbs
• butter, cooking oil
• frozen veggie scraps to make a pot of stock
• ketchup, mustard, 1000 island, red wine vinaigrette, bulgogi marinade
• pizza delivery packets of hot sauce, garlic butter dip, and parmesan cheese
• soy sauce, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, rice wine vinegar
• pepper, rosemary, oregano, thyme
• and to drink: coffee, 1 bag chamomile tea, 4 bags black tea, pre-made cup of citron tea

So, creative challenge for you all: what would you make with ONLY the above to last you two days, assuming you eat three meals a day and at least one snack a day? I'm not going shopping until next year (I love saying that!), and I already have a few options planned out. I'll share my ideas later today or tomorrow to give anyone a chance if they'd like to take a stab :-p

EDIT: If you want to really be in my shoes, your only cooking equipment includes a one-burner electric hot plate, microwave, and toaster oven (no temp controls). No oven.

I'm already eating breakfast for today, so I suppose you can take that one meal out: fried chicken breast (coated in breadcrumbs), roasted carrot with rosemary, and rice with toasted sesame seeds. Obviously I'm eating the last carrot and the last of the rice!

I would use 1 of the eggs, plus baking ingredients to make 2 servings of pancakes for breakfast the 2 days, served with strawberry jam. Split the rest of the vegetable soup, the apple and the corn chips for 2 lunches. 1 dinner is the last chicken breast, maybe breaded, other dinner is last 2 eggs and 2 pieces bread (egg sandwich). 1 cookie each day for dessert. Depending on how large the bag of corn chips is, you can supplement your lunch with the extra bread.

[marblejane]

Also, I am pretty sure that you would have included it, but in case you didn't, if you have any onions, you can make french onion soup. I did this from chicken stock, butter, onions, and s&p using the recipe from the kitchn. It's pretty good.

[Elaine]

I'm doing great with my pantry recipes, today I made vegetable soup with random canned goods, crushed tomatoes, and israeli couscous. I also made a chickpea cashew curry and I have some polenta going in the oven. I prefer to eat vegan, but I don't turn down free food (and I'll eat whatever I'm served at other's houses) so I have some cheese that my mom was going to throw away after the holidays- I might mix into the polenta for extra calories. 

[nikki]

Where actual substantial food is black, condiments and spices are green, and baking/cooking supplies are orange, I have:

• 3 eggs
• 5 slices of bread
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 apple
• 1.5 servings vegetable soup
• bag of Korean corn chips (not Frito's--they really taste like roasted corn)
• 2 coffee cookies
• 1 & partial jars strawberry jam
• flour, baking powder, salt, sugar
• bread crumbs
• butter, cooking oil
• frozen veggie scraps to make a pot of stock
• ketchup, mustard, 1000 island, red wine vinaigrette, bulgogi marinade
• pizza delivery packets of hot sauce, garlic butter dip, and parmesan cheese
• soy sauce, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, rice wine vinegar
• pepper, rosemary, oregano, thyme
• and to drink: coffee, 1 bag chamomile tea, 4 bags black tea, pre-made cup of citron tea

So, creative challenge for you all: what would you make with ONLY the above to last you two days, assuming you eat three meals a day and at least one snack a day? I'm not going shopping until next year (I love saying that!), and I already have a few options planned out. I'll share my ideas later today or tomorrow to give anyone a chance if they'd like to take a stab :-p

EDIT: If you want to really be in my shoes, your only cooking equipment includes a one-burner electric hot plate, microwave, and toaster oven (no temp controls). No oven.

I'm already eating breakfast for today, so I suppose you can take that one meal out: fried chicken breast (coated in breadcrumbs), roasted carrot with rosemary, and rice with toasted sesame seeds. Obviously I'm eating the last carrot and the last of the rice!

I would use 1 of the eggs, plus baking ingredients to make 2 servings of pancakes for breakfast the 2 days, served with strawberry jam. Split the rest of the vegetable soup, the apple and the corn chips for 2 lunches. 1 dinner is the last chicken breast, maybe breaded, other dinner is last 2 eggs and 2 pieces bread (egg sandwich). 1 cookie each day for dessert. Depending on how large the bag of corn chips is, you can supplement your lunch with the extra bread.

