Use It Up

[fidgiegirl]

I thought it might be fun to do a thread where we could get ideas from each other and how to use stuff up around the house.  In my case, I get mostly stumped in the pantry.

So I'll start.  Here are some things hanging around that I need some ideas for how to use up EASILY (i.e. not the million-ingredient recipes I find on Pinterest).  Ideas?

- Cheddar Powder, just a little bit in a spice jar
- Sundried tomatoes
- Dried chipotle peppers

What do you have that you are just not sure how to use up?

[Mother Fussbudget]

Make pizza dough (or buy a Boboli pre-baked pizza crust) , add marinara sauce, and some grated mozzarella.
Goes great with beer and/or a movie. (NetFlix?)

[MoonShadow]

I thought it might be fun to do a thread where we could get ideas from each other and how to use stuff up around the house.  In my case, I get mostly stumped in the pantry.

So I'll start.  Here are some things hanging around that I need some ideas for how to use up EASILY (i.e. not the million-ingredient recipes I find on Pinterest).  Ideas?

- Cheddar Powder, just a little bit in a spice jar
- Sundried tomatoes
- Dried chipotle peppers

What do you have that you are just not sure how to use up?

all three of those would go fine in a slow-cooker chili.

[geekette]

Cheddar powder, if it's not just the orange tinged salt kind, is fabulous on popcorn.  Or broccoli.  Or Mac 'n Chz.

[Catbert]

Cheddar powder on popcorn.  Add to mac and cheese or cheesy grits for bit more cheese.
Dried tomatoes can be added to tomato based pasta sauce for added depth of flavor.  In fact chopped up they can be added anywhere you need more tomato-y taste (e.g., homemade tomato soup)


But what the hell do you do with totally fake neon yellow Margarita mix?  (I get the strangest things left behind when we loan out our second home)

[seathink]

But what the hell do you do with totally fake neon yellow Margarita mix?  (I get the strangest things left behind when we loan out our second home)

Gift it to a spendypants who loves booze and loud colors?

[Choices]

Sundried tomatoes are great on or in practically anything- salads, pizzas, breads, sauces.
Cheddar powder could be added to other cheesy things like mac & cheese or added to bread or sprinkled on salads or mixed into salad dressing.
Chop and soak the chipotles and put them in sauces, stews, chilis, breads, rice & beans, or pretty much anything that isn't sweet.

As for the margarita mix, that might be good with Sprite or to spice up lemonade if that's your thing. We'd probably toss it in the trash.

[fidgiegirl]

Awesome ideas, thanks all!  Would never have thought of a chili but, like, duh!

Yellow margarita mix is up next!!

What else do people have that's stumping them?

[shelivesthedream]

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

[deborah]

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

I'd make up a simple vegetable soup and add the mackerel. Lemon and pepper is good in most soups and the mackerel will add flavour and protein.

[Mtngrl]

As long as it's not expired I would donate the mackerel to a food pantry.

[shelivesthedream]

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

I'd make up a simple vegetable soup and add the mackerel. Lemon and pepper is good in most soups and the mackerel will add flavour and protein.

My memory of our previous experiments in Tinned Mackereal Land suggest to me that this will be like trying to choke down a dockyard...

[pbkmaine]

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

Make fish cakes. Add the can of mackerel to a can of tuna, breadcrumbs, dijon mustard, an egg and/ or mayonnaise. Fry or bake. The dijon mustard cuts the fishy taste.

[Dee18]

If it's still in date, donate the mackerel to a food bank. 

[geekette]

I generally enjoy cabbage raw, but the last head I bought is "hot" and not pleasant to eat.  Will cooking it take out the sharpness?

If so, what's a good recipe for cooking cabbage?  I had a red cabbage dish that used a bit of sugar and red wine vinegar and it was quite good.  Can that be done with plain green cabbage?

[geekette]

Looks interesting - and I happen to have a cup of leftover Costco rotisserie chicken in the freezer as well!

[Johnez]

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

I've a few tins of herring and sardines, I'm planning of sneaking a tin in a big pot of spaghetti. My honey loves my spaghetti, hope this doesn't backfire haha. We'll see how this goes.

[fidgiegirl]

I am all "squeeeeee!!" about this thread, all!

We have been enjoying some green smoothies here to use up frozen fruit and veg and some ground flaxseed that was languishing in the back of the fridge.  Yummy.

[SoccerLounge]

I'm a pretty aggressive user-upper. My method is to tell myself Just Throw It In, You Wimp! when I'm scared that something I'm trying to use up might 'not quite go right' with something I'm making. It almost always works out fine, and I've found some combinations that I really like as a result (black beans used in a pasta sauce!)

