Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183592 times)

Chranstronaut

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #100 on: October 28, 2014, 01:43:30 PM »
Oh man, I have been doing awful on this challenge.  Routine fell by the wayside as SO was leaving, so I haven't cooked at home in days!  I even forgot to make a sandwich for lunch today and had to get one at the cafeteria.  BLEH.

I have a BUNCH of pasta to use and all the pantry staples.  I think I'll try making some pasta sauce with the canned carrots and tomatoes today and eat up the fruit that's turning.  Later in the week will be black beans and corn.

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #101 on: October 28, 2014, 02:07:11 PM »
@ChransStache, if you have fruit that's turning, you could always turn it into a crisp/crumble.

I posted a recipe fairly recently that used spelt flour (though any whole grain flour would work), unsweetened coconut, nuts and oats, and it was super delicious.  http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.ca/2014/07/rustic-mixed-summer-fruit-crumble.html  (you could use coconut oil or *gag* margarine instead of butter.  The great thing about a crumble is that it's really forgiving to any substitutions you might want to make, as long as you keep ratios about the same.

chasingthegoodlife

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #102 on: October 28, 2014, 02:29:07 PM »
Dumplings! Our family make ours kind of Japanese style (google 'gyoza' for some recipes) with pork, cabbage, and a little soy, sesame oil and ginger. You could sneak a lot of other bits and pieces in too if you had stuff to use up (carrot? Zucchini?). Its a fiddly process but not too time consuming if you make a big batch at once and freeze some for later.

I used up more of the frozen veggies last night in a kim chi fried rice, had a bowl of miso soup with some ground toasted sesame seeds which was lovely.

Made a chocolate milk jelly with some leftover soy milk I bought for my mum's visit, and had some of that with fresh strawberries for dessert. Also finished making the beetroot dip which will be snacks for today and tomorrow.

Today's the last day of my budget week and I have about $50 left over. Need to maybe get a cucumber for tonight, maybe some herbs too. I could make a nice dinner with what I have on hand but I think keeping the veggie level up is more important.

sunnyca

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #103 on: October 28, 2014, 02:41:54 PM »

Worsted Skeins

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #104 on: October 28, 2014, 03:15:08 PM »
A friend gave me some amaranth.  Ideas for what I should do beyond making cooked breakfast cereal?


MandalayVA

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #105 on: October 30, 2014, 11:16:08 AM »
Making progress.  I made a HUGH JASS batch of chili using three pounds of ground chicken from the chest freezer; Mr. Mandalay has been eating it for dinner.  I also made a huge batch of chicken broth from several bags of bones.  I did have to freeze about three-quarters of it (it went in the fridge freezer rather than the chest) and used the rest to make faux split pea soup for my lunches this week.  Next week's soup will be broccoli cheese and dinners will be Great Northern beans and ham because I found ANOTHER ham bone in the chest.  Also chicken salad for Mr. Mandalay's lunch sandwiches to use up chicken breasts.  I did realize something--because of this we haven't had to buy meat in a month and can probably go another month, which is drastically lowering our grocery bills.   

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #106 on: October 30, 2014, 11:20:39 AM »
Repurposed some leftovers last night.  A few nights ago, I made marinated pork tenderloin and a sweet potato/spinach gratin.  I also bought some whole wheat pitas last week.

So last night, I took pita, spread it with pesto, topped with chopped onion, green pepper and olives, added some shredded pork and slices of sweet potato from the gratin and put a fine sprinkle of aged cheddar and parmesan on top.  A few minutes in the oven (6 minutes at 450F then 1 minute of broiling) and I had the most delicious flatbreads.

Tonight we'll be eating some of the burritos that I froze after last weekend's dinner party.

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #107 on: October 30, 2014, 12:09:26 PM »
Last night I made a huge batch of Budget Bytes Chicken Taco Bowl recipe (extra beans/corn/everything except chicken).  I shredded the chicken before work this morning.  I'll have a great dinner tonight when I get home.  I also need to segment out the majority of the crockpot into single servings for the freezer.

Chranstronaut

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #108 on: October 31, 2014, 08:13:05 AM »
@ChransStache, if you have fruit that's turning, you could always turn it into a crisp/crumble.