Pretty close to what I'm doing, marblejane. Here's an internet cookie for you: *cookie*

Yesterday's lunch: vegetable soup, corn chips, cookie
Yesterday's dinner: pancakes (no egg, no milk) with strawberry jam
Today's breakfast: pancakes with strawberry jam, apple, coffee
Today's lunch: vegetable soup, corn chips, egg sandwich (2 eggs)
Today's dinner: tortillas, soy sauce marinated chicken, hot sauce
BONUS Tomorrow's breakfast: french toast with strawberry jam (gotta eat before I go grocery shopping!)

[nottoolatetostart]

Not sure if this is going on, but a big goal for 2014 is to get our monthly grocery/toiletry/dining out spend to $400 average per month. We spent $9545 annually in 2014. It is very embarrassing. To our credit, we purchased more from a local farm and I think that may have drove up some of the figures. We are still eating the food that I froze from the summer. Oh well. Live and learn. 2014 is a new year and all I can do is learn from our mistakes.

I am getting very diligent about meal planning and created a Microsoft OneNote file on everything we are eating. I went shopping last Thursday and have only purchased milk since then. We have been more creative with recipes (e.g. no butter, so making lots of things without). No olive oil left, so using canola or grapeseed oil. Learn that I could freeze bacon so we have it whenever it is needed and just use 1 piece too, which cuts down on excessive consumption. Made my own chicken broth from a chicken carcass. Began freezing more things that we would have normally thrown away so that I can make other dishes more quickly.

Goal is to use more of pantry/freezer and get that down some more. Make some things ahead - like extra dishes to freeze for DH that he can just take to work for lunch, flash freezing beans to get rid of stash in pantry & always have on hand, stretching any meat consumption to opt more for veggies/beans, and resisting urge to get Chipotle or Jason's Deli. This plan worked well in December, so still rolling through into January. What's funny is that I find that we are actually better with a reduced budget....more creative salads and more vegetables. It also makes me feel more content and gives me a cozy feeling, knowing that I am doing the right thing for my family in more ways than one.

We are also going to investigate a Costco when we are nearby one next weekend (it's about 50 miles away but we could stockpile the organic meats that I hear that they carry for far cheaper than my local Kroger). One of us is usually in the area of a Costco about 1x per month, so we will see if it is worth it.

Off to soak some pinto beans for some beef & refried bean enchiladas tomorrow night....

Next challenge is to make it to the 15th without shopping again and just making do with what we have....I want to see a bare fridge then.

Thanks for this!
 

[Hotstreak]

Hey nottoolatetostart, that is awesome work!!  My favorite part is freezing little things instead of throwing them away, so you can use them later.  Empty the fridge and reduce waste at the same time.. I'm a bit jealous.  :)

[153]

I freeze bacon on parchment paper, one rasher at a time. (Bacon, fold over, bacon, and so on). Ends up looking like one of those artist paintbrush rolls. Then I can easily get one or two slices for breakfast/soup/burger making.

[nottoolatetostart]

153 - I read about freezing bacon with parchment, but also read a recommendation online to just flash freeze on a baking tray. I did that over the weekend and when the bacon was frozen, just threw everything into a freezer bag. You can save your parchment as it is not needed since the strips are individual in my freezer bag now. I do this with chick peas and shredded chicken too, so I can just pull out what is needed.

[oldtoyota]

I read a rule--here or elsewhere--that said the person freezes leftovers within 24 hours. I am starting to do this. What would happen is we'd get tired of eating the leftovers and then it would go bad. No more!

I made homemade Lara bars last night, which let me use up slivered blanched almonds, some peanuts, and some walnuts.

This weekend, we're going to fill up only on items we've run out of--yogurt, eggs, brown rice, etc.

It helps a lot that DH and I had a talk and he said he does tend to buy a lot b/c he grew up in a house with a mom who did that. His mom wants to have any ingredient on hand so it's available at any time to make anything. That has been costing us.

DH has been open to visiting the grocery less often and even was joking with me about how often he'd gone (four times in four days, I think).

