Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2

[BlueHouse]

I live alone.  I've decided I don't need to keep 17 cans of soup in my pantry.  I'm going to limit myself to 2 cans.  So I'm throwing down the gauntlet to get rid of at least 15 of these cans, in order of oldest expiration date (2022) to newest.  I plan to have 1 can of soup every day for as long as I can stand it!

Status update? Can you stand it?

Still working my way through it, but it's more like 1 can every 3 days so far.  I'm down to 13 cans.  And still alive despite eating "old" soup. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We've been doing a really good job of eating leftovers, & keeping on top of waste.

I did toss old chicken broth & two burgers that were too freezer burned to be saved.

Otherwise:
-Fruit drawer is basically empty (perfect, as we shop on weekends)
-90% of all Superbowl snacks are gone. We have a little bit of chicken buffalo dip left (from TJs - delicious), & one mini cucumber remains
-I defrosted chicken curry for dinner, and had that last night. There's enough left for lunch tomorrow.
-I've been making my way through breakfast sandwiches that someone thought were a great idea (maybe me, frankly, I don't recall) from Costco, but no one else will eat. They are fine. Nothing exciting, but an okay breakfast in a pinch. I think they are all gone. Hurrah.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I ordered pick up lunch for today, after a long run (11 miles). I find that I'm hungry for very particular things (salty sandwiches!) after long runs. I had no sandwich fixings at home, as we are heading out to ski tomorrow. Teen comes home from the sandwich place, sandwich for himself, brother & they forgot mine! I was devastated, which was later funny, but not in the moment.

Made myself a breakfast burrito, using up the last slice of pepper jack cheese, and some tortillas we need to use. I didn't have a dinner planned yet either, so defrosted taco meat to keep the theme alive - ground beef tacos or taco salads for dinner tonight.

[MountainGal]

Hi everyone!  I haven't posted in a few months.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

@MaybeBabyMustache excellent job regarding your long runs!

Because Q1 is a low commission quarter, I've been even more laser focused on using freezer and pantry items.  The shelves and freezers were overflowing during/after the holidays.  I've spent $303 on groceries/HBAs this month but that includes vitamins and some Valentine's Day goodies for the neighbor kiddos.  I budgeted another $40 for next week's fresh produce pickup.

Lately:
~A leftover refrigerator pie crust from Thanksgiving pie baking was used to make chicken pot pie.
~Various cheeses, nuts, frozen appetizers, olives, crackers, etc. served as game snacks, midnight munchies, light suppers, and guest entertaining.
~Cans of different types of beans, a box of broth, two cans each of tomatoes, chilis and chicken made a pot of white chicken chili.
~I made a pan of enchiladas before going out of town early January which I am grateful for because DH and I came home ill and ate the rest for a few days.
~During the illness:  Finished the last of the diet cranberry juice, several tea bags, a few cups of rice and a can of soup.
~I put the rest of last fall's frozen homemade spaghetti sauce in a lasagna to keep in the freezer for the next virus go around.
~I've been making smoothies every so often to use canned coconut milk and berries frozen during season last year.
~Ham hock and beans consisted of a ham hock from the freezer and several cups dried beans.
~In late January we ate the rest of the pork and orange marmalade frozen in November.
~Made my first pozole to use up a beef roast.  The meat turned out tender, we didn't care for the hominy.
~Also made my first chicken cotija street corn skillet using two cans of chicken.
~Monday I made sweet and sour noodles and veggies and added leftover smoked salmon to it.  There is just 1/4 left of the huge bag of mixed veggies in the kitchen freezer.  I'll then address the bag in the garage freezer.
~We ate the rest of the frozen mini wontons as a side of the above.
~I baked two batches of flax seed muffins over the past several weeks.  Some flax seed also went into DH's overnight oats.
~Last year's pork has all been consumed.
~Last night I made my own tartar sauce.
~This weekend I'll make blueberry cheesecake and the crust will consist of crushed leftover gingerbread cookies from Christmas.
~This weekend I'll also bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to finish last fall's pumpkin puree.
~Tonight's supper will include beef and tomatoes which were tossed in the freezer before we headed out of town for I don't remember which trip.  I'll serve it on top of sauteed leftover zoodles and the remaining baby spinach.