I posted a recipe fairly recently that used spelt flour (though any whole grain flour would work), unsweetened coconut, nuts and oats, and it was super delicious.  http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.ca/2014/07/rustic-mixed-summer-fruit-crumble.html  (you could use coconut oil or *gag* margarine instead of butter.  The great thing about a crumble is that it's really forgiving to any substitutions you might want to make, as long as you keep ratios about the same.

Thanks!  I'm just down to fresh apples now, so I should be able to use them up as is.  I do have 1.5 bags of frozen berries to get through, and a crumble sounds better than a pie for an event I'm going to in a few weeks.

How much cornstarch did you use with the brown sugar?

I'm all about using real butter.  Butter and oil, y'all!

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #109 on: October 31, 2014, 11:37:52 AM »
About 2 Tablespoons.  Thanks for noticing that - I'll fix the recipe!

I'd skip the cornstarch if you are using apples though, because they won't lose moisture as much as the stone fruit and berries did.

MicroRN

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #110 on: October 31, 2014, 05:57:56 PM »
I'm in. I never finished everything in my cupboards during the last challenge, although I can see the back of them now!

I'm still trying to figure out what to make with a bag of Quinoa and a can of Squash Bisk, for example.
Quinoa is the best!  I use quinoa in place of rice.  It's SO good!

I would eat the squash bisque plain...or with a good roll.  I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while now: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/04/focaccia-rolls/

Do the Focaccia rolls.  They're fantastic and stupid-easy.  I top them with salt and fresh rosemary from my garden.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #111 on: October 31, 2014, 06:11:38 PM »
I am leaving town for 10 days and have been eating up my food supply for the past several days. I still have 1 steak and 3 salmon fillets, some grapes, half a loaf of bread, 1 can of tuna fish, some carrots, 6 eggs, half a gallon of milk, 2 cans of soup and some rice. I leave in 3 days and I might just squeak by without a trip to the grocery store! As an added bonus, I can deep clean the fridge, freezer, and pantry before I go!

wintersun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #112 on: October 31, 2014, 07:33:34 PM »
My DH has been cooking lately and is using up leftovers nicely.  Leftover rice, beans, half an onion plus some chicken became a tasty stew with homemade chicken broth and it has lasted three meals.  I am admiring his limited shopping.

Shropskr

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #113 on: November 01, 2014, 11:27:49 PM »
Well after being awesome at this for 6 weeks I fell off the wagon for 1.bought pizza fried chicken and pizza.  Ok I was in the er one night ick.  Neurologist made me go.  Ongoing migraines.  Go news ct says nothing wrong, labs say nothing wrong, bad news after 4 different meds they still couldn't break it and sent me home again.  Waisted day.  Oh well.  Head hurts less today.

Kids almost out of clif bars again.  I think even after this is over I'll keep making them way cheaper than store bought. 

Made enchiladas tonight.  Didn't have sauce so looked it up on allrecipies and made my own.  Go me.
Beans are cooking for sweet bean chili.  I'm really the only one that likes it.  I figure the family can eat I one night then I get like 2-3 weeks of lunches out of a batch. I rotate it in the freezer with other frozen soups.  So I don't have the same thing all the time.

I know we're making a difference because we havenot bought hardly ant groceries in 6weeks but I swear the freezer/panty is still full.

Though I am on my last package of lunch meat.  I'll have to decide if I want to replace it or get even more creative with sack lunches for the kids.

Do you think those cooked breakfast sausages(like jimmy dean links) could go in sack lunches as the protein?

Staff Only

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #114 on: November 02, 2014, 06:47:20 AM »
Well after being awesome at this for 6 weeks I fell off the wagon for 1.bought pizza fried chicken and pizza.  Ok I was in the er one night ick.  Neurologist made me go.  Ongoing migraines.  Go news ct says nothing wrong, labs say nothing wrong, bad news after 4 different meds they still couldn't break it and sent me home again.  Waisted day.  Oh well.  Head hurts less today.

Don't beat yourself up about it Shropskr.  Your migraine situation sounds really crappy.

Hubby and I finished this challenge on Friday but strangely enough neither of us has bothered to go to the supermarket since then.  Our cupboards are almost bare but we still managed to scrape together a tasty little stir-fry of smoked tofu, garlic and peppers (from the wet market) on a bed of rice.  We have enough rice left over to cooked fried rice tomorrow night.

It occurred to us that we really did learn something doing this challenge.  In the past if our cupboards had gotten that low on groceries we would've been in a panic and may have even gone out to a restaurant (a cheap one of course, but still!!) in order to feed ourselves.  Instead, we did as the locals do.  We strolled across to the wet market, bought some cheap, fresh basics and whipped it into a tasty and nutritious meal with a few staples from the cupboard.  Winning!

