Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2

[okisok]

Dinner tonight was the last of the open package of rice, some stir fry sauce I found in the cabinet hiding behind the olive oil, and the veggie scrap bag. I put the frozen veggies in the air fryer and made the rice on the stove top. Dumped it all together with the sauce and it was good! I have enough leftovers for one more meal and one more plain serving of rice.

I planned my freezer meal menu for tomorrow. Breakfast smoothie with the last of the freezer fruit, failed rice pudding and greek yogurt that got frozen and thawed out runny.
Lunch is bean burritos I made in a big batch last month with a side of bell pepper and broccoli florets with Caesar dressing/dip.
Dinner is broccoli alfredo pizza with the last of the alfredo pasta sauce and the little bits of broccoli from the freezer bag that were too small for the air fryer.

I'm trying to get more veggies in my diet and this challenge is helping.

[Dutch Comfort]

Yesterday I made pancakes for dinner, finishing the last milk, bacon and eggs.
Tonight I will make a meal with chicken, the last (baked or fried) potatoes, and a salad of bell pepper, cucumber and canned corn (not fancy, but that is all that is left in the fridge!).
We're leaving tomorrow, so I'm happy with the fridge status (close to empty!). The freezer is OK-ish, not completely empty, but enough space to have a clear sight of what is left. We will take a few frozen things with us to serve as meals for the first 2 days (and serve as cooling packs on the way). Pantry is getting better. Now I have to be careful of what to bring back from holiday. I usually bring back some good olive oils and sausages from France, but since we're in the Bordeaux region, we might as well bring some wine.......

Back in 3 weeks!!!!!!!

[MountainGal]

@okisok, that stir fry sounds delicious.  And congratulations on increasing your veggie consumption.  It's also one of my goals, and I actually keep track in my nutrition journal.

Have a blast, @Dutch Comfort!

Last night I baked the pizza in the Traeger, and it included the last Cauliflower pizza crust (I love those things) topped with a ranch drizzle, a tiny bit of garlic salt, the rest of the shredded and mini ball mozzarella, half of a zucchini cut into half-moons, and the remaining baby spinach and pepperoni.  It was SO good!  It smelled fantastic and the crust was crispy.  I forgot to add the cherry tomatoes, so I set them aside to bring to the office with me today and of course I forgot to bring them.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Have a fabulous time, @Dutch Comfort !

@MountainGal - that pizza sounds amazing.

-Finished the absolutely fabulous one dish coconut curry rice skillet I made earlier in the week. It was no hardship to have it as lunch leftovers, and next time, I'll double the recipe.
-Working through the baked oatmeal
-Making smoothies for the kids, using my oat milk (I add it to my coffee in the am), frozen bananas, & fruit from the freezer. I always like making my way through the frozen bananas, because they tend to linger in the freezer.
-Husband grilled some chicken sausages we bought at Costco. They were "okay". We won't buy them again. It was a reasonably large package, so I'll be having them on my salad for quite some time!
-Continued using lots & lots of garden ingredients (tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, lemons, strawberries, etc)

[Dicey]

Posting this here because I had all the stretching ingredients on hand...

Bought a "Chub" pack of ground beef at Costco to batch cook for tacos. I had some TVP in the back of the pantry, but it smelled kind of weird. I turned to Sir Google for ideas besides TVP or oatmeal and came up with this:

1/2 cooked rice
2 large, raw carrots
1 c. cooked or canned black beans

Pulverize in food processor.
Using a mixer, combine thoroughly with 1 lb. ground beef.
Cook the mixture per usual.

Since I had way more than one pound of beef (and I'm a mustachian), of course I deviated from the recipe. I used one can of rinsed beans, about 5 old-ish, not-fat carrots, and however much cooked brown rice was languishing in the refrigerator, maybe about a cup. I used about 40% of the chub of beef, probably 2-3 pounds. I cooked the rest of the beef separately and gave both pots the usual taco seasonings.

It turned out surprisingly well. I served it to DH to good reviews that night. I portioned out both pots and froze the results. Next day, I defrosted the meat mixture to make burritos. The texture and appearance were really good (thanks to using the mixer) and DH said it tasted great.

The only thing I'd change is the order of ingredients. I pulverized the carrots, then the beans, then the rice. Some of the rice was still recognizable. Next time, I'll do carrots, then rice, then beans.

It should be noted that I'm a vegetarian, but I cook meat for my humans. Batch cooking means I only handle it once. On taco, burrito, etc. nights, they just heat it up from frozen. This also means I didn't actually taste this, but the reports from the field were very positive.

[Catbert]

Earlier in the week I made pasta with a home grown roasted tomato sauce.  I cooked a pound of italian sausage mixed with garden zucchini to add on top of the pasta.  (This time of year many dishes get zucchini randomly added).  Since there's only two of us, we finished the pasta but had most of the sausage zucchini mixture leftover. 