Because of the holidays, going out of town for an NFL game, being ill for essentially 6 weeks, the Superbowl, and celebrating my birthday for several weeks, my body has asked for a reset.  I've been aiming for at least 4 different vegetable (and berries) servings daily and increasing water consumption. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@MountainGal - welcome back! It's nice to see you back on this thread :-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Made a double batch of brownies for the school banquet on Thursday. I'll freeze them this evening, when they are cooled down. I'm pretty happy with myself, as I thought long & hard about ordering mini bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cake, because I have a VERY long week ahead. Remembered I could freeze them, and took advantage of some time this weekend to get them prepped.
-DH grilled burgers yesterday, and we got creative with the cheese options. I had cheese & crackers today & used the last of the sliced provolone. I forget that provolone is really quite good. I always think of it as bland, but it's tasty with the right pairing.
-Baked up some breaded Bare chicken for lunch today to top my salad. I always make extra, as sure enough, the teens wander into the kitchen as soon as they smell someone else making lunch. ;-)

[marion10]

Cleaned out our chest freezer. I did throw out the remainder of a package of frozen dumplings that I never liked the taste of and some rhubarb that looed pretty freezer burned. Found some frozen shredded zucchini and threw that into some sausage soup I had going in the crock pot. Used some frozen leftover coconut milk to make butter chicken and then the leftover milk and some frozen bananas to make breakfast cookies.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Tossed some hot chocolate packets that I didn't know were in my pantry (I'm guessing my mom bought them when she was here, long ago?) that expired in 2020.
-Made myself lunch from leftovers. DS17 didn't like the dinner I made last night (to be fair, it was pretty meh), so he made himself a bagel & covered his dinner & put it in the fridge. I had that, plus some sliced cheese (one more NYE leftover cheese is almost gone!), with leftover Superbowl crackers & an apple.
-Dinner tonight will be leftover burgers + salad

[MountainGal]

Thank you, @MaybeBabyMustache!  And I'd never heard of Just Bare Breaded Chicken.  Yum!

@marion10, I like what you did with the zucchini.

I didn't get to the pumpkin cookies or cheesecake over the weekend, but I did assemble a lasagna and stuffed pasta noodles and put them in the freezer for future illness down time.  I made a batch of homemade sauce for both, which utilized several cans of different tomatoes and two squirts from a tube of tomato paste.  Also:

~Last week the remaining bag of frozen sweet potato fries were served on the side of a beef roast.  We still have several cuts of the latter.  They are definitely a low and slow item, so if anyone has any slow cooker recipes, I'm all ears.  :)
~I saved the fat from cooking bacon over the weekend for future use.
~Finished the bag of dried blueberries from my Christmas stocking as a cottage cheese topping along with some walnuts.
~A can of low sodium Spam with best buy date of NOW was sliced for lunchmeat purposes.
~Over the past several weeks, I've made my own taco seasoning blend, Italian spice blend, tartar sauce and an interesting Dijon mustard sauce containing mayo, stone ground Dijon mustard, honey, lemon juicer garlic salt and black pepper.  I ate the rest of the latter with the below eggplant fries.
~The remaining pork rind parmesan breading made last month was used last night as a breading for eggplant fries.
~This morning, I cut the rather long beef stick from my stocking into thirds which I'll snack on along with cheese sticks.  One beef stick is one serving apparently, but I don't like to eat that much sodium all at once.
~The mini sour cream cup I brought from a supper out last month will accompany today's lunch tamale.  ;-)
~Several cups of almond flour will be the crust of tonight's John Wayne casserole.  The casserole will contain two cans of Rotel, a can of diced chilis. a can of green beans, and several cups each cheddar and mozzarella.
~Wednesday we'll have the last bag of refrigerated noodles bought for the Chinese New Year, along with sliced portobellos and red Argentine shrimp.  With it will be the remaining 3 frozen eggrolls.
~Thursday we'll have the remaining frozen peel and eat shrimp with salmon.
~Sunday will be a slow cooked English cut roast with fresh sweet potato fries.
~Tonight's goal is to make more overnight oats for DH which will use some frozen strawberries, and flax seed muffins for me.

It's almost time for a Sam's Club restock.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-The second to the last of the NYE cheese is now used up. Hurrah! That just leaves us with a package of brie. DS18 has just discovered he's a brie fan, so maybe he'll eat some of it.
-I sprinkled the last of some shredded cheddar on eggs this morning, and also used a tortilla & some salsa that's almost gone.

Heading out of town tomorrow, so hopefully the boys in my family will do their part to eat some of the leftovers.

