# Pantry Challenge mamas



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

First for anyone who isn't involved in the frugal mamas thread let me explain exactly what a pantry challenge is. Basically we're commiting to eating out of what's already in our pantry for the next month. Some of us are doing it because money is tight, others because they want to finally find creative ways to use up what they have.

Trips to the store for bread, milk, eggs, and fresh produce are ok, but should be kept to a minimum. Before we head to the store we should ask ourselves, "Is there *any* way I can make this myself or make due without it?" Examples of this would be making your own bread, use up dry milk, or substitute a heaping tablespon of soy flour and a tablespoon of water for an egg when baking. You get the idea.

Anyway, now that's out of the way, how is everyone doing so far? What do you think the hardest part of doing this will be? What things do you anticipate *really* needing to go get at the store? Does anyone want to share what they're making today for dinner? Pass a little inspiration on to the rest of us?


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
Anyway, now that's out of the way, how is everyone doing so far? What do you think the hardest part of doing this will be? What things do you anticipate *really* needing to go get at the store? Does anyone want to share what they're making today for dinner? Pass a little inspiration on to the rest of us?









Well, this was my idea so it only seems fair I should start!

So far we're doing fine, but it's only been like 5 days since we went to the store. :LOL

The hardest part for me will just be finding the time to actually cook with a 3 1/2 mo old. Luckily DH comes home each day for lunch, so I've started putting dinner together while he's here to watch dd. Lunches are harder. Today we're having leftovers







We shouldn't need to go to the store for anything except some fresh fruit. Especially bananas since DH is on a diuretic and needs to have 1 a day. We all know how long bananas keep!

Today for dinner we're having venison stew. It's the first time I've made it so we'll see how it comes out. The venison was given to us by a co-worker of DH, and I'm tossing in celery, carrots, onion, and potato. Probably some broth made from bouillon too. Cross your fingers!

Holly


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Count me in, Holly!









Tonight DH and I are eating out the freezer. We're having hamburger-cabbage soup with a side of whole wheat bread smeared with Laughing Cow cheese.

I may or may not have some apples that need to be used up; if so, I will make baked apples with raisins again and freeze them.


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

In my freezer I have a bag of edaname, any suggestions on how to prepare? My brown bananas are going into bread to freeze, kids won't eat them w/ spots at all. Hmmm what is for dinner tonight? A late basketball game for dd so it could get ugly.


----------



## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

I


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Thanks for starting this Holly!

OK, since we are detoxing this week we are doing mainly veggies. But we are using all the canned tuna, canned soups from Trader Joes and Almond Butter- so yummy! I have cleaned out the cabinets and pantry from decluttering (see my discussion on declutter in personal growth). We will go back to living out of the freezer next week or after.

From going thru the pantry I found a few lost souls and pitched them (expired not telling when!) so I know what I will replace soon.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

I am IN!!! What a great idea!!!! I keep shopping all the time and few days later - there is nothing to cook from, but pantry is still full!







:

This is fun thread! And how usefull! GREAT IDEA!


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Greensleeves*
Anyone know what to do with a can of sweet potatoes, besides just heat it up?


We use canned pumpkin in pancakes. It makes them really moist. I'd think sweet potatoes would work as well. You can also substitute them for the bananas in banana bread or stir them into vanilla pudding (sounds wierd but it's actually pretty good). Can you tell we have our own challenges from time to time? :LOL

I remember as a kid, we had a whole shelf in the pantry w/ unlabeled cans, since you can usually get them pretty cheap at our salvage grocery. We would have "mystery dinner" night once a week. We would all pick a can. Sounds sad, but we enjoyed it.

Last night I made pita bread and hummus to have for dinner tonight. I'm going to make falafel, as well (garbanzos were .25 a can a few weeks ago).

This is going to be fun!


----------



## boatbaby (Aug 30, 2004)

I love this!!

I have been trying and trying to this for months. We have leftover provisions from when we went sailing for a year... there are some SCARY things in my pantry
(canned butter from New Zealand!)







:

I'll keep ya posted!


----------



## weebitty2 (Jun 16, 2004)

Holly - if you have it, throw a little sage into the venison stew







(maybe a tsp dried/ground, or 2 leaves) .. it cuts down the game-y taste if you're not used to it.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Greensleeves*
Anyone know what to do with a can of sweet potatoes, besides just heat it up?

You can puree them and make sweet potato pie! I am really lazy so I don't make a crust. I can post the recipe if you're interested. It's insanely easy.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
I remember as a kid, we had a whole shelf in the pantry w/ unlabeled cans, since you can usually get them pretty cheap at our salvage grocery. We would have "mystery dinner" night once a week. We would all pick a can. Sounds sad, but we enjoyed it.

I did this as a kid too and took the tradition to South Dakota when I lived there - commodities are notorious for only having half a stash labled.







:


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
Last night I made pita bread and hummus to have for dinner tonight. I'm going to make falafel, as well (garbanzos were .25 a can a few weeks ago).

This is going to be fun!

that is what we had too!!!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *weebitty2*
Holly - if you have it, throw a little sage into the venison stew







(maybe a tsp dried/ground, or 2 leaves) .. it cuts down the game-y taste if you're not used to it.









It would figure sage is the ONE thing I don't have!







I tossed in some oregano & just a dash each or rosemary & thyme. Plus I added a bunch of garlic. Can you ever go wrong with garlic?







Thanks for the tip though. I'll definitly try it in the future.

Also, I'll have to try the banana thing. It's ridiculous how fast we go through them & how many we end up tossing because they go brown. I'm not freezing any more at the moment because we have so many frozen already. Hmm...sounds like I should plan on banana muffins or bread sometime soon!


----------



## SamI'mNot (Mar 29, 2004)

nak

Mind if I join y'all? DH and I just had our first kiddo together and I'm trying to be a SAHM. I'm used to go shopping once a week... but not anymore. I'm putting on the gloves and face mask, and finding out what hides behind the first row of my cabinets...







: Wish me luck!!!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Great Bannana bread-
This is from a Martha Stewart cookbook- she may be a liar, convicted felon, and
not too smart about trading but she makes the best darn bread ever...

1 stick of unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas- the riper the better
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan or four small pans
With mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well.
Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with the butter mixture. Blend well. Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir well. Pour into pan.
Bake one hour after cake tester comes out clean. Turn onto rack to cool

Everyone I served this to loves it.


----------



## Seeking Refuge (Nov 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
We use canned pumpkin in pancakes. It makes them really moist.

Could you please post a recipe for this. I am really curious about them.

Thanks


----------



## CluckyInAZ (May 4, 2004)

I just took inventory and made a menu for the next couple weeks a few days ago, what a coincidence!

Tonight I had to use up the rest of eggs since they are about to expire so I made chicken (canned) and egg salad sandwiches. There are lots of things in the freezer that we will be eating over the next couple weeks, and in the pantry.

If you have yeast, flour, cheese and some random things to use as toppings, pizza or calzones can easily be made. We made some this week with a jar of pesto I needed to use up and will have some calzones next week with some left over marinara sauce and cremini mushroom stems chopped up in them.

Next week for breakfast, since we wont have any milk or eggs, I am going to make some Japanese breakfast dishes, since I happen to have some stuff lying around. A warm bowl of rice, some natto mixed with vinegar, soy sauce and spicy mustard, and a bowl of miso soup with wakame. Natto is hard to smell, but goes down pretty well. I haven't tried to eat any since I have been pregnant though, so we'll see if I can! :LOL


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mom2radata*
Could you please post a recipe for this. I am really curious about them.

Thanks

I use the just add water pancake mix., w/ 1/4 c extra liquid. To that, I add 1/4 to 1/2c of pumpkin(not pie filling, but plain pumpkin). 1t of vanilla, dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, sometimes ginger. If we have them, I'll add raisins or dried cranberries. If DH makes them, he adds 1/3c of whey protein and adds extra water. We are pretty serious about our pancakes, lol.


----------



## terrarose (Dec 2, 2004)

Hi! Count me in! I havebig bags of brown rice and ryeflour in my cold room. Does anybody have recipes for rice milk and crispbread crackers( like Ryvita or Wasa)? I would really appreciate it!


