Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183573 times)

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #350 on: March 16, 2015, 01:51:02 PM »
New goal is to reduce monthly spending from $300 to $200.  Spent $195.05 last Friday.

We ate last month's remaining cowboy beans from the freezer with last night's smoked ham.  Delish!  Thursday night we ate half the leftover elk meatballs from the freezer.  And there's STILL more....

Am planning on making coconut shrimp this upcoming weekend to use up the last bit of last year's dried coconut.  Wednesday I'm going to make ham hock and beans with last night's ham hock...  Now, about that last can of evaporated milk.... ;)

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #351 on: March 16, 2015, 02:38:47 PM »
I love hearing how everyone is doing!

I'm totally bummed that I forgot about a acorn squash in our cold room and it went moldy :(  Our wipe board on the fridge idea has saved quite a few other odds and ends from going off though.


dorothyc

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #352 on: March 17, 2015, 10:11:18 PM »
New goal is to reduce monthly spending from $300 to $200.  Spent $195.05 last Friday.

We ate last month's remaining cowboy beans from the freezer with last night's smoked ham.  Delish!  Thursday night we ate half the leftover elk meatballs from the freezer.  And there's STILL more....

Am planning on making coconut shrimp this upcoming weekend to use up the last bit of last year's dried coconut.  Wednesday I'm going to make ham hock and beans with last night's ham hock...  Now, about that last can of evaporated milk.... ;)

Here's an Australian recipe that uses evaporated milk, from the $21 dollar challenge cook book:

Carnation Pasta
300g spaghetti or pasta
1 tbsp oil
3 cups sliced vegetables (e.g. red capsicum (pepper), courgette (zucchini), mushrooms)
375ml can Carnation evaporated milk
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3⁄4 cup grated cheese
Salt & pepper
Cook pasta to directions. Heat oil in pan, add vegetables and cook two minutes. Add combined Carnation milk, cornflour and mustard. Bring to boil, stirring. Stir in cheese and simmer for one minute. Toss through cooked pasta and season to taste.

wintersun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #353 on: March 18, 2015, 12:19:26 PM »
I have lots of empty spaces these days, which is gratifying, and I think I may put a jug of water in the freezer to save a few pennies on electricity since it is so empty.

My problem foods are weighing on me, they are still there, untouched, waving at me from the cupboard, or are they giving me the middle finger? 

I think it is time to make a few specific food commitments or I may be staring the same things in the eye next March.
1.  All dried beans, peas cooked by April 7th
2.  All irish moss consumed by April 7th
3.  Donate the canned soups which I will never touch by this weekend
4.  Corned beef consumed by this weekend
5.  Pick three vitamin type supplements and use daily until gone, rinse, repeat.

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #354 on: March 18, 2015, 03:58:03 PM »
We've been successful eating from our freezer.  We had a few random meals, and we still have quite a few items left.  We have a lot of premade meatballs (IKEA and TJ's turkey) in the freezer.  We have a few more tamales, a few frozen dinners, lots of frozen vegetables, and a little bit of frozen fruit. 

My big success last night was using a few cups of stale Honey Nut Cheerios in the granola bars I made.  Normally I would just toss the box.  I also used part of a bag of sliced almonds that have been on the shelf for a while.  The granola bars are weekday breakfasts. 

I also have two bananas that are overly ripe, so I will try to make a small loaf of banana bread tonight. 

Juslookin

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #355 on: March 20, 2015, 08:59:31 AM »
I don't know how I ended up with so much cocoa powder in my house.  I was assigned to bring cookies to an event tonight and am making chocolate crinkles to use up some of that cocoa.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #356 on: March 20, 2015, 09:22:05 AM »
I don't know how I ended up with so much cocoa powder in my house.  I was assigned to bring cookies to an event tonight and am making chocolate crinkles to use up some of that cocoa.

I know the feeling! Last year I ended up making a couple of different flavours of "Instant Hot Chocolate" mix for Christmas to use up some of my surplus. Actually, I've had requests for more so I will probably end up doing it again this year. I have some TJ freeze dried raspberries I haven't had a chance to use that would be fun.

I used up some in some chocolate cupcakes that took to a family potluck last night too. The spices and things like cocoa are really my downfall, I feel like I am using them all the time, but never enough to feel like I am putting a dent in my supply. Next up...finding a use for beet powder...

CaribbeanMustachian

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #357 on: March 20, 2015, 11:30:42 AM »
We've done well with our Lenten abstinence from meat, alcohol and soda for the past 30 days. Today we're starting this challenge today. Thanks to all of you, for the great info on this post!

Day #1 menu - breakfast (eggs and spinach omelet), lunch/ dinner - (stewed fish with peppers and onions, rice, salad).

