Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183470 times)

Unique User

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2400 on: January 25, 2019, 07:33:14 AM »
Next up:  Figure out how to use frozen sandwich rolls from Halloween.  A strata?  French toast bites?

Croutons?  I do that a lot as my family won't grumble about salads if it has a lot of different veggies and other stuff in it. 

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2401 on: January 25, 2019, 11:35:07 AM »
Thanks, @halftimer and @Unique User

SquashingDebt

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2402 on: January 27, 2019, 08:13:32 PM »
My pantry challenge went better this week.  All of my lunches and dinners were at least partially from the pantry/freezer:

  • pasta with pesto & veggies - pasta from pantry, pesto & veggies from freezer, parmesan cheese was purchased
  • broccoli soup - broccoli from freezer, cheddar from fridge, finished off a "Better Than Bouillon" from the fridge (this was kind of a fail - couldn't get it smooth enough; we'll see if I end up eating any more of it)
  • chili - tomatoes, corn, shallots, red peppers, and beans from the freezer, purchased garlic and ground beef - made 14 servings!  (I'll eat 4-5 this week and freeze the rest for future lunches)

I also thawed, marinated, and roasted some tempeh from the freezer to use on salads this week.

I'm going to keep going right into February with my challenge.  I feel like I haven't really even made a dent in my freezers yet.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2403 on: January 28, 2019, 07:31:26 AM »
I'm really struggling these days, as my husband is on a very different diet (keto, not as a health/weight loss, but to narrow down allergy symptoms that have caused hives for months). The hives are finally gone, so now he can undergo extensive allergy testing. However, it means that he is eating pretty much entirely separate meals each night. I already have had to go dairy free (again, food sensitivities) over the past few months, so much of what's in the freezer/pantry right now, neither of us can eat. The kids can eat most of it, but it takes more time, & effort to prep multiple meals.

But, I made egg roll in a bowl yesterday with cauliflower rice. It did require purchasing a few ingredients, but I used hoisin sauce & pickled ginger, both of which were in the fridge from a recipe my son needed for cooking class. It didn't use them up, but I will likely make this again another night soon, and finish both of those.

My goals for this week are mostly to eat down all leftovers in the fridge, and focus less on the freezer/pantry until we're all able to have the same meals. I also want there to be pretty much nothing in the fridge when I leave for London on Saturday, as last week when I traveled. . . I came home to a bunch of food waste in the fridge. :-(

Tris Prior

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2404 on: January 31, 2019, 06:38:47 PM »
I am presently putting together a homemade approximation of a boozy hot cider that the bar down the street serves:

Found some frozen apple juice concentrate, left over from a canning recipe from who knows how long ago, in the freezer.
Found some old-ish, but still flavorful, mulling spices in the pantry.
Found some amaretto in the liquor cabinet, also left over from a canning recipe probably a couple years ago

Frugal drinking during the polar vortex!

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2405 on: February 01, 2019, 12:11:20 PM »
Am I too late to join y'all, @Tris Prior?  :D

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2406 on: February 03, 2019, 11:05:58 PM »
I used a jar of apricot butter in banana bread today.  I used Mark Bittman's recipe, which includes unsweetened coconut.  OMG, so good.  I know how I'm using the rest of the jars of apricot butter!

The guy I've been buying lamb from totally flaked on me this year, so I'm feeling a little conflicted about using up last year's lamb.  It is the best ever, and who knows if I'll be able to get any more.

In the spirit of using everything, I've been making pancakes from excess sourdough starter most weekends.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2407 on: February 04, 2019, 12:50:54 PM »
~Used very brown bananas in a banana bread.  This also helped to use leftover Christmas baking ingredients.
~Used the aforementioned leftover slider rolls in a cream cheese French toast casserole
~Used strawberries frozen last season to top the above casserole
~Used leftover pork roast and refried beans in quesadillas
~Continuing to use up leftovers on top of a bed of spinach for lunches.  Today's combo is leftover goat cheese from last weekend's wine and cheese plate along with a few other things from the fridge.
~If I have the time and energy after work tonight, I'm going to make flax muffins which will use up a bit of the flax seed

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2408 on: February 12, 2019, 05:39:39 PM »
There have been few wins lately, as everyone is eating different things in our house these days.

But, yesterday I remembered to bake chicken empanadas before they went bad, so served them with dinner last night, & we will eat the remaining with tacos this week.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2409 on: February 13, 2019, 10:50:46 PM »
I was a little over-zealous in meal-prepping over the Christmas break. It's now mid-February and I'm still playing Tetris every time I try to get something out of my freezer.