Yesterday we had homemade pizza with another batch of homegrown roasted tomato sauce, zucchini (of course), red onion from the back of the frig, more leftover sausage/zucchini mixture and the last of a Costo bag of mozzarella.

Tonight I'm making pinto beans with the last of the sausage mixture, my last two jars of tomatoes canned last year, peppers from the garden, partial can of chipotle peppers that have been languishing in the frig forever and whatever else I find that goes with beans.  I've promised my DH that I won't add more zucchini to the beans other than the part which is already with the sausage. 

After that I'm not cooking anything until either all the leftovers are finished or we go on our trip in 8 days.

[Catbert]

^^^I made the beans too spicy hot for DH.  I guess I was excited about using up the chipotle peppers that I forgot how hot they are.  So I spooned out as much of the "juice" from the bean concoction as I could and then added another jar of tomatoes.  That toned down the heat of the beans. Now I have about 2 cups of a spicy, vaguely tomato-y bean juice to figure out how to use.  If all else fails, I'll toss in the freezer as an addition to soups in the winter.

[Dollar Slice]

I've promised my DH that I won't add more zucchini to the beans

^^^I made the beans too spicy hot for DH.

It's his own fault, if you bulked it up with 50% zucchini like nature intended all food to be this time of year, it would have been a lot milder ;-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Made grilled zucchini last night for dinner, and it was amazing. This will be our go to recipe, when we need to use up garden bounty.
-Continuing to eat through the baked oatmeal, and topping it with jam, to get through that as well.
-Lots & lots of garden items being used, as always! (Lemons, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Ate a cheeseburger that had been lingering in the freezer for quite some time. Topped with a garden tomato, to add some extra flavor
-Served a dinner of various leftovers with some chicken samosas (freezer). I find that having a nice side helps the leftovers become a little less boring
-16 y.o. is making his way through a box of Lucky Charms cereal. No idea where it came from, as I rarely buy packaged cereal, and if I did, it wouldn't be Lucky Charms
-I have some sort of upper respiratory thing (not COVID), & have been enjoying a box of tea I found at the back of the cupboard. Summer isn't normally tea time, but I'm enjoying it right now.
-15 y.o. is at residential tennis camp, on a college campus. He's a pretty picky eater, and was nervous about the food options. He's been reporting that the food is excellent, and he's having a fantastic time. Not my food, but yay just the same! Maybe he will also broaden his horizons a bit.

[okisok]

Finished off the bag of white rice, now on to the quinoa! 

Making a big dent in the rice pudding balls of shame. I put a few in every morning smoothie and I'm down to about 6 more servings, if that tells you how much dry rice pudding I made.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Used garden strawberries, an overripe banana, and the last of some oat milk in a smoothie
-Had my husband pick up Chinese yesterday (not the point of this thread, I realize), because I'm sick, &  we had a gift card. Eating through the leftovers, to ensure nothing gets wasted.
-Used the extra lettuce (lettuce wraps, but no more of the meat/veg mix) to add to our salad
-Organized our pantry, so I can see what we need to use up

[okisok]

Finished off the twice baked potatoes that I'd frozen for dinner tonight. Oven is still not repaired so I cooked them in the air fryer. One more container out of the freezer.

[Ysera]

More veggie fritters this week. I had/still have eggs on the edge of expiration to use up, plus leftover veggies from other meals. They were okay. When I make more, I will probably add a little fish sauce to the mix for more flavor.

Froze some half and half into cubes, which was also on the edge. That should be fairly easy to use up in coffee/ smoothies/cooking.

Resisted the urge for McD's fries when I was running errands and forgot to bring a snack. Made my own at home with my air fryer.

Added the last of a baggie of "meh" quality chocolate chips to a carton of ice cream. Much better as an additive than a standalone.

I'm now working on my last baggie of dried dates, which I take with my work lunches.

I have been using plain Greek yogurt to plump up the salad dressings on my dinner salads. It's actually way past it's expiration date, but still fine.

Also used up some corn tortillas that were long expired but still good and tasty.

Prepped some soft older apples to make into German fried apples, but I ran out of time before work.

Froze some Mi-Del gluten free pie crusts that were close to expiration. Those have become hard to find in my town for some reason. They will get used up in the fall.

I feel like every time I eat something up from the freezer, I end up replacing the open space with even more stuff lately. It has also been more difficult using things up with hubby out of town. I keep forgetting and buying for two. It also doesn't help that I often get cheaper groceries at Grocery Outlet, so things can already be close to expiration from there. I think I just need to be a little more mindful when buying. Maybe I should also do a 2-week grocery no-buy and get really creative to make some better progress. :)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Ate leftover burgers for dinner
-Used garden peppers for kebabs
-Tonight's dinner will use up a batch of tomato sauce I made a few weeks ago (freezer). I'll add meatballs (freezer) & this will also use up some lingering pasta & soy noodles.
-Continuing to use up garden produce in salads & other meals
-Kids are making their way through random boxes of cereal

[MountainGal]

Lots of excellent ideas here, everyone!  @Night Elf, what a great idea regarding the chocolate chips!

