Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1183500 times)

Verdure

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1850 on: October 27, 2017, 02:36:12 PM »
On a weird whim last year I bought a 25 lb bag of chia. I still have 24 lbs left. Presently I eat about 1tbsp per day in my oatmeal, meaning that unless I find other things to add it to, I should have enough chia for the next 8 years. It'll last, but it's still ridiculous.

Does anyone have tasty ideas for chia other than ubiquitous puddings?

I guess a Chia Pet* wouldn't be a helpful suggestion lol. 

*For those who don't know what a Chia Pet is, it's a clay figure (e.g., horse, dog, president's head) that you spread chia seeds on and water.  The seeds sprout and grow looking sorta like hair.

The Chia Pet suggestion isn't as crazy as it sounds, because evidently you can eat Chia sprouts. https://preparednessmama.com/growing-and-using-chia-sprouts/

I think my husband adds chia seeds to his smoothies, and have you looked for recipes for baked goods? There seem to be tons out there.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1851 on: October 27, 2017, 03:49:40 PM »
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?

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1852 on: October 27, 2017, 08:04:29 PM »
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

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1853 on: October 28, 2017, 01:31:58 PM »
Update from last night:  the rice with orange in it was Ah-maz-ing!

I'm not even putting any portions in the freezer, I'm just going to eat it all over the next couple of days.  However, it was a lot of work separating the pulpy stuff from the membranes.  So I made another loaf of bread for the freezer (combo of cornmeal and white flour) and added a cut up orange (not separated) as part of the liquid.  I figured that beater would do a pretty good job of shredding up the membrane, based on how thoroughly it destroys raisins, chocolate chips, etc if they're added at the start of the process.  This finished up the white flour, and used a bit more of things like my oil, which is getting old, and the cornmeal.

Updated but still 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, bean dip powder

Pantry staples that need to keep circulating for flavour and freshness:  white flour (will buy more though), oatmeal, corn meal, white rice, brown rice, dried beans, olive oil, molasses, 10 pkgs of rice mix, 2 boxes of pasta, loose tea and "other" teas (mostly gifts)

Produce: bag of onions, potatoes, oranges, green tomatoes (some of which will hopefully ripen along the way!), 1 teeny tiny green pepper

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1854 on: October 28, 2017, 03:47:43 PM »
Update from last night:  the rice with orange in it was Ah-maz-ing!


It sounded awesome so I'm glad it delivered!

...maple and lemon flavour powders ... bean dip powder

I love learning about new ingredients. Didn't know any of these were things.

Zamboni

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1855 on: October 28, 2017, 09:40:00 PM »
PJ, your list of ingredients left sounds like some deliciousness to come.

I'm joining this challenge again. To start, I'm going to work on clearing out the freezer, which recently I have been having trouble closing. Took out some steaks and chicken to thaw to start (there are still two more packs of chicken in there . . . must have been on sale.)

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1856 on: October 28, 2017, 11:13:35 PM »
...maple and lemon flavour powders ... bean dip powder

I love learning about new ingredients. Didn't know any of these were things.

le sigh...

Interesting you picked up on those particular items.  3 jars, sitting in a row in my cupboard.  Purchased at a friend's "Epicure" party a number of years ago.  I don't think they even make these items anymore!  I found the bean dip mix listed on the website as "presently unavailable."  (https://epicure.com/en/product/1001045)  Of course, it's just the spices, you have to provide your own beans, and mix it up in the blender or food processor.  When I finish up some of this other stuff, I'll probably use it more as a flavouring profile for soups and things like that.

The lemon and maple were for a dairy based dip that was really delicious (they served it at the party, darn them, and it tempted me in!)  The dip was made with yoghurt and cream cheese and sour cream, plus the flavouring powder which is probably mostly sugar. Probably a zillion calories per serving!  :-/  I used the powder for a while to flavour plain yoghurt instead of buying flavoured yoghurt, which allowed me to adjust the level of flavour and sugar.  But I haven't been buying yoghurt much, because I was finding I was always throwing out either yoghurt or milk bc I can't use them both up fast enough.  I could probably use the maple one as the sugar in my coffee, and add either of them to bread or other baked good recipes instead of the sugar.  I could occasionally buy a smaller thing of milk, plus yoghurt, and go back to using them that way.  Other thoughts?