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #358 on: March 20, 2015, 01:44:49 PM »
New goal is to reduce monthly spending from $300 to $200.  Spent $195.05 last Friday.

We ate last month's remaining cowboy beans from the freezer with last night's smoked ham.  Delish!  Thursday night we ate half the leftover elk meatballs from the freezer.  And there's STILL more....

Am planning on making coconut shrimp this upcoming weekend to use up the last bit of last year's dried coconut.  Wednesday I'm going to make ham hock and beans with last night's ham hock...  Now, about that last can of evaporated milk.... ;)

Here's an Australian recipe that uses evaporated milk, from the $21 dollar challenge cook book:

Carnation Pasta
300g spaghetti or pasta
1 tbsp oil
3 cups sliced vegetables (e.g. red capsicum (pepper), courgette (zucchini), mushrooms)
375ml can Carnation evaporated milk
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3⁄4 cup grated cheese
Salt & pepper
Cook pasta to directions. Heat oil in pan, add vegetables and cook two minutes. Add combined Carnation milk, cornflour and mustard. Bring to boil, stirring. Stir in cheese and simmer for one minute. Toss through cooked pasta and season to taste.

Awesome!  Thank you for taking the time to post it.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week was an "eat it or freeze it" week.  DH and I focused on eating all the leftovers (breakfast casserole, chicken and eggplant casserole, some baby bok choy, buffalo chicken salad in a doggy bag, etc.).  A leftover blue cheese burger patty went into the freezer.  I processed a load of fresh produce Wednesday night.  He said he felt like a vegetarian at lunch yesterday.  :D

Sunday I'm going to make coconut shrimp to use the last of some dried coconut bought last fall.  I'll serve with zoodles (zucchini noodles) since I mistakenly bought some more zucchini when we already had some.  :)

wintersun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #359 on: March 20, 2015, 06:24:21 PM »
I cooked one of the dreaded cans of soup and added onions, stewed tomatoes and cabbage to make it palatable and topped it with goat cheese, scallions and bacon.  it was actually quite good and now I can check off one more box on my eating down the pantry list.

Quinn

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #360 on: March 21, 2015, 10:33:55 PM »
Any tips/recipes for using up a liter of maple syrup? I got a jug from Costco late last year, but I've decided to cut down on carbs (so no pancakes). I've been using it as a sweetener for tea, but it's going to take a while to use up a liter of it...

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #361 on: March 22, 2015, 01:16:00 AM »
Any tips/recipes for using up a liter of maple syrup? I got a jug from Costco late last year, but I've decided to cut down on carbs (so no pancakes). I've been using it as a sweetener for tea, but it's going to take a while to use up a liter of it...

I use it basically as a sugar substitute - especially tasty as a sweetener in homemade granola :)

GardenFun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #362 on: March 23, 2015, 05:05:45 PM »
Any tips/recipes for using up a liter of maple syrup? I got a jug from Costco late last year, but I've decided to cut down on carbs (so no pancakes). I've been using it as a sweetener for tea, but it's going to take a while to use up a liter of it...

I use it basically as a sugar substitute - especially tasty as a sweetener in homemade granola :)

Agree.  It is also great in baked oatmeal. 

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #363 on: March 23, 2015, 05:25:47 PM »
Any tips/recipes for using up a liter of maple syrup? I got a jug from Costco late last year, but I've decided to cut down on carbs (so no pancakes). I've been using it as a sweetener for tea, but it's going to take a while to use up a liter of it...

Salad dressing or marianade (I have a lime/maple/chipotle/oil dressing that works well on almost anything, especially salmon)
sweetener for lemonade
on top of plain yogurt with some fruit
instead of palm sugar for coconut curry or Vietnamese dressings or satay or peanut sauce

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #364 on: March 23, 2015, 06:20:29 PM »
Salad dressing or marianade (I have a lime/maple/chipotle/oil dressing that works well on almost anything, especially salmon)

Ohh, any chance you can share? I think you have a dressing that combines ALL my Hubby's favorite foods :)


Cressida

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #365 on: March 23, 2015, 10:59:37 PM »
Salad dressing or marianade (I have a lime/maple/chipotle/oil dressing that works well on almost anything, especially salmon)

Ohh, any chance you can share? I think you have a dressing that combines ALL my Hubby's favorite foods :)

haha, me too! DH drinks leftover lime juice straight, and goes through like a liter of maple syrup a month. And who doesn't love chipotle.

