Author Topic: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2  (Read 1186012 times)

Tris Prior

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2600 on: January 18, 2020, 01:47:32 PM »


I was going to suggest grinding them up and using them in a spaghetti sauce or chili, but if they have bad flavor I'd pitch them. Why waste the other ingredients on a concoction that is yucky? Sometimes you win experiments and sometimes you don't. Don't buy them again, obviously.

I'm a big believer in using up leftovers in creative ways, but if an ingredient tastes yucky out it goes. Same reason I won't cook with wine I won't drink on its own.

Yeah, Aldi was out of vegan sausage (which is surprisingly good)  so I went to Whole Foods and HOLY SHIT the fake meat is expensive there. Most of the vegan sausage was $7 or $8 per package, this was $4. I guess I know why now? Live and learn.

Oddly, I don't mind cooking with mediocre wine. I guess maybe because most of my recipes that call for wine call for white, and I don't usually drink white anyway?

seemsright

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2601 on: January 18, 2020, 06:45:06 PM »
After some creative combining I can say I do not have to go to the store this week.

We are going to have things like Barley salad, homemade ravioli, and some tacos. All great food and will help me use up the random in my house.

Noodle

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2602 on: January 19, 2020, 12:47:04 PM »
Got all the bits and bobs of snacky stuff out of the house with a batch of snack mix. I got into a phase this fall of trying out different snack mix recipes (basically daisy-chaining recipes...try one recipe, have leftover ingredients. Make another recipe to use those ingredients, have leftovers of the ingredients I bought for the new recipe. Continue in an infinite loop.) However in the process, I found the Uber Recipe, which I share now in hopes of helping others use up their bits.

Melt one stick of butter in a melt-friendly container. I put it in a giant Pyrex bowl in the microwave, but you do you. Mix in about 3 tablespoons of zingy spices. The classic Chex Mix recipe is 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, half a tablespoon seasoned salt, half a tablespoon of garlic and onion powder combined, but use whatever you've got around. There should be salt involved, especially if you're using a lot of non-salted components like cereal. Come up with 8-12 cups of crunchy things. Unsweetened cereal (Chex or Cheerios), pretzels, cheese crackers, nuts, crushed tortilla chips, bagel chips, chow mein noodles, sesame sticks, etc. etc. etc. Toss the crunchies in the melted butter (thus why I use the giant bowl.) Now cook the butter-covered crunchies, stirring every so often. 6 minutes in the microwave works, stirring every two minutes. Or an hour in the oven at 200 degrees, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Or I think you can use the slow cooker somehow. Cool and eat.

Also made an oatmeal smoothie for lunch that cleared out some random fruit.

SailingOnASmallSailboat

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2603 on: January 19, 2020, 02:51:26 PM »
Had 2 kinds of leftover pasta and a few odds and ends from pizza night the other night (including both red and white sauce). Layered them into a "kitchen sink casserole" topped with 2 cheese sticks that have been in the cheese drawer for a REALLY LONG TIME (kids are both in college . . .). Will bake for 30 minutes and eat like a less cheesy, less sauce-y lasagna. Used up cream cheese as well as tablespoons of this and that.

One of my favorite go-tos for using up stuff.

Monerexia

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2604 on: January 19, 2020, 03:03:49 PM »
Interesting! I actually had this idea on my own a couple weeks ago when I discovered a case of soup that was about to go beyond expiration date. Ate 2-3 cans/day for a bit and thought I should go through all the canned goods and freezer stuff before putting anything else in there. Have eaten corn and tuna together in a bowl a bit, other things like that.

SunnyDays

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2605 on: January 19, 2020, 08:34:33 PM »
Found some old cans of Herbalife powdered soup mixture (16 ounces, makes 21 cups of soup ) , and Slimwell Balanced Meal SHake.  No date on the Herbalife.  Best by Feb, 2004 on the SLimwell.        Guess I'll try them both and see how they taste. Some are unopened. May try to sell the unopened ones  at a  flea market.   


No No No No .............  That's taking frugality too far.  Throw them out!


SunnyDays,

I  appreciate your response, but why? Do you think they might be harmful to consume due to being old?   

SunnyDays

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2606 on: January 19, 2020, 08:39:05 PM »
(See above.). Yes exactly.  16 year old food just can’t be good for you!

slackmax

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2607 on: January 20, 2020, 08:07:47 AM »
(See above.). Yes exactly.  16 year old food just can’t be good for you!

