Had a guest stay last night who willingly drank the white wine that had been open in the fridge for a tad too long.
I had planned to cook with it but pouring it into a glass is much less work.
I also inadvertently "used up" half a bottle of olive oil by smashing the bottle on my kitchen floor. Of course it would be the thing I never struggle to use up. Why couldn't it have been icing sugar or rolled oats?
Not sugar. Easier to clean up than olive oil, to be sure, but still a pain. Rolled oats, yes. Cheap and easy to sweep up. Sorry to hear of your troubles! But nice to have house guests. :-)
Ok, so those of you who remember me from before may remember that I was way overstocked on certain convenience foods, including flavoured rice mixes - Uncle Ben's broccoli cheddar and so on. Well, I haven't been buying more while I was away from the forums, but it wasn't getting eaten very fast either! I still have 10 packages, 4 of which are expired (though one only just barely). The others expire in March 2018 - so the goal is to finish it all up by then!
I also have some oranges (half a bag) that were not very nice. Not terribly sweet, and the membranes tough as shoe leather.
So, simmering in the rice cooker: 1 pkg white and wild rice with fine herbs, the insides of 2 oranges (just the pulpy bit - I painstakingly removed the membranes!), 3 small chopped onions, handful of raisins. Judging by the smell, it's going to be good!
Dog was very interested in the chopping process, so I added the orange membranes on top of her evening meal, along with some crushed up coconut chips (freebie at a Caribbean Carnival event in 2016!) She normally gets a scoop and a bit of food in the evening, but I often omit "the bit" and throw whatever food will otherwise go to waste on top instead. That naturally ends up being a variety - the end of a loaf of bread that my mom saves for her, the hamburger my nephew didn't eat at dinner, crumbs from a box of crackers, carrot and cucumber ends from making a salad, a too soft banana, etc.
Incomplete list of targeted items to use:One-offs, small amounts, and oddities: dry coconut, coconut chips, hard margarine (for baking), bottle of chocolate flavour meal replacement (free sample), bottle of fruit punch (given out at a work function), jar of chutney
Spices and flavourings: dehydrated onion, maple and lemon flavour powders, taco seasoning pkgs
Pantry staples that need to keep circulating for flavour and freshness: white flour, oatmeal, corn meal, white rice, brown rice, dried beans, olive oil, molasses, 10 pkgs of rice mix, 2 boxes of pasta
Produce: bag of onions, potatoes, oranges, green tomatoes (some of which will hopefully ripen along the way!), 1 teeny tiny green pepper