Main accomplishment today was to give a bunch of tea to my sister, when we got together for a family dinner.  These are specialty loose teas, mostly in sampler sizes, that were given me as a gift.  I like tea, but drink way more coffee, and some of them were flavours that didn't appeal to me as much.  I kept the ones I thought I'd enjoy the most, and sent the rest to a good home!

However, I also brought home leftover pizza, and leftover birthday cake, and a leftover half bottle of red wine ... good times!

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1857 on: October 28, 2017, 11:33:40 PM »
Used up three cobs of corn, a couple of eggs, some bacon and rice in a fried ricey thing.

In other pantry news, I topped up all my canisters and jars, toasted coconut for cereal, and did some general tidying.

fuzzy math

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1858 on: October 30, 2017, 12:18:21 PM »
Needed more tomato base for my chili... Popped open a jar of cocktail sauce and poured it in. Added enough cumin, cayenne and paprika to cover up the vinegar and it was a major win!

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1859 on: October 30, 2017, 12:58:05 PM »
Needed more tomato base for my chili... Popped open a jar of cocktail sauce and poured it in. Added enough cumin, cayenne and paprika to cover up the vinegar and it was a major win!

One of the best dishes I made last winter was using a jar of tomato-y olive-y antipasto type stuff, with added water, veggies and beans, to make a bean stew.  The jarred stuff was so flavourful that even watered down it added a lot of taste.  It was a leftover from gifts that I'd purchased but never given out, and wasn't cheap, so not going to be repeated.  But adding to a bigger pot of something is definitely a good way to use sauces and condiments that you'd not otherwise use. 

I still have a jar of chutney, from the same gift-giving occasion, that needs to be used...

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1860 on: October 30, 2017, 02:13:47 PM »
Later this week DH will be away for work for three days. Next week I will be away for work for three days. Time to eat leftovers from the freezer. So I made an inventory list of what I found in the two freezers, part of the two combimachines. A large portion of the inventory is cooked and mashed apples and some cooked pears. All leftovers from the fruit at work.
I also found some soup containing a vegetable that I haven't seen in my house for a very long time. The soup might be several years old. I guess I will try it, just because I don't like to ditch food.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1861 on: October 30, 2017, 03:54:20 PM »
Needed more tomato base for my chili... Popped open a jar of cocktail sauce and poured it in. Added enough cumin, cayenne and paprika to cover up the vinegar and it was a major win!

Haha - this challenge tends to push us on subbing out ingredients, doesn't it? 

I was making sauteed spinach and mushrooms the other night and wanted to add a creamy element.  I opened a new tub of yogurt and threw in a big dallop, then licked the spoon and realized I'd accidentally bought vanilla instead of plain!  I was pissed for a couple minutes thinking I'd ruined it, but aside from being a touch sweet, it was indiscernible in the finished dish.

Totally skipped grocery shopping this weekend, though I'll probably go pick up a pork shoulder because I really want to make chile verde (and use some of those green tomatoes).  Perhaps I'll wait until all of the 2016 beef and lamb is gone though.

fuzzy math

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1862 on: October 30, 2017, 04:12:32 PM »

One of the best dishes I made last winter was using a jar of tomato-y olive-y antipasto type stuff, with added water, veggies and beans, to make a bean stew.  The jarred stuff was so flavourful that even watered down it added a lot of taste.  It was a leftover from gifts that I'd purchased but never given out, and wasn't cheap, so not going to be repeated.  But adding to a bigger pot of something is definitely a good way to use sauces and condiments that you'd not otherwise use. 

I still have a jar of chutney, from the same gift-giving occasion, that needs to be used...

Chutney + mayonnaise + green onion + chicken = to die for chicken salad. Or blend up the condiments to make a salmon condiment

fuzzy math

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1863 on: October 30, 2017, 04:15:27 PM »
Some threads never die, and thank God for that!  There's always someone somewhere with some random pantry item that needs to be used up!

Hi everyone, haven't been around for a bit, but I went to Camp Moustache Canada on the weekend and reconnected with some of my moustachian friends.  Now I'm eager to get back on track in the kitchen too!