I'm such a frugalist, this is really freaking me out. I can't find any definitive answer by searching the net. I guess I'll have to throw them out (the powdered shakes and Herbalife).   Better safe than sorry, right?

On the other hand.... did I mention the undated can of organic rye and organic brown rice cereal?  I've eaten three small bowls of that and so far so good! I boil it for 5 minutes before eating it.
 

SunnyDays

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2608 on: January 20, 2020, 10:46:06 AM »
(See above.). Yes exactly.  16 year old food just can’t be good for you!

I'm such a frugalist, this is really freaking me out. I can't find any definitive answer by searching the net. I guess I'll have to throw them out (the powdered shakes and Herbalife).   Better safe than sorry, right?

On the other hand.... did I mention the undated can of organic rye and organic brown rice cereal?  I've eaten three small bowls of that and so far so good! I boil it for 5 minutes before eating it.
 

Anything that truly has NO date is really old, because dating food has been occurring for a long time.  Some items have codes, which are almost impossible to decipher, because the code formula differs from one manufacturer to the next.  I actually called a company, I think it was Maple Leaf, to ask about a canned ham that had a code on it.  Turns out it was from 2014, but the rep said it was actually still good for 2 years after that because they're conservative with the dating.  It was 2018, so I threw it out.  I've had food poisoning before, so now I don't take chances.  I've never been so sick.  And even if you don't get sick, there can't be much nutritional value left after all that time.  You deserve better!

Luz

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2609 on: January 20, 2020, 08:32:31 PM »
I'm joining this challenge! I'll start with clearing out the pantry, fridge, and freezer. But my real focus is to deal with the upstream issues related to bringing more food into the house than we (my partner, toddler, and I +baby on the way) are able to consume.

I usually shop at Sprouts and Costco (and sometimes Fry's). This week I didn't have time to stop by Costco after Sprouts and I spent so much less than usual (I just bought a week's worth quantity from Sprouts). Sure, I bought a bag of 30 tortillas at Sprouts for the same price that I buy over 100 of them at Costco, but I'm guessing that we will waste much less food than usual. And I'm questioning whether we're actually coming out ahead by buying such large quantities.

I am taking a trip at the end of February. Between now and then, I'll clear out our coffers and shop for only what we can eat in a week (price per unit be damned). I'll be interested to see what comes of it.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2610 on: January 25, 2020, 02:38:48 PM »
Lately:

~A can of enchilada sauce from last year, a can of sliced olives my sister left at Christmas, and a pound of ground pork went into a pan of enchiladas.
~A pound of ground beef and chopped portobello mushrooms made burgers
~Horseradish leftover from ? will be used with beef tomorrow
~Sometime next week I'll top something pork related with a jar of homemade apricot jam and slow cook it in the Crock Pot

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2611 on: January 26, 2020, 10:39:44 AM »
Recently:
-Used the last of sushi rice in a chicken stir fry recipe
-Finished off the peanut butter making protein balls
-Used up 2 bananas from the freezer (and one very overripe one in the fruit bowl) to make chocolate chip banana bread.
-Used up the dregs of a bag of white chocolate chips to go in the bread
-Defrosted very discounted Italian sausage to use in eggroll in a bowl tonight
-Used up the dry Lipton chicken noodle soup mix. Everyone has been sick
-And cleared out the Trader Joes red pepper tomato soup. Same as above
-Made the kids two frozen mini pizzas for lunch. Those drop to the bottom of the freezer, and the kids are too lazy to fish them out & wait for them to bake. However, when mom is in charge... :-)

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2612 on: January 27, 2020, 02:45:59 PM »
~I remembered the horseradish was from last year's Halloween party next day Bloody Mary's.  ;)  DH toned it down last night w/ a bit of mayo.
~The apricot jam is in the Crock Pot with a rack of ribs today.   I also used some cream honey (bought last fall on impulse, and do NOT recommend) in lieu of brown sugar, and 3 chipotles in adobo sauce.  We'll see.
~Wed I'll use one pound each ground pork and beef in blue cheese burgers.
~Strawberries frozen last summer were thawed to use in yogurt.
~I remember next weekend I'll bake flax seed muffins which will use up some of the flax seed.

Oh, and 2 cans Chef Boyardee products purchased during possible wildfire bug out season two summers ago will be dropped off at our neighbor's with children house.  The 3rd can is months past it's expiration date and was tossed.