Coupled with a weekend away at the last minute (family issue) a few weeks ago that left me frantically poking things in the freezer before they expired, without bothering with labels and ... the situation isn't good. Is it bolognese? It could be bolognese.

This week I'm aiming to use up:
- the bolognese (I'm pretty sure it's bolognese)
- one of three jars of salsa (salsa chicken)
- peri peri chicken (salads for work)

PMG

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2410 on: February 15, 2019, 12:06:14 AM »
My spouse was hungry for a complex nutty seedy fruity muffin.  We’re out of those kinds of ingredients but I used a granola with a too strong / synthetic tasting vanilla flavor as the base for a quick muffin. Not an amazing muffin but passable enough to satisfy him and it made the granola edible.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2411 on: February 19, 2019, 12:18:11 PM »
@mustachepungoeshere, I am the same way when it comes to stashing things into the freezer in a rush and not labeling them.  I always think, oh, I'll remember/be able to tell what the contents are.  Nope.

Still doing my put-whatever-we-have-on-top-of-baby-spinach for work lunches.  It's been working out great!

I'd been out of town, so not much of the stockpile has been used.  DH did eat the leftover chipotle pork from the freezer while I was gone.  However, before I left I went grocery shopping, and apparently I need to work even harder on this challenge, because the protein and bags of veggies barely fit into our 2 freezers.  In my defense, however, we were completely out of chicken, and running low on fish.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2412 on: February 21, 2019, 09:17:48 PM »
Our freezer has exploded like a bomb. I blame the fact that everyone is now eating different things (allergies & assorted new food issues), which means that there is no one single meal that any of us can eat. We have stuff everywhere, leftovers stashed ... it's making me crazy.

I need to go through the freezer this weekend & come up with a plan, even if it's using 1-2 items/week. Today, I managed to remove two small items (taco meat turned into taco quesadillas for the kids, & a rice/chicken single serving that I rolled into a taco shell & turned into a burrito).

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2413 on: February 23, 2019, 11:50:41 AM »
Progress:
-Used four pieces of chicken for dinner last night
-Rescued fruit about to go bad into smoothie
-Shredded brick of romano, and bagged for the freezer
-Used six way overripe bananas + a small bar of chocolate (that I shaved) for a chocolate banana bread
-Used a small can of chiles + the last of the chicken bouillon to make pork carnitas (currently in the crock pot). I've never tried carnitas before, so fingers crossed
-Defrosted turkey, gravy & stuffing for dinner tonight
« Last Edit: February 23, 2019, 08:02:41 PM by MaybeBabyMustache »

krmit

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2414 on: February 23, 2019, 07:20:15 PM »
I have a TON of random bits of leftovers in the fridge from a week of hosting guests, and next month I want to put a down payment on a veggie CSA and a half a pig for later in the summer, so it's time to eat down the pantry.

First priorities are:
cabbage stirfry leftovers
A quarter cabbage leftover from making that cabbage stirfry
2 slices of pizza
potato soup leftovers

But first I'm sipping whiskey because I just survived a week of hosting guests. :D

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2415 on: February 23, 2019, 08:03:21 PM »
@krmit - I think the whiskey is well deserved :-)

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2416 on: February 25, 2019, 12:32:25 PM »
@MaybeBabyMustache, how did the carnitas turn out?

Well done, @krmit!

This weekend I made cranberry, white chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies which finished up the first two ingredients, and left about a cup worth of oatmeal.

I also made the flax seed muffins I meant to make several weekends ago.

This week's dinners will use up a smoked sausage, the last package of pork ribs, chicken drumsticks and the salmon.


MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2417 on: February 25, 2019, 02:26:56 PM »
@MountainGal
The carnitas were great! I thought they needed a bit more salt. I used this recipe. https://chefsavvy.com/crispy-slow-cooker-pork-carnitas/

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2418 on: February 26, 2019, 03:08:20 PM »
Thank you for posting the recipe, @MaybeBabyMustache!  I like the 10 minute prep time, and the fact it's low carb friendly.  Cannot wait to try it!

Poundwise

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2419 on: February 27, 2019, 03:33:26 PM »
Any suggestions for using up a lot of cloves? I bought a jeroboam of cloves at Costco, forgetting that I had already bought cloves at another store... then meant to return the original jar but procrastinated too long...