Thanks to plainjane at a previous Toronto meet-up, I made two loafs of rye bread today, which finished up both my rye and whole wheat flours, and put a bit of a dent in what's left of an old package of dehydrated onion.  The flours will eventually get replaced, but I'll try to use up some more of my cornmeal and oatmeal before I do that.  Hopefully I can get a couple of loaves baked tomorrow too - I've actually got 3 bread machines, one on active duty and two more hand-me-down ones stored away against future breakage!  So I pulled one of the spares out and got two machines going at once.  One loaf has already been hacked into for a late night snack, the other will go in the freezer for future use - like when I'm really busy at work and haven't had a chance to get to the store in a while, it'll be nice to just pull a loaf out.

Speaking of which, my freezer continues to be pretty full, and my cupboards too, but my fridge is in really good shape at the moment, with just a couple of things left in there that should be targeted for extinction due to being on the old side. 

Will need to add more to this list later, but off the top of my head, here are a few things I should concentrate on using:

One-offs, small amounts, and oddities:  dry coconut, 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,

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

Misc flours are my biggest overkill right now. Good for you for tackling them!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1864 on: October 30, 2017, 04:38:56 PM »
I know herbs and spices have a shelf life, but how long is it? I have things in jars that have been there for years. I think all the herbs have lost all their smell so I should probably chuck them out. Especially ones I grow fresh in the garden... With the spices, is there any reason to chuck them if they still smell potent? Hubby at one time bought large bags of spices like turmeric, we barely have made a dent in them and they must be 10 yrs old.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1865 on: October 30, 2017, 05:22:14 PM »
Needed more tomato base for my chili... Popped open a jar of cocktail sauce and poured it in. Added enough cumin, cayenne and paprika to cover up the vinegar and it was a major win!

Ooh this reminds me!

I want to have a go at making dahl. The recipe calls for 700g of passata but I have half a jar in the freezer that I'd love to use up.

I also have crushed tomatoes and tomato juice - what do we think would be a better substitute to bulk out the passata?

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1866 on: October 30, 2017, 06:26:36 PM »
I know herbs and spices have a shelf life, but the how long is it? I have things in jars that have been there for years. I think all the herbs have lost all their smell so I should probably chuck them out. Especially ones I grow fresh in the garden... With the spices, is there any reason to chuck them if they still smell potent? Hubby at one time bought large bags of spices like turmeric, we barely have made a dent in them and they must be 10 yrs old.

As long as they aren't moldy or anything, you can use them, but might need to adjust the amount if they've lost flavor.

plainjane

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1867 on: October 30, 2017, 06:57:26 PM »
I still have a jar of chutney, from the same gift-giving occasion, that needs to be used...
Chutney + mayonnaise + green onion + chicken = to die for chicken salad.

Or, instead of chicken, hard boiled eggs.
Chutney is also awesome within a grilled cheese sandwich.
Or on top of potato pancakes, or zucchini fritter pancakes. Or corn cakes, or fish cakes.
Or meat pies. Meat pies need chutney.
And I'm told this is weird, but a bit of chutney beside scrambled eggs is very yummy too.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1868 on: October 31, 2017, 01:19:28 AM »
I know herbs and spices have a shelf life, but the how long is it? I have things in jars that have been there for years. I think all the herbs have lost all their smell so I should probably chuck them out. Especially ones I grow fresh in the garden... With the spices, is there any reason to chuck them if they still smell potent? Hubby at one time bought large bags of spices like turmeric, we barely have made a dent in them and they must be 10 yrs old.

As long as they aren't moldy or anything, you can use them, but might need to adjust the amount if they've lost flavor.

I have some herbs and spices left from before I emigrated in 1998. I still eat them occasionally (obviously not often, otherwise they wouldn't have been there any more). They loose some flavor, but you don't get sick of dried leaves or dried powder.

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PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1870 on: October 31, 2017, 07:32:33 AM »
Wow, guys/girls, thanks for all the chutney ideas! 

Hopefully someone else also has chutney to use, because a lot of those ideas sound good in theory, but because I'm vegetarian, most of the usual things people eat with chutney don't apply.  And I'm not generally a saucy person, as in, eating it on the side or on top of something.  Most likely, I'll check out the ingredients to try to get a sense of the flavour profile, then add it to a soup, a stew, or a pot of rice and veggies.