----------



## Jane (May 15, 2002)

I'm in. Dinner is going to be interesting around here.

I was reading one of the ladies magazines in some dr. office this week (I think). The hint from heloise was that if you wrap bananas individually in plastic wrap, they don't go brown and overripe.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

I am gonna try that banana bread today! Thanks for the recipe!

My problem is that I have mostly only dry products in my pantry, such 8 grain cereal, 5 grain cereal, 7 grain cereal, pasta, flour, lentils, beans, dry fruit, etc.

Also some wet, such past souce, canned tomatos mainly.

We don't eat much meat. and my DH does not wanna have pasta every day KWIM? :LOL I would not mind :LOL

Sometimes I feel like there are only 3 recipes out there... KWIM? I just can't think of anything to cook!

I love to cook, but my imagination is pretty pathetic!

Anyone knows what to do with soft goat cheese? I bought a big stick 2 weeks ago for sun-dried tomatos and goat cheese pasta and now the rest is sitting in the refrigarator. I don't want it to go bad, it's fairly expencive!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

nak

looks like we got moved. thought that may happen.









how did yesterday go for everyone? we didn't end up eating our stew because neither of us was hungry (too many snacks







: ) so guess what's on the menu for today! lol

does anyone have a favorite site they go to for recipes? thought they may help those who have posted looking for ideas. lots of times if i have something, but no idea what to do with it i go to a recipe site and do a search for that ingredient. my all time fav site is www.allrecipes.com also, for the veggies in our group www.vegweb.com is pretty good too.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

thank you for that vegweb.com!! I was needing something like that for a looong time!

I like allrecipes.com too. I got there a lot. FOund the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipes there!

I need a special software where you can put more than one or two ingredients and it will bring up recipes made from those ingredients. :LOL I am sure there si something like that out there.....


----------



## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
We use canned pumpkin in pancakes. It makes them really moist. I'd think sweet potatoes would work as well. You can also substitute them for the bananas in banana bread or stir them into vanilla pudding (sounds wierd but it's actually pretty good). Can you tell we have our own challenges from time to time? :LOL


Quote:


Originally Posted by *selugigage*
You can puree them and make sweet potato pie! I am really lazy so I don't make a crust. I can post the recipe if you're interested. It's insanely easy.


Wow, thanks for the tips! I'll try it this weekend!

Last night we had our turkey spaghetti, I sneaked some spinach into the sauce. Mwa ha ha ha.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

WRT to searching out recipes --- I often just google the dish or the ingredient and see what comes up. I get a wide variety of large websites like allrecipe.com and stuff from the home kitchen that people have posted on their personal websites.


----------



## gottaknit (Apr 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
Anyone knows what to do with soft goat cheese? I bought a big stick 2 weeks ago for sun-dried tomatos and goat cheese pasta and now the rest is sitting in the refrigarator. I don't want it to go bad, it's fairly expencive!

Goat cheese is my #1 favorite food!







In addition to putting it on pasta, you can put it on green salads, spread it on toast or in a sandwhich, put it in an omelet or scramled eggs, spread on crackers and serve with fruit, put a big slice on half a tomato drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven, put a blob in your lentil soup, put on baked potatoes, spread over steak (if you eat meat)..... it's pretty much good everywhere except in your coffee.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gottaknit*
Goat cheese is my #1 favorite food!
 






In addition to putting it on pasta, you can put it on green salads, spread it on toast or in a sandwhich, put it in an omelet or scramled eggs, spread on crackers and serve with fruit, put a big slice on half a tomato drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven, put a blob in your lentil soup, put on baked potatoes, spread over steak (if you eat meat)..... it's pretty much good everywhere except in your coffee.









thanks! I will be making lentil stew tonight so I will put it in it!


----------



## Catarina (Aug 26, 2004)

I don't understand the frugality of using up everything in your pantry, at all. When I use something up, I write it down on my list and buy more. If I used up everything in my pantry I'd have to go on a big shopping trip to replace it all! IMO, you're supposed to have flour and tins of tomatoes in the pantry - that's what it's for, and it means that you can make meals at short notice, which saves on eating out and take-out - the real money spending.

Also, while I'm grumbling, and I have done this myself many a time, but surely making banana bread to use up brown bananas is a false economy - a dollar's worth of butter, sugar, eggs and flours sacrificed to save ten cents worth of bananas.


----------



## stacyg (Oct 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Great Bannana bread-
This is from a Martha Stewart cookbook- she may be a liar, convicted felon, and
not too smart about trading but she makes the best darn bread ever...

1 stick of unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas- the riper the better
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan or four small pans
With mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well.
Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with the butter mixture. Blend well. Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir well. Pour into pan.
Bake one hour after cake tester comes out clean. Turn onto rack to cool

Everyone I served this to loves it.

This is the recipe I use...always get compliments on it! It is so good!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Catarina*
I don't understand the frugality of using up everything in your pantry, at all. When I use something up, I write it down on my list and buy more. If I used up everything in my pantry I'd have to go on a big shopping trip to replace it all! IMO, you're supposed to have flour and tins of tomatoes in the pantry - that's what it's for, and it means that you can make meals at short notice, which saves on eating out and take-out - the real money spending.

Also, while I'm grumbling, and I have done this myself many a time, but surely making banana bread to use up brown bananas is a false economy - a dollar's worth of butter, sugar, eggs and flours sacrificed to save ten cents worth of bananas.

Well, you've obviously never been in my pantry. :LOL I admire that you're able to *only* buy exactly what you need, exactly when you need it. Unfortunately I, and I suspect some of the others here, have a bad habit of stocking up on stuff then never getting around the using it. In that case it's LOTS cheaper to use up what's in your cupboard. It's also cheaper to challenge yourself to use what you have at home then to go out to eat. Which is another thing many of us are struggling with if you've checked out the frugal mamas in FYT that started the pantry challenge.

Also, I'm sure I'm not the only mama doing the challenge because frankly money is T-I-G-H-T right now. I NEED the extra money I'll save from not buying groceries for a month or so to get us caught up on other things. Honestly, I have SO much at home between the deep freeze, dry goods, canned goods, and just my regular fridge/freezer that I'm sure my grocery bill when I go back to the store won't be that insane.

As far as the banana bread thing goes I guess I don't get what you mean??? Why is using brown bananas to make banana bread, muffins, etc any more expensive? Normally I'd be baking *some* sort of bread anyway, why not toss the bananas in? Just my 2 cents...


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Catarina*
I don't understand the frugality of using up everything in your pantry, at all. When I use something up, I write it down on my list and buy more. If I used up everything in my pantry I'd have to go on a big shopping trip to replace it all! IMO, you're supposed to have flour and tins of tomatoes in the pantry - that's what it's for, and it means that you can make meals at short notice, which saves on eating out and take-out - the real money spending.

Also, while I'm grumbling, and I have done this myself many a time, but surely making banana bread to use up brown bananas is a false economy - a dollar's worth of butter, sugar, eggs and flours sacrificed to save ten cents worth of bananas.

There is nothing false about having a yummy snack like bannana bread when you have two rotten bannanas. Its being creative. Also, when I run out of something I also write it down and get it at the store. BUT there are things in my pantry that pile up that need to be used as other people here. Sorry we can't live up to your expectations- go rain on someone else parade.


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

So I should throw out the brown bananas my kids won't eat, that taste fine to me BTW, or I can make banana bread that my family WILL eat....hmmmm that would be wasteful. Just a thought.....
Going to try the edaname recipe, too tired to remember who posted it, but thank you......oh edamame is missing the G of mamadege...LOL
Have to go to dh company party tonight, woo hoo, eating catered food and not spending a dime!! Love it.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I agree- we love to eat out on someone's else dime. We especially like gift certificates to our favorite places to eat!

Tonight we are having chickpeas in squash and curry sauce on pitas. We also had a stash of chickpeas.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

I made that banana bread today and half is already gone. It's fantastic!


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Okay, you mamas have inspired me. I would like to make some bread in my bread machine. I have lots of yogurt, which the mamas on another thread said I could use as a sour cream substitute. So, does anyone have a bread machine recipe that I could use with my yogurt, maybe fruit breads, like banana or pumpkin or zucchini?