We returned from our week in Hawaii.  I took Monday off to adjust to the time zone and that evening made a box of food for a neighboring family who lost a loved one during our absence.  I utilized two pounds of locally sourced ground beef and made it into meat sauce for lasagna and spaghetti sauce.  The sauce used the frozen red sauce and tomato paste from the freezer and half the pantry angel hair and lasagna noodles.  Into the box also went a small container of shredded parm for the entrees, a half dozen deviled eggs, a chocolate treat from HI and two lunch kits containing lunch meat, sliced cheese, blueberries, olives, cherry tomatoes, club crackers and mayo packets.

I hadn't planned for meals for when we arrived home but think I did fairly well without having to go to the store.  Saturday's supper utilized the remaining frozen breaded shrimp and half a bag of frozen vegetables.  Monday, we had what I call dump chicken, which used a large chicken breast from the freezer.  DH did a mini store run Sunday, and I picked up our usual monthly stock up yesterday evening.  I made Caesar dressing from scratch for last night's salads, because of the continued focus on reducing fridge door items and I don't want to buy bottled dressing for quite some time.

Tonight, the hollandaise envelope mix will be poured on top of grilled salmon and portobellos.

I'm going to ask DH to remind me of the oldest proteins are in our deep freezer to start incorporating them into suppers.  I'm also going to suggest he bake one of the pizza kits we bought through a neighbor kiddo's fundraisers during my absence later this week.  I love regular pizza crust, but it doesn't like me.  ;-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Hope Hawaii was fabulous, @MountainGal ! One of my favorite places.

-Defrosted a lunch sized chicken curry for today. I forget about these easy lunch options, but was desperate today. Glad I found it.
-Similarly, defrosted taco meat for dinner tonight, which will use up taco meat from the freezer + shells + cheese we want to use up. And, garden tomatoes, of which we have so many!
-Made a large caprese salad for dinner last night, using up lots of tomatoes. Of course, my 16 y.o. got to it before it even made it to the dinner table.

[MountainGal]

~DH ended up baking one of the pizza kits and had some for supper and had leftovers for a day or two.
~Conducted the inventory and incorporated the remaining cuts of pork into meals for the next several weeks.
~Baking keto bagels and English muffin bread utilized many baking ingredients.
~Going to assemble a homemade brownie mix which will utilize even more baking ingredients.
~Condiments continue to remain on the radar.  Creamy horseradish has been blended with sour cream to make a crema for both last night's taco Tuesday and the next two weeks.
~Romaine has been used in salads, as taco shells for me last night, and will be utilized in wraps this weekend.
~A brisket was slow cooked yesterday and used in tacos last night, and the rest wrapped up in tortillas with enchilada sauce frozen for a future supper.
~Tonight's stir fry will finish a bag of shrimp and the leftover frozen bag of stir fry veggies.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Have been dicing up garden tomatoes, adding salt & putting them on the table as a side dish. Everyone is a fan, and nothing is easier.
-Used up some really old carrots in a curry dish
-Used the last of sour cream with fajitas
-Ate leftovers 3x this week, more out of desperation due to a crazy week than any particular well thought out plan, but I'll still take it

[fuzzy math]

was gone the first 2 weeks of July then spent too much time restocking the house! I suppose now I just have more foods to brag about eating later. Only things of note I've eaten:

Some gluten free buns I brought home on the plane with me from vacation - one left (I'm rationing it in the fridge)
The last Oikos triple zero yogurt. These are nowhere as yummy as chobani. would not buy again
Surprisingly came home to a bell pepper and some green onion that hadn't rotted. used it all up

[Dutch Comfort]

Back from holiday and it was just great. Now my fridge and pantry is stuffed again due to restocking and stuff we brought back (mainly French sausages and snacks). I was good in food planning while camping, so not a lot came back. The teens will be at home for the next 3 weeks, so loads of opportunities to get them to eat leftovers and other fridge/pantry stuff/snacks.
Yesterday's grocery run was well planned and I should be OK for the next few days, after which I only need to go and get fresh produce. Because of the heat, I cannot keep the produce fresh for more than 2-3 days, so a small fresh produce run in between grocery runs is my way to go.

Plan is for the teens to take turns in cooking, since DH and I will be working and they are still at home without major plans. So we decided that they should plan 1 dinner each week. So far teen #1 will make an Italian lasagna tomorrow and teen #2 will make a chicken roast with veggies on Friday. In the 3 weeks they should each cook 2 healthy meals and they can do 1 less healthy meals (pancakes for dinner, burgers & fries or something like that).