I organized the back pantry canned items, and took inventory for our next Sam's Club run.  We live 20 minutes from the nearest store, so it's ideal to have things in stock.


ETA:  Welcome to the thread, @Luz !!

NotJen

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2613 on: January 27, 2020, 05:21:47 PM »
Still doing well eating through the freezer!  I am down to just a few servings of leftover meals, and soon it will be time to tackle the lower basket with random frozen fruits and vegetables.  I'm pulling things out every once in a while, but it hasn't made a big dent yet.  I did used two cups of frozen beans and a decent number of frozen tomatoes.

I resisted the urge to go shopping this weekend (ran out of fruit on Sat and greens and milk on Sun), and held out until today.  For breakfast, instead of overnight oats, I had a sweet potato, topped with half a banana I found in the freezer (I remember sticking it in there right before leaving town for the holidays) and butter/sugar/cinnamon.  I usually go for savory on my sweet potatoes, so it was a nice treat!

I had the potato left from trying a sweet potato stuffed with tuna.  I was not a fan of the flavor combination, so I ate the rest of the tuna mix on top of my remaining greens yesterday.  I bought the can of tuna last week, so I was happy to actually eat it instead of letting it sit in the pantry!

For dinner tonight I made a butternut squash pasta dish, using one of the 2 remaining squash from my CSA last fall and some discount pasta in the pantry.  I never eat pasta, but bought some from the 50% off table at the grocery store on impulse, so it was nice to get this out of the pantry.  There is still another kind of pasta for when the urge strikes to try something else.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2614 on: January 28, 2020, 10:34:04 AM »
-Husband ate the last of the pomegranate seeds that no one else would touch (we all love them, but this batch was not terribly fresh & just tasted like mush).
-Finished a bag of chicken (freezer)
-Started eating down frozen eggrolls. Back is now 2/3 full.

expatartist

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2615 on: January 29, 2020, 05:46:06 AM »
Happy to run across this thread again! Lately I've been looking at my kitchen shelves full of so many misc dried goods - especially different kinds of rice - and it's time to clear them out. Fridge is full of organic eggs and remaining chunks of cheeses brought back from recent travels. I tend to bring back lots of food items from holiday and they don't always combine naturally so I'll focus on those too.

So I'll do a personal challenge of "eating off the shelves" for the next 30 days. The only exceptions will be fresh fruit and veg (fresh tofu can count as a veg and costs almost nothing) Oh - and if our city goes into full crisis mode due to coronavirus!

Tonight's soup was 100% off the shelves:
* 2 servings dried noodles unused from recent hotpot dinner
* 2 organic eggs from the USA
* dried mushrooms from the Vietnamese shop downstairs
* chunks dried purple Thai seaweed (souvenir)
* local soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and powdered ginger

Was delicious but will cut down on the salt next time, and use fewer mushrooms to extend them.

Serendip

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2616 on: February 02, 2020, 07:49:17 PM »
I am inspired by this thread for February!
We spent SO much money on food in January..and have a lot of dried goods & teas that need to used up.

Tonight I made a fantastic vegan tofu masala and tomorrow will do some baking/cooking with things I have in the house. Time to buckle down.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2617 on: February 02, 2020, 08:04:08 PM »
I have a bunch of items on my "get rid of" list, between the freezer & pantry, & I've made a bit of progress. I used a jar of homemade frozen pesto from a few seasons back in a chicken dish last night. I need to research a few options for various chutneys that I've received as gifts and figure out a way to use them. I also used up the last of a dip (they tend to get pushed back in the fridge & the last scoop or so goes bad) for the Superbowl, & we continue to make a dent in our freezer/fridge stash.

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2618 on: February 04, 2020, 02:22:50 PM »
~Blueberries, blackberries, and baby spinach went into a smoothie
~Pork rinds were eaten up during the Super Bowl
~A few Halo Top ice cream bars have been in the freezer for months now, focusing on eating them up
~Used a pound of pork sausage in gravy last weekend
~2 cans Rotel and one can diced chiles were added to chicken breasts in yesterday's Crock Pot meal

Twice now I've purchased portobello mushrooms and haven't cooked them up quickly enough so they had to be tossed.  I need to watch that.

NotJen

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2619 on: February 04, 2020, 06:07:26 PM »
I've started making cocktails from the bottle of liquor I brought back from Peru in 2016.  What a hardship!