----------



## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

fun!


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

I'm having a ball too, *Greensleeves*! Word to *Amy* & *Holly*.







We're trying to do something positive here, if it doesn't fit what you would do fine, but the tone was more than off-putting.

I actually went to the grocery today to pantry-up on salsa and tomatoes because Muir Glenn is $1 per can at Giant Eagle this week and that's a deal I couldn't beat with a stick. I did, however, remain cognizent of what we actually use and put back some stuff that I was going to try just because it was a $1.

DH ate up some freezer chili for dinner and I am finishing most of the cabbage soup. Tomorrow my mama is taking me to lunch so I will only be eating breakfast, dinner and snacks at home... I am back to eating huevos rancheros with the leftover chili for breakfast (I







that stuff) and more cabbage soup for dinner. I cannot believe how much money we have saved by not eating out at our posh li'l whole-foods diner this week. Yay more money to allocate to the GOOD fund.

Awesome thread, mamas! Keep up the good work.









PostScript - I would kill for some brown nanners right about now; the bread recipe looks divine!


----------



## Wilhemina (Dec 26, 2001)

What a fun idea! I'm not taking up the challenge, but I will be more mindful of what I already have on hand.

I printed out the edamame recipe because I too have a pack in the freezer. Looks great, thanks!

My favorite pantry meal: (the only thing you are unlikely to keep on hand is fresh cilantro, but if you do have it or grow it...)

Chinese Potatoes with Chili Beans:

2 baking potatoes cut into thick chunks
2 scallions, sliced (or a bunch of green onions sliced)
1 large fresh chili or some canned/jarred jalapeno slices
2 T oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 14 oz. can kidney beans, drained
2 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
fresh cilantro (coriander) or parsley chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 T sesame seeds (opt.) to garnish

Boil the potatoes until they are just tender (do not over cook). Drain and reserve.
In a large frying pan or wok, stir fry the scallions and chili in the oil for 1 min. Add garlic and fry for a few more seconds.
Add the potatoes and beans, stirring well. Cook until all are warm (few minutes). Add soy sauce, sesame oil, and cilantro. Stir. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

I know it sounds a little weird, but it is good, not to mention quick and easy!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
I made that banana bread today and half is already gone. It's fantastic!









It is pretty awesome! I wish I could say its my recipe but I got it from martha! I'm glad to spread the love.

Peace: Sorry if I came off with a bad tone. But this thread is way too positive to start with someone raining on our challenge. So I nipped it right away- sorry if I did, since this is not my thread but there is too much love here to worry.

Next week after I am done my detoxing I will make chili with the 3 cans of different beans we have if I do not use them up before hand.

So far grocery runs: DH went last night and bought milk, strawberries (good sale) and ginger (27 cents) for a recipe tonnight. It was a grand total of $10. Looking at my grocery list- its pretty slim & none since we started this. Also my menu is pretty jammed with stuff including for next week & the week after.


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

So far so good. We ate leftovers for lunch. Dinner was black beans, couscous, chicken and salad made from our pita fixin's from last night.

Amys1st- I think the harshness was warranted. Catarina's tone struck me as quite condescending.

I am really enjoying this....a week or 2 from now....that's another story :LOL


----------



## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

"Pantry Challenge!!! Yeeeeehawwww!!!"

Okay, tonight is rice and canned pinto beans mixed with finely shredded cooked carrots and chopped spinach, topped with cilantro lime salsa and cheese. The apple crumble was pretty good last night, so I may do a repeat performance with the last apples, although I may mix the butter into the crumble mixture instead of just dotting with butter.

Sounds like everyone is doing really well! I will have to run to the store for milk and fruit tonight, but I promise not to stray to the cookie aisle.


----------



## Catarina (Aug 26, 2004)

I'm sorry, everybody, that I sounded like a kill-joy and condescending.

I did want to know how it would make financial sense for people to use up all their pantry food at once. I guess I was seeing things too much from my own perspective - I don't have a car, and have to shop little and often. When I have a well-stocked pantry and freezer, it makes me feel thrifty and efficient, not the opposite.

I'm also trying to use up the things we've got in the freezer to save money after the Christmas splurge - but I guess I just felt confused by people planning to use up everything, down to the flour.

And as to banana bread - like I said, of course I do this myself when I've got brown bananas. BUT, if I wasn't planning on buying banana bread, then, despite the fact that it's nicer to have the banana bread, it would still be cheapest of all for me to throw out the bananas. Anyhow, I've had my punishment on this point- two bunches of deep green, rock hard bananas sitting in my fruit bowl.

So, peace, and may all your cans and boxes end up as tasty meals.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Catarina*
I'm sorry, everybody, that I sounded like a kill-joy and condescending.

I did want to know how it would make financial sense for people to use up all their pantry food at once. I guess I was seeing things too much from my own perspective - I don't have a car, and have to shop little and often. When I have a well-stocked pantry and freezer, it makes me feel thrifty and efficient, not the opposite.

I'm also trying to use up the things we've got in the freezer to save money after the Christmas splurge - but I guess I just felt confused by people planning to use up everything, down to the flour.

And as to banana bread - like I said, of course I do this myself when I've got brown bananas. BUT, if I wasn't planning on buying banana bread, then, despite the fact that it's nicer to have the banana bread, it would still be cheapest of all for me to throw out the bananas. Anyhow, I've had my punishment on this point- two bunches of deep green, rock hard bananas sitting in my fruit bowl.

So, peace, and may all your cans and boxes end up as tasty meals.

I don't think you still get the point of what we are trying to achieve here















I am not trying to use everything up so my panrty is empty again. We are just rying to use what is already in our pantry. The point isn't to use it *all* up. But to use it at all. In my case it is not even the money, but trying to be more efficient. I go and spend a lot of money on food and 2 days later there is nothing to eat, but my pantry is stillfood, KWIM? So we are helping out each other to give us some ideas what to cook from all the stuff that is in our pantry.
For example i have a lot of hot cereals that i rarelly use. i bought them and did not like them and now they are taking space up. so i am looking for way how to use them.
anyway, gotta go...........


----------



## nitareality (Oct 23, 2004)

We have a similar banana issue at our house. We take our frozen bananas, cut them into 4-5 pieces and throw them in the blender with vanilla yogurt to make banana smoothies. Very tasty!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Catarina*
I'm sorry, everybody, that I sounded like a kill-joy and condescending.

I did want to know how it would make financial sense for people to use up all their pantry food at once. I guess I was seeing things too much from my own perspective - I don't have a car, and have to shop little and often. When I have a well-stocked pantry and freezer, it makes me feel thrifty and efficient, not the opposite.

I'm also trying to use up the things we've got in the freezer to save money after the Christmas splurge - but I guess I just felt confused by people planning to use up everything, down to the flour.

And as to banana bread - like I said, of course I do this myself when I've got brown bananas. BUT, if I wasn't planning on buying banana bread, then, despite the fact that it's nicer to have the banana bread, it would still be cheapest of all for me to throw out the bananas. Anyhow, I've had my punishment on this point- two bunches of deep green, rock hard bananas sitting in my fruit bowl.

So, peace, and may all your cans and boxes end up as tasty meals.

I think Pavlina hit it on the head with her post.









And hey, if nothing else you got some great tips in this thread on how to keep those bananas from going brown a little longer once they start to ripen. :LOL


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Cataerina- Peace!
I agree- you are missing the point. Everyone is trying to make due with what they have. Some to save some cash, while others to try something new and yet others to clean out what they have and get to eat some different meals along the way. I am no way trying to get rid of everything- just trying to clean out and start fresh. I do this in all parts of my life.
Right now I am detoxing and cleansing my liver and colon. Its a new year, time to have a clean slate. Also we are using gift cards given to us over the year. They are just sitting in the drawer. We are going to a matinee this after noon to use the movie giftcard. DD has her favorite babysitter coming over to play-she cannot wait! We have also decluttered as we do all the time. See my declutter thread in personal growth.