Our next challenge is to start tracking our spending here in China but hey, that's a topic for another thread......

chasingthegoodlife

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #115 on: November 02, 2014, 02:19:28 PM »
Great work everyone! I don't think a few runs to the shops for essentials or take out nights when things are frantic undoes the benefits of using up what you have, if you're still getting 80% of your meals/ingredients from what you have on hand isn't that a massive saving?

I'm staying at my boyfriend's place over the long weekend and went to town on his pantry yesterday. Leftover lime marmalade and orange fruit jelly that no one was eating became these biscuits (cookies for y'all up north) http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/blogs/233237601.html and lemons and cumquats from the trees along with several ends of clumpy sugar became a fresh new marmalade for toast.

Saturday night we made pizza dough and used up odds and ends of antipasto, cheese, salami, veggies and homemade beetroot dip on some home made pizzas which got us dinner and next day's lunch for $0, then last night pulled some sausages from the freezer with roast beetroot salad from the garden (bought greens) with the last of the blue cheese, sauteed leeks from the garden, and some homemade sour dough rolls from a mix bf has had since we started dating.

Best of all (for my OCD heart), there is now only ONE open container of sugar, one open butter, one open flour. Quinoa flakes were found to have the DREAD PANTRY MOTH and binned promptly. Use it or lose it people!

GardenFun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #116 on: November 02, 2014, 04:31:36 PM »
Do you think those cooked breakfast sausages(like jimmy dean links) could go in sack lunches as the protein?

My kids would be in heaven if they had "hot dog sausages" in their lunches! 

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #117 on: November 02, 2014, 05:06:40 PM »
Hope you are feeling better, Shropskr!

Making progress, cooked a turkey that was in the freezer, pulled off all the meat and made stock with the bones. This has been finding it's way into most of our meals over the last few days. Curried Turkey over rice cooked in broth, chopped up turkey in scrambled eggs and leftover rice for breakfast. Lunch/dinner was chopped up turkey simmered in a bit of broth and homemade taco seasoning, served over quinoa cooked in broth and some quick re fried beans made from our supply of pinto bean flakes.

I have been making cashew nut milk out of our large supply of raw cashews - using as a base for healthy hot chocolate, smoothies etc.

While trying to clean out the pantry (possibly the worst possible time?) Hubby and I have decided to go sugar -free as much as possible. Staggering to see how many pantry foods have hidden sugar or how many different types of sugar we do have in our pantry.  Have to package and and move everything in approx 21 days, so thinking that a bunch of unopened sugary things (like jams and such) we'll probably just donate to our local food pantry.

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #118 on: November 03, 2014, 08:58:05 AM »
So last night we had spaghetti, which used up some borderline vegetables, a package of ground beef, one of spaghetti and some tomatoes and sauce.

Tonight I've got a beef stew in the slow cooker, and I used up some of my carrots, potatoes, and a squash from the garden, and I'm serving with a five-minute focaccia, to which I added some rosemary and garlic powder.

We bought 1/3 of a cow last year and I just didn't cook as much beef I guess, so I still have quite a bit left.  We won't be getting it this year, because we are trying to eat through the current frozen stockpile of food.  :)  I'll probably do it again next year though - for what we got, the price was quite reasonable, and the quality was absolutely amazing (local, grass-fed happy cows).

I also need to work on eating through some of the dried legumes I have too - I made a tomato bean soup last night that we can have for lunches this week, and later this week I'm going to make a nice spicy black bean soup, as I've a large bag of dried black beans too.

Chranstronaut

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #119 on: November 03, 2014, 11:08:19 AM »
I made pizza twice this weekend to use up some of the gluten I have in the pantry.  It turned out pretty bad, haha!  I've made pizza dough in the past, but I definitely didn't need this enough and ended up with a lumpy, but tasty crust.  I think I'll make vegan hot wings again to use the rest of the gluten up: http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2009/08/ultimate-vegan-hot-wingz.html

Cracked open a bag of frozen green beans.  They were a little freezer burned, so they weren't all that great texture-wise.  I really dig green bean casserole, so I might use them for that instead. 'Tis the casserole season, after all!