Serendip

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2620 on: February 04, 2020, 06:36:28 PM »
I've started making cocktails from the bottle of liquor I brought back from Peru in 2016.  What a hardship!

Ha--Way to go @NotJen :)

Found some pineapple in the freezer so made a morning smoothie with that (as well as one mango about to go off, some dried coconut, ginger and a few handfuls of spinach from the fridge).

Making some lentil meatballs for dinner with linguini..cooked some dried lentils to use in them and also used sundried tomatoes, flaxseed, herbs & breadcrumbs from the pantry.

Dollar Slice

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2621 on: February 04, 2020, 08:30:04 PM »
I've started making cocktails from the bottle of liquor I brought back from Peru in 2016.  What a hardship!

Nice job. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the limoncello someone gave me a few years back.

SailingOnASmallSailboat

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2622 on: February 05, 2020, 06:21:55 AM »
I've started making cocktails from the bottle of liquor I brought back from Peru in 2016.  What a hardship!

Nice job. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the limoncello someone gave me a few years back.

Might make a nice marinade for chicken or pork or fish.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2623 on: February 05, 2020, 07:33:49 AM »
Used up two bags of leftover pizza that were tucked back into the freezer. They filled in as an impromptu dinner.

Catbert

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2624 on: February 08, 2020, 08:38:07 AM »
I have a bunch of items on my "get rid of" list, between the freezer & pantry, & I've made a bit of progress. I used a jar of homemade frozen pesto from a few seasons back in a chicken dish last night. I need to research a few options for various chutneys that I've received as gifts and figure out a way to use them. I also used up the last of a dip (they tend to get pushed back in the fridge & the last scoop or so goes bad) for the Superbowl, & we continue to make a dent in our freezer/fridge stash.

Chutney:  Over chicken or pork.  (Cooked along with the meat or to be added at the table.)  Use in a tuna or chicken salad.  (Mixed with mayo or thinned with EVOO in a blender.)  Over a block of cream cheese as a dip with crackers. 

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2625 on: February 08, 2020, 08:57:38 AM »
Thanks, @Catbert ! I will give those a try. Both chutneys look really good, but I was at a mental block on how to use them.

We've made progress on the mini pizzas I found lurking (they slip below bigger items in the freezer), so those are dwindling.

My husband & I went out to dinner for my birthday last night, and he brought home ribs, knowing our 14 year old loved them. They didn't even make their way into the fridge. 14 yo sees leftover box, grabs out of his hands, sits down & plows through an enormous pile of ribs... so, I suppose that's another win. Leftovers are eaten before they even get to the fridge!

Serendip

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2626 on: February 09, 2020, 11:22:57 AM »
It's my turn to make dinner so I'm going for doing this recipe with things I have in the house so that I don't have to go shopping and can use some things up!
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-braised-coconut-spinach-chickpeas-with-lemon-recipes-from-the-kitchn-164551

I am making coconut milk from dried coconut,  will use frozen kale instead of spinach, we have chickpeas and sun-dried tomatoes in the pantry and can eat it over rice instead of sweet potato. The one thing I don't have is ginger..but will see what I can dig up :)