So instead of punishment, turn those green bannanas into a bread from the recipe I posted in time- it has gotten rave reviews! We hope you join us and do it for the sheer joy then of trying something new and not saving money but saying- Wow that was neat!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Well, we're heading out of town today so not much cooking going on around here. Going into Burlington to pick up some freecycle stuff & check out the thrift shops for dipes & clothes. Man but this girl grows FAST!!!

I will stop while we're out & get the couple things we need...including bananas of course.







At this point I think I'd buy them even if we didn't need them just to try out all those cool tips on how to keep them from over ripening so quickly.

Tomorrow while DH is home I'm going to do some cooking for the week. Hoping to make up some batches of rice & pasta to use as quick bases in dishes, plus sauces to put on them when we want a quickie meal. I'm also going to cook up the roaster chicken in the freezer. We should get a few meals out of that. Chicken & dumplings, chicken quesadillas, and easy chicken pot pie. Here's the recipe for the pot pie becuase it's SOOOO quick:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Couple cups of leftover chicken, cubed or shredded
couple cups of mixed veggies
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup (I'm sure this would work fine with pretty much any "cream" type soup)
salt & pepper to your taste

Mix all the above in a casserole dish. Top with bisquick mix done according to the side of the package (actually I think this recipe comes from the bisquick box!). If you don't have bisquick do a search on-line for how to make your own bisquick type mix. Bake at 350 until the topping is done.

I can post with more detailed measurements later if anyone needs it. But now I gotta go. Have a good day everyone!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nitareality*
We have a similar banana issue at our house. We take our frozen bananas, cut them into 4-5 pieces and throw them in the blender with vanilla yogurt to make banana smoothies. Very tasty!

Thats an idea- DD would LOVE that!

Also- Take plain yogart and bannanas and a few strawberries- blend with blender or whatever. Dh adds a bit of cane sugar for his sweet tooth.

Very good smoothie or pour into icy pops and freeze. Very yummy. We do this when the yogurt is about to expire, we have a few pieces of fruit and presto- a nice healthy treat


----------



## nitareality (Oct 23, 2004)

I joined this thread very late, but I just wanted to throw in my reason for finding this thread and challenge very appealing. I am addicted to purchasing canned food for blizzard scenarios that never happen. I also have a serious impulse purchase problem in the ethnic food area. My pantry has the appearance of the shopper being a raving hungry pregnant woman, because I was, LOL! So in terms of potentially turning over a new leaf and being more frugal and planful in my shopping, as well as using up 6 months worth of food bought on impulse while pregnant and a little nutty this challenge has my name written all over it.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Anita- welcome! Blizzard scenerios- sounds like us but we did get snowed in this week so this is very timely. Pretend you have a blizzard and let us know what your menu looks like









I just made a list of about 10 meals we can eat that we have ready to go with ingredients or in the fridge/freezer. I plan on just having DH select from the list what we will eat since most of them are his favorites. Still no big grocery trip in the near future. But I do have 4 items in case we do need to go.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Couple cups of leftover chicken, cubed or shredded
couple cups of mixed veggies
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup (I'm sure this would work fine with pretty much any "cream" type soup)
salt & pepper to your taste

Mix all the above in a casserole dish. Top with bisquick mix done according to the side of the package (actually I think this recipe comes from the bisquick box!). If you don't have bisquick do a search on-line for how to make your own bisquick type mix. Bake at 350 until the topping is done.

This looks excellent! Tip: if you don't have cream soup or can't use it because of the MSG, you can make a quick sub with 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, 1/3 cup dry milk and 2/3 cup water. Whisk the milk with the water. Melt butter, whisk in flour and then whisk in milk. You can also add sauteed celery, mushrooms or whatever you like to get more flavor.

Welcome, *Anita*!!! I have a similar pantry, and I don't even have a pregnancy to blame it on.

Currently, I have a plethora of beans, leftover chicken, salsa and cheese. I concocted this: take canned refried beans or puree some (or not) and place at the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 pan. The pile on leftover over chicken (diced or shredded) and then cheese of choice (sliced thin or shredded) and finally an entire jar of salsa. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350* and then pile on lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and hot sauce if desired. This is really good and if there are leftovers they make a good dip.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

leftover? would you really have leftovers with all that yummy stuff? I would just make it a dip to begin with Yumm! :LOL


----------



## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

[


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

I'm in, as soon as my visiting ILs go home on Monday. We have a few meals to eat out, including dd's birthday on Sunday, before they go home, but we've got no money, a pretty full pantry and only $35 left on our Trader Joe's gift card from xmas, so I'm ready. Loving the ideas!


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Today I am using up my plethora of eggs and cheese by making a crustless quiche for the next few days. I also assembled my Mexican layer casserole for tomorrow's supper, now tucked safely away in the fridge for tomorrow. I have some knarled apples in the crisper that I'll cut up later today and toss with raisins for a quick bake in the oven.


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

I just realized I have not posted here yet. I think the best part about this for me is that I have to plan our dinner very early in the day. I am usually the one scrambling around at 5:00 trying to figure out dinner.

We have been using the crockpot quite a bit lately. Tonight we are having Schwanns breaded chicken breast patties with cheese and same sort of sauce, I am thinking a tad of alfredo sauce.

Getting to the end of the meat and I have no beans left either. It is about time to get REALLY creative. LOL We have been out of milk for 4 days (may have to buy some today), used the last eggs last night.

So what can I do with all these oatmeal packets my kids decided they did not like? I bought a big box at Costco and they are just sitting.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Stephanie- I knew you'd make it over here!

The packets of oatmeal if all else fails, does any of the local schools serve breakfast? They could use it or a food pantry would take it. I do know the local homeless shelter would love it for the am's. Ours is always asking for stuff for the mornings.

This is another reason why I can't do costco- I too would be left with a huge amount of something that will not be eaten but we've already had that argument!


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

Thanks Amy. Usually I do not buy anything there unless I know we will eat it. Unfortunately, this was one of those few things.







:

I was thinking of using it for Oatmeal cookies. So what if they are maple/brown sugar/apple/cinnamon/raisin oatmeal cookies right? :LOL


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tnrsmom*
So what can I do with all these oatmeal packets my kids decided they did not like? I bought a big box at Costco and they are just sitting.

Depending on the flavor, mixed with a bit of butter, they could make a great topping for baked fruit.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

actually- coming off a cleanse/detox those cookies sound pretty good.


----------



## AngelBee (Sep 8, 2004)

Very interesting thread....thank you mamas!


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

I was thinking of using it for Oatmeal cookies. So what if they are maple/brown sugar/apple/cinnamon/raisin oatmeal cookies right? :LOL[/QUOTE]

That sounds really good! LOL I'd eat those cookies. DH found some wafer cookies he stashed, bought at the dollar store, a little dry....lol, wonder how long they were in the cupboard??? ack
Another idea for the pot pie recipe is to actually use pie crust, make sure its not too "soupy" or it will run all over when cut. I'm sure someone here has good crust recipes >hint hint< but it will work with those unroll freezer crusts from the pillsburydoughboy.

We bought milk, bread, cheese and the newspaper today, but there are big sales on canned things this week may have to check those......Aldi's is still probably cheaper for that matter.


----------



## zeldah (Mar 29, 2003)

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. You've all given me some new meal ideas, even though my pantry isn't exactly "stocked". I'll give it a try, though I hardly think we'll make a month.

Keep it up ... it's fun to "watch"!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nitareality*
I joined this thread very late, but I just wanted to throw in my reason for finding this thread and challenge very appealing. I am addicted to purchasing canned food for blizzard scenarios that never happen. I also have a serious impulse purchase problem in the ethnic food area. My pantry has the appearance of the shopper being a raving hungry pregnant woman, because I was, LOL! So in terms of potentially turning over a new leaf and being more frugal and planful in my shopping, as well as using up 6 months worth of food bought on impulse while pregnant and a little nutty this challenge has my name written all over it.









:

nak

this is so what my cupboards look like! that darn ethnic food section is a killer. i've got a ton of curry i need to use up. hmmm, maybe i'll add curried chicken to our leftovers this week.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Doing a grocery run today- big ice storm coming in, better stock up. Also, DD is ill so going to the Dr.