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #366 on: March 24, 2015, 04:56:12 AM »
Salad dressing or marianade (I have a lime/maple/chipotle/oil dressing that works well on almost anything, especially salmon)
Ohh, any chance you can share? I think you have a dressing that combines ALL my Hubby's favorite foods :)

I modified & extremely simplified a couple of recipes from the Rebar cookbook (Rebar is/was a restaurant in Victoria BC), combining the dressing for the Santa Fe Pasta salad and the Painted Desert salad.

the base recipes are here, but I don't follow them, just the idea
http://seachangeseafoodsandgifts.ca/painted-desert-salad/
http://www.eatmedelicious.com/2007/08/santa-fe-pasta-salad.html

No real amounts, just a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of lime juice, 1-2 tsps of maple syrup, 1-2 tsps of chipotle puree, salt.  Then adjust to taste.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #367 on: March 24, 2015, 12:42:35 PM »
[quote author=plainjane link=topic=23139.msg601121#msg601121 date=
I modified & extremely simplified a couple of recipes from the Rebar cookbook (Rebar is/was a restaurant in Victoria BC), combining the dressing for the Santa Fe Pasta salad and the Painted Desert salad.

the base recipes are here, but I don't follow them, just the idea
http://seachangeseafoodsandgifts.ca/painted-desert-salad/
http://www.eatmedelicious.com/2007/08/santa-fe-pasta-salad.html

No real amounts, just a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of lime juice, 1-2 tsps of maple syrup, 1-2 tsps of chipotle puree, salt.  Then adjust to taste.
[/quote]

That is awesome, Thanks plainjane! The recipes look great, and I know my mom has their recipe book - it's one of her favorite places.  I'll have to borrow it from her :)

I used up the last of my dried apricots, left over canned tomatos and some rosemary that I was given in supper last night. I made a take on a tagine http://www.alanabread.com/chicken-apricot-ginger-rosemary-tagine/ it is one of my favorite recipes.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #368 on: March 30, 2015, 05:52:30 AM »
Hi everyone, loving this thread and all the creative ideas you come up with!

I have a jar of pumpkin pie spice languishing in the cupboard. Being a Brit I don't have much use for it, but I'm thinking it would add some nice flavour to homemade granola, or muffins, or pancakes. Yay!

I also have a question I wonder if anyone can help with. I'm going to make burritos tonight (ground beef filling), and I often hear of people freezing them for lunches etc. I'd love to try this, but I'm not sure about defrosting / reheating. Is it best to microwave straight from frozen? Or defrost first? I'm thinking the tortilla will go soggy if I defrost, but I wasn't sure about microwaving cooked frozen meat. Would I use a defrost setting, or just go 'high' from the outset? Thanks.

4alpacas

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #369 on: March 30, 2015, 10:45:16 AM »
Hi everyone, loving this thread and all the creative ideas you come up with!

I have a jar of pumpkin pie spice languishing in the cupboard. Being a Brit I don't have much use for it, but I'm thinking it would add some nice flavour to homemade granola, or muffins, or pancakes. Yay!

I also have a question I wonder if anyone can help with. I'm going to make burritos tonight (ground beef filling), and I often hear of people freezing them for lunches etc. I'd love to try this, but I'm not sure about defrosting / reheating. Is it best to microwave straight from frozen? Or defrost first? I'm thinking the tortilla will go soggy if I defrost, but I wasn't sure about microwaving cooked frozen meat. Would I use a defrost setting, or just go 'high' from the outset? Thanks.
I usually stick with rice, beans & cheese in my frozen burritos, so beef might be different.  I just wrap a frozen burrito in a paper towel and microwave on high. 

I made cookies for a picnic with friends instead of buying cupcakes.  I had to go out and buy chocolate chips, but I used items we had in the house for the rest.  I made thumbprint cookies with lemon curd (a gift) and plum jam (a gift).  I also made flourless chocolate chip cookies (http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/04/flourless-chocolate-cookies/). 

We've been slowly eating down our freezer.  I ate a frozen pot pie for lunch last week.  We have a lot of frozen vegetables and fruit to eat now. 

Cressida

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #370 on: March 30, 2015, 07:23:02 PM »
I also have a question I wonder if anyone can help with. I'm going to make burritos tonight (ground beef filling), and I often hear of people freezing them for lunches etc. I'd love to try this, but I'm not sure about defrosting / reheating. Is it best to microwave straight from frozen? Or defrost first? I'm thinking the tortilla will go soggy if I defrost, but I wasn't sure about microwaving cooked frozen meat. Would I use a defrost setting, or just go 'high' from the outset? Thanks.

My technique is (1) defrost for 2 minutes, (2) heat for 30 seconds, (3) let cool for a few minutes (or else it can be pretty molten). This works for me - the tortilla isn't soggy at all.

I should say, usually the burrito has been in my bag for a couple of hours when I go through this process, so it's probably somewhat thawed already.

MMMdude

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #371 on: March 30, 2015, 08:00:13 PM »
My brother is a hunter and I have a whole bunch of moose stew and sausage that has been sitting in my freezer for about a year.