Went to the store to get some more produce this weekend.  I'm transitioning to buying more things out of the bulk bins even if it's not the cheapest option.  This way I can control the amount that I bring into the house as I used up the containers in the pantry and avoid food waste.  Only bought rice and a can of tuna from the inner aisles.  Accidentally bought spinach when I have more lettuce to use up.  Probably going to have some big salads this week for dinner.

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #120 on: November 03, 2014, 12:10:42 PM »
Accidentally bought spinach when I have more lettuce to use up.  Probably going to have some big salads this week for dinner.
Spinach freezes well.  I use it in smoothies after I freeze it. 

WESTOFTHEHUDSON

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #121 on: November 03, 2014, 12:37:19 PM »
Westofthehudson - let me know how it works out! I've got one more left in the fridge, might try it with some kiwi fruit.


Awesome! I even tried it using some guava paste I had (mixed it with boiling water first to liquify it more). This is has blown my mind!

WESTOFTHEHUDSON

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #122 on: November 03, 2014, 02:31:24 PM »
I fell off bandwagon for posting as a severe cold sidelined me from doing much more than basic necessities. Feel much much better now, even with "mom" being out of comission, DH kept going as he coudl easily find what's in the freezer and I used up the last of last year's cow to make a comforting beef stew.

Over the weekend, I could see the light in our freezer upstairs(the one on top of fridge), it was amazing. I did chuck a small bag of turkey insides that DH wanted to save and I didn't and they were super freezer burned. I am also excited as we'll be hosting 3 young adult men who are part of a missionary team for two weeks. I plan on using their appetites to finish off the last of the roasts from our pig and to use up some pasta/rice from the pantry (I have cut down on my personal consumption of those items).

Once their visit is over, we should be down to just a dozen items in the freezer and I have planned for our side of beef to arrive just about then.

Shropskr

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #123 on: November 03, 2014, 11:00:08 PM »
Made Brinner, breakfast for dinner, need to add this to the weekly rotation as we at I'll have a lot of breakfast meats in the deep freeze.

Made a new batch of pb clif bars added 1/2 c sunflower seeds we'll see if the kids notice.  I hope not.  I have a huge bag of the to use up.

Made a new clif bar recipe Chocolate Brownie clif bar.  We'll see how it does.

Also made the Oregon Chai Tea recipe I found here on MMM. Yum.  Though I need to find a way to strain it.  Super nice treat for me.  I can't have the real stuff.  Allergic to honey.

Tomorrow night soup and sandwich.  We have quite an assortment of soup cans and I'd rather not move them.  Beef stew for tomorrow.

GardenFun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #124 on: November 04, 2014, 06:48:48 AM »
Made Brinner, breakfast for dinner, need to add this to the weekly rotation as we at I'll have a lot of breakfast meats in the deep freeze.

Also made the Oregon Chai Tea recipe I found here on MMM. Yum.  Though I need to find a way to strain it.  Super nice treat for me.  I can't have the real stuff.  Allergic to honey.

Brinner is a staple in this family.  Easy to make and everyone likes it.  For the Chai Tea, strain it thru a coffee filter.  I also use filters to strain crockpot yogurt to resemble greek yogurt. 

Starting to see the back wall in parts of the pantry.  Found a small container of espresso grounds.  The cappuccino machine is currently out of commission (plugged steam froth hose - any ideas on how to fix?) so I mixed the grounds with regular coffee.  Another container bites the dust.

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #125 on: November 04, 2014, 07:56:25 AM »
Tonight will be a leftovers night!  One thing I'm trying to make a practice of, to reduce food waste, is that when I hit a certain point, with the numbers of servings of leftovers (i.e., I have enough leftovers for dinner that night, AND for lunch the next day), then we have a leftovers night.

I have quite a few things right now, so I'm going to tell the kids that tonight is like being at a restaurant, and this is what's on the menu:
- mulligatawny chicken stew with quinoa
- beef stew
- spaghetti and meat sauce
- 9-bean tomato soup

Hopefully they will find the choices appetizing.  Whatever we don't eat will go in tomorrow's lunches, and then I start the process over again.  :)  Fridge is starting to empty out and these meals incorporated quite a few pantry items.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #126 on: November 04, 2014, 08:35:54 AM »

Also made the Oregon Chai Tea recipe I found here on MMM. Yum.  Though I need to find a way to strain it.  Super nice treat for me.  I can't have the real stuff.  Allergic to honey.