[MountainGal]

@MaybeBabyMustache, those tomatoes sound refreshing!

@Dutch Comfort and @fuzzy math, welcome home.  @fuzzy math, our produce is also overripening quicker than usual because of the heat.  Especially the cherry tomatoes.

Speaking of tomatoes, yesterday DH pulled the first of his harvest from the garden.  A small, lonesome cherry tomato, that I just know will be packed full of flavor!

We went camping for three nights and I utilized the same concept during that time:
~Friday morning, I cooked up a pound of country sausage and served half of it that morning, and saved half for Sunday's brunch.
~The last of the local pork chops were grilled up Friday night.  DH is looking into restocking options.
~I made what I call snack plates, aka informal charcuterie, Friday and Saturday nights.  Unbeknownst to our fellow campers, doing so used up the rest of our salami, beef stick, cheddar, cherries, and other random nibbles.

[Ysera]

- The last of my frozen mango, more Greek yogurt, and eggs were used up in a mango cake recipe.
- The last of the Greek yogurt, an older onion, an older Poblano pepper, frozen ground turkey, and the last of a salsa container were used in a casserole. The leftovers are my work dinners.
- Dodged fast food on the way home from errands, ate salad leftovers before work instead.
- Used iced half and half cubes in my coffee yesterday.
- Stir fried some underwhelming cabbage salad mixes and added leftover diced ham from the freezer. Also cooked and then stir fried rice noodles one night and cellophane noodles another night. I would have added eggs, too, but they were all used in the mango cake.
- Finished all of my dried date snack baggies.
- Cooked a freezer burned fish filet, then flaked and refroze it on a cookie tray, then stored it for easy access. I pull bits out and thaw them to top my dog's food, and she loves them.

I'm happy I finally have some space in my freezer again! I went two weeks without buying groceries. I still have more to work on in there. I may do some sort of potato soup to use up the bigger half and half cubes. I also have lots of frozen pineapple. I'm thinking pineapple cake or Dole Whips. Probably the latter, since it has been hot out.

[MountainGal]

Refrigerated fresh produce was down to half a cucumber, so I stopped by the store this morning to restock.  I also bought eggs and tub butter and managed to somehow Tetris it all into the office mini fridge, LOL.  In order to make room, I finished the container of blueberries and sliced cheese.

-Made homemade pizza sauce which used up a can each of tomato sauce and paste.  It made enough sauce for two pizzas.
-Mixed the leftover homemade dip from camping with creamy horseradish for a tasty sauce for last night's fried cod (I make a pork rind and parmesan breading).
-Monday I stir fried the remaining quickly declining cherry tomatoes with asparagus.
-Counter produce includes three overripe bananas, which I'll turn into air fryer baked banana bread this evening.
-Monday's slow cooked pork ribs used up a bottle of BBQ sauce and a partial box of chicken broth.
-I used the remaining romaine leaves as lunch wraps.
-Ate the rest (boo) of the chocolate covered macadamia nuts bought in HI.
-Supper tonight will be teriyaki chicken.  Currently in the slow cooker are the remaining chicken breasts, the last bit of light soy sauce, and more of the aforementioned chicken broth.
-Gave a neighbor another baggie full of produce scraps for her feathered family members.

[Dutch Comfort]

Found an unlabeled, unclear mysterious package of meat in our freezer yesterday morning. Defrosted it and it turned out to be diced chicken. Made a nice stir-fry noodle dish out of it yesterday evening with some spring rolls on the side.

Teens are a major help with leftovers, so none in the fridge at the moment! We're eating through the freezer stash of bread during breakfast and lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches / bread pizza for the win!) to make sure it is gone as soon as school restarts.

[oneday]

Hi everybody! Is this a good place to ask for recipes for the random things in my pantry that need to be used up? Or is the thread only for the listing of vanquished vittles?

[Dollar Slice]

Hi everybody! Is this a good place to ask for recipes for the random things in my pantry that need to be used up? Or is the thread only for the listing of vanquished vittles?

You can definitely ask for ideas, people in this thread are good at cooking and improvising and using stuff up :-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Got home from vacation yesterday, and briefly pondered takeout. Instead, dug around in the freezer & found a couple of Trader Joes frozen options (stir fried veggie rice + orange chicken). Made those, while my husband made a quick trip to Costco. Rounded it out with salad (Costco ingredients). I made a menu on the flight, so I think we should be all set for the week.
-Still have a seemingly unending supply of tomatoes. Need to come up with some recipes that will use up a lot at once. Maybe another triple batch of pico de gallo.

[oneday]

Hi everybody! Is this a good place to ask for recipes for the random things in my pantry that need to be used up? Or is the thread only for the listing of vanquished vittles?