[horsepoor]

+1 to the fish cakes idea for the mackerel.

Yesterday I did a pretty good use-up before leaving town by making curry.  2 small packages of tofu, half an opened can of coconut milk, a tin of curry paste that's been collecting dust in the cupboard, tiny bit of shredded chickentwo sad-looking carrots, a bag of mushrooms, an onion on the verge of sprouting, and a homegrown cauliflower.  Added tamarind paste, garlic and fresh turmeric to add flavor without making it too spicy for certain delicate palates at the table.  Curry is a great change up from the predictable old soup for using up ingredients.

When I get home, I've got to make a point of using up some dried plums, miso paste and gifted homemade mustards. 

[fidgiegirl]

I have been brewing up some loose leaf green tea I found in the cupboard for iced tea.  I make it hot, let it sit out until room temperature, then strain it out into a plastic bottle and into the fridge.  It's messier than bags, probably why it's sitting the cupboard, but makes nice tea.

Another idea for the mackerel:  plop it in a pasta salad?  As the seasoning?

@horsepoor, I hope you will post how you use up the prunes.  I love them, and could down them straight, but my bod disagrees with this method.  :)  We have a bunch in the cupboard right now.  We've used them in the crockpot with a pork roast as well.  Perhaps we'll do that again soon.

[Trudie]

As long as it's not expired I would donate the mackerel to a food pantry.

Agreed.

[G-dog]

I do a fridge clean out when I make meatloaf - partial jar of salsa or pasta sauce, in it goes. Veggies that need to be used up, partial box of crackers, or stale bread, spices or other seasonings....

If you want to check seasoning - fry up a small bit so you can taste it and adjust seasoning.

[galliver]

Already figured this one out, sharing to share: bf and I save broccoli stems after using the florets because we like them in curry. But we had more broccoli than curry lately and ended up with 2.5 lb of (variously aged) stems! This recipe used them up nicely: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/very-green-broccoli-soup-recipe.html Spinach added good color, lemon zest abd thyme add flavor, but we thought the dairy was unnecessary. YMMV. 

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

My mom made/makes a salad with canned salmon, boiled egg, rice, and scallions, dressed in mayo. Sometimes with corn. I bet a similar recipe would work well with mackerel... Let's see, lemon pepper fish, rice, scallions...maybe asparagus or green beans or broccoli? That's where I would go...That said, disclaimer: I like many canned fishes.

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[galliver]

But what the hell do you do with totally fake neon yellow Margarita mix?  (I get the strangest things left behind when we loan out our second home)

There are a number of chicken wing and chicken marinade recipes using soda...bet you can use margarita mix in a similar way...

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[DCKatie09]

I have been brewing up some loose leaf green tea I found in the cupboard for iced tea.  I make it hot, let it sit out until room temperature, then strain it out into a plastic bottle and into the fridge.  It's messier than bags, probably why it's sitting the cupboard, but makes nice tea.

Have you tried cold-brewing the green tea? It's pretty amazing - really different, and a lot more floral (at least ours is). Double the tea to water ratio, and just let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours, then strain.

[SoccerLounge]

I used up some vegetables that might have expired today, using the following method.

First, I blanched them in a baking pan using water from my electric kettle (and some salt in the water right away).

Then, I put a little butter on them.

And then I ate them all, and that was dinner. :D

[Choices]

Cheese. Put cheese on anything and it'll taste delicious. Cheese or Ranch dressing.

[fidgiegirl]

Made a bread pudding yesterday out of leftover gluten free bread heels that I've been saving forever.  I used up about half of them.  It was super easy.

[lizzzi]

I had three or four almost empty bags of lentils. Combined the odds and ends, and found I had one cup of lentils. Cooked them in the InstaPot with onion, garlic, salt, pepper and then mixed them with some  cooked brown rice I had laying around. Put a little California Olive Ranch olive oil on top to make it softer and give a little more flavor. It made a good end-of-the-month meal before I headed for Aldi yesterday.

[SoccerLounge]

Tonight, some leftover veg is going to be fried up in a big pan and eaten gloriously, probably  with some bread :)

[fidgiegirl]

Made a rice and beans meal last night using up some brown rice that had been hanging around for a while as well as a pepper, the leftover pork roast and prunes we had, and some boxed chicken stock from the fridge (not sure why hubs bought that as we never use it, but whatevs, I did yesterday).  Was good!

[fidgiegirl]

Slowly but surely, chipping away at the cupboard.  Today DH is planning a chili and I asked him to throw in the items you suggested to put in.

Here's a new stumper:  I made my MIL some ginger syrup for a birthday or something about a year ago and kept the pieces of ginger that I used to make it.  They were boiled up with sugar.  What to do with these?  She is crazy about ginger and we are going on a trip with her in a few weeks so it would be fun to think of something.  Some kind of candy maybe?  Would love any other ideas.