I strain right from my crockpot into a jug using a mesh strainer - easy peasy.

Feeling very bad ass because I haven't been baking as I was out of baking soda and hadn't had a chance to go to the store. Then realized thanks to the internets that I can just use baking soda and cream of tartar. Worked really well for the crackers that I made. Was able to use up some Einkorn Flour my mom had given me, as well as some sesame seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds and poppyseeds.

Mixed up some cashew pulp from making cashew milk and some quinoa pulp from making quinoa milk with some coconut oil, date paste, tahini, peanut butter, cocoa, vanilla and instant espresso powder to make some "healthy" fudge. It is actually pretty tasty.

Hubs had homemade apple sauce from the freezer with some granola I made to use up more of the nuts and seeds we have.

My breakfast will be quinoa scrambled eggs with some chopped up roast Turkey and Spinach. (I'll be honest starting to get tired of Turkey)

The plan for dinner tonight is Chicken Parm using up some chicken from the freezer and some jarred sauce and homemade bread crumbs from the pantry. Going to use up the last little bit of dried pasta we have kicking around instead of making fresh. Will also make a side of roasted brussle sprouts with apples and onion to use up the last 1/2 bag of Brussels and apples on their way out.

SisterX

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #127 on: November 04, 2014, 11:15:16 AM »
Anyone have any ideas of what to do with frozen cantaloupe?  My husband is the only one who likes it, but he's getting pretty tired of mixing it into smoothies.  Any other suggestions?  We don't have all that much left.
We're seeing parts of our upright freezer which haven't seen the light of day in many years.  I added a bit to our stockpile by chopping up, pureeing, and freezing a pumpkin over the weekend, but that will get used up very quickly.
We're having a bit of an off week--hubs and I are just so tired, so we planned a week of sandwiches.  However, we didn't have to buy nearly as much as I thought we would to make the sammiches we want, so the grocery bill was super low.  And, we are using some things we already had around the house: basil from my plants, some cheese, and I made the bread, so used some of our 50lb bag of flour.  Progress!  Other than the sandwiches, we're going to have pesto salmon, which will use up a container of pesto which someone gave to us recently, with sides of sweet potatoes and salad (using up the lettuce I bought for sandwiches and more cheese).  Should be a tasty, easy week of meals.

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #128 on: November 04, 2014, 11:47:07 AM »
If you're willing to potentially sacrifice it, would consider trying to make it into 'softserve?'  I know it works well with bananas, but it *might* also work with canteloupe?  I personally prefer the dark chocolate recipe - http://www.thekitchn.com/magic-one-ingredient-ice-cream-5-ways-peanut-butter-nutella-and-more-171618

You could also try making a dessert soup, or a martini (not especially frugal, hehe).  I've never used it in anything but smoothies, so I'm at a bit of a loss.  Is it tasty enough thawed that it could top a fruit tart? 

I also wonder if it could be pureed into a hot soup.....something with some sweet flavour like a sweet potato, squash or carrot soup?


cats

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #129 on: November 04, 2014, 09:15:09 PM »
Time for an update--we're doing really well!  Definitely helps that my husband and I are both on board with the project.
We've been having at least 1, usually 2 legume based meals/day.  The 25 lb bag of pinto beans is now more than halfway finished, and we've made a good dent in our dehydrated meals.  I am actually starting to wonder if we will make it to the end of the year without running out of legumes.

Almost out of oatmeal!  I am debating whether or not to replenish this one.  Our rule is that we aren't buying an item if there is a functionally equivalent item available.  We do have a substantial amount of white basmati rice that we are just not going through that quickly and that could be sort of equivalent as it is also a grain.  BUT.  I do not want to eat white rice every day--I enjoy it as something to eat 1-2x/week on very high activity days, but it is not as filling as oatmeal. The other option would be to have more protein shakes and/or legumes for breakfast (right now I switch between oatmeal, a shake, or legumes).  We will probably go with the second option for the next couple of weeks but may restock on oatmeal before our next camping trip.

Also continuing to use up odds and ends in the freezer, it's starting to look decidedly less stuffed now.  Also, although they are not officially included in our "eat everything" diet, I've been making a more concerted effort to use up our herbs and spices, which has led to some experimentation and new recipes. Last weekend I made a really good tomato-vegetable soup with pinto beans and added a spoonful of fennel seeds.  Came out great--my husband kept saying how good it was (and he's usually so-so on tomato based soups).