[Dollar Slice]

Expiration date question (kinda). I paid for grocery delivery since I'm trying to balance chronic fatigue with being overscheduled this week... I ordered a (pre-chilled, not hot) rotisserie chicken. The one they delivered was cooked on Feb 28 (Wednesday), delivered to me March 2 (Saturday). Obviously I asked for a refund since I don't consider four-day-old cooked/prepared foods acceptable. But do you think it's safe to eat in terms of food waste? I feel really bad wasting that much meat. But also I'm one person and I'm definitely not eating an entire chicken today... so I'm wondering how many days you guys would feel good about eating a whole cooked chicken. Or not.

The other option is just throwing it in the Instant Pot for an extra rich stock.

[Dutch Comfort]

Trying to loose some weight, so cutting back on carbs for myself. This does not help with eating all the food, since I'm now just eating more fresh produce/protein and less items that are in my pantry. I'm just trying to feed the carbs to the teens and keep the produce/protein to myself. Anyway, groceries are much less carb heavy as they used to be and slowly but surely items are being eaten in this house. Freezer is still a work in progress, but I'm seeing some dents in a few drawers...... Fridge is in control. Pantry is still full, but I'm trying to make meals out of pantry items.

Wins:
- Some aioli accompanied baked potatoes last week and is gone now
- 2 Prebaked French breads were eaten on Saturday
- Tossed 2 cans of corn and 1 can of beans in Friday's enchilladas
- Used the last of a bottle of bell-pepper-vinager. Was actually delicious on a tomato-salad.

Challenges:
- Sliced bread from freezer
- Still a lot of half used bottles of various dressings and sauces in the fridge

Had to toss:
- 1 head of salad which I totally forgot about and went mushy
- 1 small serving of pasta which DS forgot to eat after soccer practice

Plan for this week:
- Today: baked potatoes with mushroom / bacon topping, salad and meat from freezer
- Tomorrow: pasta night - pasta from pantry, tomato-sauce from pantry and meat from freezer
- Thursday: meat from freezer, need to head out for fresh produce
- Friday: let's see what fresh produce is left.......
- Saturday: usually our leftover-day (we just eat leftovers/any frozen meals that are available)

@Dollar Slice, I would opt for the Instant pot and create a massive amount of chicken soup/broth and put that in the freezer.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Got back from a trip, and made a bit of progress in the fridge:
-Had leftover pizza & a banana for lunch
-Made gyros for dinner, and defrosted some naan to round out the dinner. DS16 had two grilled cheese naans, which just leaves us with two left.

I got laid off last week, so I guess I'll have a bunch of time to start making dinners during the week. Bright side? ;-) We usually just eat leftovers.

[Josiecat22222]

@MaybeBabyMustache - I'm so sorry to hear about the layoff. 

[MountainGal]

@MaybeBabyMustache I love brie!  Yum.  Sorry about the layoff.

@Dollar Slice, my intuition and Google says four days for rotisserie chicken.

@Dutch Comfort I'm with you on losing weight.  Today I discovered different food plans on Eating Well's website.  I'm a low carber 95% of the time, so I focused on their low carb Mediterranean and anti-inflammatory plans.  It seems the only time I really lose pounds is when I eat seafood and veggies, so it will be a nice fit.

I tried waiting until next week for a fresh produce restock, but we have just a 1/3 bag of baby spinach left in the drawer, so tonight it is.

Since my last post:
~We picked up a rather large Sam's Club order, so we're set for a while in regard to frozen and fresh salmon, lunch meat turkey, frozen shrimp, canned chicken, bacon, sausage, various canned goods, and snacks for DH's lunch.
~I finished the fresh blueberries, so I've been snacking through a bag which was put into the freezer last August.
~Finally baked the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I didn't have enough chocolate chips on hand, so I smashed 7 or so Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares with a rolling pin and used those.  Perfect!
~I used the remaining half of a large Velveeta block (bought for the Super Bowl) to make queso.
~I'm really getting into turmeric for its anti-inflammatory benefits, and I've made turmeric bars including 2 cups of almond flour and riced cauliflower with a bag of frozen cauliflower.
~Baby spinach made a "bed" for smoked salmon one night and air fryer cod a few days later.
~Tonight, I'll make a few jars of overnight oats for DH which should finish the bag of store brand frozen strawberries.
~Also, tonight if I have time, I'm going to bake omelet muffins from the Eating Well website.
~The only things tossed was about 1/4 of the crack dip (mayo, parm cheese, bacon, etc.) and a small amount of the white cheddar DH bought and didn't get to it in time.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Ate a mini package of chips with my lunch today. There is only one left, from a huge box my son ended up with after a volunteer event. I try to limit chips in the house, so at least the size is very contained.
-Made dinner tonight to use the last of the hamburger buns, some chicken patties (teens), salad (me), shrimp from the freezer (DH). DH has purchased numerous packages of shrimp scampi from Costco. He's the only one who likes them, so I'll continue to serve them to him. ;-)
-Used up 2 cans of coconut milk last night in a delicious dinner (chicken peanut noodles - budget bytes)