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2627 on: February 10, 2020, 02:33:52 PM »
Happy birthday, @MaybeBabyMustache!!!

~~~~~~~~~~
~The last of the berries frozen during season last year went into smoothies yesterday, along with a can of coconut milk and baby spinach
~Leftover chicken breast made a nice pizza topping Saturday night
~Used up the granulated sugar and another can of coconut milk in blueberry muffins
~Currently eating leftover steak on top of a bed of baby spinach

I'm really appreciating the fact we stocked up on coconut milk last year.  It's nice to have around, is shelf sustainable, and is really tasty in recipes.

dividend

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2628 on: February 11, 2020, 10:36:52 AM »
Here's what I have managed to accomplish this month :
Turkey noodle soup - I was sick, so I used a quart of frozen turkey stock, frozen chopped turkey, even some frozen mirepoix, and the last a bag of gemelli pasta.  All I had to do was chop fresh garlic. 
Banana bread - old sad bananas, baking supplies, most of a packet of walnuts
Cowboy caviar - used some dried blackeyed peas and black beans, frozen corn, and a rescued bunch of cilantro about to go wilty.  This made a great, healthyish snack while watching my Chiefs win the Super Bowl!
https://www.giovanniranausa.com/recipes/cheese-lovers-tortelloni-stuffing-with-bacon.html - the last of the Costco sized packet of cheese tortellini.  This was delicious!
Pasta with Cabbage and Salumi - the last of a pack of bucatini, part of a large cabbage in the crisper, a pack of frozen charcuterie from some dinner party
Plus, used several frozen chicken breasts that I grilled and froze last fall for quesadillas, and as protein for a batch of Charro Beans, which used some dried beans, and some old beer.

Here's what I'm still trying to figure out the best use for, so suggestions welcome :
  • 8 cans of coconut milk
  • Black bean garlic sauce - from the Asian market, expires soon!
  • BBQ sauce - several local kinds (spicy, and apple flavored) + a King's Hawaiian
  • Dried cherries
  • Lots of 5 Grain Hot Cereal (Bob's Red Mill) - I have a great granola recipe but it takes me a couple months to eat through it!
  • Jams, jellies, relishes, chutneys and marmalades - ranging from sweet to savory to spicy
  • A Costco sized container or dried shiitake mushrooms
  • Various gravy/seasoning packets - brown, chicken, turkey, and Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Chinese BBQ char sui mix, envelopes of Sazon Goya
  • Tons of different kinds of pastas and canned tomato products!
I also have an incredibly well stocked spice cabinet, oils, vinegars, garlic/onions, etc., plus great stash of dried beans of all kinds.  The problem is I've eaten a lot of the meat from the freezer.  I'm down to bacon, chicken thighs, Mexican and Spanish chorizo, a ham bone, a little bit of ground Italian sausage some lamb shoulder cubes I'm avoiding because they were cut with bones in them, pancetta, miscellaneous salami, meatballs, and 2 tilapia filets, plus already grilled brats and kielbasa.  No real easy chunks for a crockpot creation left.  I'm really looking to minimize grocery shopping, because I have so much food in my house, and I've been trying to eat it down before March, when my husband and I do our annual Pescetarian month. 

SailingOnASmallSailboat

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2629 on: February 11, 2020, 03:31:06 PM »

Here's what I'm still trying to figure out the best use for, so suggestions welcome :
  • 8 cans of coconut milk
- Thai curry. Indian curry made with coconut milk. Add to smoothies. Make coconut ice cream.
  • Black bean garlic sauce - from the Asian market, expires soon!
This stuff is so salty I'd ignore the expiration date by at least a couple of years.
  • BBQ sauce - several local kinds (spicy, and apple flavored) + a King's Hawaiian
Are they all open?
  • Dried cherries
Make hot cereal for breakfast and add these cherries! (Or add the cherries to the granola!)
  • Lots of 5 Grain Hot Cereal (Bob's Red Mill) - I have a great granola recipe but it takes me a couple months to eat through it!
Bread? Hot cereal?
  • Jams, jellies, relishes, chutneys and marmalades - ranging from sweet to savory to spicy
Are they all open? If not, they'll last a long time (close to forever). Just put a moratorium on buying more.
  • A Costco sized container or dried shiitake mushrooms
  • Various gravy/seasoning packets - brown, chicken, turkey, and Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Chinese BBQ char sui mix, envelopes of Sazon Goya
  • Tons of different kinds of pastas and canned tomato products!
Pasta sauce with those shiitake mushrooms!
[/list]
I also have an incredibly well stocked spice cabinet, oils, vinegars, garlic/onions, etc., plus great stash of dried beans of all kinds.  The problem is I've eaten a lot of the meat from the freezer.  I'm down to bacon, chicken thighs, Mexican and Spanish chorizo, a ham bone (split pea soup), a little bit of ground Italian sausage (pasta sauce with those shiitake mushrooms and this sausage!) some lamb shoulder cubes I'm avoiding because they were cut with bones in them, pancetta, miscellaneous salami (lasts forever, makes a great "nibble dinner", adds spice to any pasta dish), meatballs, and 2 tilapia filets, plus already grilled brats and kielbasa.  No real easy chunks for a crockpot creation left.  (what about crockpot bean creations?) I'm really looking to minimize grocery shopping, because I have so much food in my house, and I've been trying to eat it down before March, when my husband and I do our annual Pescetarian month.