I simply bbq'd the sausage and it was....OK i guess.  Have a few more packs to go and I'll BBQ again with no other alternative.  I'm thinking if i threw it in a pasta dish it might mellow the overall taste.  Any other ideas?

I have slow cooked the stew before and it was pretty decent but not a homerun.  Anyone have any moose stew recipes?

Overall we have done really well the first three months of the year.  Have spent $425 on food (two of us) on average each month to start the year.  This includes toiletries and cat/dog food.  Where we live groceries are pretty expensive so might not be outstanding for others.  This is alot lower than the $600+ we have been averaging.  If we do eat out it's either with a Groupon (whenever they have a discount deal) or at a place that has a weakly deal such as Wing Wednesdays or whatever.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #372 on: March 31, 2015, 02:48:33 AM »
Thanks Cressida and 4alpacas for the burrito advice! I'll try some with just beans and some with meat and see which I prefer, now I have a better idea of how to reheat. This is making me hungry!

Because I had been working on emptying the freezer I was able to take advantage of a great deal when I saw it - Hereford beef nearing it's sell-by date marked down from £4.19 (for a 1/2 lb) to 99p! I bought everything they had in stock, hence the burritos! I see lots of marked down meat due to poor stock control in a local store; my plan is to always use meat from the freezer for meals and to only buy meat that I see reduced. Since we only have it a few times a week this should be very doable.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #373 on: March 31, 2015, 10:02:01 AM »
My brother is a hunter and I have a whole bunch of moose stew and sausage that has been sitting in my freezer for about a year.

I simply bbq'd the sausage and it was....OK i guess.  Have a few more packs to go and I'll BBQ again with no other alternative.  I'm thinking if i threw it in a pasta dish it might mellow the overall taste.  Any other ideas?

I have slow cooked the stew before and it was pretty decent but not a homerun.  Anyone have any moose stew recipes?

Moose can be pretty hit or miss, I would personally take the meat out of the casing for the sausages and use it in a chili, stretched ( and tamed) with some ground beef if it is really strong tasting. Also, Spices...the more spices you use with moose the better :)

SisterX

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #374 on: March 31, 2015, 11:58:09 AM »
My brother is a hunter and I have a whole bunch of moose stew and sausage that has been sitting in my freezer for about a year.

I simply bbq'd the sausage and it was....OK i guess.  Have a few more packs to go and I'll BBQ again with no other alternative.  I'm thinking if i threw it in a pasta dish it might mellow the overall taste.  Any other ideas?

I have slow cooked the stew before and it was pretty decent but not a homerun.  Anyone have any moose stew recipes?

Overall we have done really well the first three months of the year.  Have spent $425 on food (two of us) on average each month to start the year.  This includes toiletries and cat/dog food.  Where we live groceries are pretty expensive so might not be outstanding for others.  This is alot lower than the $600+ we have been averaging.  If we do eat out it's either with a Groupon (whenever they have a discount deal) or at a place that has a weakly deal such as Wing Wednesdays or whatever.

I'm not sure what the exact recipe is but my MIL said that she made moose stew recently with red wine AND Guinness as a base and it turned out really well.  I'm guessing that the strong flavors of those mellowed the moose and the acids tenderized it a lot.  Not sure what herbs and spices she used, though.  Or perhaps try a boeuf bourguignon?  It's strongly flavored and utilizes a very long, slow cook so the meat will have plenty of time to tenderize.

Most of the moose I use is ground or as a roast, sorry.

I hear you on the grocery prices.  My husband, toddler and I manage to only spend about $400/month, but we buy very little meat because we've had so much moose and fish in the freezer, and I garden/preserve during the summers.  I also do things like making our own bread to save money.  :(  Wish I could have the grocery budget a lot of people on these forums claim.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #375 on: April 01, 2015, 08:19:51 AM »
Just successfully made pilau rice! Yay! That will make our occasional 'takeaways' even better - I usually buy a premade curry and rice to share from the supermarket, and then we get a real naan from the takeaway. Now I will make a huge batch and freeze in portions so it's just as easy as reheating the bought one on those no-cook night!

Recipe was easy if anyone wants it - melt a large knob of butter in a pan. Add 1 cup of basmati rice and stir until coated. Add 2tspn garam masala (not sure how authentic this recipe is, I was trying to use this up), stir to coat, and then add 1.5 cups boiling water. Cover with tight-fitting lid, simmer on lowest setting for 10-15 minutes without stirring until rice is done.

Which spice jar to tackle next...

1967mama

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #376 on: April 02, 2015, 02:05:12 AM »
Amalgamated the contents of 2 deep freezers into 1 today --- gave me a really good idea of what we have left and will help with meal planning. Sadly, had to throw out some badly freezer burned items. *Bonus: power bill will drop until late summer/early fall when we add farm fresh berries, 50 chickens and a side of beef. **Double Bonus: single freezer now running is smaller, very full and located in the cool basement -- excellent for our power consumption!