I also realized there's a super old bag of cauliflower rice in the freezer, so I've found a recipe to use that up (some sort of cauliflower rice taco bake thing, also from budget bytes)

[Dutch Comfort]

Yesterday I decided on home-made pizza (flour and yeast are staples here), which used up one package of mozzarella, a few onions, bell-peppers, leftover slices of ham and salami, 1/2 can of olives and some grated cheese (all from fridge) and some tomato-sauce which I had frozen from an earlier pizza-night.
DD came home late from her side-job and finished the last of the Turkish pizza which was in the freezer.
Today will be potatoe-wedges from freezer, chicken from freezer and the last of the veggies from the fridge (I found cucumber and tomatoes, so this will work). DS will have soccer practice and he asked for a leftover of fried rice which is also in the freezer.
During the last couple of days DS started to eat the sliced bread from freezer in his school-sandwiches, so that is perfect timing!
This morning I had one of the greek yoghurts that was lingering in the fridge. Only one left now.....

Let's see what's for lunch today.......

[Josiecat22222]

finally finished off a packet of naan from the freezer (part of the February pantry challenge!!)

DS finished a package of pork chops from the freezer

Tonight's menu will be a Tex Mex affair-- going to try to make "high protein queso" using cottage cheese and Rotel....wish me luck.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Josiecat22222 - the queso sounds good. Let us know if it turns out well.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Used up a bag of pureed bananas + 2 overly ripe bananas from the fruit bowl to make a double batch of banana muffins. One more item out of the freezer!

[Josiecat22222]

@Josiecat22222 - the queso sounds good. Let us know if it turns out well.

Ok, so the queso was actually pretty good, but there is a twist.  The basics are blend 1 cup of cottage cheese (I used low fat good culture brand) with 1/4 cup water and 1 cup shredded cheese (1/2 cup at a time) in a high powered blender with taco seasoning to taste...I wound up using most of a packet.  At this point it is thick and creamy and really tasty, but cool or room temp.

Here's where I veered off the recipe...I added a can of Rotel.  Should have stopped at 1/3 cup because it made it a bit too thin, but then I had half a can left over, and this is the "eat all the food in your house" challenge.....soooo....I added it all in.  Then we warmed it which also changed the texture too.  Over all it was good, we have eaten it with carrot sticks/bell pepper as a dip, DH had it drizzled over a pork chop and I put some on a baked sweet potato.  It was good, but I think the best was when it was just the cottage cheese, water, taco seasoning and cheese.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Good to know. I just bought cottage cheese, hoping to get details!

-Ate half an apple from yesterday, leftover from a teen's breakfast
-Ate leftover chicken peanut noodles for dinner last night & lunch today, froze the remaining two servings for future lunches

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Cleaned our pantry & opted to toss a few expired items (I think mustard lasts for quite a while, but this expired four years ago?) Now we have cleaned up shelves.

-Gave away a can of white peaches (literally no idea how they got into the pantry, and can text isn't in English) on BN, before it expires next month
-Made a cauliflower rice dish last night that used up: remainder of a large bag of cauliflower rice that's been in the freezer forever, the last of a bag of frozen corn (none of us like corn, so I have no idea why we had it in the freezer) & taco meat from the freezer. It made enough for a couple of more meals, and I froze half of it for future dinners.

[Dutch Comfort]

Had a good weekend:
- Finally finished that sheet of pie crust and made cheese sticks from it, using some shredded cheese
- Took out 4 burgers from freezer, making dinner for DH and DS
- Took out a box of soup from freezer, making dinner for DD and myself with accompanying cheese sticks
- Finished the last of the greek yoghurts from fridge.