seemsright

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2630 on: February 11, 2020, 08:05:48 PM »
Here's what I have managed to accomplish this month :
Turkey noodle soup - I was sick, so I used a quart of frozen turkey stock, frozen chopped turkey, even some frozen mirepoix, and the last a bag of gemelli pasta.  All I had to do was chop fresh garlic. 
Banana bread - old sad bananas, baking supplies, most of a packet of walnuts
Cowboy caviar - used some dried blackeyed peas and black beans, frozen corn, and a rescued bunch of cilantro about to go wilty.  This made a great, healthyish snack while watching my Chiefs win the Super Bowl!
https://www.giovanniranausa.com/recipes/cheese-lovers-tortelloni-stuffing-with-bacon.html - the last of the Costco sized packet of cheese tortellini.  This was delicious!
Pasta with Cabbage and Salumi - the last of a pack of bucatini, part of a large cabbage in the crisper, a pack of frozen charcuterie from some dinner party
Plus, used several frozen chicken breasts that I grilled and froze last fall for quesadillas, and as protein for a batch of Charro Beans, which used some dried beans, and some old beer.

Here's what I'm still trying to figure out the best use for, so suggestions welcome :
  • 8 cans of coconut milk
  • Black bean garlic sauce - from the Asian market, expires soon!
  • BBQ sauce - several local kinds (spicy, and apple flavored) + a King's Hawaiian
  • Dried cherries
  • Lots of 5 Grain Hot Cereal (Bob's Red Mill) - I have a great granola recipe but it takes me a couple months to eat through it!
  • Jams, jellies, relishes, chutneys and marmalades - ranging from sweet to savory to spicy
  • A Costco sized container or dried shiitake mushrooms
  • Various gravy/seasoning packets - brown, chicken, turkey, and Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Chinese BBQ char sui mix, envelopes of Sazon Goya
  • Tons of different kinds of pastas and canned tomato products!
I also have an incredibly well stocked spice cabinet, oils, vinegars, garlic/onions, etc., plus great stash of dried beans of all kinds.  The problem is I've eaten a lot of the meat from the freezer.  I'm down to bacon, chicken thighs, Mexican and Spanish chorizo, a ham bone, a little bit of ground Italian sausage some lamb shoulder cubes I'm avoiding because they were cut with bones in them, pancetta, miscellaneous salami, meatballs, and 2 tilapia filets, plus already grilled brats and kielbasa.  No real easy chunks for a crockpot creation left.  I'm really looking to minimize grocery shopping, because I have so much food in my house, and I've been trying to eat it down before March, when my husband and I do our annual Pescetarian month.

take your lamb shoulder cubes, some of the dried mushrooms and make a bone broth, add a can of the tomato, some of the black bean paste and eat with some noodles or rice.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2631 on: February 11, 2020, 08:29:09 PM »
Thanks, @MountainGal !

I used up the last of a small container of frozen chicken curry tonight. Ate that after driving the kids around to multiple activities. I also used two frozen mini baguettes to go with the kids dinner.

horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2632 on: February 15, 2020, 09:47:16 AM »
We have some extra stuff that didn't get used up in the weekly meal plan, and I have to travel a couple days next week, so I'm skipping the grocery shop this weekend.  I'd love to make it until next weekend, but will probably grab some vegetables when I get home on Wednesday night.

It's nice being at the middle of the month and well under budget for food.

I'm thinking of roasting broccoli with some butter chicken tomorrow.  Eggroll in a bowl on Monday to use up cabbage.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2633 on: February 15, 2020, 12:56:28 PM »
Heading out on vacation today, so have done the following to reduce waste:
-Frozen leftover carnitas meat
-Made lunch out of the remaining carnitas, a little edamame (last in the container), about 2 tbsp of shredded cheese (last of the bag) & a tomato that needed to be used up. Plus an apple
-Made kids lunch out of frozen mini pizzas that I'm trying to use up, plus cucumber & an apple we need to eat
-Cubed & froze remaining fresh pineapple & melon for future smoothies

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2634 on: February 16, 2020, 08:10:00 PM »
I have about a third of a jar of crunchy natural peanut butter that has dried out and just won't spread.

I bought a jar of smooth peanut butter and I'm using that to help dilute the crunchy stuff and use it up.

slackmax

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2635 on: February 17, 2020, 08:20:15 AM »
Found an old box of hamburger helper (do they still sell that?) Beef Stroganoff, which I will use up soon.

Alsop, found a package of Pillsbury chocolate cake mix. I followed the directions and baked myself a cake which turned out to be pretty blah, actually. Too dense and wet. Will eat it anyway. One less old box cluttering up the cabinet.