GardenFun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #377 on: April 07, 2015, 01:32:34 PM »
Finally ate down the freezer to the point that I only had 2 servings max of chicken, fish, beef and pork.  Ordered 1/2 pig and should be nearly out of meat when it is ready for pick-up. 

Made lentil and ham bone soup that was utterly fantastic.  No more throwing away scrumptious ham bones. 

Pantry contents have slowly been depleted, prompting DH to state "we have no food".  I pointed to all the canned and frozen vegetables, flour, rice, etc.  To which he responded "We have a bunch of items to make food, but we have no food!".  I took this as a compliment that we were eating healthy items instead of processed crap.  DH was not amused his scolding was turned into a compliment.  :-)

1967mama

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #378 on: April 07, 2015, 01:48:47 PM »

Pantry contents have slowly been depleted, prompting DH to state "we have no food".  I pointed to all the canned and frozen vegetables, flour, rice, etc.  To which he responded "We have a bunch of items to make food, but we have no food!".

Sounds like my complaintypants teenagers: "We don't have any FOOD! We just have ingredients!"

Used up a bag of perogies from the deep freeze - fried them and some onions and added a dollop of sour cream to each plate.

SisterX

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #379 on: April 08, 2015, 10:53:40 AM »
I tried stuffing the contents of the chest freezer into the upright freezer and it didn't work.  But the chest freezer is *dangerously* low.  Also, I did find a whole bunch more dog fish (I mean, fish only fit to cook up for the dog because it's so freezer-burned -- most of it is labeled 2010, ouch) so we're saving money on dog food and it's not only really good for her but she loves it.
Now if only I could get our ridiculously picky cat to eat it too, but he hates anything but a few flavors of wet food and his dry stuff.
I also made a meal plan for this week and most of it is, you probably guessed it, fish.  So sick of fish.
We still have about four moose roasts which need to be taken care of.  I'm thinking we'll use one or two as a duty meal and try to give the others away to friends.  Other than that our only supply of moose is four more 1-lb. packs of ground moose meat and about 12 packs of moose jerky sticks which I'm trying to get my husband to eat (I can't stand them).
Found and used one last jar of tomatoes I canned last summer, used some frozen rhubarb as a dessert for an Easter potluck, and used one of our boxes of cornstarch.  Our cupboards are looking mighty bare.

wintersun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #380 on: April 08, 2015, 11:06:27 AM »
It is time for me to look at the door of the fridge again and to eat up those processed condiments never to replace them.  Also, it is time to get serious about the nutritional supplements -they cost a bundle and I do not want to waste them.

My fridge, freezer and pantry got super low a few weeks back and the pantry is still very empty looking which i am enjoying.  I think I would enjoy the English method of having a tiny fridge and shopping each day for fresh food- somehow storing food makes me tired.  It is as though all the cans and boxes and bags are saying "Slacker!  You haven't eaten me yet!!!"

Worsted Skeins

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #381 on: April 08, 2015, 03:50:24 PM »
Trying to clean out the freezer before the U-pick season begins.  Last night we ate raviolis with kale pesto; tonight we are having black bean enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce from last fall.  I can't quite do one of those "don't shop in April" challenges because I'd run out of basics but I am determined to clean out this freezer! 

cats

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #382 on: April 09, 2015, 10:01:00 PM »
Well, it turns out we are moving in three weeks!  Just across town, so moving non-perishables is not a huge deal, however....we are going to need to clean out the freezer!  This weekend I am NOT going to cook any main dishes for the week ahead, we're going to live entirely off freezer meals.  Kind of excited :)

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #383 on: April 10, 2015, 05:25:11 AM »
Well, it turns out we are moving in three weeks!  Just across town, so moving non-perishables is not a huge deal, however....we are going to need to clean out the freezer!  This weekend I am NOT going to cook any main dishes for the week ahead, we're going to live entirely off freezer meals.  Kind of excited :)

Good luck with the move cats, and enjoy a week off cooking!

I am enjoying making lots of salad dressings, but I have a question, if anyone can answer it.

I don't like mustard, so what else can I put in dressing to 'emulsify' things? I'm just doing oil / vinegar / seasoning at present, and I'm getting some lovely flavours, but the consistency is not right. Would a pinch of cornflour work to bring everything together?

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #384 on: April 10, 2015, 06:01:25 AM »
I am enjoying making lots of salad dressings, but I have a question, if anyone can answer it.