[lifejoy]

I haven't been grocery shopping in a week, which is a big step for me. I'm working on eating EVERYTHING out of the fridge and cupboards! At least, everything that can spoil. I'm going on a trip in a week, so I hope I can last :)

[MicroRN]

To help motivate me, I picked a little challenge.  We were given a $200 gift card to the nearby grocery store, and I'm going to see how long I can make it last.  $170 left as of today, which was my first grocery trip of the year.  Of the $30, about $4 of was orajel for the baby.  The rest was eggs, milk, cottage cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables.  We have tons of meat in the freezer, as well as canned chicken, tuna, and salmon, lots of dried and canned beans, frozen vegetables, pasta, and canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.  We even have a few frozen pizzas and heat and eat meals in case I'm feeling lazy.

So far this month, we've eaten really well.  I had some steamed butternut squash with rosemary in the freezer, and used it as a base to a pureed vegetable soup.  I made Thai basil pork, mexican-style braised beef, chicken and squash pasta, as well as some more basic standbys like spaghetti and meat sauce, black bean burrito bowls, and stir-fry. 

[uppy]

This is an amazing idea. However it could lead to some incredibly boring dishes...at least in my house. I'm looking at noodles with mustard or maybe frozen okra covered in flour. Oh, there's some old garbanzo beans. Maybe I can mix those with that weird thai curry paste in the back of the fridge?

[ashley]

My fridge is super bare at the moment and I'm actually feeling really calm as a result. I went to the store yesterday and bought exactly one bag of bean sprouts for $.79. The old me would have used that trip as an excuse to load up on several other items I didn't really need. I am going to force myself to make this this new normal: buy exactly what I need. Nothing more!

Oh, and I finished my last frozen serving of that awful pumpkin soup tonight. Good riddance. I'm kind of proud of myself for eating it even though I hated it.

[nikki]

My fridge is super bare at the moment and I'm actually feeling really calm as a result. I went to the store yesterday and bought exactly one bag of bean sprouts for $.79. The old me would have used that trip as an excuse to load up on several other items I didn't really need. I am going to force myself to make this this new normal: buy exactly what I need. Nothing more!

Oh, and I finished my last frozen serving of that awful pumpkin soup tonight. Good riddance. I'm kind of proud of myself for eating it even though I hated it.

Wow--you actually ate it! And I gave you permission to toss it! ;-D

Even though my fridge, freezer, and pantry look almost bare, I still have several options for meals. GOOD options! French toast, fried chicken, tacos with chicken/bell peppers or potato/spinach filling, sweet potatoes, apples, egg sandwich, eggs on rice, stir fry, carrots, soup...

I'm so glad my relationship to groceries has progressed to this point. I used to be one of those people who peeks into a full fridge, declares there's nothing to eat, and gets something from a drive-thru. I have so much more control over my cravings now; I find that I crave things I actually have. Amazing!

But I totally would have tossed the icky soup. Bravisimo, ashley!

[ashley]

Hah, thanks nikki! Good for you, too! Sounds like we have both become more mindful, and that is definitely something to celebrate!

I did give myself permission to toss a giant batch of horribly bitter vegetable stock last week. I don't know what caused it exactly (I used a few bags of mystery vegetable scraps accumulated over a super long time and couldn't even tell you what was in there), but it was flat out disgusting. I tried to save it and just couldn't. Oh well. At least it all would have been garbage anyway, so I don't feel like I really wasted anything except some time and electricity.

[nottoolatetostart]

Ashley - cannot believe you ate the soup either. Way to go!

Still going, going...finally finished up the HUGE bag of refried beans I had purchased probably 1.5 years ago. Did an experiment about a month ago and made refried beans to freeze in individual / 1 can portion sizes. It went so well and went through that batch pretty quickly. Over the last 2 days, I soaked and slow cooked the left of that huge bag and portioned everything out last night. Got 8 bags of 1-can servings.

Organized my pantry better and was kind of bummed that I did not have as much as I envisioned. Oh well.