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2420 on: February 27, 2019, 04:46:14 PM »
Any suggestions for using up a lot of cloves? I bought a jeroboam of cloves at Costco, forgetting that I had already bought cloves at another store... then meant to return the original jar but procrastinated too long...

I had a teacher who chewed them, presumably as a breath freshener... or, um, you could extract clove oil and use it as a local anesthetic? Maybe not practical. ;-)

I think there are recipes for baked ham that use a lot of cloves.

Rural

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2421 on: February 27, 2019, 06:07:52 PM »
Any suggestions for using up a lot of cloves? I bought a jeroboam of cloves at Costco, forgetting that I had already bought cloves at another store... then meant to return the original jar but procrastinated too long...


I use them in herbal teas, especially good for sore throat. Cloves won't come out of a mesh or metal tea ball, which is nice.

Poundwise

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2422 on: February 27, 2019, 09:29:03 PM »
Hmm, never thought of a clove tea! Will have to investigate.

Good idea about a ham too. Maybe I'll make those oranges studded with cloves sometime too.

Actually I think some of our pet fish have Neon Tetra Disease... maybe I will make clove oil in case they have to be euthanized one day. :~(

Thanks for the suggestions!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2423 on: February 28, 2019, 10:07:35 AM »
Minor progress to report from the week:
-Defrosted chili for dinner tonight
-Ate a breakfast sandwich for dinner (long day, plans fell apart)
-Ate ALL of the leftovers in the fridge
-Defrosted carnitas for my husband tonight
-Use pickled ginger in a cabbage/beef recipe. That was a super unusual purchase I made for one of my son's cooking graded projects, so happy to find a way to use it. It's not gone yet, but progress.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2424 on: February 28, 2019, 11:00:00 AM »
~Ate leftovers from Sunday's brunch for today's breakfast
~Used up Gouda and salami from last month in yesterday's spinach salad
~DH brought last night's leftover ribs and tempura fried eggplant for lunch today
~Will eat Tuesday's leftover pesto spaghetti squash for dinner tonight
~I pulled chicken drumsticks out of the garage freezer for Saturday's dinner.  There's actually empty space in it now.  ;)

I will retrieve frozen leftovers this weekend for next week's dinners.

Our fridge is looking a bit bare.  (Thumbs up!)

ETA:  Does anyone know if pesto freezes well?

Rural

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2425 on: February 28, 2019, 12:53:33 PM »


ETA:  Does anyone know if pesto freezes well?


Pesto freezes really well. Either put it in an ice cube tray and transfer to a baggie when frozen or dump in a baggy and flatten to freeze. Then you can use small amounts as needed, either by breaking off what you need or taking however many cubes you need.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2426 on: March 01, 2019, 11:13:40 AM »


ETA:  Does anyone know if pesto freezes well?


Pesto freezes really well. Either put it in an ice cube tray and transfer to a baggie when frozen or dump in a baggy and flatten to freeze. Then you can use small amounts as needed, either by breaking off what you need or taking however many cubes you need.

Thank you very much, @Rural!

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2427 on: March 04, 2019, 10:51:00 AM »
Hopping in on this for a month or so, we're going to be moving and I want to clear out as much as possible so we don't have to take it with us.  I want to at least empty fridge and freezer, so we don't have to worry about keeping cold in transit.  This week's menu should require no new grocery shopping.  My stretch goal is no grocery shopping before moving, except milk and fresh fruit/veggies (only after finishing frozen).  This may entail going vegetarian after a week or so, as we run out of frozen meats/fish.

Monday: Rajma to use up canned kidney beans, also using rice, stock from freezer, onions, canned tomato
Tuesday: Thawing chicken for chicken tinga tacos, canned tomato and corn tortillas from pantry
Wednesday: Saag to use up frozen spinach, can be served with more rice or tortillas
Thursday: Lasagna to use up ricotta in fridge, open box of lasagna noodles, and whatever veggies are handy (probably carrots, onions, and any spinach leftover)
Friday: Any leftovers not used for lunches
Saturday: Might be going out with friends, but if not, tuna steaks with more rice/stock and frozen veggies
Sunday: Possibly make soup to use up celery and carrots?  Or fried rice to use up leftovers and eggs?

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2428 on: March 04, 2019, 12:48:16 PM »
@Raenia, that menu looks great!

@Rural, the pesto has been frozen.  I'll transfer to a baggie tonight if I remember.