I *could* try it in a grilled cheese, though usually I prefer my grilled cheese plain, no tomato slices, or bacon, or spinach, or whatever.  What can I say - Mom used to call me the world's pickiest eater!

Anyway, I gave away the money in my wallet on Sunday, and am challenging myself to not go to the bank until the weekend.  So I really really really have to eat at home, and bring food to work.  That should help me make at least a little dent in the fridge and cupboard...

Zamboni

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1871 on: October 31, 2017, 09:31:23 PM »
Count me among the chutney lovers.

Tonight I made a big vat of jambalaya. My son thought it was delicious, and now I have a few more meals of it frozen for when I get back in town.

In the process, I cleared out my spice cabinet and wiped down the shelf. This made me realize I need to bake a pumpkin pie . . . why else have that particular set of spices (besides the versatile cinnamon, I have allspice, nutmeg . . . I'm sure these are great in other things, but they seal the deal on the pumpkin pie.) Luckily, I also have pie shells. Another project for when I get back from my business trip.

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1872 on: November 02, 2017, 04:13:32 PM »
They like to feed me at the church.

I have just finished eating a snack - cheese and crackers, and a cup of tea, brought to me at my desk by one of the volunteers in the afterschool program. 

No sooner had I finished then she appeared at my door with two containers of soup, because they had lots left after feeding the kids.

I'm not complaining, but the flow of food is unpredictable, and it sometimes makes it hard for me not to waste food.  For example, I have 1/2 a bag of salad at home that I need to use up before it goes off, which I've been slow getting to because they sent me home with lots of salad and coleslaw after church on Sunday.  If I eat the salad tonight, I won't get to this new soup, and I'm away the next couple of days.  So I'll freeze at least one container of the soup, and try to eat the other on Sunday night when I'm back at home.  But there's another reception after church on Sunday, so there'll be new leftovers then too...

It's a good problem to have, but a problem sometimes nonetheless!

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1873 on: November 03, 2017, 12:36:21 PM »
PJ, I'm the same way about not wanting to waste food.  Thank goodness there's such a thing as freezing and thawing leftovers, whenever possible.  :)

Made pizza using the Fathead crust recipe Wednesday.  So good!  I used up several TBS leftover BBQ sauce from two different bottles, a can of chicken, and most of the remaining blue cheese crumbles.  It resulted in 4 servings, 2 for supper, and 2 lunches for me.

And, I am happy to say, I made my first turmeric chicken recipe last night.  So flavorful and tender!


mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1874 on: November 03, 2017, 08:10:43 PM »
Just me home today so I heated up a couple of pre-fab spring rolls from the freezer and made a dipping sauce out of mayo and some gifted chilli jam.

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1875 on: November 04, 2017, 12:23:52 AM »
PJ, I'm the same way about not wanting to waste food.  Thank goodness there's such a thing as freezing and thawing leftovers, whenever possible.  :)

Wastage avoided!

I sent one container of soup home with someone at our Thursday evening meeting. My brother is pet sitting for me part of this weekend, and when I left the house, he was eating one serving of soup. If he doesn't finish it tomorrow, at least there'll only be one serving left for me to finish Sunday night.

The second half of the bag of salad, on the other hand, was too far gone.  For me, at least. The dog happily wolfed it down!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1876 on: November 04, 2017, 12:24:42 AM »
Just me home today so I heated up a couple of pre-fab spring rolls from the freezer and made a dipping sauce out of mayo and some gifted chilli jam.

Clever '

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1877 on: November 04, 2017, 06:11:06 AM »
Just me home today so I heated up a couple of pre-fab spring rolls from the freezer and made a dipping sauce out of mayo and some gifted chilli jam.
Clever '

you could do that with chutney too :)

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1878 on: November 04, 2017, 07:19:31 PM »
I'm in! Husband was confused that I went out this morning to take in donations to the thrift shop and not to get any groceries at all (Saturday morning he gets kid time and I get to go to the store without a screaming 2yo). We have plenty to use up here, but of course will still shop for veggies and fruit. I just will not buy meat/grain/sauce etc until those are used up.