Up next on the menu

- leftover beef and refried bean enchiladas from last night
- warm butternut squash salad (red onions, homemade vinigerette, cran-raisins, feta or goat cheese...a salad as a meal that DH loves!)
- maple Dijon chicken with broccoli & feta orzo
- could do a chicken noodle soup since I have frozen chicken broth, shredded frozen chicken from a roasted chicken, celery, peas (no carrots or egg noodles, but I am sure I can make some egg noodles, right?)
- thai chicken wraps
- another roasted chicken with rice & salad (no mashed potatoes or carrots left!)
- chili?


Think we are going to make it to the 15th without grocery shopping!

Good luck everyone!

[Rural]

Hah, thanks nikki! Good for you, too! Sounds like we have both become more mindful, and that is definitely something to celebrate!

I did give myself permission to toss a giant batch of horribly bitter vegetable stock last week. I don't know what caused it exactly (I used a few bags of mystery vegetable scraps accumulated over a super long time and couldn't even tell you what was in there), but it was flat out disgusting. I tried to save it and just couldn't. Oh well. At least it all would have been garbage anyway, so I don't feel like I really wasted anything except some time and electricity.

Avoid putting onion peels in your vegetable scraps if you aren't doing that already. They will usually make the stock bitter.

[nikki]

Hah, thanks nikki! Good for you, too! Sounds like we have both become more mindful, and that is definitely something to celebrate!

I did give myself permission to toss a giant batch of horribly bitter vegetable stock last week. I don't know what caused it exactly (I used a few bags of mystery vegetable scraps accumulated over a super long time and couldn't even tell you what was in there), but it was flat out disgusting. I tried to save it and just couldn't. Oh well. At least it all would have been garbage anyway, so I don't feel like I really wasted anything except some time and electricity.

Avoid putting onion peels in your vegetable scraps if you aren't doing that already. They will usually make the stock bitter.

Whaaaat!? I always use the onion peels!

This page has a nice little list of veggies to avoid putting in because they make the stock bitter: http://www.thekitchn.com/tip-save-vegetable-scraps-for-67995

I've also read elsewhere that overcooking can cause a bitter taste.

[153]

NotToLate- how did you get the bacon off of the tray? Mine ended up as a big pile of frozen bacon shards the last time I tried that.

Ashley- when I have had veggie stock go bitter, it's always been because I wasn't paying close enough attention, and let it cook well over an hour. Also, I remember the internet saying cruciferous veg is a no-no for its bitter flavor compounds.

[Rural]

Hah, thanks nikki! Good for you, too! Sounds like we have both become more mindful, and that is definitely something to celebrate!

I did give myself permission to toss a giant batch of horribly bitter vegetable stock last week. I don't know what caused it exactly (I used a few bags of mystery vegetable scraps accumulated over a super long time and couldn't even tell you what was in there), but it was flat out disgusting. I tried to save it and just couldn't. Oh well. At least it all would have been garbage anyway, so I don't feel like I really wasted anything except some time and electricity.

Avoid putting onion peels in your vegetable scraps if you aren't doing that already. They will usually make the stock bitter.

Whaaaat!? I always use the onion peels!

This page has a nice little list of veggies to avoid putting in because they make the stock bitter: http://www.thekitchn.com/tip-save-vegetable-scraps-for-67995

I've also read elsewhere that overcooking can cause a bitter taste.

Well, that's good to hear; I've always avoided it based on... Um .. Probably my grandmother's say-so? I'll give it a try. Onion skins and bits are perhaps the bulk of my veggies scraps!

[ashley]

I think I did a lot of things I shouldn't have done. I let it cook too long, I used onion peels, I think there was some eggplant in there... all bad ideas. Actually, I've used all of those things separately before with good results, but I think it was just the perfect storm of banned ingredients. It was really bad.

[nottoolatetostart]

NotToLate- how did you get the bacon off of the tray? Mine ended up as a big pile of frozen bacon shards the last time I tried that.

153 - I did use a Silpat baking mat (purchased during anti-Mustachian days) for the bacon (you could use parchment, but I guess that would defeat the purpose of flash freezing vs. the accordion style you currently do). However, I normally don't use anything for the other foods that I flash freeze. If items are stuck, I give it a few minutes to sit on the counter before attempting to get it off and they usually come right off. I can't recall ever having an issue. Or, you could use a smear of leftover bacon grease on your tray to ensure they slide right off. Another option is to use a different pan/dish/etc that might be more non-stick than what you used previously that is also freezer safe.