I don't like mustard, so what else can I put in dressing to 'emulsify' things? I'm just doing oil / vinegar / seasoning at present, and I'm getting some lovely flavours, but the consistency is not right. Would a pinch of cornflour work to bring everything together?

Egg yolk can work, but consistency is generally a question of more/better whisking.  Perhaps a bit of buttermilk? 

GardenFun

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #385 on: April 10, 2015, 07:43:24 AM »
I am enjoying making lots of salad dressings, but I have a question, if anyone can answer it.

I don't like mustard, so what else can I put in dressing to 'emulsify' things? I'm just doing oil / vinegar / seasoning at present, and I'm getting some lovely flavours, but the consistency is not right. Would a pinch of cornflour work to bring everything together?

Egg yolk can work, but consistency is generally a question of more/better whisking.  Perhaps a bit of buttermilk?

Also try adjusting your ratio of oil and vinegar.  3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar makes a thicker dressing.  How do you mix it?  I've had great luck with the jar shaking method. 

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #386 on: April 10, 2015, 08:53:21 PM »
I am enjoying making lots of salad dressings, but I have a question, if anyone can answer it.

I don't like mustard, so what else can I put in dressing to 'emulsify' things? I'm just doing oil / vinegar / seasoning at present, and I'm getting some lovely flavours, but the consistency is not right. Would a pinch of cornflour work to bring everything together?

Egg yolk can work, but consistency is generally a question of more/better whisking.  Perhaps a bit of buttermilk?

Also try adjusting your ratio of oil and vinegar.  3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar makes a thicker dressing.  How do you mix it?  I've had great luck with the jar shaking method.

Corn starch won't act as a binder unless you heat it.

How do you feel about mayo? If you don't want to use straight raw egg yolk, the egg yolk in mayo is a great emulsifier. A tbsp in most dressings will hold everything together. Adds a creaminess to the mix, which can be ok - depends on the dressing I guess. I think people use chia and flax for this stuff too, but I think chia seeds have a texture like gritty boogers.

theadvicist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #387 on: April 14, 2015, 01:41:32 AM »
Thanks for the dressing suggestions everyone! I mix it in a Chefn bottle with whisk kind of built in if you know what I mean, but if that's not available I use a jar. Generally use a 2:1 ratio (just because it's marked on the bottle!) so will try upping the oil.

I'm not a massive fan of mayo - wouldn't put it on a sandwich for example, but I'm fine with it as an ingredient or in small amounts. I'm guessing it would make the dressing spoil more quickly though? I will certainly give it a try in a small batch and see how I like it, thank you.

I'm also going to expand my personal kitchen challenge a little and add in kitchen consumables that I want to use up and not replace. Already finished - those ice cube bags where you fill them with water and then freeze them, and allegedly they then break up into perfect ice cubes in a bag, but actually, in my experience you just end up with ice welded to the side of a plastic bag in ridiculous shapes. All gone. Next up, paper sandwich bags which I thought would be better for the environment than plastic but which don't work because they allow snacks to get soggy, and bread to dry out. Nice idea, but will not be replacing.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #388 on: April 14, 2015, 12:20:28 PM »
My favorite homemade salad dressing lately is a blend of mayo and sour cream with a squirt of lemon juice, dashes of onion and garlic powder (and whatever else I'm in the mood for) and a bit of sweetener (I use Splenda, but the recipe calls for sugar).

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It is Freezer Fixin's week!

Yesterday:  Leftover blue cheese burger patty for lunch.  Leftover elk meatballs and African peanut soup for supper.

Today:  More leftover elk meatballs for lunch.  Tonight (DH is out of town) I'll eat leftover chicken gumbo and rest of the soup.

Also found in the freezer were two homemade burritos which went into DH's lunch yesterday.  We have a bunch of homemade chicken broth, so I'll make soup next week.

So glad I started using freezer tape last year to label everything.  It takes the guess work out, LOL!

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #389 on: April 14, 2015, 10:14:42 PM »
Yay! 

I logged in after a long long time precisely because my recent attempts to throw out less food got me started thinking about the folks around here.  I knew that there would be some kind of grocery/cooking challenge going on, but it's especially nice to see another "Eat All the Food in Your House" thread.  Gotta go look for the "Fire Drill Thread" too.

Anyway, on topic ...

Last night I cooked two batches of rice and veg to make single serve freezer meals - I made sure I used up ends and bits of veg like the last few pieces of limp celery, part of a head of cabbage that's been in the fridge for a bit, and peeled and finely chopped broccoli stalks.  And one pot used some tofu that has been in my freezer for a long time - but defrosted it and checked it out and it seemed ok, so in it went!