I can't quote on this computer, but for potato ideas - they make a great soup base and you don't even need cream to make it creamy (but can add a splash for flavor). Leek and potato soup and loaded potato chowder come to mind but you can get creative and use just about anything that would normally make a good soup. Potato, corn (can/frozen are fine) and coconut milk or cream with some curry powder makes a great soup too. We also love using mashed potatoes as a base instead of a side - like mashed potatoes with a big pile of caramelized onions on top and maybe some horseradish, or mashed potatoes and beef and broccoli on top.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1879 on: November 05, 2017, 08:00:23 AM »
I've been eating down my pantry and freezer since the beginning of September. I'm not moving or anything, it's just a help to be more disciplined in eating up things before they go bad. Been making more soups and casseroles, to which I can add a variety of ingredients.

I've only purchased food on sale, e.g., bulk onions and potatoes, or some fresh vegetables and dairy to supplement. Total grocery bill of $45 for the two months of September and October.

Haven't yet hit on any uses for a couple of jars of peanut butter and almond butter. My culinary experience doesn't include much other than desserts with nut butter, and I don't feel the desire or need for much in the way of desserts right now.

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1880 on: November 05, 2017, 09:51:50 AM »
This thread has been inspiring. We've been very slowly eating down our pantry since it's a lot of stuff. Also been eating through the freezer. In determined to not buy anymore unless it's necessary (fruits, veggies, milk, bread). I've also gotten creative at trying to use up stuff but it's a slow process. Chipping away at it....

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1881 on: November 05, 2017, 12:54:01 PM »
Haven't yet hit on any uses for a couple of jars of peanut butter and almond butter. My culinary experience doesn't include much other than desserts with nut butter, and I don't feel the desire or need for much in the way of desserts right now.

Is it a good quality, natural peanut butter?

We use that in satay sauce.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/peanut-satay-sauce/633f6592-a818-4f7d-acd9-bd6577a44dd6

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1882 on: November 05, 2017, 06:51:56 PM »
Yep, seconded for satay sauce. You can get rid of loads that way but it might be a bit weird if it has added sugar or sweetener. I put my dogs tablets in it too, if that helps, ha ha.

Almond butter would be nice in a cake filling or like muffin icing maybe? With sugar added.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1883 on: November 05, 2017, 06:57:34 PM »
Used up some frozen chicken breast and a jar of salsa yesterday (that should be enough of a hint of what I made).

It's unseasonably cold in Sydney at the moment so it was quite nice to have the slow cooker on yesterday.

Fresh Bread

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1884 on: November 05, 2017, 07:45:06 PM »
I'm inspired to make this now:

http://www.slowcookercentral.com/recipe/satay-chicken/

I will add carrot & green beans and serve with rice and chopped spring onion. I'll probably also add cucumber as I have a v tired one in the fridge that's got to go.

Does anyone else find it strange when slow cooker recipes don't include veg? As in, you're using a slow cooker therefore you're probably trying to save time so aren't going to want to separately cook veg.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1885 on: November 05, 2017, 08:37:00 PM »
For the peanut butter, apple slices with PB or almond butter make a good snack.

Pretty happy with how I'm doing over here.  I have a bunch of pear sauce I canned last year, so I looked up a recipe for apple sauce bread and used the pear sauce in it, as well as a small jar of a mixed fruit compote I canned, rather than the raisins the recipe called for.  Looking forward to eating it toasted with lots of butter in the morning.

Yesterday I made a sort of polenta pie for dinner with lots of baked-down slices of the tomatoes that are in various stages of ripening to near decay.  Today I baked down two more sheets of them, and have more to go tomorrow.  They'll probably go into a tomato jam, or just be pureed and used in lieu of tomato paste this winter.  Lots of them have gone beyond salvage, but the ones I have been able to save have really delicious flavor after a couple hours in a low oven.  The polenta pie also used up some olives that were hiding at the back of the fridge, and a container of corn stock leftover from making a corn chowder this summer (stock from corn cobs is amazing, y'all, I never knew!).

Chicken stock was made in the Instant Pot - part went towards the polenta, and the rest was cooked down and frozen into ice cubes.  We actually bought chicken stock for the first time in a few years during our last Costco run, and I'd forgotten how inferior and overly salty it is.

Finally got it together to start a new batch of kimchi today as well before the Napa cabbage I bought went off.

There is still So Much Rice.  And also some tofu that is starting to edge up on its use by date, so this week I'll probably do a crispy tofu with red cabbage and some pork fried rice.