You can definitely ask for ideas, people in this thread are good at cooking and improvising and using stuff up :-)

Thanks! Don't want to step on any toes. I only read the current page, which is an impressive list of people's creativity & accomplishments in using up food! (but not advice)

[Roadrunner53]

I have several containers of egg white I bought for a sick dog who passed away recently. I would like to use them up but not a fan of them. Any easy ideas on using them up? I supposed I could add it to some whole eggs and scramble but would like to see if anyone has any ideas. I was adding cooked up egg white to my furry boy's diet, and he seemed to like it.

[Dollar Slice]

I have several containers of egg white I bought for a sick dog who passed away recently. I would like to use them up but not a fan of them. Any easy ideas on using them up? I supposed I could add it to some whole eggs and scramble but would like to see if anyone has any ideas. I was adding cooked up egg white to my furry boy's diet, and he seemed to like it.

There are a jillion kinds of dessert that use egg whites, if you don't like to eat them cooked up as regular eggs. Angel food cake, meringues, souffles, macaroons, pavlova, mousse, marshmallows, etc. etc. Some of them can be challenging if you're not much of a baker, though, as they tend to require whipping the egg whites and folding them in carefully.

If you prefer savory I would try something like a frittata where you can add meat, cheese & veg to give it more flavor since egg whites are pretty bland and lean.

Off the wall: I've seen recipes for granola that used egg white for crunch (but you would need to make a ton of granola to go through many egg whites) and there are some shaken cocktails that use egg white for froth (likewise, you'd need to drink a lot of cocktails!).

[Roadrunner53]

Thanks Dollar Slice! I am more of a savory person. I will look up a frittata recipe.

I was wondering how it might be in an egg drop soup. I think egg drop soup uses whole egg.

I might try an omelet with meat, cheese and veggies.

[Roadrunner53]

Dollar Slice, found this recipe and looks good!

https://tastefullygrace.com/vegetable-egg-white-frittata/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGzLEO4gbhA

Need to buy some ingredients to make it! LOL!

[oneday]

Hello again! The pantry is inventoried link, and there is a plan for some of it. However, help with many of the baking ingredients and also the oatmeal would be appreciated.

For the rolled oats, I don't want to eat oatmeal/porridge for breakfast, although I will probably have some. But there's a lot. For example, I've heard it can go in meatloaf. I've never made meatloaf, so how easy is that and what do people think of this idea? Like, do you personally like oatmeal in meatloaf and why or why not? For those who like it, do you have a go-to recipe? And do you think I could sub in the meatless ground "beef"? Any other ideas to use the rolled oats?

A bunch of baking ingredients came from someone who moved cross country recently. Some are quite old, for example the unsweetened baking chocolate bars and the beet sweetener don't exist on the internet. So they are discontinued. If there's a concern about food safety on these things, let me know.

What sorts of things can be made with unsweetened cocoa, unsweetened baking chocolate bars, peppermint extract and lemon extract (not all together of course)? Brownies, I guess? Anything else? Just looking for a category/search term, but would love a recipe if you have one handy.


I am a beginner cook. Willing to learn, but tricky things are still intimidating. Current skills are:
basic dessert baking (cookies, pies)
simmer
boil
sautee
roast

Thanks all!

[Dollar Slice]

What sorts of things can be made with unsweetened cocoa, unsweetened baking chocolate bars, peppermint extract and lemon extract (not all together of course)?

There's definitely chocolate-oat desserts, and definitely peppermint-chocolate desserts, and definitely lemon-oat desserts, but I haven't been able to come up with one Dessert To Rule Them All that will knock out all of your ingredients in one go ;-) I have to admit I've never used peppermint or lemon extract in a recipe, so I'm going to hope someone else has ideas for those.

Unsweetened cocoa is used in tons of chocolate cake/brownie type recipes (I don't have a preferred recipe handy, I'm sure someone will - I don't tend to bake cakes, since I live alone). You could also use cocoa as a coating for chocolate truffles; or to make old-fashioned hot cocoa (hard to imagine as we're all sweating it out in August).

Unsweetened chocolate, likewise, is used in quite a few cake and brownie recipes (where you melt it into the batter - do not use it in chunks/chips where it would be incredibly bitter). You might also be able to find some sweet-and-creamy type desserts that use it - like mousse or pots de creme. You can probably sub it in for melted dark chocolate if you add some extra sugar to taste, depending on the recipe (if it's a very fussy recipe I wouldn't chance it, but something like brownies is probably fine).

Rolled oats - you can use up a ton if you bake oatmeal cookies. I've seen, but haven't tried, recipes for oatmeal walnut bread - that sounds pretty tasty to me and would use up lots of oats, also, if you didn't want to do more sweets.