Freezer is really starting to be a little more empty. I can almost start taking inventory, so I can really plan the meals (now I just go with what I see popping up first.....).

[MountainGal]

@Josiecat22222 thank you for the queso idea and tips!

@MaybeBabyMustache thank you for reminding me about the Budget Byte website!

-Last Friday I made portobello pizzas using the leftover homemade pizza sauce frozen last August
-Yesterday I baked the omelet muffins I didn't get to last week.  They and a kale frittata used 16 of the 24 pack of neighbor produced eggs
-Last Thursday's smash burgers were eaten that night for supper and for Saturday's lunch
-I added last Thursday's leftover green beans to today's leftover Cornish game hen, zoodles and yellow squash
 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@MountainGal - I'm making another Budget Bytes recipe tonight - oven baked chicken fajitas. They are great.

-Remembered to use fresh mint (it's going wild in our planter) for salads. My husband loves it in his salad (similar to Shirazi salad)
-Ate the leftover chicken patty on top of my lunch salad. Bonus points for using remaining "mix ins" from a previous bagged salad
-Had the last 1/2 slice of cheese on my salad as well, emptying one bag of sliced cheese
-Bought cilantro & sour cream for the taco cauliflower rice bake recipe, and decided to make chicken fajitas tonight to use up more of those ingredients. Cut up an extra avocado for the fajitas as well.

Wiped out the freezer yesterday, as a little bit was uncovered & could be cleaned. Progress!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Had leftover cauliflower taco rice for lunch, used up the last of the shredded cheese, chopped avocado & some sour cream. DH & one teen will have the rest for dinner tonight.
-I'll have the remaining fajita meat for dinner tonight, using up more of the Mexican themed toppings we have on hand.
-I've almost finished off a bag of pistachios that I bought a while ago.

Gave away a small jar of red curry paste (unopened). We have an enormous jar (also unopened), so best to pass this on to someone who can use it before it expires, as we definitely won't get to it.

Menu planned for the week ahead to use up some long lingering pantry items
-Top Ramen - for chicken yakisoba, just the noodles
-lasagna noodles - for lasagna ;-)
-1/3 a bag of french fries from the freezer

I also bought an absolutely enormous head of cabbage today ($.37/lb!), which will also go in the chicken yakisoba. We can also get at least 2 batches of cole slaw out of it, so I need to stay on top of that as well.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Used up a package of Top Ramen from the pantry, and it's been there for years. Feel pretty good about that! Made chicken yakisoba, and made a start using the enormous cabbage I bought on the St. Patrick's Day sales.

I'm also planning to use the lasagna noodles this week as well, which I think largely means our pantry is now in excellent shape!

[fuzzy math]

Back after much chaos and overstocking of items!

- Finished all the lentils in the house
- Finished all the regular oats in the house making apple crisp twice
- Working through ~25 apples saved from becoming pig food (hence all the apple crisp)
- Made leftovers tonight - finished off taco meat for quesadillas for one kid, and a hoagie roll for a meatball sub for another kid
- Reorganized the freezer and brought some high value items to the front so they'll hopefully be consumed
- DD ate the leftover rice
- Trying to keep up with all the fresh eggs
- DH ground some nuts into nut butter
- Some leftover cracker varieties have been finished

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@fuzzy math - I have a kid who loves taco quesadillas, so that's how I always use leftovers when there's not quite enough for a full meal of tacos.

I made a batch of homemade hummus, which used the last two cans of garbanzo beans *right* before they expired, as well as part of a jar of just expired tahini. My entire crew loves homemade hummus & it's easy. May have to pick up more garbanzo beans to use up the remainder of the tahini.

Served four corn dogs for lunch to the teens (not to worry, they also had a huge pile of veggies & hummus, as well as fruit), which leaves me with only three corn dogs remaining out of the bag! They were a part of the February pantry/freezer challenge, but I didn't quite get to them.

[MountainGal]

@MaybeBabyMustache chicken fajitas do sound good!  Somewhat following Eating Well's baked chicken thigh, sweet potato and broccolini recipe, I made baked chicken legs and sweet potatoes with a side of sauteed baby spinach and air fried radishes.  SO tasty!  I dipped my radishes in Bolthouse dressing which is about 1/3 of the calories as regular ranch.