Slowly eating up soups I canned last year for work lunches (I went overboard on the canning last year, I realize now).

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1886 on: November 06, 2017, 01:29:04 PM »
Apples slices with peanut butter are great! As kids we snacked on them often, don't know why it didn't occur to me. And it works well now, as I have a lot of apples on hand, some donated by an acquaintance with a tree in her yard, others from a wild apple tree.

Peanut butter and almond are pure and organic, no added sugar or oils. Satay sauce sounds like a good idea, I'll try it out.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1887 on: November 06, 2017, 01:36:22 PM »
PJ, I'm the same way about not wanting to waste food.  Thank goodness there's such a thing as freezing and thawing leftovers, whenever possible.  :)

Wastage avoided!

I sent one container of soup home with someone at our Thursday evening meeting. My brother is pet sitting for me part of this weekend, and when I left the house, he was eating one serving of soup. If he doesn't finish it tomorrow, at least there'll only be one serving left for me to finish Sunday night.

The second half of the bag of salad, on the other hand, was too far gone.  For me, at least. The dog happily wolfed it down!

Nice job!  (high fives)

Mustachepun, that dipping sauce sounds delish!

BikeLover, I'm a schmear it on celery or make cookies with peanut/almond butter gal....  And count me in with the satay crowd.

It's nearing the end of my monthly grocery shop cycle, so it's time to get creative.  From the freezer, we're having leftover steak from an August camping trip tonight, leftover zucchini Alfredo tomorrow night, and from pantry canned items, white bean tuna chili Wednesday.  Leftovers it is Thursday.  ;)

Friday after work I took advantage of our grocer's Buy 10 get, $5 off and stocked up on canned veggies and tomatoes at .49 cents each.  For some reason, probably because we're a good 20 minutes from the nearest store even in good weather, I like to have a full pantry before winter hits, just in case.

ETA:  Out of curiosity, I looked up scallion recipes since we have several leftover from our Halloween party and found this:  https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Bacon-Wrapped-Scallions  It will be perfect to use them up as well as the few pieces of leftover, uncooked bacon.  I love this thread....
« Last Edit: November 06, 2017, 01:51:09 PM by MountainGal »

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1888 on: November 07, 2017, 10:10:09 AM »
Here are the things I'm actively trying to use down from my pantry/freezer:
-A giant jar of green olives
-28 breakfast sandwiches. The egg filling is fine, but apparently the english muffins are super soggy. I'll need to break them apart, and perhaps come up with another solution for both. I'm fine to eat the egg filling on its own.
-A huge bag of stuffing. I'll definitely use some for Thanksgiving, and then maybe make the rest & freeze? Can you freeze prepared stuffing? Google appears to think so. May prep all of it at Thanksgiving, and then pull out in smaller batches as needed.
-A bag of potatoes that are starting to turn. I'll likely make homemade fries (baked), & potentially mashed potatoes.
-A giant bag of pine nuts.

I have two different dips (hummus & a similar one). I'm thinking we should freeze in smaller quantities moving forward, as I'm ever trying to use it up before it goes bad. Do you freeze hummus? Does it change the texture?

Thanks to this thread, I used up most of my cashews & almonds by making butters, and the kids love them! I ran out of peanut butter, so this is a win/win.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1889 on: November 07, 2017, 12:39:23 PM »
MaybeBaby, can the English muffins be toasted back to life?  Re: the pine nuts, I would make pesto.  Nom nom....

Last night's bacon wrapped scallions were a hit!  I placed them on top of the leftover steak before serving.  Shoulda used the leftover blue cheese crumbles as well, lol....

I made these last night resulting in 6 biscuits for last night through Wednesday's suppers:  http://www.uplateanyway.com/keto/almond-flour-biscuits/

Tomorrow night I'm going to bake a few tortillas into bowls and serve our chili inside them.

Similar to MaybeBaby, our Russet potatoes are about to turn, so I'll make fries and mashed potatoes this weekend.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1890 on: November 07, 2017, 02:31:40 PM »
MaybeBaby, can the English muffins be toasted back to life?  Re: the pine nuts, I would make pesto.  Nom nom....