[Dutch Comfort]

Oatmeal banana breakfast (baked, good for freezing, so I usually make 1 batch which is good for 5 breakfast servings):

3 bananas (ripe/brown)
180 grams oatmeal
75 ml honey
3 eggs
300 ml milk (can also use almond milk/soy milk/oat milk)
3 handful of raisins
3 handful of nuts (chopped)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Mix banana, honey, eggs and milk
Mix oatmeal, raisins, nuts, cinnamon, baking powder and salt

Add 2 mixtures together
Put in buttered brownie tin
30 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius in the oven

Let it cool, divide in around 10 pieces and have 2 for each breakfast serving
(sorry, all in grams/Celcius...... I'm in Europe!)

[Roadrunner53]

I have made this recipe or a version of it and enjoyed it very much. To this, you could also add a sunny side up egg. You could also add cooked meat of your choice.


SAVORY OATMEAL with SCALLIONS & SOY SAUCE
Hands-on time: 2 minutes
Time to table: 5 minutes
Serves 1

Uncooked oats, for more fiber, preferably old-fashioned oats
2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Cook oatmeal in your favorite way. (See microwave oatmeal, stovetop oatmeal, oven oatmeal or slow cooker oatmeal.) Stir in most of the green onion and the soy sauce. Garnish with remaining green onion. Enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving, presumes 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats: 88Cal; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 601mg Sodium; 16g Carb; 3g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 4g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

https://beetrootrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/savory-oatmeal-with-scallions-soy-sauce.html

[savedough]

It's been a long while since I visited the forum and this thread in particular, but we are soon embarking upon a non-Mustachian kitchen remodel because I have been putting up with sub-par cooking conditions for far too long.  I need to use up everything in my freezer before the demolition, so the goal for the next 48 hours is to at least inventory it and then make a plan for what can be realistically used without making something that will go back in the freezer.   (I think I've been stashing a lot of dairy-free desserts in there, so my dairy-free kiddo is going to be thrilled that they need to get eaten.)

I'll check back in on Wed for accountability and perhaps a call for help!

[MountainGal]

@Dutch Comfort, excellent job on the mystery package!

@MaybeBabyMustache, welcome back from vacation.

@oneday, welcome!  I've been doing the same thing with older baking ingredients leftover from holiday baking last December.  Last weekend I made brownies which utilized unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate chips.  This Thursday I'll make another batch only these will be brown sugar brownies in order to use some hardening brown sugar and more unsweetened cocoa.  For your oats, look up no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.  They are tasty, and don't require oven use.  At the holiday season, Candy Cane cookies use peppermint extract.

Good to see you, @savedough.  Luck to y'all with that demo.  :)

Recently:
-I finally had time to make keto walnut shrimp which used a half cup of walnuts.  It was a big bag, so we're making progress.
-Made the banana bread.  Baked in the air fryer for just 30 minutes, it was GOOD.
-Made almond bars which used half the remaining sliced almonds and a cup of powdered sugar.  Also baked in the air fryer, they, too, were tasty.
-Tonight, I'll make fried pickles in the air fryer which will finish last week's parmesan and pork rind breading.
-Saturday night I finished the rest of the unshelled chili pistachios
-Tonight's sausage bake will use one of the remaining packages of locally raised country style pork.  Instead of cream, I'll add the rest of a container of coconut milk.  And I'll bulk it up with baby spinach for nutrition purposes.
-Taco Tuesday will include more homemade horseradish crema.
-Wednesday's cauliflower crust pizza will use the remaining half of the frozen homemade pizza sauce.
-I hope to finish the remaining bag of sunflower seeds on upcoming random salads.
-Because the cost of many proteins, instead of buying chicken breasts, I'll start focusing on the canned chicken and tuna we have on hand.

And now I'm hungry.  Time for lunch.

[okisok]

Started in on the meh pantry ingredients. Quinoa, canned chicken, beans, white onions, celery, etc. I used the quinoa, beans and onion in a cold pasta-salad-type-thing with the last of the cherry tomatoes.

Chicken became chicken salad which used up some more onion and some celery.

The rest of the celery got cut into sticks for dipping in the hummus. It's too hot to be making soups and casseroles that would normally use up the celery and onions.

All of these things are good, I just don't get excited about using them up. Then I get really excited when it's time to eat them! :) The chicken salad is almost gone--it was dinner and lunch and there's enough for lunch tomorrow.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Thanks, @MountainGal , and nice progress on your side! You are inspiring me.

Over the last few days:

-Made fresh tomato paella to use up a bunch of garden tomatoes
-Made a double batch of chicken curry, using up the last two cans of coconut milk, a bunch of garden basil, as well as jalapenos. Should have added even more jalapenos - it could have used a bit more of a kick.
-Used six over ripe freezer bananas to make a double batch of muffins
-Had a cup of ramen that my son doesn't prefer (he's really the only ramen eater) for a last minute lunch, along with a muffin
-Diced up all of the cucumbers & served that with hummus for my 15 y.o., who got home from 8 hours of tennis, & hadn't packed a lunch or eaten breakfast. Sigh.