~I baked an Irish cream cake finishing the remaining neighbor produced fresh eggs.
~DH bought home homemade tamales and the remaining sour cream was placed on top
~Slowly going through a bag of dark Ghirardelli chocolates I received as a gift by treating myself to one a day
~I discovered egg wraps as a tortilla alternative and have been enjoying them filled with deli turkey and provolone or egg salad
~I remembered to warm up breaded eggplant fries in the air fryer to avoid sogginess
~Made two mini-7-layer salads for lunches to finish the bag of some sad looking romaine
~Leftover corned beef and potatoes will be turned into hash for tonight's supper
~To eat the fresh produce in time, cheese, tomato and baby spinach stuffed portobellos will be a side this evening
~Fresh produce peels and scraps continue to be served to the neighbor's goats and chickens

Losses:  I tossed half of the kale frittata because we didn't get to it in time and tossed the majority of the omelet muffins as the dollar store muffin cups' ink leaked onto the food.  Duly noted not to buy them there in the future.

[Josiecat22222]

made cabbage with dinner tonight...It was only about 25% of the original volume, but still made two hefty servings with leftovers for tomorrow.

DS ate a Trader Joes meal that had been languishing in the freezer.  I ate 1/2 of another one, so those are out of the freezer.  We generally don't buy prepared foods and prefer to cook from scratch, so these had been there a while. 

Yesterday finished off a packet of chicken from the freezer.

Made a list of older items in the fridge/freezer pantry to see if can eat those this month....maybe avoid the store until April!!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I am so impressed with my pantry progress. It's been fantastic & I've basically used up all of my targets. Still have some work to do in the freezer.

I made lasagna, using the last of the lasagna noodles & a variety of other things that were lingering, including turning bread from the freezer into garlic bread as a side.

A few things I want to focus on in the upcoming week or so:
-Chicken pad thai (we bought this prepped as an easy meal option)
-Fish sticks. For real. Will someone eat these? Is it going to have to be me? Do I have to bake them & put them on top of my lunch salad... realistically, probably yes. Good ol' fish stick salad
-The last three corn dogs
-Pizza rolls, leftover from a teen party. Teens will be the only people consuming these. Maybe I'll encourage them to have friends over, so I can clear out the entire bag
-Cranberries (freezer). I need to turn these into muffins

[Dutch Comfort]

Made some progress, although we were out most of the weekend, so nothing was used.

Fridge keeps being in shape and no overdue items are located in the last 2 weeks, which is a big plus!
Freezer still contains lots of sliced bread, but teens are not very willing to eat. I might have to resort to French toast in order to have it eaten.
Pantry is still full. But teen snacks are in control, so that is already a win

Used up:
- 1/2 bag of salad with a small can of lentils and various veggies topped with pumpkin seeds as a lunch salad for me!
- last package of unpopular corn cakes (I bought the wrong ones according to DD..... now we have only the approved ones in the pantry)
- working on a bag of frozen banana-bread muffins
- 1 pack of cookies which I found in the pantry. Teens are eating through these and I try to stay away from them.....
- 1/2 bag of pasta made it into a big bowl of pasta-salad (with mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto from freezer) which DD is eating this week as dinner after her job
- Started the bag of low-carb granola with greek yoghurts as breakfast. It is actually very good!

Challenges:
- Have to feed someone the chocolate which is still left from the holidays.....
- Take an inventory of the freezer contents..... it is 6 drawers full of whatevers..... I need to reorganise this!

[Josiecat22222]

@MaybeBabyMustache - I've had pretty good luck using up fish sticks in fish tacos!  cook them and then break them up with some thinly sliced cabbage and put it in a warmed/grilled corn tortilla.  I mean, everything is better as a taco...

still working through the freezer here.  DH helped me move all the older items from the storage freezer into the kitchen freezer so I have a better idea of what to use first.  Found some shaved steak in the freezer.  Also have some onions to use up, so it's looking like philly cheesesteak with carmelized onions for one meat eater and pork chops for the other.  The vegetarian (me) will have some orange chik'n leftovers with sauteed cabbage.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Josiecat22222 - great idea for the fish sticks! I will give that a try.

[MountainGal]

@MaybeBabyMustache, LOL at fish stick salad!

@Josiecat22222, fish tacos... Yum!

Excellent progress, @Dutch Comfort!

~Last night I diced two sad looking Roma tomatoes and stuffed them into portobello mushrooms along with mozzarella and baby spinach.  Following Fork to Spoon's recipe, they were air fried at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Yum.
~Finished the peanut butter via celery sticks and the small amount of leftover corned beef, cabbage and potatoes for today's lunch.