horsepoor

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2636 on: February 20, 2020, 11:12:16 AM »
Got home last night and scrabbled together a tasty soup with a bunch of kale, dried tomatoes, the last onion, carrot and some overly salty sausage from the freezer.  Even used up the rest of a small jar of carrot top pesto and a parm rind.  A partial cabbage was turned into pickleback slaw with extra pickle juice for my lunches today and tomorrow.  The produce drawers are entirely empty save a bunch of green onions.  Will pick up some salad to get us through to the wekend, then clean out the fridge and do a regular shop.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2637 on: February 23, 2020, 03:35:35 PM »
Used up pineapple & bananas from the freezer to make muffins. Tossed in a handful of dried cherries that had been lingering in the pantry forever. I should have diced the pineapple more finely. I'd assumed the mixer would make quick work of it. Nope, so the bigger chunks dropped to the bottom, making the bottoms drop out of some of the muffins. Taste was good, however, so I'll try it again.

I also made egg roll in a bowl yesterday, using a very discounted package of sausage ($.50 for a lb, I think) & served it with actual egg rolls, for those who eat carbs. So meta. The egg rolls have been on my freezer hit list for a while, as no one really loved them. They were pretty bland. However, the sauce from the egg roll in a bowl made for a nice dipping option for the actual egg rolls. Success!

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2638 on: February 23, 2020, 03:43:25 PM »
Making sweet potato/black bean burritos for dinner, with a cashew cream/avocado/cilantro sauce to drizzle over it. Used up the last can of black beans, the sweet potatoes, the half an onion, and made a dent in the cashew supply. It's a combination of this thread and the "what's for dinner" thread!

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2639 on: February 24, 2020, 11:01:33 AM »
Continuing to utilize the locally raised beef we went in on with a friend last year:

~Last night DH used the flank steak by marinading and BBQing it into carne asada.  Yum!
~A beef roast is currently in the cock pot along with turnips, baby carrots, the last box of broth and 2nd to last can of tomato paste.
~Tomorrow we'll have tacos which will use up a pound each of the beef, and of the locally raised pig we went halves on with the same friend.

Continuing to make sure we eat the fresh produce on hand before frozen or canned.  Doing an excellent job avoiding food waste.

SquashingDebt

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2640 on: March 14, 2020, 08:52:06 AM »
Is anyone else feeling very conflicted between trying to eat down their pantry and keeping food on hand for potential self-quarantines?  My wanting to be prepared side is definitely winning out - I've spent a ridiculous amount at the grocery store over the last week.  To be fair, a lot of that is replenishing pantry staples that I had been planning to restock after my 3-week vacation (which has now been cancelled) - I had been totally out of maple syrup, honey, flax seed, olive oil, etc.

I am, at least, sticking to mostly just buying a little extra of the things I use every day - dairy and fruit mostly (lots of veggies in the freezer) and will definitely use up soon.

okisok

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2641 on: March 15, 2020, 07:02:17 PM »
I'm really glad that I found this thread a few weeks ago. I've read through the whole thing, and it really inspired me to get to new lows with the grocery bill. It was great timing, because I got a lot of random crap out that was filling up my pantry. When I did a big grocery shop in case of quarantine, I knew exactly what I had on hand and what I needed to get. My shelves weren't stocked with freezer burnt meat, expired canned goods, and foods I don't like. This thread really inspired me with creative recipe ideas and reminded me of creative meals I've made in the past.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2642 on: March 15, 2020, 07:55:10 PM »
Is anyone else feeling very conflicted between trying to eat down their pantry and keeping food on hand for potential self-quarantines?  My wanting to be prepared side is definitely winning out - I've spent a ridiculous amount at the grocery store over the last week.  To be fair, a lot of that is replenishing pantry staples that I had been planning to restock after my 3-week vacation (which has now been cancelled) - I had been totally out of maple syrup, honey, flax seed, olive oil, etc.

I am, at least, sticking to mostly just buying a little extra of the things I use every day - dairy and fruit mostly (lots of veggies in the freezer) and will definitely use up soon.

Definitely this. I'm focused on using up the one off, random things. While creating freezer space for the stuff we use regularly. Not really focused at this point on eating down the pantry and fridge, because we may want/need to avoid shopping for a bit.

SquashingDebt

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2643 on: March 16, 2020, 04:18:46 PM »
@MaybeBabyMustache I like that idea for a focus - I do have some random odds and ends that have been around too long.  Then I can focus on just maintaining a stock of the basics. 