I'm impressed with my time management yesterday. I had a super crazy insane day, which included a full day of work, and lots & lots of driving teens around. I wasn't sure when I would be able to make dinner, so any time I had a few minutes between meetings, I'd chop veggies for the salad, chop onions/jalapenos for dinner, gather the items. I was still running a bit late on the meal prep, so I had my husband supervise the last 10 minutes or so of the recipe, while I left the house. Anyway, it saved us from a night of takeout. Fingers crossed that yesterday will be the busiest day of the week.

[MountainGal]

Great job on the time management, @MaybeBabyMustache!  And, holy smokes, 8 hours?!

@okisok, glad you get excited when it's time to eat them!

-Last night's air fried pickles were just so-so.  I prefer a crunchier breading.  The breading itself, however, had a kick due to the spices I added for last week's cod breading.  Eating the rest of the pickles with lunch now along with leftover sausage bake and a cup of leftover low sodium chicken broth from last week's slow cooker teriyaki chicken.

-In order to use them up, I decided tomorrow's pizza will be served inside portobello mushrooms instead of the last Caulipower crust pizza.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@MountainGal - yes, he's a crazy person who deeply loves tennis camp. He follows that up with a 2 hour soccer practice most days. This is why the teens at my house are so ravenous. 1) they are terrible about packing the appropriate amount of food and 2) they work out a lot

As for today, we're having leftover burgers & tomato paella, and using more garden tomatoes.

We didn't end up with many garden cucumbers, so I bought 4 boxes of the Persian kind at Trader Joes. My teen has already eaten one box, and is making his way through the second box.

I need a menu plan for the week that incorporates more freezer options, so that will be my priority for next week. We've made huge progress in the (non-snack area) pantry, and it's looking really good!

[MountainGal]

@MaybeBabyMustache, I love the passion he has for sports!  And it's great they eat healthy foods.  :)

-Tuesday evening, I made two jars overnight oatmeal for DH containing the rest of the blackberries.
-Wednesday's portobello pizzas were yummy!
-Wednesday evening, I nibbled on the rest of the Hawaiian BBQ macadamia nuts.
-Last night's ginger garlic shrimp with coconut milk finished the open container of coconut milk, 3 cups or so of the baby spinach, and all but two servings of shrimp.  Served with air fried eggplant fries and homemade horseradish crema, the latter contained another 2 TBS or so creamy horseradish.  Condiment concentration continues!
-This weekend for the first time ever I'll make brown sugar brownies in order to use some of the hardening brown sugar.
-Tomorrow evening we'll have cobb salads containing rapidly ripening cherry tomatoes and some of the sunflower seeds.
-Sunday I'll make tuna zucchini cakes which will use the frozen zucchini.
-The fresh produce drawer is down to a few cups of baby spinach.  Time to go shopping!

[Catbert]

I have several containers of egg white I bought for a sick dog who passed away recently. I would like to use them up but not a fan of them. Any easy ideas on using them up? I supposed I could add it to some whole eggs and scramble but would like to see if anyone has any ideas. I was adding cooked up egg white to my furry boy's diet, and he seemed to like it.

I tend to mix them along with whole eggs.  2 egg whites = 1 whole egg in my substitutes.  So meatloaf that normally uses 2 eggs, use 1 whole egg and two egg whites.  My frittata for two is usually 5 eggs so substitute whites for 3 or 4 of them.  I don't mess with baking recipes where the egg yokes may provide necessary fat or something. (I don't bake much.)

[oneday]

@Slicy, thanks for trying to find The One Dessert :)

I found Hershey's hot cocoa recipe, so if there's any of the powder around in a few months, that will be the go-to. And sounds like brownies and oatmeal cookies are in my future.

@Dutch Comfort thank you for the recipe, that sounds delicious and uses up several things! No worries with the grams/Celcius. That is what computers are for. :)

@Roadrunner53 thank you! Like all the recipes, I'd have to buy something, but this one is minimal. Just the green onions. And definitely within my skill level.

@MountainGal ooo, I'll look for the brown sugar brownies for sure. Didn't know that was a thing. Please share your recipe, if it's online, and let me know how they came out!

Good point about the candy cane cookies. I may just hang on to the peppermint extract for the holidays...it is a seasonal flavor for sure. Might also put a drop in my hot cocoa! You are going ganngbusters in using up your stuff!