This weekend we used up a package of chicken legs, pork chops and a can of green beans.  I rediscovered the unopened gluten free flour, but realized I'll need to buy yeast for any recipes I researched.  There is a ham hock in the Crock Pot with several cups pinto beans today.

I pulled 3 containers of leftovers for us to eat for lunches.   Here's to restocking the plastic containers, LOL.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2429 on: March 04, 2019, 02:47:07 PM »
I managed to get everyone to finish all of the leftovers in the fridge, so that was good progress for the week. We also used ground beef from the freezer, used the last of heavy cream that we bought for a recipe, and finished off the remainder of green cabbage.

I have a few random freezer items that I need to start working through with the kids, as they are the only ones who eat bagel bites & pizza rolls. We bought these for a party, and have leftovers.

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2430 on: March 05, 2019, 08:03:20 AM »
Thanks @MountainGal!  This is a little more complex than my usual menus, because of planning around what is in the house, rather than around 1-2 bought ingredients for  the week.

The chicken wasn't thawed enough yet this morning, so I'll be swapping Tuesday and Wednesday on the menu.  Also remembered that the saag will use up the last can of coconut milk in the pantry, so a bonus win!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2431 on: March 06, 2019, 08:17:22 PM »
-We finished off a bag of tortillas & have eaten half of a container of taco meat from the freezer
-We've eaten all of the mini beef patties cooked in a tomato cream sauce (weekend cooking)
-We used two chicken breasts leftover from a meal out in a cauliflower/cheese/chicken casserole (weekend cooking). There's probably one serving left of that.
-I have made SO MUCH progress on my tea stash! I've previously had to store it in a giant box, which was ugly & difficult to see into. I now have it in a tiny transparent tupperware container

I love heading into the weekend with zero leftovers, because it means we won't waste any food. We start the cooking process over again on Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2432 on: March 07, 2019, 05:35:22 AM »
Last night I made blueberry muffins to use up a bag of frozen blueberries.  Didn't have any milk, so I substituted yogurt and water to get a similar consistency, and they came out fine.  Of course, now there's a half dozen muffins in the freezer (last time I made muffins the last few got moldy), but I'm sure they'll be gone in a week or two.

I also opened up a jar of poached plums I made in the summer, to eat in yogurt or oatmeal in place of fresh fruit, so I didn't have to go shopping yet.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2019, 05:38:05 AM by Raenia »

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2433 on: March 07, 2019, 10:14:42 AM »
@MaybeBabyMustache, well done on the tea!

@Raenia, I love the substitution idea!

Been trying to stay out of the grocery store until next payday.  We're out of almond flour, so I used flax seed in Tuesday's meatloaf and as a breading on last night's cod.  The latter was different, but it worked.

I pulled out a freezer bag full of IDK what kind of homemade muffins for DH this week, which leads me to:

I am so glad I remember to label most items, LOL.  When poking around the freezer last night I came across a bag full of "red stuff."  I had no idea what it was until I turned it over and read what I'd written.  Ah.  Homemade pasta sauce.  Got it!

Rural

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2434 on: March 07, 2019, 02:03:03 PM »
Finally cooked down one turkey carcass from the deep freezer for broth, and pulled off all the meat and skin remnants for the dog, who will be very happy tonight. I give him cooked down chicken bones if they get soft enough to crumble in my fingers, but turkey never gets there before the broth is ready, probably because of the size of the bones, so he only gets his "turkey goo."


That was this year's Thanksgiving. I think last year's is still down in the bottom of that freezer, so I have to decide what I'm going to do with it (cook down or throw out), but it's a start.

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2435 on: March 12, 2019, 05:23:44 PM »
Didn't keep to my menu last week, it was a little too ambitious!  I finally made the lasagna today, but I realized I would not have enough pre-made tomato sauce (homemade from canned tomatoes), so instead of opening a new can of tomatoes and using it unseasoned, I supplemented with an open jar of roasted red pepper spread that was in the fridge.  Turns out peppers are not my favorite thing in lasagna, but it's not bad, and at least I used up the red pepper spread.  Also used half the carrots and some onions.

We did not have the tuna last week, so we'll have it this week instead.  I'm sprouting some mung beans from the pantry to throw in a stir-fry as a side dish.  I also plan to have a meal this week of veggie soup from the freezer with fresh homemade bread, whichever day I have time to bake the bread.

I've been good about remembering to use stock to cook rice instead of water, hopefully I will be able to use it up at least as quickly as I create it.