[Freeme]

It has been fun reading the posts, I am in the process of this as well. I have $200 of gift cards left to grocery stores and will be using those for my produce and fresh food. My goal is see how long I can go with $100 budget, the gift cards and what is in my home already. Making some soup today with leftover veg scraps and a turkey carcass. There was a blog I have read before that the family would go on a challenge to not shop for about 20 weeks, they allotted $20 for fresh food each week. It is called pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com she did this challenge it looks like in 2011 and 2010. Fun to read if you are into this.

[Russ]

Well, that's good to hear; I've always avoided it based on... Um .. Probably my grandmother's say-so? I'll give it a try. Onion skins and bits are perhaps the bulk of my veggies scraps!

yep I use onion parts too with no ill effects (at least as far as I can tell). I do still toss out about half my onion scraps though, otherwise my vegetable stock would be like 80% onion :-P

[oldtoyota]

On this rainy and foggy day, I used up two cans of clams to make comforting, hot New England claim chowder. This soup went over verrrrry well. I made bread and used up a mishmash of GF flours too. This is fun.

We are also aiming to keep the grocery bill under $425 this month. Baby steps. We have $75/week left for the rest o' the month.

My discovery is a pounds of millet and quinoa in the fridge. I can do a lot with that.

[dobatseatcats]

I like this challenge! I've been working on this too, off and on, and did a massive cooking marathon today. It really helps me to make and freeze meals ahead so that when I arrive home from work starving, I am set. (On Friday, my work from home day, I was thrilled to find a container of frozen candied sweet potatoes left over from Thanksgiving! They were still fantastic.)

Today I killed off:
Molasses we have left over from holiday baking, and some of the ginger syrup I bought to use in the fancy cocktails for our stay-at-home New Year's Eve celebration. The syrup was basically free, since I used a World Market gift card I was given, but the stuff is really too sweet for my liking. Made gingerbread granola with it. Burned it a little around the edges though. oops. It went from damp to burnt pretty quickly.

Nearly all of the beans we have in the house. I have veggie chili going in the crockpot right now, and also made some black bean enchiladas (to use up tortillas) and white bean hummus which I think I actually like more than the traditional chickpea version.

A container of frozen shredded carrots - the dregs of my garden. Next year I will plant fewer carrots; I don't really eat them that often any more. These went into the veggie chili.

My next challenge is a big bag of split peas. I hate split peas. I am going to try and make this tomorrow: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/ethiopian-split-pea-puree-kik-alicha/ but am uncertain if it will be gross because the peas are green, not yellow. Hopefully it doesn't turn out so awful that I can't choke it down.

[CommonCents]

Forced by this challenge to make cherry cobbler last night for desert, how terrible!  Used up a can of the cherries, half a cake mix and butter.  Next up tomorrow: The girl scout cookie stack.  (Earlier this week we did eat more mundane, with rice, 1.5 cans of beans, can of dice tomatoes, an onion, some garlic, and some frozen corn from our stash, in addition to the innumerable tomato sauce with pasta nights.)  Drank up the Gatorade, but have some champagne left to drink....

[ashley]

Oh, I recently killed some girl scout cookies by grinding them up in a food processor and mixing in enough peanut butter to make the crumbs stick together. Rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate. I called them truffles and people went crazy for them.

[MicroRN]

1 small bag of red potatoes that were sprouting, an extremely wilty onion and 3 wrinkled up carrots, a qt of beef broth, and some seasonings made a fantastic soup with leftovers into the freezer.  A pie crust left in the freezer from thanksgiving + some really wilted kale turned into a lovely quiche.

Next I go after the dried beans - red beans, black beans, cannellini, and split peas.   

[Gray Matter]

Oh, I recently killed some girl scout cookies by grinding them up in a food processor and mixing in enough peanut butter to make the crumbs stick together. Rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate. I called them truffles and people went crazy for them.

Are you kidding me?  I kill girl scout cookies the first day they enter the house by shoving handfuls of them into my face!  I've never heard of the concept of left-over girl scout cookies--didn't know such a thing was possible.  You've blown my mind!