I looked at March expenditures and cannot believe how much I spent at the grocery store and Sam's Club.  There were no frivolous items, and I understand prices are going up, but sheesh.

[Josiecat22222]

used the instapot to make the last of the dried black beans and had them with the last of the freezer corn, some kale from the fridge and some canned tomatoes and and made some corn tortillas into chips for a taco salad.  (bonus points for also making my dressing from scratch!)

Have enough beans and corn and tortillas for 2 more meals.

Also made a list of foods to be eaten up in my notebook.  just did a short shop today for some perishables and some goodies for DS's easter basket, so should be good until early April.

[FragglesRock666]

Hi, guys.  Feels like forever and a day since I've lurked here, much less posted, but I thought of you guys as I was planning dinner tonight, and figured I'd share.
I have some pearled barley that's been sitting in my kitchen for who knows how long, and I decided that since we are on our way out of the winter food season, I should try to use some of it up before the end of the season.
So the plan tonight is a London broil from the cow we got probably 2 years ago (next time, I'll only get a 1/4 not an entire half, especially since the step son is turning 18 later this month and potentially moving out of state) in the Instapot with a cup of barley + whatever veg I have in the fridge (onion, carrot, celery, maybe some other root veg) + whatever mushrooms lingering in the fridge that I can salvage from previous trips out to the local farm. 

I have high hopes for deliciousness for this "throw it in a pot to use it up" type of dinner tonight. 

[Josiecat22222]

strong work @FragglesRock666! 

slow but steady progress here- killed off a bag of frozen peas, the tail end of a "chik'n" product I did NOT care for and a bag of corn this weekend.  Have a serving of black bean and corn salad and a serving of gnocchi with peas and broccoli in the fridge ready to be eaten this week and some more salad fixings.  Trying to make it until April before heading to store, but may need to go to get more milk.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Great work, @Josiecat22222 @FragglesRock666 @MountainGal ! Pantry/freezer progress for the win.

DS18 ate the last of the corn dogs yesterday. HURRAH.
One container of pad thai was used up. Bonus points for adding the shrimp scampi to it. It definitely fleshed out the dinner (butter + shrimp added), & all of those leftovers are gone. We have a second container of pad thai in the fridge.

Goals for the week:
-Pancake mix - can this be used for biscuits or something? DH bought a Costco sized container, and we have pancakes like 2x/year.
-Cranberries (Freezer) - use in muffins
-Green beans (pantry). I'm thinking of loobia polo, which is a Persian rice/beef/green bean dish that's fabulous.

I also need to convince the teens to eat pizza rolls. It feels like it can't be a weekday dinner, so maybe I'll make it for a late lunch, or a weekend meal.

[Dutch Comfort]

Had a good weekend:

Friday: prepared one bag of french fries from the freezer, with a burger (from freezer) for DH and me and a few chicken wings (also from freezer) for DD. DS had leftover pasta after soccer training and was happy!
Saturday: DS ate another serving of pasta which was in the freezer. Made a "breakfast-for-dinner" meal of French toast for DD and grilled cheese for DH and me, getting rid of some of the sliced bread (YEAH, progress!)
Sunday: some appetizers were made with bread sticks from the holiday packages, some leftover cheese and a nice Spanish sausage which was still lingering in the fridge
This morning: grabbed some banana bread muffins from freezer for breakfast. Only 1 breakfast serving remaining!

Freezer is really getting empty on meat choices and I'm hoping to get some more sliced bread out of there this week, so I can defrost it (finally) next week (yeah, I know it is Easter, but I'll take the opportunity now the freezer is really empty)

@MaybeBabyMustache, you could use the pancake mix for practically everything that needs flour (if it's unsweetened). Just check whether it needs some baking soda/baking powder for your recipe. If sweetened, just use it for muffins.

[Josiecat22222]

@MaybeBabyMustache - can use the pancake mix to make "pancake muffins" and put the cranberries in them.  I like cranberry almond as a combo.

https://wearenotmartha.com/muffins-with-pancake-mix/

just a thought.  Can also use pancake mix to make biscuits which can then be stuffed w/ eggs/sausage etc

Hope this helps!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Thanks for the ideas! I usually make cranberry muffins for DH, who can't have much flour do to an allergy. I make his muffins with almond flour, so probably can't sub the pancake mix. But, I like the idea of biscuits & will give that a try.