I've been using a jar of ginger syrup in my oatmeal every morning, to use it up.  It's very good, but I haven't thought of many uses for it.  The syrup was a byproduct when I made crystallized ginger for Christmas.  We have a giant pile of ginger root in the fruit bowl, but I don't want to make another batch of crystallized ginger before I've used up the first batch of syrup!

Lastly, I finally have a tentative deadline for this challenge!  We made an offer on a house which was accepted, with the closing date 5/31.  Still some hurdles to make sure that happens, but I'll use that as my target date for now.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2436 on: March 12, 2019, 08:15:37 PM »
@Raenia - I've always found it helpful to have a moving deadline to motivate myself

As for us, we've done a good job of eating up leftovers this week. I'm trying to cook meals that most of us can eat, and that's working out well. I also organized the pantry a bit better, so I can see everything that we need to go through.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2437 on: March 13, 2019, 11:46:51 AM »
~Ate half of the raspberry pie given to us at Christmastime (we had the flu, so I tossed it in the freezer)
~Used the rest of the pesto in pasta
~Used up another package of bacon
~Tonight's dinner will use a package each of ground venison and beef, and use up the rest of the spinach
~Used another can each of pineapple, green beans, beef broth, Vienna sausage, and corned beef hash
~Used several cups of dried pinto beans with a ham hock
~We're out of cheddar, so I've been substituting with mozzarella
~Made my own salad dressing

Money spent so far this month at the grocery store is $15.31.  My goal is $200 which will include a Sam's Club (for only the things we are completely out of) trip.  I'm resisting the urge to stock up on sale items at the grocery store this week.  We have so much on hand!

slackmax

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2438 on: March 14, 2019, 06:47:04 AM »
One less packet of 'ham glaze' in my fridge now. I was making a crockpot version of a pork roast, and the recipe called for a cup of chicken broth. No chicken broth, and couldn't find the herbox bullion cubes anywhere in the cabinets.

Noticed I still have 3 packets of 'ham glaze' in the fridge. Always was afraid of it, now I got brave and substituted the ham glaze (which is actually a powder, though I thought it was a gel) by dissolving it in one cup of water.

Made the roast, turned out good. 

Two more ham glaze packets waiting to be used up. 

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2439 on: March 17, 2019, 12:33:14 AM »
Used up a portion of bolognese and a portion of frozen pasta shells (which reheated surprisingly well) for lunch yesterday.

Just got out steak and chicken breast to defrost for dinners this week.

Added another broccoli stalk to my tub of soup ingredients. Thank goodness it's finally cooled down here and is almost soup weather.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2440 on: March 17, 2019, 08:08:40 AM »
I finally used a small package of cheese that was some sort of holiday gift, plus most of the bottle of Frank's red sauce. Tried a new buffalo chicken dish & it was really good. It will go on the menu again. The dish also used up a package of chicken breasts.

As for today, I'll be making meatloaf (hopefully using some of the almond flour) & crispy pork carnitas for the freezer. We're in a reasonably good shape for the freezer & fridge. There are some oddball things that I need to figure out how to more actively eat down. Most especially a couple of loaves of bread. I have a chocolate chip banana bread that I'll take out when my parents are here.

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2441 on: March 17, 2019, 08:49:34 AM »
I will probably buy some new food this week, DH wants milk or yogurt for his morning cereal, and we could use some fresh fruit and eggs.  However, the following meals should be entirely from the pantry/freezer:

Mon: Chana masala (dried chickpeas, fresh ginger, canned tomato, onion, frozen hot peppers, rice cooked with frozen stock)
Tues: Chicken fried rice (leftover rice, frozen chicken, frozen peas, onions, frozen corn, leftover bean sprouts from last week)
Wed: Pasta with pesto sauce and peas
Thurs: Gingered carrot and parsnip soup from freezer
Fri: Pizza (homemade crust, canned tomato, cheese, maybe onion)

Maya

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2442 on: March 18, 2019, 07:01:47 PM »
Rejoining here as been trying to keep the grocery bill in check. Budget/goal for this year is $700/month. So far I'm under by $700 from the last two months. Cleared out a lot of meat in January and February but recently stocked up on chicken that was on sale.

It does feel good to use up things that have been around for ages.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2443 on: March 20, 2019, 10:26:10 AM »
I went grocery shopping and to WalMart for since my last post.  Total spent this month is $231.26.  $57.02 of that is TP, vitamins and HBAs.  Goal was $200, and I haven't yet gone to Sam's Club.