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #130 on: November 04, 2014, 09:46:05 PM »
Minor battle in the house tonight.....DH wanted to order pizza, but I convinced him that we really didn't need to.  I had been planning to have a leftovers night (transposed to tomorrow), so we made mini pizzas with bagels and english muffins - topped them with ham, olives, onions, jalapeno, deer pepperettes, cheddar and mozzarella.  Super delicious, satisfied everyone's pizza craving and used up more stuff!  :)

SisterX

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #131 on: November 05, 2014, 12:12:09 PM »
Minor battle in the house tonight.....DH wanted to order pizza, but I convinced him that we really didn't need to.  I had been planning to have a leftovers night (transposed to tomorrow), so we made mini pizzas with bagels and english muffins - topped them with ham, olives, onions, jalapeno, deer pepperettes, cheddar and mozzarella.  Super delicious, satisfied everyone's pizza craving and used up more stuff!  :)

Nice!!

Worsted Skeins

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #132 on: November 05, 2014, 03:08:57 PM »
I am now doing the opposite, adding to the freezer and pantry with seasonal items in their last hurrah.  When I stopped to pick up my CSA box, I found a deal on shiitake mushrooms.  They are dehydrating as a I write.  I saved the woody stems for the stock pot.

Last week I found a deal on Asian pears.  Today I made something completely new for me:  Pickled Pears with Ginger. 

I have too many greens in the CSA box so I'll be making more pesto for the freezer.

Perhaps I am preparing for Eat All the Food in Your House--Take 3!

Shropskr

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #133 on: November 05, 2014, 11:35:20 PM »
Did well today made lasagna.  Husband and I agree were tired of spaghetti so lasagna was a way to use it but change it. Ya know.  Also used the 1/3 box of lasagna noodles I had, 1 egg plant mother in law had brought us, and used fettuccine noodles to finish it off.  Creative!  Not bad.  It made two 9x9 pans cooked one froze one.

Just five more jars of spaghetti sauce to go. That I know of anyway.  I swear there multipling when I'm not looking.  Lol.

My son mastered his multiplication facts. So by our rules he chooses dinner.  He says Mac and cheese.  I have 1 box left so. That's what kids get go eat. I'm so proud, it's taken him two years and he's worked hard.  He's earn it.

Shropskr

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #134 on: November 08, 2014, 11:09:49 PM »
My chose to have his friend Simon over to celebrate with us. Simons parents came too cool.  I made chicken pot pie  with what I think was last thanksgivings turkey, a package of chicken, canned mushrooms, frozen chicken broth, and some frozen veg.  Also Simons mom was gluten/dairy free so I mimicked a pie crust with gluten free flour already owned and almond flour.

I didn't buy anything for this ended out with three pot pies.  We ate one and a bit.  Kids had our last box of Mac and cheese as promised.  It went well.

I'm happy.

Oh and the higher dose headache meds seem to be lessening the head pain.  Though the side effects.  loopiness  and studdering are annoying.  Should get less noticeable in a week or two.

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #135 on: November 09, 2014, 12:59:12 PM »
I went to Trader Joe's on Friday to pick up a few sweet treats for a tea party/lunch I'm attending today.  I also picked up a few items to help us through the week.  We're moving next Saturday. 

I'm in freezer eat down mode.  I've defrosted several single serving dinners for the next few days.  I made smoothies for the week with the remaining spinach (tossed in the freezer), frozen strawberries (still have about 0.25 pounds left), a overly ripe banana, the last of the yogurt, and milk. 

I need to hard boil some eggs to get rid of about 2 dozen eggs. 

Fodder

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #136 on: November 10, 2014, 08:05:01 AM »
We cleaned out our fridge this weekend and it is AMAZING how clear it looks.  We've really cut down on our stockpile of stuff and I'm super happy.

Freezers are still pretty stuffed, so I'm working on those. 

Last night, I made this chili pasta from Budget Bytes and it was awesome because it used up a slightly-freezer burned package of ground beef, some of my frozen corn (somehow, I amassed three bags), some of my frozen black beans (I cook them dried and freeze in 2 c portions), a can of tomatoes, a can of kidney beans, and a half box of fusili that had been laying around.  Everyone loved it and it made a ton of food, so I'm looking forward to the leftovers.

Tonight I have two chicken breasts thawing, and I'll stir fry them with onion, mushroom and celery and combine with a package of noodles, soy sauce and curry powder to make singapore noodles.