My list of dinners I am going to change to a menu for fun. Its working real well. DH loves the idea.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Starting in today, ladies.
Good news, just got a crock pot. Bad news, have no idea what to do with it








Anyone have any ideas on how to use up grains? I've got like 1/2 c of this, 3/4 c of that, ykwim? I'd love to make all the odd ends into a







meal.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Starting in today, ladies.
Good news, just got a crock pot. Bad news, have no idea what to do with it








Anyone have any ideas on how to use up grains? I've got like 1/2 c of this, 3/4 c of that, ykwim? I'd love to make all the odd ends into a







meal.

Can you tell us roughly how much you have of which grains? I bet you'd get a bunch of ideas if you did.


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Well, I bought fruit and yogurt yesterday. DS refuses to have anything to do w/ the cans of fruit cocktail that have been in there forever, so I was knind of stuck since he's a little fruit bat. Other than that, though, all meals are still coming from the rapidly emptying pantry. Last night was mexican. I found a long lost box o' tostada shells. I mixed in a can of green enchilada sauce w/ some canned chicken and cheese and put it over beans on the tostadas. It was pretty good b/c we have salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, avocados, and sour cream. Even DD was happy. She hasn't been to pleased w/ the couscous, so it was a welcome change.

tnrsmom-toss them in pancakes or bread (noticing a pattern yet







: ).
I've also tried this recipe before:

NO BAKE OATMEAL COOKIES

2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 stick butter
1/2 c. cocoa (opt.)
3 c. quick oats
1 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Cook first four ingredients in heavy saucepan for 1 minute. Stir in oats, peanut butter and vanilla. Pour into a greased flat dish. Cut into small squares.

You could probably mess aroud w/ the packets. You could omit sugar, since it's already in there. I'd probably leave out cocoa, as well. Chocolate apple brown sugar peanut butter doesn't sound that great,lol. I bet just the apple or raisin kind would be yummy, though.


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

That is my all time favorite cookie recipe!! The only thing I do differently is I just drop them on wax paper rather than spreading them in a pan. Very easy and sooooooooooooo yummy!









I just put tonight's dinner in the crockpot. Trying a lasagna. I put a bit of sauce, some ground beef, ricotta and more sauce. I think I did 3 or 4 layers. I had a Costco size ricotta that expires next week so I am using it up. I also made a lasagna the traditional way (except I am out of Mozzerella) and froze it. I then made some lasagna roll-ups. I am quick freezing them on a cookie sheet and then will put them in a ziploc. I figure they will be good for the kids to pull out as a snack or whatever. I have 1 jar of marinara left that I will keep for theis. Other than that I used up all of my lasagna noodles (2 packages), my spagetti sauce, ricotta, and most of my ground beef. I still have a bit of meat left for another casserole type dish.

Last night I made chicken breast patties (schwanns), put some Velveeta (didn't know I had it, must have been for a recipe I never made LOL) on top and then covered them with BBQ sauce and baked. Made some potatoes and green beans to go with it and everyone was happy.

This is honestly the best thing I have ever done for my own personal growth. I used to be the person that could not make something if I was missing 1 ingredient from a recipe. I had no idea how to improvise and was not good at coming up with my own dinner ideas. This has made me a new person. I am sure dh is getting sick of hearing how proud of my self I am. :LOL


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
Can you tell us roughly how much you have of which grains? I bet you'd get a bunch of ideas if you did.









Allrighty, I'd say I've got about 1 c each wild rice and barley.
I've got about 1/4 c quinoa.
And I've got about 2 c each wheat berries, rye berries, israeli couscous, and bulgur.
Any ideas?


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Allrighty, I'd say I've got about 1 c each wild rice and barley.
I've got about 1/4 c quinoa.
And I've got about 2 c each wheat berries, rye berries, israeli couscous, and bulgur.
Any ideas?

nak

for the rice you can make "cheesy rice & tomatoes". this is one of our faves. it's from "not just beans", which is an awesome cookbook.







the lady who wrote it used to post on the frugal living board at parents place back when i used to go there. you can find it, along with lots of tips & a few more recipes at www.notjustbeans.com

anyway, the recipe is:

1 cup rice, cooked
1 can stewed tomatoes (almost any type of canned or the equivalent fresh works...just NOT sauce. has to have chunks)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
2 T olive oil
1-2 cups shredded cheese
salt & pep to taste
(i add minced garlic as well)

saute onion, celery, pepper, & garlic in oil. once browned add tomatoes & rice. simmer about 15 min. add cheese & warm until cheese melts.

this makes enough for dh & i for dinner w/ leftovers for lunch the next day. for a big family you'd probably want to double if using as a main course. i imagine cubed or shredded chicken would be good in this as well.


----------



## HollyBearsMom (May 13, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Starting in today, ladies.
Good news, just got a crock pot. Bad news, have no idea what to do with it








Anyone have any ideas on how to use up grains? I've got like 1/2 c of this, 3/4 c of that, ykwim? I'd love to make all the odd ends into a







meal.


Check out his website. They have something like 1400 crock pot recipes!
http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm

Serendipitous about this thread. I spent this past weekend organizing my pantry and makings list of what I had (20 cans of whole peeled plum tomatoes, 3 jars unopened chili powder







) and what I didn't have (no baking powder or rice.







) I then bought the few things I needed and planned menus around the things I had way too much of! Chili any one??

I will watch this thread closely for tips and tricks. Thanks!


----------



## Pam_and_Abigail (Dec 2, 2002)

Well, I think it'd be cheating if I did it this month, we just finished stocking up for the baby, but I just realized $3 has to do groceries and gas till the 18th...

I just sliced, cooked and froze 8 lbs of carrots, about 2 dozen cooked chicken legs, I have 8 loaves of ww bread in the freezer, and I stocked up on canned fruit. I did want to add to the chicken pot pie, that another substitute is a combination of canned milk, flour and chicken broth (I use homemade- see above where I cooked dozens of chicken legs - I simply skim off the fat and have the world's tastiest broth. Now if only I could figure out how to render the fat!). Something like 1/2 c of each liquid and a couple tbsp of flour. I've recently taken to loving canned milk, instead of buying whipping cream for in sauces and hot chocolate.
I've also still got most of the 16 cups of pureed pumpkin from fall, in the freezer, and three types of cookie dough frozen, and we just picked up our monthly freezer order of organic beef (over 30 lbs). Maybe I'll try the challenge anyway, it should be easy with this much stuff!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Starting in today, ladies.
Good news, just got a crock pot. Bad news, have no idea what to do with it








Anyone have any ideas on how to use up grains? I've got like 1/2 c of this, 3/4 c of that, ykwim? I'd love to make all the odd ends into a







meal.

Great moms think alike! Check out "Frual Mamas in January" discussion. We started in find your tribe but I think its in personal growth now. I just got a HUGE amount of crock pot ideas when I posed the same question.


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

Nope Amy, we are still in FYT.








http://www.mothering.com/discussions...=1#post2502807


----------



## Kristina (Oct 31, 2002)

This is so cool, I hate to admit it but I always buy something and only using half of it and the rest spoils







Trying to do this will really help me, I hate throwing food away. Its jsut so waistful...
So now I am inspired!


----------



## MommytoMJM (Aug 3, 2004)

I am in....haven't read the whole thread yet, but I will soon!


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

Tina, I am the same way. My fridge always is overflowing but it is usually bits and pieces of things. Now I am using those bits and pieces and being conscious of what I put in.


----------



## Greensleeves (Aug 4, 2004)

Tnr's mom,
Way to go with all the food prep! That is a real time saver. How did you cook the chicken legs? When you take some out from the freezer how do you serve them?
I agree that this exercise has been great for helping improvisation and confidence in cooking.
Did I see that there was a chicken pot pie recipe somewhere on here! Maybe I'll try that tonight! I'll also mosy over to the Frugal mamas thread and check out the crockpot stuff, thanks! Bon appetit!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

So far today I have gone through my meal plan and figured out what I can make from what I've got on hand. Mostly breakfasts and baked goods, no dinners, but it's better than nothing.
Also, making some bread using leftover brown rice and millet porridge using the Whole Foods for the Whole Family recipe.
First things first, I'm eating all the leftovers in the fridge before they go bad, pizza from dd's birthday, chx curry for the kids and dh, tamale pie, leftover burritos and butternut squash soup.
That cheesy rice dish sounds good. I think I'm going to make something with some of the grains I've got, ceci beans (I've got a bunch) and olives tommorow or Wednesday. Maybe some hummus too.
Really enjoying the ideas here.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Okay, here is the crock pot ideas I got. I pasted them all together and cut out discuss info in them so I have just the recipe:

Crock pot ideas









chicken breasts, half a taco seasoning packet or equivilent of homemade mix, 16 oz salsa cooked on low for 8 hours and then mixed with a cup of sour cream after chicken is removed.
Pour "gravy" over chicken breasts.

chicken breasts with lime juice, brown sugar, a splash of white wine or juice and some water mixed together and poured over chicken and slow cooked 6-8 hours on low.