Also made 3 small quiches, using the tops of aforementioned broccoli, an onion (I almost never finish up a bag before they sprout) and all but 1 egg that I had in the fridge.  I saved the egg, because I also have a chocolate cake mix and some defrosted-from-the-freezer pumpkin puree, which together with the egg will make lovely muffins.  The cake mix came from my mom's place, when I helped her clean out her cupboards recently.  (As if I don't have enough stuff in my own cupboards to use up!)

Sadly, I did find bags of both couscous and quinoa in my cupboard that had been there so long that they'd gone off, based on the smell.  You'd think I'd never participated in a gauntlet challenge before ... crazy!

Worsted Skeins

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #390 on: April 17, 2015, 04:59:51 AM »
PJ!  How nice to see you here! I hope all goes well for you.

My goal of cleaning out the freezer before the new produce comes in has not quite gone to plan, but progress is being made.  I stopped at the farmer's market on Wednesday where I bought lettuce, arugula, some hydroponic tomatoes.  Nonetheless I put a small dent in the freezer stash.

One day I made a "Mexican" hash from a yukon gold potato, a sweet potato, onion, plus peppers, corn and chicken from the freezer.  I used up an open jar of salsa from the fridge that was of questionable age.

I still have a few sweet potatoes left from the bushel that I bought in the fall. I store them in the garage.  Because they are not washed, they keep amazingly well. But I need to use these up too before it gets too hot.

I also need to make some cookies or something with the peach jam I put up last summer.

dorothyc

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #391 on: April 17, 2015, 09:29:16 AM »

I also need to make some cookies or something with the peach jam I put up last summer.

How about jam tarts? You could use a mini muffin pan for the mold if you don't have tart pans.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/rainbow-jam-tarts/

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #392 on: April 17, 2015, 09:47:42 AM »
Discovered that most of my bag 10 kg of potatoes (bought 4 or so days ago) were green. Not going to work for my plan of (ironically) "green" potatoes. |

Have spent the morning making a ginormous batch of potato pancakes and some freezer packs of shredded par-boiled potatoes for hashbrowns. Reused the freezer bags too.

Fell good about not letting them to to waste...I sure didn't feel like dealing with them today as I already have a full day of cooking planned. However, crispy potato pancakes with some blistered cherry tomatoes and a poached duck egg for breakfast made it all worth it :)

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #393 on: April 17, 2015, 11:04:01 AM »
PJ!  How nice to see you here! I hope all goes well for you.

Thanks!  It's nice to be seen!  I'm experiencing my semi-annual or annual urge to get myself, my house, and my finances in order, so rather than just peeking at the blog and forums every couple of months without signing in, I thought I'd better get some stuff done.  And accountability always helps!

However, crispy potato pancakes with some blistered cherry tomatoes and a poached duck egg for breakfast made it all worth it :) 

swick, that does sound good!  For me, breakfast was a piece of chocolate cake.  :-) 

I used the chocolate cake mix I brought home from mom's, a little more than a cup of fairly liquid pumpkin puree from the freezer, one egg, a "glug" of oil (technical term!).  The original instructions call for water, 2/3 cup of oil, and 3 eggs.  My way is much healthier, albeit still resulting in chocolate cake!  I understand you can use any cake mix with just 1 can of pumpkin puree, to make mini muffins that are only 1 WW point.  I got the idea for this from my sister, who used to do WW.

Oh, and I added a handful of really lovely dried cranberries.  So good!  Rich and moist, with little jewels of cranberry periodically.  I don't much like orange veggies, so this is one way I can get myself to happily eat pumpkin!

Also, last night I identified something else to use - a single serve packet of strawberry lemonade (part of a gift basket who knows how long ago!)  Having no nutritional value, I could have just thrown this out.  I don't drink a lot of juice type drinks, and don't love strawberries or lemonade.  But I decided to try to think of a way to use it ... and I did.  I've been buying plain yoghurt to add to my dog's food, but am not acclimatized to the taste yet myself.  So I added some of the drink powder to a bowl of yoghurt, let it sit for a bit, and it was lovely.  Mild taste and more lightly sweetened than buying it already flavoured.  Makes me wonder just how much sugar there is, in my usual vanilla yoghurt?!?!

Next on the "use up" hit list - a little jar of some kind of spread that I brought back from a trip a while ago - need to determine if it's still good, and if so, how to use it!

Helpful tip:  I'm finding I'm more likely to use the things I need to use up if I take them 1 at a time out of their normal spot in the cupboards, and place them all by themselves in a highly visible place.  As in: 

"Oh yeah!  I need to open that package of quinoa and see if it's still good!"

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #394 on: April 17, 2015, 11:08:48 AM »
I am enjoying making lots of salad dressings, but I have a question, if anyone can answer it.

I don't like mustard, so what else can I put in dressing to 'emulsify' things? I'm just doing oil / vinegar / seasoning at present, and I'm getting some lovely flavours, but the consistency is not right. Would a pinch of cornflour work to bring everything together? 