I think I have to cave and get groceries though.  Once the celery and mushrooms are done, I'm pretty much out of non-root vegetables, and I'm now completely out of fruit (though I did use up my last pomegranate....love them so much, but they are a ton of work and I always procrastinate on getting the arils out). 

I recently got a new (free!) cookbook, and in it is a recipe for grilled sweet potato slices topped with spiced lentils and a squash sauce.  I have everything to make it, so I think we'll have that one night for dinner.  DH is dubious of the deliciousness of this meal, so I may need to add something else to it to make him want to eat it.

WESTOFTHEHUDSON

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #137 on: November 12, 2014, 10:43:33 AM »


Also made the Oregon Chai Tea recipe I found here on MMM. Yum.  Though I need to find a way to strain it.  Super nice treat for me.  I can't have the real stuff.  Allergic to honey.


Would you mind linking or reposting the recipe? Thanks!

WESTOFTHEHUDSON

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #138 on: November 12, 2014, 10:51:07 AM »
We're still chugging along. It's been interesting to find alternatives to certain items. DH and kids like to eat potato chips at lunch as a small side to soup/sand routine. I made some from scratch using processor and oven and no one even noticed. I got more compliments and was able to add some chili powder to DH's chips but leave it plain for the pre-schoolers.

We are getting down to some of our more processed items in the pantry but we may leave a few of them there for just in case we get caught short days. After this week the freezer will be re-filled as I'll be adding my 40 frozen 'Big Cook' meals. They'll be going on the bottom so we can continue to eat the oldest items and empty pantry.

to do this big cook I'll bo going over our initial goal of not spending more than $10/week but the meals will last us well into the New Year.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #139 on: November 12, 2014, 01:24:46 PM »


Also made the Oregon Chai Tea recipe I found here on MMM. Yum.  Though I need to find a way to strain it.  Super nice treat for me.  I can't have the real stuff.  Allergic to honey.


Would you mind linking or reposting the recipe? Thanks!

My version is here: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/fire-drill!-skip-this-week%27s-grocery-shop/msg47338/#msg47338

It is also in the recipe index. Someone else has a slightly different recipe as well, I can't remember where it is.

Shropskr

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #140 on: November 13, 2014, 01:07:20 PM »
Thx for posting chai recipe.  Ipad would NOT let me copy and paste.

We've just been coasting along here.  I've been sick.  So soup, soup soup.  I did a count 11 cans chicken noodle, 7 cans tomato, so no danger of running out anytime soon.  And that doesn't touch the freezer.  Wedding soup, black bean, sweet bean chili, onion,  I think we're still good.  Lol

Brinner last night. Sausage eggs, peppers. Yum.  And the kids do love those sausages in their lunches.  Yea.

I did break down and buy some more lunch meat, bread, and husband food.  I do need to keep the natives happy on this journey.

Tonight more fish fillets, beets(from grandma), and rice.

I also figured out that I could put that bag of frozen butternut squash we won't eat into the kids smoothies.  WIN

This challenge really does help you think creatively.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #141 on: November 13, 2014, 02:28:09 PM »

Great progress Shropskr! How is everyone else doing?

Making progress, but cheating outrageously. Have decided that giving away food to other foodies stuck in the barren North is almost as good as eating ourselves - especially because we are moving back to where the rest of the family is, and I am sure they will let us help them eat up their bountiful pantries :)

Turned our last lamb into an amazing ragu, which also used up 1/2 an open bottle of wine we weren't crazy about, the last little bit of caramelized onion and fig jam my sister made and a bunch of other odds and ends. Froze 2 meals worth so when those hectic nights hit over the next 2 weeks we are ready to go.

I took out our last chicken which I will be crock potting. I'm sick and out of bone broth, makes me cranky!

We still have a few fish fillets, a box of frozen chicken breasts and two roasts left - I'll probably give away some of the chicken breasts and one of the roasts.

A lone package of puff pastry will be turned into an appetizer to take to a friends house tomorrow night as well.

Other then that I have been cleaning and consolidating the fridge  (lord we have a lot of condiments, we use a lot of condiments, but still!) and will be giving any that I don't think I can use up to a friend of mine. She is probably the only person in town who would know what to do with cans of sugar cane, grated cassava, quince paste and other assorted goodies.  She will also be getting my frozen herbs and hot peppers, they will make her meals so much better.