. Beef (or bean) stews, chicken and turkey soups, pasta sauces are all pretty easy to do. Plus you can make extras to freeze. I find it fun to be creative -- like some chicken, brown sugar, honey mustard, and a bit of rosemary.

Meat - pork, chicken, beef, whatever
can of cream of whatever or homemade cream soup
little can of tomato paste or puree, not the juicy stuff like sauce
dump it all in, cook all day on low
When it is done, you have a nice thick gravy, you can also dump in any leftover veggies you have. We usually eat this with rice or noodles.

Saucy beef:
2 lbs stew meat
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package dry onion soup mix
Mix soups together and pour over beef in crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. We usually serve ours over egg noodles or rice.

Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa
Kielbasa (I do a lot of this at once and freeze it)
equal parts brown sugar and brown mustard.
Mix the sugar and mustard together and pour over sausage. Cook on medium about 6 hours

Chicken and Stuffing
6 chicken breasts
2 packages Stovetop stuffing mixed with ingredients on package (I'm sure you could make your own stuffing mix)
2 cans cream of mushroom
Place chicken in bottom of crockpot, add stuffing and pour soup over top. Cook on high about 4 hours. This recipe can easily be split in half for smaller families.

My favorite things to do with the crock pot is soup. I just dump in whatever we have around- leftover meat, fresh or frozen veggies, dry or canned beans, lentils, broth or boullion, spices, pasta, and extra water. It always tastes good, no matter what I put in.

These mamas were so wonderful to share ideas, I am trying all of these recipes soon.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Made lasagna for dinner. No sausage to flavor it so I added ground beef that I browned with a shallot and garlic. I added some spices and some sauce.
Layered with ricotta, sauce, zella, and the beef. Also, I made two, each in a 10 inch pan so another meal for later.

I went to the grocery today but only bought potatoes, pickles, and ricotta which was on big sale. I figure I am cleaning out the pasta in the pantry and need the ricotta to make that happen. So it works then. I almost ventured over to the meat counter but then I remembered all my meat in the freezer all set to eat when we are ready to have it.
Its week 2 of the month and I have spent less than $30 (incl milk) on grocery where as we would have easily spent twice that already. Also no need to go out to eat.

DH and I love this arrangement. Its sounds all good now, doing this pantry challenge. I want to incorporate this into a pantry habit not challenge. Anyone else?

So far to get going I have a list in the kitchen of what meals we have ready to go. This meaning we have all necessary ingrediants or the meat/lasagna etc is made up ready to go in the freezer

for example:
shrimp w risotto
beef tacos with corn tortillas
beef stew meat, add carrots and potatoes
chicken with rice
pizza
turkey meatballs and wheat spegetti

then list leftovers in fridge for lunches

DH went over and circled what he wanted to eat! Also the list makes him have a taste for whatever is there so we have an idea of the next few dinners.
So I am hoping this may cut our grocery budget down. Also I have noticed the less trips I make, the less we spend.


----------



## sovereignqueen (Aug 5, 2004)

great ideas!
any one know what to do with an eggplant?


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sovereignqueen*
great ideas!
any one know what to do with an eggplant?

eggplant parmagnie or throw it in a lasagna


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

I just found this thread but I love the idea! I have been totally cleaning up/out my house and this sounds like a great way to help that along.

I keep tons of frozen fruit and veggies as well as lots of pasta and a stash of rice milk for my ds.

Glad to find you guys!


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sovereignqueen*
any one know what to do with an eggplant?

I heat a little olive oil in a skillet and throw in some diced garlic. Then I cube the eggplant and cook it until its soft. Toss it with some pasta and you have dinner ready! Its also good if you add other veggies - I keep bags of frozen veggie mixes on hand and throw those in the skillet with the eggplant.

Yum!


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Greensleeves*
Bananas--I have read that once they are ripe (no spots yet, just yellow) you can put them in the fridge. It arrests the ripening and they stay good. The skins might get browner after a few days but shouldn't affect the fruit.

You can also peel them, put them in a ziploc and freeze them. I buy "brown" bananas cheap at Wild Oats or Whole Foods when they are trying to get rid of them and do this. Then, when I want to make banana bread, I just put one in the fridge until its thawed and use it. It works for any recipe that calls for "mashed" banana. Works great!

I also use them in rice milk smoothies for my son. I put a frozen banana and some other type of frozen fruit in the blender with a good dose of rice milk and blend it until its smooth. Tastes great and he loves it.









And frozen bananas dipped in a little chocolate are to die for...


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hlkm2e*
So, does anyone have a bread machine recipe that I could use with my yogurt, maybe fruit breads, like banana or pumpkin or zucchini?

I have a great banana bread recipe that uses yogurt but it isn't a bread machine recipe. If you are interested, I'll post it.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *HollyBearsMom*
Check out his website. They have something like 1400 crock pot recipes!
http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm

Thanks so much for posting this link! I LOVE my slow cooker. I work PT and love to come home to the smells of my slow cooker. I have a fairly extensive collection of cookbooks for slow cookers but that web-site beats them all.

Thanks again!


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Loving this thread! I'd like to use up more of the things that have been sitting in our pantry for waaaay too long, but it's so hard w/ an infant who insists on being carried all day and conapping. How do those of you w/ babies find time to cook? We have been eating too much cereal and take-out lately.

OK, I do have a question, though. This may be a reach, but I need help using up some soy nuts. Every time I've tried them in the past, I've loved them, but the ones that I just got at the store are gross. I'm thinking it may be b/c they're not salted--that's what I get for trying to be "healthy." :LOL I thought about dipping them in chocolate, since I passed over the chocolate covered soy nuts at the store 'cause they were twice the price. Any other ideas?


----------



## Kristina (Oct 31, 2002)

So today I was reaching far back into the pantry and found a can of refried beans...I know how to make nachos and burritos but does anyone else have any ideas?

I also found a can of baked beans...a small can 'cause only ds really likes them but I don't like his diaper afterward


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
How do those of you w/ babies find time to cook? We have been eating too much cereal and take-out lately.

It gets easier. I put my ds in a sling a lot and had dh hold him when he was home. We ate a LOT of casseroles for a while 'cause ds would sleep in his sling and I would assemble them. DH would put them in the oven when he got home from work. Now that ds doesn't want to be held all day, its much, much easier. Give it a few more months...

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
This may be a reach, but I need help using up some soy nuts. Every time I've tried them in the past, I've loved them, but the ones that I just got at the store are gross.

Soy nuts will go bad so if they taste at all rancid, I'd pitch them. Otherwise, have they been roasted? If not, you can put them in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 350* until you can start to "smell" them (I'd guess around 10 minutes but maybe longer). You can salt them lightly afterwards if you like.







:


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Kristina*
So today I was reaching far back into the pantry and found a can of refried beans...I know how to make nachos and burritos but does anyone else have any ideas?

They are a good base for a Mexican-style casserole: spread them out in a pan and then top with cheese, salsa and meat if desired; bake at 350* for 30 minutes. I am actually having this tonight. I also love eggs and beans, just heat the beans and top with eggs of any style a bit o' cheese and Tabasco.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Griffinsmom, I would love the banana bread recipe. Thanks!