Sorry for the second, separate post - I had to go back a page to look for this quote ...

So, I don't make my own salad dressing, but I once heard that adding in small amount of milk helps hold together the oil and vinegar (a teaspoon or so - depending on the quantity of dressing?)

I haven't tested it, but it might be worth a try.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #395 on: April 17, 2015, 12:02:03 PM »
I love your posts, PJ :) Always thrilled when you find your way back to posting!

Your cake sounds awesome!

Oh, to figure out how sugar is in your vanilla yougurt, 4 g = a teaspoon. So for example one of those tiny little 113 cups of Activia vanilla yogurt have 4 tsp of sugar. But of course, we mustachains never buy little tubs of yogurt. So you have to figure out your typical serving size and maths it out. Hubby use to get Astro vanilla and it has 13 g per 1/2 cup. He figures he probably has 1 1/2 cup serving for breakfast so that is almost 10 tsp JUST from his yogurt. We actually measured it out into a bowl, he as shocked. Regular yougurt with a splash of vanilla extract and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey is a good substitute - and regular yougurt is often on sale.

I'm going to bake a bag of sweet potatoes today - not sure how I will use them yet. We were going to make some dog treats - I totally forgot I burned out the motor on my dehydrator :( Sweet potatoes, if you can find em on sale make AWESOME cheap dog treats!

I have some buttermilk I need to use up today as well. Thinking about making some pancakes that  can just freeze and Hubby can pop in the toaster oven for breakfasts.

I also have a couple of bananas I have left get all soft and squishy, muffins or cookies or something tasty is on the menu :)

dorothyc

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #396 on: April 17, 2015, 01:15:56 PM »
Regular yougurt with a splash of vanilla extract and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey is a good substitute - and regular yougurt is often on sale.

I buy the large tubs of plain yogurt, too, and I actually prefer to eat yogurt Indian or Middle Eastern style - with some shredded cucumber or carrot, salt, pepper, cumin, maybe a sprinkle of sumac.

I also have a couple of bananas I have left get all soft and squishy, muffins or cookies or something tasty is on the menu :)

Overripe bananas can be peeled and broken into chunks and frozen in a bag for later use in muffins or smoothies, no need to thaw.

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #397 on: April 17, 2015, 01:28:32 PM »
Regular yougurt with a splash of vanilla extract and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey is a good substitute - and regular yougurt is often on sale.

I buy the large tubs of plain yogurt, too, and I actually prefer to eat yogurt Indian or Middle Eastern style - with some shredded cucumber or carrot, salt, pepper, cumin, maybe a sprinkle of sumac.

I also have a couple of bananas I have left get all soft and squishy, muffins or cookies or something tasty is on the menu :)

Overripe bananas can be peeled and broken into chunks and frozen in a bag for later use in muffins or smoothies, no need to thaw.

Great suggestions:) I too prefer the Indian/Middle Eastern way of using yougurt - Developed a taste for it that way when I lived in Turkey. One thing I have noticed though is plain yougurt over here is more...well tangy? and usually watery...it isn't quite as appealing.

I purposely let a couple of bananas get mushy it is a great excuse to bake :)

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #398 on: April 17, 2015, 02:51:03 PM »
DorothyC--thanks for the jam tart link.  My go-to jam cookie recipe is from Quaker Oats, an oatmeal bar with jam filling.  Quite delish.

Swick--you are brilliant!  It has never occurred to me to freeze potatoes for hash browns.  This seems wise on two levels i.e. to prep something that might go bad but also to have something on hand that is partially prepared.  May I ask about technique both for freezing and for cooking?

swick

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #399 on: April 17, 2015, 03:45:50 PM »
DorothyC--thanks for the jam tart link.  My go-to jam cookie recipe is from Quaker Oats, an oatmeal bar with jam filling.  Quite delish.

Swick--you are brilliant!  It has never occurred to me to freeze potatoes for hash browns.  This seems wise on two levels i.e. to prep something that might go bad but also to have something on hand that is partially prepared.  May I ask about technique both for freezing and for cooking?

Thanks Worsted Skiens :) Umm to be honest, I totally winged it, so you might want to look on the internets for proper instructions. I just shredded the potatoes with my food processor attachments (along with an onion cuz I had it to use up) and rinsed in some cold water then par-boiled in a pot of boiling salted water till they were about 1/2 way cooked and blanched them in cold water. Wrung them out really well (Squeezed in a clean cotton dish towel) and vacuum sealed.

 I have never done it before, but if it works, I think it will be a major win. Seems like I'm always struggling to use up potatoes that go faster then I expect and I'm usually tempted (but never succumb) to those horribly expensive freezer hash browns.

 

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