Over the weekend I baked Irish soda bread which used up the flour from Christmas baking.  I opened the bag of gluten free flour for brownies, which really needs to be used up.  I bought yeast at the store which will help with a future quick bread.  I used a cup or so of mini marshmallows, also leftover from Christmas, on top of the brownies.

I made overnight oats for DH which used up the rest of the oatmeal, also from Christmas baking.

Also consumed was a bag of ranch flavored cauliflower (blegh-kinda mushy) from the freezer, a can of fruit cocktail, a can of diced chiles, and a pound of ground venison.

Out of the freezer for dinners this week:  2 packages of pork chops, a pound each ground sausage and venison, and a whole chicken.

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2444 on: April 05, 2019, 08:50:29 AM »
Going to have to make a BJ's run this weekend (we're out of all meat and fish, and running low on canned tomato products), but I'll try to restrain our usual stock up mentality this time to not take too many steps back.  The freezer is slowly going down - only one quart of soup left, and we finished the frozen fruit and all the veggies except the corn.  Time to put chili on the menu!

I've been better at remembering to use the jars of fruit and jams I canned last year.  Ate most of a jar of peaches, a half-pint of cranberry marmalade, and opened a jar of strawberry preserves to have with toast.

Last night we had chana masala from dried chickpeas and canned tomato.  Earlier this week we had beans and rice with a 4-bean mix in the crockpot.

I have one lone can of tuna that I can't figure out how to use - DH doesn't like canned tuna, so I had them as snacks for just me, but I haven't been snacking in the afternoons as much recently.  Gotta think of some way to use it up.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2445 on: April 05, 2019, 09:31:00 AM »
I made a bolognese sauce this weekend that used up a bunch of stuff: wilty veggies, an open jar of marinara, two tubs from the freezer of homemade tomato sauce, plus frozen ground turkey that I bought for $.50/pound. It was delicious, and I loved making it from freezer items.

We also ate lasagna from the freezer last night, and we're entering the weekend with zero leftovers from the week, which is just how I like it!

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2446 on: April 05, 2019, 10:28:46 AM »
@Raenia, that marmalade sounds really good!  Re: canned tuna, I usually put it on top of my lunch greens then doctor it up with olives, diced cucumber, and whatever else I have lying around.

As part of the eat all of the food and avoid waste, last month I focused on take out condiment packets:
Ketchup went on top of a meatloaf
The honey packet was used in tea
Soy sauce was used in an entree recipe
Parmesan packets went on top of pizza
Taco sauce packets are ongoing and never ending, LOL.

The two freezer basket levels are going down.  And the extra freezer in the garage now contains only venison and pork items.  This week we used up the orange roughy, lamb, and ground beef I cooked, seasoned and tossed into the freezer a few months ago.  So convenient to warm up for a work night dinner!

Kroger/City Market is currently having their buy 10 for $10, so I stocked up on items we were completely out of:  Rotel, broth and pineapple.

jnnfr

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2447 on: April 05, 2019, 05:43:36 PM »
Greetings! First time poster here but I seem to have hit a second wind for using up stuff so thought I’d track it:
- ate the last pack of soba noodles for lunch with frozen peas, soy sauce, sriracha and Ume vinegar (which also needs using up)
- a pack of vegetarian gelatin, a sample pack of vanilla paste and a can of coconut cream went into a decent pannacotta.
Honestly I thought I’d done everything I could but somehow more stuff keeps appearing.

Raenia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2448 on: April 06, 2019, 08:18:51 AM »
@Raenia, that marmalade sounds really good!  Re: canned tuna, I usually put it on top of my lunch greens then doctor it up with olives, diced cucumber, and whatever else I have lying around.

It's a cranberry and red onion marmalade from Ball's Back-to-Basics canning book. I can pm you the recipe if you want.

Used up the tuna as an afternoon snack yesterday, mixed up with garlic, basil, and balsamic vinegar and spread it on toast.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2449 on: April 07, 2019, 08:20:03 AM »
Greetings! First time poster here but I seem to have hit a second wind for using up stuff so thought I’d track it:
- ate the last pack of soba noodles for lunch with frozen peas, soy sauce, sriracha and Ume vinegar (which also needs using up)
- a pack of vegetarian gelatin, a sample pack of vanilla paste and a can of coconut cream went into a decent pannacotta.
Honestly I thought I’d done everything I could but somehow more stuff keeps appearing.

In my experience, more stuff always appears!