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Jennisee, when my dd was little, I made tons of crockpot stuff. I usually prepper the night before if it needed it, once my dh was home and could hold dd. Then I just threw it in in the morning. Casseroles, too. I also found a great backpack carrier at a garage sale and she loved being in that. I felt safer than a sling and she could see me working.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
Loving this thread! I'd like to use up more of the things that have been sitting in our pantry for waaaay too long, but it's so hard w/ an infant who insists on being carried all day and conapping. How do those of you w/ babies find time to cook? We have been eating too much cereal and take-out lately.

Things that work for me are preparing stuff during the little 5-10 minute stretches each day that dd will be put down. Obviously your dd may or may not do this.







One side of our kitchen counter is an island with very large, sturdy stools. I put dd in the bucket with some toys facing me while I prep food, talking to her the whole time. Other places she'll let me put her down for a couple minutes are the walker (yeah, she doesn't actually "walk" in it of course, but she likes to be upright & it lets her sit without me holding her) and laying on her playmat. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 of these little 5-10 min sessions spread out over the whole morning to prep a meal, but it does get done eventually.

I'm also lucky that my DH comes home for lunch each day. Usually he'll watch dd while I put dinner together & do the dishes. Could you sort of do this same thing but have your partner watch dd in the evening while you prepare dinner for the next day? Tossing everything in the crockpot or a roasting pan works really well for this.

It is *hard*. I've tried the pouch, the sling, and the Sutemi with dd for doing prep work and it's just not comfortable. I'm always scared she's going to get cut or burned. Just not worth it, IMHO. I may look into the back pack style carrier though when she gets a bit bigger. That sounds like it could work really well.

Good luck!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
DH and I love this arrangement. Its sounds all good now, doing this pantry challenge. I want to incorporate this into a pantry habit not challenge. Anyone else?

Yes, this is exactly what I'm hoping will happen.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Gotta share the best way ever to cook squash. I







my best friend for giving me this tip. We love squash, but used to only have it once or twice a year because it was such a hassel. Now we have it a couple times a month.

Any type of squash works. So far I've done butternut, acorn, and spaghetti. Wash the skin well. Cut in half. Remove seeds. Fill a microwave safe bowl 1/4 full with h20 (I used pyrex loaf pan or 8x8 pan depending on the size of the squash). Place 1 squash 1/2 cut side down in the water. Microwave on high 10-15 min, depending on the size of the squash. Remove dish from microwave, and using a fork, spoon, whatever, take the squash out of the water. Be careful, it will be VERY hot! Place in a bowl until cool enough to handle. Use a spoon (or fork for spaghetti squash) to scrape out the squash into your serving bowl. Repeat with other half.

I'm sure if you have a bigger micro or use small squashes you can probably do both halves at once.


----------



## equinurse (Apr 30, 2004)

Count me in! We are really broke this month. I spend a tremendous amount of money each week on whole organic foods. Way too much, but it is where all our extra money goes. But, after the holidays and some unexpected expenses, we are on empty. So this thread is great.

The other night I made a simple rice and lentil dish from Deborah Madison's book. I just added a few pinches of cumin and coriander seeds. My 2yr.old dd loved it. I had put a whole bunch of peas and mushrooms in it. We made a cheese sauce out of nutritional yeast and dipped our broccoli in it and she must have eaten almost an entire head of broccoli!

We have a variety of dried grains, some canned beans, some whole grain pasta, some frozen veggies, some fresh root veggies and random condiments. Not a huge stash, but enough to live on for a week or more. My dd and I eat fish and eggs but no other meat and no dairy(dd allergy). My dh eats everything. We are easy to please, but my dh likes to have a good meal at night which is sometimes hard to come up with.

Good luck to everyone in finding creative ways to eat!

Margie


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

typing one handed while holding a sick babe.

Holly, when Becca was about 3-4 months old I bought an Ergo. It is great to have her on my back so I can get stuff done in the kitchen. She loves it because she is attatched and can see what is going on. I was not comfortble with kitchen stuff while she was on the front either.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

How soon we forget...DD was a when she felt like it nurser and napper. No schedule here- sound familiar? did/does anyone have a nursie on a schedule? Never. The good news- it gets easier as they get older. Also all this holding now pays off down the road. My daughter was the same way. When she was old enough to sit in the saucer she would for a good 15 minutes. She was about 4-5 mos old at the time. She would NEVER sit in a bouncy chair or anything like it. Only during dinner would she sit in her car seat and watch us eat for about 10 minutes. Usually she would eat as well- nursing while we ate. But she was a busy baby/tot so the holding paid off. She had and now has the confidence to try things and run away from us. The running away part is a pain but I see a lot of children who were put down to fend who are now whiney, crying, attached to their mommy toddlers. They also eat almost nothing, are not into trying anything and always sick. Trust me, it will go away pretty quick and then you will see.

But until then, its hard to get things going for a good meal.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

I was lucky enough to have dh home to make dinners. He worked early, was home by 2. But now it's a different story. Especially if you're trying to be creative and actually use what you've got in the house :LOL
Dh and I are never home at the same time anymore, but dd just turned three and ds is almost a year, and I feel like between his naps and them entertaining one another I can get something decent turned out. So it does get easier.
I just never count on it, I might interrupted half way through and never get to finish :LOL


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

Doing good here, last night was sausage,rice,tomatoes baked in the oven. I browned sausage first, added rice mix thingy, tomatoes and chopped up olives...baked until rice was cooked. Was a little spicy for 5 yr old so added sour cream to hers. DH just ate the leftover for lunch!
Now I have more odds & ends to use up.....inlaws left for FL today and brought us their refrigerator/pantry food. (They'll be gone 4 mos







) Any ideas on a HUGE jar of cocktail sauce?? LOL
Tonight is beef stew in crockpot...mmmmm


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamadege5*
Any ideas on a HUGE jar of cocktail sauce??

nak

you may think this is gross, but i like cocktail sauce on fries. homemade fries are suprisingly easy to make. i'll post directions if you need them.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

We also got an abudence of food emptying my parents fridge two weeks ago before they hit the road to fl. They also had cocktail sauce.









A cute appetizer a friend of mine named Rindy makes is: start with a cream cheese. Unwrap it and stick it on a plate. Pour a can of mini shrimp on top and dump the cocktail sauce on top of that. Serve with crackers. Thats it and it always goes. I call it Rindy dip since she is the only person I know who makes this.

I found a can of condensed milk behind the beans. So I searched and I found a recipe for Mac and cheese in the crockpot that calls for condensed milk so we will have that this week.









We are having some different stuff to get rid of other things and its fun. But I have a major sushi craving so we might go and celebrate all the fun we are having with this.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Amys1st said:


> A cute appetizer a friend of mine named Rindy makes is: start with a cream cheese. Unwrap it and stick it on a plate. Pour a can of mini shrimp on top and dump the cocktail sauce on top of that. Serve with crackers. Thats it and it always goes. I call it Rindy dip since she is the only person I know who makes this.
> /QUOTE]
> 
> This makes me think of a "dip" my mom makes for parties. Take a block of cream cheese, put it on a plate, and top it with salsa. That's it! It sounds weird but tastes awesome. Not exactly health food though.
> ...


----------



## Kristina (Oct 31, 2002)

what can i do with sliced almonds?

i am going to make oatmeal cookies but i am wondering if there is anyone knows about substituting butter with applesauce?


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hlkm2e*
Griffinsmom, I would love the banana bread recipe. Thanks!

This recipe is from the back of a Stoneyfield farm yogurt container. My ds goes nuts for this bread and I have to hide it from dh so he doesn't eat it all. I sometimes double the blueberries. I've also used cherries when they are in season and they are good too.

BaNilla Blueberry Bread

1 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Stonyfield Farm Banilla Yogurt (or other Banana yogurt)
1 small banana, peeled, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1 1/3 cups flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat on high for 2 minutes. Gradually incorporate dry ingredients, followed by the yogurt, eggs and mashed banana.

In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1 teaspoon flour. Gently fold into the batter.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let loaf cool on a baking rack before removing from the pan.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Allright, so I cheated a little and had bagels with dc while we were out today.
But other than that, we're doing good. Dinner I think will be burritos, I found some tortillas in the freezer. Last night I made chips and guacamole from chips and avocados that were threatening to go bad.
And we're still trying to clear out the leftovers.