[G-dog]

Slowly but surely, chipping away at the cupboard.  Today DH is planning a chili and I asked him to throw in the items you suggested to put in.

Here's a new stumper:  I made my MIL some ginger syrup for a birthday or something about a year ago and kept the pieces of ginger that I used to make it.  They were boiled up with sugar.  What to do with these?  She is crazy about ginger and we are going on a trip with her in a few weeks so it would be fun to think of something.  Some kind of candy maybe?  Would love any other ideas.

You can buy chocolate covered candied ginger. Sounds like you've got the candied ginger - so dip it in chocolate!

[fidgiegirl]

Slowly but surely, chipping away at the cupboard.  Today DH is planning a chili and I asked him to throw in the items you suggested to put in.

Here's a new stumper:  I made my MIL some ginger syrup for a birthday or something about a year ago and kept the pieces of ginger that I used to make it.  They were boiled up with sugar.  What to do with these?  She is crazy about ginger and we are going on a trip with her in a few weeks so it would be fun to think of something.  Some kind of candy maybe?  Would love any other ideas.

You can buy chocolate covered candied ginger. Sounds like you've got the candied ginger - so dip it in chocolate!

I did find half a bar of baking chocolate and we have a ton of chocolate chips from costco . . . good idea!

[fidgiegirl]

Geeking out on using up.  Man we have a lot of weird stuff hanging around!

Made a chili and used:

- frozen peppers
- the dredges of three different spices, including the cheddar powder!
- the sun dried tomatoes
- various cans of tomatoes/beans from pantry

I have ordered ingredients (mainly produce) to use up:
- some weird noodles from Costco that we don't like very well, but we do like with sweet potatoes
- rice noodles and pantry ingredients to make a peanut sauce
- some polenta

[sparkytheop]

Ginger:  You could also make orange-ginger tea (or add ginger to another tea)

Orange-ginger tea

4 1/2 cups water
1 (2-inch) piece peeled, sliced ginger
4 tea bags
3 Tbs sugar
2 tsp orange extract (could probably use orange zest)
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Combine water and sliced ginger in saucepan; bring to a boil.  Pour boiling ginger mixture over tea bags; steep 5 minutes.  Strain tea; discard ginger and tea bags.  Stir in sugar, orange extract, and ground ginger.  Serve warm or chilled.  Yield 4 cups.

[SoccerLounge]

Ooh, I have a good one! I had to use up some small potatoes I'd bought. And some eggs. But I didn't just want to do Stereotypical Breakfast Food.

So I made a tortilla de patata (a Spanish dish, basically like a potato omelet except with more potato than egg, so the egg almost just holds the potato and onions together). Oh my goodness, this turned out NICE. And that's also lunch set for work this week. :)

[Tris Prior]

Lemon balm ideas? My lemon balm plant is growing like crazy. I tried using the fresh leaves for tea, following some online directions for steeping, and it was AWFUL. Like drinking foliage and not in a good way. Maybe it's better dried? Or combined with other herbs in tea?

Could also use some ideas for golden raisins. Bought them for a recipe, don't really like them, and I've got nearly the whole box left. Yuck.

[shelivesthedream]

Lemon balm ideas? My lemon balm plant is growing like crazy. I tried using the fresh leaves for tea, following some online directions for steeping, and it was AWFUL. Like drinking foliage and not in a good way. Maybe it's better dried? Or combined with other herbs in tea?

Could also use some ideas for golden raisins. Bought them for a recipe, don't really like them, and I've got nearly the whole box left. Yuck.

Lemon balm tea can be nice but you need to use about six to eight large leaves and steep for less than a minute, but it can be a bit of an acquired taste. However, where it really comes into its own is with mint. Half and half lemon balm and mint tea really lifts the mint and takes the sting out of the lemon balm.

[fidgiegirl]

Lemon balm ideas? My lemon balm plant is growing like crazy. I tried using the fresh leaves for tea, following some online directions for steeping, and it was AWFUL. Like drinking foliage and not in a good way. Maybe it's better dried? Or combined with other herbs in tea?

Could also use some ideas for golden raisins. Bought them for a recipe, don't really like them, and I've got nearly the whole box left. Yuck.

I find golden raisins to taste the same as the dark ones.  Sprinkle on cereal?  If you don't like them, that's gonna be tricky!

[Paul der Krake]

Chipotle peppers: crush and mix with sour cream, and use as sauce in tacos.

[horsepoor]

Lemon balm ideas? My lemon balm plant is growing like crazy. I tried using the fresh leaves for tea, following some online directions for steeping, and it was AWFUL. Like drinking foliage and not in a good way. Maybe it's better dried? Or combined with other herbs in tea?