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2644 on: March 16, 2020, 04:27:47 PM »
@SquashingDebt - we are now in a "shelter in place" required advisory for the bay area, so definitely don't plan to eat through our stores. But, maybe this will give us an opportunity to work through some of our less standard ingredients... Looking for those bright sides. :-(

Serendip

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2645 on: March 16, 2020, 07:11:51 PM »
@SquashingDebt - we are now in a "shelter in place" required advisory for the bay area, so definitely don't plan to eat through our stores. But, maybe this will give us an opportunity to work through some of our less standard ingredients... Looking for those bright sides. :-(

That's a great attitude @MaybeBabyMustache --I was thinking we also will likely be getting creative with some of our random items..spice mixes, teas, flours that often get overlooked when there are more exciting things to consume :)

MountainGal

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2646 on: March 17, 2020, 01:48:52 PM »
Was out for a week and a half due to medical reasons.  I remember eating smoothies consisting of almond milk, almond butter, cinnamon, lemon juice, and whatever produce we had on hand.  Also:

Made a quesadilla out of leftover chicken breast from low carb chicken and "dumplings" frozen last year.  Yuck.  Just glad I was able to use the chicken and not toss it.

Last week I used a pound ground beef in tacos.  Sunday DH smoked a pork belly which yielded at least 5 servings.

Also used up a can of chicken noodle, green beans, olives and Spam (the latter was purchased in case we had to bug out during the wildfires a few years ago).

Our canned items were very low, so DH and I went to Sam's Club Saturday do do our regular semi-annual stock up.  Yes, the shelves were sparse, but we managed to find almost everything on our list.  We then picked up an order at the grocery store later that day.  Yesterday, I went to Walmart for HBAs and a few other items.  We should be good for at least a month.  Here's to a quick end to this pandemic.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone.

SquashingDebt

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2647 on: March 19, 2020, 09:28:01 AM »
Ok, today is self-quarantine/work from home day 1!  I stocked up on groceries over the past week with the goal of not needing to go back to the store for a least a month.  We'll see how it goes!

I made sure my food inventory spreadsheet is up-to-date and mapped out meal ideas for the next few days.  I also highlighted some items I want to make sure to eat soon - mostly related to potential spoilage.  First up for lunches are the bagels & cream cheese I got from my CSA, then switching over to salads with frozen veggie burgers.  I have cheese curds from my CSA which I'll have for snacks.

I've started maintaining my spreadsheets so that the order of food items is roughly the order I procured them, so it'll be helpful as I try to use up my older ingredients first.

Since I'll have more time to cook (and can use the distraction/reason to move around and not just sit down all day), I think I'll also focus on trying to stock up more frozen meals that I can eat all summer when my work is busy.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2648 on: March 19, 2020, 11:18:06 AM »
I'm not as organized as you, @SquashingDebt , but I do keep a list of items I'm trying to use up, and push those into the menu/meal rotations. We're making progress for sure.

I've planned the menu for the week ahead, so we can determine if we can get by with a small delivery option. I'm planning to use one of the last jars of pesto in my freezer (has been on the "get rid of" list forever. I have also sliced a fancy salami that was supposed to be used for a meat & cheese tray at an event. We aren't going anywhere, and if sliced, my husband will be much more likely to use it up.

Now I need to get the kids to eat the approximately 1 million cheese sticks they insisted we buy a few weeks back at Costco.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Eat All The Food In Your House - Take 2
« Reply #2649 on: March 23, 2020, 04:57:12 PM »
We are doing a good job of managing our leftovers & eating everything on hand. I organized the pantry (inside & in the garage), and have been regularly rotating fridge items to serve for lunch.

Lately:
-We've gone through 1.5 of 2 of the fancy salami we're trying to use up
-The kids finished up cookies the neighbor lady made for us, as a thank you for getting groceries for her. What a hardship, right?
-We used fallen oranges off of the neighbor's tree (fell into our yard) to juice for smoothies
-We used an unknown citrus that grows in our yard, and juiced it over a salad. It's not a grapefruit, a tangerine, or a typical orange/lemon. It's some strange hybrid that's not very good. But, it worked fine.
-We used all of the sardines my husband bought on a whim & then didn't want.
-I ate a tuna pouch, which, let's be honest, I bought thinking about easy food storage during a pandemic, but not because I particularly like it. It was fine, & I'll finish them off.

Thinking that you may not be able to get more food to replace what you have (or, the items you like) & knowing that going out shopping carries risk, definitely encourages you to eat up what you have.