That's kind of where my head is at. Separate the egg part out, eat those solo. Toast up the english muffins. I did try toasting & reassembling, but I think the moisture from the eggs + the already soggy english muffin didn't work well. Or, my 11 year old, non-picky eater totally vetoed it. I need to figure something out where I can hide them. On the other hand, I made freezer breakfast burritos, and he ate all of them in record time, so some wins were had.

For pesto, I have basil & pine nuts, but the other ingredients are so pricey, so I always hesitate to make a big batch. But, maybe I should, as the basil plant is likely on its last legs in the yard.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1891 on: November 08, 2017, 01:13:23 PM »
MaybeBaby, can the English muffins be toasted back to life?  Re: the pine nuts, I would make pesto.  Nom nom....


That's kind of where my head is at. Separate the egg part out, eat those solo. Toast up the english muffins. I did try toasting & reassembling, but I think the moisture from the eggs + the already soggy english muffin didn't work well. Or, my 11 year old, non-picky eater totally vetoed it. I need to figure something out where I can hide them. On the other hand, I made freezer breakfast burritos, and he ate all of them in record time, so some wins were had.

For pesto, I have basil & pine nuts, but the other ingredients are so pricey, so I always hesitate to make a big batch. But, maybe I should, as the basil plant is likely on its last legs in the yard.

Maybe the birds would like the muffins, LOL.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1892 on: November 08, 2017, 03:11:55 PM »
Hummus freezes really well.  Or should I say, it thaws out well and tastes good after freezing.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1893 on: November 08, 2017, 06:17:50 PM »
Awesome news on the hummus. Will definitely separate out the bigger tubs & freeze. I prefer to make my own, but occasionally we run out of time & buy it at Costco.

And yes, the muffins may only be bird food at this point! Or, perhaps toasted & blitzed as bread crumbs. :-)

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1894 on: November 08, 2017, 10:01:27 PM »
I support the suggestion to use peanut butter to make sauce. I've done a simple one with melted peanut butter, soy sauce, and some cilantro lime dressing, tossed with ramen noodles and sauteed veggies.  Also, peanut butter bread is very nice. I've made a quick bread type loaf, and also a yeast bread, in the bread machine.

I'm not making a lot of progress on eating down socks, because they sent me a lot of food from work this week. But I'm trying not to let stuff go to waste, at least, and using odds and ends on the dog's food I'm hoping to cross an item or two off the list soon.

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1895 on: November 08, 2017, 10:45:27 PM »
I'm not making a lot of progress on eating down socks

You know... it's possible to take the concept of minimizing waste a little TOO far.

PJ

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1896 on: November 08, 2017, 11:31:15 PM »
I'm not making a lot of progress on eating down socks

You know... it's possible to take the concept of minimizing waste a little TOO far.

NO EXCUSES!

(Oops, wrong thread!)

Seriously though, now you get to hear my rant about autocorrect and predictive text.  It's a good thing. Except for when it changes appropriate and correctly spelt words for less appropriate correctly spelt words!  Like, for example, my phone wanted to change predictive to productive. Why??? But then I can completely misspell a word, and it doesn’t know what to do.  For example, I can type drrsses and it doesn't know enough to suggest dresses instead. In fact, it just tried to change dresses into drrsses, which gave me a chuckle. Or gave me a chickpeas, if my phone had had its way just now. (*sigh*)

So yeah. I guess when people are talking about "eating down"  followed by a word that starts with s and ends with ocks, it must be far more common or logical for that word to be socks, than stocks. (*loud eyeroll*)

(*insert GIF of crochety old lady shaking fist at technology *)

zee dot

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1897 on: November 09, 2017, 07:58:35 AM »
Last night I used a can of salmon and a can of black beans to make black bean salmon burgers.  Baby steps!
Have plenty of cans of both left so would love some recipe ideas!

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1898 on: November 09, 2017, 03:48:36 PM »
I'm not making a lot of progress on eating down socks

You know... it's possible to take the concept of minimizing waste a little TOO far.

Hehehehehehehehehe.

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #1899 on: November 09, 2017, 03:58:51 PM »
Seriously though, now you get to hear my rant about autocorrect and predictive text. 

I have no idea what your man, autocorrect is a fantastic intercom. I don't know what I would do without is most helpful circus to my text. Technology week face is all.

(This post is brought to you by Swype and autocorrect)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!