Could also use some ideas for golden raisins. Bought them for a recipe, don't really like them, and I've got nearly the whole box left. Yuck.

I like golden raisins sautéed with Swiss chard.  Add vinegar with the raisins and cook it down.  The chard will wilt, the raisins will soak up the vinegar to temper their sweetness and make them more plump and less chewy, and it is a good counterpoint to the bitterness in the chard.  Add salt at the end to round out the sweet/salty/sour/bitter quadrangle.

[Catbert]

With the raisins make Picadillo.  Basically ground beef, tomato, onion, capers, peppers (bell or hot) and raisins.  Serve over rice.

[merula]

I think golden raisins go better in savory dishes like biryani better than regular raisins. Or, if you like cooked spinach, make espinacas a la catalana: saute one chopped apple, add 1 Tbsp each pine nuts and raisins, then giant handfuls of spinach and a pinch of salt and cook until wilted.

For sardines or other canned fish, Alton Brown has an AWESOME sardine avocado toast recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sherried-sardine-toast-recipe.html.

For prunes, I'd bake with them. Either chopped up and used like raisins in muffins, or an old family recipe for Christmas cookies that is essentially date confit encased in a butter cookie. No reason you couldn't use prunes there, though I'd probably cut down on the sugar since they're sweeter. I can't find my recipe, but they're similar to this: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/fig-and-walnut-cookies-recipe2.html.

Anyone have any suggestions on plain gelatin packets? I bought a large box to fill out an Amazon order back when I was using it regularly to make flavored yogurt, but then I stopped and I have probably 30 packets left. I do not want to eat that much Jello.

[shelivesthedream]

Lemon balm ideas? My lemon balm plant is growing like crazy. I tried using the fresh leaves for tea, following some online directions for steeping, and it was AWFUL. Like drinking foliage and not in a good way. Maybe it's better dried? Or combined with other herbs in tea?

Could also use some ideas for golden raisins. Bought them for a recipe, don't really like them, and I've got nearly the whole box left. Yuck.

I like golden raisins sautéed with Swiss chard.  Add vinegar with the raisins and cook it down.  The chard will wilt, the raisins will soak up the vinegar to temper their sweetness and make them more plump and less chewy, and it is a good counterpoint to the bitterness in the chard.  Add salt at the end to round out the sweet/salty/sour/bitter quadrangle.

They'll also be good with red cabbage.

[onlykelsey]

I cleared out our kitchen cupboards today and found, among other goodies, a single tin of mackerel. We bought three in a fit of virtuousness, struggled through two and realised we didn't really like them. Now I have the sad lonely one. It's lemon and pepper flavoured and is VERY strong, which is why we never bought any again. Any handy hints to dampen down the flavour a bit?

I'd make up a simple vegetable soup and add the mackerel. Lemon and pepper is good in most soups and the mackerel will add flavour and protein.

My memory of our previous experiments in Tinned Mackereal Land suggest to me that this will be like trying to choke down a dockyard...

I suspect this is right.  Could you sort of "re" pickle it for a day or two in the fridge in something less strongly flavored?  OR, in something equlaly strongly flavored, like dill?

[shelivesthedream]

Anyone have any suggestions on plain gelatin packets? I bought a large box to fill out an Amazon order back when I was using it regularly to make flavored yogurt, but then I stopped and I have probably 30 packets left. I do not want to eat that much Jello.

1. Savoury jelly. Beetroot? Mmmm! Maybe mint? http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chicken_liver_pt_with_78899
2. Mousse (chocolate, lemon or otherwise). http://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/white-dark-chocolate-mousse/d80eb4f5-a15c-4b78-a1d3-86813ba89aa6
3. Apparently you can add it to stock/gravy when you're making a chicken (or other) pie to make it firmer.
4. Homemade peel-off face mask.
5. Marshmallows.

[OmahaSteph]

This is an awesome thread, as I'm trying to thin out the kitchen before we move.

For the margarita mix: blend with cream cheese and Cool Whip for a fruit dip?

Ideas for a big bag of frozen peas (and one of the two people in the house hates peas)?

[onlykelsey]

This is an awesome thread, as I'm trying to thin out the kitchen before we move.

For the margarita mix: blend with cream cheese and Cool Whip for a fruit dip?

Ideas for a big bag of frozen peas (and one of the two people in the house hates peas)?

This was very controversial when the NYT suggested it, but you can hide pea puree in guacamole, which allows you to cut the calories down a bit.  https://www.google.com/search?q=peas+in+guacamole&oq=peas+in+guacamole&aqs=chrome..69i57.2239j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on