Almost-A-Fortnight Report:

-seitan strips used up in a weird seitan/rice/brussels sprouts bowl. Not the tastiest. Better with a bit of BBQ sauce.
-one serving rice & brussels sprouts left, will combine with beans & BBQ sauce for a meal tomorrow.
-peppermint patty gone (this was never in doubt)
-produce used & replaced multiple times (will not track any more as it changes too quickly)
-opened Indian food packet meals eaten
-opened jar of peaches eaten
-milk eaten & replaced (also will not track, this is a staple & constantly on hand/replenished)
-1 jar marinara opened for pizza and is #1 priority to use; 1 pizza dough kit used up (bought frozen meatless meatballs to use with the sauce & noodles)

Hm, do I need a rule not to buy anything, unless it combines with something I already have? I think I do.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Used up last scraps of taco leftovers to make a taco quesadilla for 15 y.o, after tennis practice
-Used up/gave away almost all of the garden tomatoes
-Turned a jar of marinara sauce into dinner one night, leveraging pantry extras

What remains for the weekend:
-Pickle the bowls & bowls of jalapenos, so I can get them out of the fridge
-Juice the lemons the neighbor dropped off
-Use up the remaining Japanese eggplant another neighbor gave us
-Roast & puree squash sitting in the fridge
-Shred zucchini for the freezer. And, eventually, muffins.

[seemsright]

All I can say is groceries are through the roof in cost. I had to go to the grocery store yesterday. I spent almost $400. Now it should last me for a while as I did have to buy meat (I try to eat as much plant protein as I can, but I will feel ran down if I do not eat meat a couple times a week)

I am going to have to get creative, as I did not buy anything that was crazy. But a bell pepper was $1.50 each. And my peppers in my garden most likely wont ripen due to our weather this year. I this point my green beans and tomatoes are not doing anything either. Over all my garden is a big flop. The weather was ice cold till mid July, and now it is warm but not days in a row, and it is all ready getting cold at night. My poor veggies are so confused.

I am going to have to start sprouting. For at least some fresh stuff this fall and winter.

Keep up the good work in using everything. Your wallets thank you.

[Noodle]

Pre-COVID I had a tradition of trying to eat down my fridge and freezer (and pantry, to some extent) in the summers. I live in hurricane country, and it reduced the amount of groceries I might lose in an extended power outage as well as making space before the holiday season (there are some specialty items like Trader Joe's butter puff pastry that are only available then, that I stock for all year). Then the pandemic arrived and I turned into a bit of a food hoarder, between trying to cut way back on the grocery trips and never being sure what I would find when I got there. I'm also just wrapping up a multi-year project of retesting a bunch of recipes that I had saved over about 15 years because I had made and liked them at one time, and I wanted to find out if I still enjoyed them. It was a good pandemic project, but generated a lot of bits and bobs leftover. 

I decided this summer would be the "clean out the pantry project." I probably won't remember everything, but some of my achievements:

1. Found a couple of different recipes to use up a very old smoked sausage from the freezer
2. Broke out the Instant pot to make a recipe that turned freezer-burned chicken breasts into a tasty dinner
3. Made a big batch of gazpacho to use up a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes that were sketchy
4. Roasted a lot of wilted cherry tomatoes and have been using them on sandwiches
5. Pulled chicken wings out of the freezer that had been sitting around for awhile and air-fried them
6. Found a couple recipes in Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express cookbook (which I highly recommend for pantry-use-up inspiration) to cook asparagus and eggplant when I realized I hadn't restocked on ingredients I needed for my original plan
7. Made brownie and chocolate cookie recipes to use up several bags of mint baking chips I was gifted with
8. Made baked fish with fresh tomato sauce to use up some frozen fish I impulse bought
9. Learned that I like quinoa a lot more if I toss a couple of tablespoons of pesto into it--will be helpful with the rest of the bag in my pantry!
10. Made thumbprint cookies to use the end of a jar of lemon curd that had been around awhile. I thought they were just OK but my family really liked them.

Tonight I will make a favorite pasta recipe that will finish the rest of a bag of pasta and some fresh tomatoes and green onions that need used before I leave for a trip on Wednesday.

My next challenge--a jar of orange marmalade I bought for one of my recipe re-tests. I'm not really into jam on toast or biscuits...I wonder what else I can do with it?

[dividend]

My next challenge--a jar of orange marmalade I bought for one of my recipe re-tests. I'm not really into jam on toast or biscuits...I wonder what else I can do with it?

I can help with this!  Use it to make a marinade/glaze for pork.  You can google for specific recipe, but here's what I generally do - sauté some garlic and red pepper flakes (if you like) in olive oil until it's fragrant.  Add the marmalade, some Dijon mustard, some Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce - you're looking for an umami booster here), and some salt and pepper.  Stir together until it's all melted and smooth, then let cool.  Use some of it as a marinade for whatever pork you like, however you like to roast it - it's great on a tenderloin.  I have thinned extra marinade with a little broth and let it simmer while the pork cooks, then finished with a little butter and/or cream and used as a sauce for some pasta.  (This is all great with some broccoli, roasted until crispy.)