Keep on eatin' :)


GardenFun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #142 on: November 13, 2014, 03:56:33 PM »

Great progress Shropskr! How is everyone else doing?

We're doing OK, cheating also.  But grocery spending is only 50% of where we were last month, so good progress.  Made a master list of meals where we had at least 80% of the ingredients in-house.  There were over 30 meals on the list.  Weekly cooking list ideas come from the master list, helping to clear out random items.  Found a big skirt steak in the freezer and turned it into four different meals (beef stroganoff, Vietnamese noodle soup, beef stew w/ bulgur wheat, beef with broccoli).

One big plus was finding a large bag of spearmint in the spice section.  Been using that to make tea.  Love mint & honey tea!


Miamoo

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #143 on: November 15, 2014, 12:12:25 PM »
Also on the opposite end as I'm still canning and freezing as certain things come up for sale dirt cheap for the holidays. 

But, as we did last year . . . starting 1 January, I won't be buying anything other than fresh produce, milk, eggs until April or May. (And then the lettuce starts) Works out well. 

I have tried freezing eggs when they're cheap - only once - wasn't happy with the results.  Has anyone else tried this? Maybe I did something wrong.

Worsted Skeins

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #144 on: November 15, 2014, 02:13:30 PM »
Also on the opposite end as I'm still canning and freezing as certain things come up for sale dirt cheap for the holidays. 

But, as we did last year . . . starting 1 January, I won't be buying anything other than fresh produce, milk, eggs until April or May. (And then the lettuce starts) Works out well. 

I have tried freezing eggs when they're cheap - only once - wasn't happy with the results.  Has anyone else tried this? Maybe I did something wrong.

We have one more week of our fall CSA (greens intensive and roots).  I need to make Carrot Top Chimichurri and do some other creative and freezable things with greens.

Looks like either you or I will need to start Round 3 of this thread in the new year.

Miamoo

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #145 on: November 15, 2014, 02:44:39 PM »

"We have one more week of our fall CSA (greens intensive and roots).  I need to make Carrot Top Chimichurri and do some other creative and freezable things with greens."

What the heck is Chimichurri?

I just freeze the greens in zip lock bags - one pound increments - can be laid flat in the freezer.  Saves space.  Pull out a bag when a winter recipe calls for it.

I'm going to pm you cuz I have questions!

savedough

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #146 on: November 15, 2014, 03:03:43 PM »
I'm joining late but I have a few things I need a creative inspiration boost to use.   

We have four jars of pepper jelly (gifts and wedding favors) that I don't know what to do with.  Any ideas other than crackers and cream cheese?

I have four lbs of chia seeds.   We make chia pudding once or twice a month and I use them as an egg substitute sometimes for baking.

Bread crumbs, lemon pepper and spicy breader mixes.  We don't eat a lot of meat, but it bought these to bread fish a whole ago and need to use them up or else toss them.  We don't eat meat often enough to use them that way.


1967mama

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #147 on: November 15, 2014, 03:30:39 PM »


I have four lbs of chia seeds.   We make chia pudding once or twice a month and I use them as an egg substitute sometimes for baking.


We sprinkle chia (and hemp) on our morning oatmeal and also on yogurt with cut up fruit such as a sliced banana.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #148 on: November 15, 2014, 05:29:31 PM »


I have four lbs of chia seeds.   We make chia pudding once or twice a month and I use them as an egg substitute sometimes for baking.


We sprinkle chia (and hemp) on our morning oatmeal and also on yogurt with cut up fruit such as a sliced banana.

I throw Chia seeds into smoothies, into muffins, into crackers, into granola, on top of oatmeal. You can also make a chia seed drink or chia seed jam as well :)

I finished off the last of my fish and shrimp on a decadent lunch with our best friend who has been helping us ferry things around in his truck while we are getting ready to move :)

I can see the bottom of my deep freeze - the last few bits and pieces are looking pretty lonely. We have purchased no groceries since the beginning of October except for milk, eggs and bananas :)

1967mama

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #149 on: November 15, 2014, 05:36:05 PM »


I can see the bottom of my deep freeze - the last few bits and pieces are looking pretty lonely. We have purchased no groceries since the beginning of October except for milk, eggs and bananas :)

@swick: You rocked this challenge! I don't remember the last time I saw the bottom of my freezer! Nice job on not buying groceries either! Wow!!!