-Picked & used oregano, thyme & rosemary for grilled chicken this weekend
-We had leftover rice from dinner last night, so I defrosted Korean beef, and served that over rice. For DH, I sauteed cabbage & onion in sesame oil, and served his Korean beef over that mix, which he was a big fan of. It's sometimes hard finding quick Keto style (food allergy, but same basic principles apply) sides that you can use to round out either meals with a sauce, or those that do better over pasta or rice. It's nice to have another option.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

It was a good dinner tonight to use up leftovers:
-I made green beans out of the remaining two cans (on my February pantry challenge) & topped them with shredded parmesan
-DS18 had green beans (his fave) with the other half of my sandwich I brought home from lunch
-DS17 had two quesadillas, using up the rest of the tortillas + chicken & the last of the homemade hummus & cucumbers
-I had grilled chicken & rice (Sunday night's leftovers) + green beans
-Finally, DH had salmon (freshly prepared) + green beans

Lots of things out of the fridge, which always makes me happy!

[fuzzy math]

Keep fighting the good fight everyone!!

When I read these "this item is FINALLY gone" posts, I always wonder if your family ends up buying those items again or not. I swear half the things my kids love don't get eaten then they complain and say they never asked for those items... Then a month or so later they're asking for them again. Its confusing.

Going on a 3-4 day trip, made good work of the fridge.

- Ate some short dated yogurts
- Cooked all the produce that was going to need to be used up - made a hash with a sweet potato and some chorizo
- Fed the nasty overripe produce to the chickens
- Encouraged DS to eat his leftover tortellini
- Finished off some asian chicken lettuce wrap components
- About to ask DH to eat the leftover lasagna

[Dollar Slice]

When I read these "this item is FINALLY gone" posts, I always wonder if your family ends up buying those items again or not. I swear half the things my kids love don't get eaten then they complain and say they never asked for those items... Then a month or so later they're asking for them again. Its confusing.

I only buy for myself, but it's weird how you kind of go off your favorite foods sometimes, or are never in the mood. I have my favorite ice cream sitting in the freezer untouched for months. I bought two on sale. I never want to force down ice cream since it's not a healthy snack, so it just sits there until I'm craving it. And I never am.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@fuzzy math - sometimes it's an item bought for a recipe, and we ended up not liking the recipe & don't have a reason to make more or whatever. Or, the teens really wanted pizza rolls, and DH bought them at Costco for unknown reasons. In which case, I have to somehow get through bags of them after they ended up not liking the "costco kind". Or, they used to eat fish sticks, so I bought them, and now they're like, "nah". Other times, my taste/preference changes, or we have items lingering from when DH used to eat carbs (he has a food allergy), etc, etc. A lot of times, I want ONE can of garbanzo beans, and DH decides to buy me a case at Costco. . . and, then I have to use them all up before they expire.

We try hard not to make the same mistake twice, in terms of specific food, but we definitely make the same mistakes above in general! :-)

[Josiecat22222]

agree with @MaybeBabyMustache!  The biggest challenges I have right now are smaller amounts of ingredients bought for one recipe (like the harissa paste in my fridge!!) and trying to accommodate different diets in my house (two strict low carb/keto types and one vegetarian!)

Today's wins: killed off a package of Trader Joe's gnocchi and a package of ground beef and an unpopular flavor of yogurt.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Amen to the multiple diets - it makes the day to day management of food & leftovers challenging, because all meals are customized, and not everyone can/will eat the various leftovers.
-DS18 & I are the most flexible, but I try to eat way more veggies than him, fewer carbs & more salads/fewer calories. Because, ahem, I'm not an 18 year old boy.
-DS17 is insanely busy, rarely home, and doesn't like food mixed together. E.g. he will eat chicken & pasta individually, but not in a casserole, for example. He also has a list of preferred food that is just quite small. DS18, on the other hand, eats everything but blue cheese, mushroom & shrimp. And, even with those, he'll just pick around them.
-DH eats Keto due to a nickel allergy. Nickel is in basically everything you have to avoid with Keto, so he eats a ton of veggies + lean proteins.

Feeding everyone every day is not for the faint of heart. I also experiment a lot, trying to find easy meals that everyone can/will eat. They are not always successful, leaving me with plenty of single ingredient items to use up.