----------



## mz_libbie22 (Nov 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Kristina*
what can i do with sliced almonds?

i am going to make oatmeal cookies but i am wondering if there is anyone knows about substituting butter with applesauce?


Put the sliced almonds in the cookies! I just make some oatmeal muffins and put some sliced almonds in them. Very yummy! Just crush them up a little before mixing them in.

You can sub applesauce for oil/butter in baking. 1:1, I'm pretty sure.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Thanks for the recipe Griffinsmom. Today I made some blueberry muffins and they turned out awesome, so I am feeling good baking vibes. Maybe I will attempt the bread tomorrow and freeze it for another time.


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

The stew was good, hooray hooray. DH is amazed because I usually say "there is nothing to make for dinner"....we are in need of milk again! I am really craving it right now......the last time I did that I was pg w/#4.......did those tubes untie???? LOL noooooooooo


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Does anyone know how to make biscuits, the yummy old fashion kind. But, I don't want to buy lard. I do have Crisco.







:

Also, can you freeze them for later?


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hlkm2e*
Does anyone know how to make biscuits, the yummy old fashion kind. But, I don't want to buy lard. I do have Crisco.







:
Also, can you freeze them for later?

These are really good biscuits that use Crisco:

Buttermilk Biscuits

I have never frozen them though. I would imagine they'd be fine. If they dry out after you defrost them, wrap them in a wet paper towel and stick them in your microwave - they'll spring right back to life.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Thanks to this thread, I have cleaned out my pantry, reorganized, donated some things to the food pantry and have restarted baking. I feel awesome.

A question, I have several cans of tomato sauce I would liek to turn it into pizza sauce. What would you add to it to spruce it up for a pizza?

Thanks


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I'm making that blueberry recipe. We have had some blueberries in the freezer for some itme. They were picked by a friend so I should use them!

The biscuit recipe listed is very good, we have made that one before.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hlkm2e*
A question, I have several cans of tomato sauce I would liek to turn it into pizza sauce. What would you add to it to spruce it up for a pizza?

I use a "hint" from _The Tightwad Gazette_, for every 8 oz can, add: 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp pepper. I also add a little onion powder when I have it around.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Hee! Laugh of the day: cleaning out the freezer is good, because I just found the muffins I made out of extra cake batter and apples.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

I wanted to post the muffin recipe I made yesterday. It was so good and it uses mostly staple you have in your pantry plus whatever fruit you have.

Blueberry Muffins ( or any fruit )

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
8oz flavored yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 cups blueberries ( or any fruit ) I use frozen berries and they work fine, I just cook them a little longer

Preheat to 350
Makes 12 muffins

Stir together dry ingredients, in seperate bowl mix wet ingredients. Stir together mixes until combined. It is super thick. I use a spoon to scoop into muffin tins. Fill to the top.

Bake 25 minutes.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Selu Gigage*
I use a "hint" from _The Tightwad Gazette_, for every 8 oz can, add: 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp pepper. I also add a little onion powder when I have it around.

Also, if it's too watery thicken it with tomato paste.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Thanks for the pizza sauce suggestions. Tomorrow I am going to fix it up. I need to wait for my MIL to let me borrow some ice cube trays tonight, so I can freeze the pizza sauce to use in the future.


----------



## nitareality (Oct 23, 2004)

nak

i'm really just getting to my pantry. i had a ton of fridge leftovers when i found this thread...and the first thing i did as part of this challenge is eat all my freezer soup...it was brrrrrr cold here for a while and it warmed my tummy







. today i've made falafel from the pantry mixes (this is one thing i stocked up on BIG time when pg :LOL and used our cukes and tomatoes and onions (technically from the pantry lol) for the relish. I have two huge containers of plain yogurt so that's our dressing LOL.

i have a ton of pasta and apples and am thinking of noodle kugel with the only meat we have...a pork roast, for Friday because we'll be eating falafel 24/7 until then









FYI...my teething baby is nursing on and off, to explain my inconsistancy


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

We had the best pantry dinner tonight. I had a jar of Trader Joe's brushetta with garlic and basil. I also had a bag of frozen onions and bell peppers. I cheated and bought a spaghetti squash (but it was cheap!).

I cooked the squash and then heated the onions and peppers in a little olive oil. I combined it with the brushetta and heated it until warm. Then I threw it on top of the squash. It was awesome. I'm so full...







:


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Well we went shopping for basics today. Bought eggs, rice milk, veggies and fruit. Kept it pretty simple.
Dh made dinner tonight, salad with pantry canned beans, frozen edamame and corn, shredded carrots we needed to get rid of and some romaine I bought today.
Also ate tamales from the freezer and roasted potatoes we had to use up.
I'm so glad I can finally see the bottom of my freezer








Plan on using up some dried limas I've had forever and make a soup in the crockpot tommorow with those and some canned tomatoes. (Well, dh is going to make it, I'll be at work.)


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Made soup in the crock pot today. Ham & lentil. Very simple. Pound of ham diced, 2 c of lentils (wanted to use those up and did!) chopped onion and a stalk of celery chopped. 2 quarts of water on top of everything, a few spices here and there and presto- very yummy soup. cooked on low all day. We ate it with a fun salad-
I had 4 slices of bacon that needed to be used, a grilled chicken breast, feta and blue cheeses left over from holiday time, and walnuts from the pantry. balsamic vin & e/v olive oil and some honey for dressing.

I found a can of condensed milk that will go in tomorrow' mac n cheese.

Also made the blueberry bananna bread into muffins. I guess they were good, they're all gone! Perfect timing, I had a rotting bannana and yogurt that needed to be used up.


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

You guys all had great dinners tonight!! We ate frozen waffles.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*
I had a jar of Trader Joe's brushetta with garlic and basil.

I







this stuff! I throw it over some white beans and top with Parmesan for the quickest meal, so filling and good!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Eating leftovers today to clean out the fridge. We're going out of town for the weekend to celebrate a beleated x-mas w/ dh's extended family. I am going to make sandwiches & snacks though for the car ride tomorrow. Trying to avoid the expense of eating out yet like we always do (it's a 5+ hr car trip...)


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

OMG!! I was here last time on Saturday then our computer crashed and got it back Wednesday night and you went fro 3 pages to 7!!!! I don't have that much time to read it all!







How am I ever gonna get throught it! :LOL

Well, if I ask question that has been already asked, I apologize.......
got to go now.


----------



## stayathomecristi (Jul 7, 2004)

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and decided to take the challenge myself. I did great for almost 3 weeks (used lots of pantry and freezer items). Then yesterday I went to Trader Joe's (presumably just for some nuts for dh, milk, and a neccesary item--ORGANIC DECAF COFFEE!









$94.86 later....







: I feel like I fell off the wagon---I'm sorry!

Cristi


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Cristi- but look how far you got! I am struggling with the same issue at Trader Joes. Today I went and only spent $28 ($15 of which is milk). But I also got apples, grapes, bannanas, and fruit leathers. All things that DD loves and wants. It was hard not to buy other things but once the pantry challenge is over I am reforming my TJ experience or sending DH.


----------



## Kristina (Oct 31, 2002)

I ruined dinner







I was trying so hard to stick to the pantry challenge and use some things just kicking around. I used the crock pot and threw in a bunch of stuff from a receipe but I added rice. Thats where it went wrong. It was cooking for 7 hours when I got home to a dried out mess. I added plenty of chicken stock, at least for stove top cooking. Maybe I should have used more liquid. I am bummed....everything is a learning experience I guess.









I am intimidated by the whole crock pot thing...I really want to be able to use it more but I need more practice to boost my confidence.


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Last night, I was feeling inspired, and craving Mexican, so I grabbed every Mexican-related food in the pantry to see what I could do. I made some taco-seasoned meat substitute (TVP) and a Mexican rice mix, mixed them w/ a jar of hot taco sauce, a can of beanless chili, and some cheese. I spread that in a 13 x 9 x 2, and then topped it w/ 3 boxes of cornbread mix that I made up. I baked it at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. The cornbread ended being 4x the thickness of the meaty layer--which was fine w/ DH b/c he loves cornbread.







Oh well, still edible, and the leftovers will last a while.


----------



## juicylucy (May 20, 2002)

I'm coming to this thread a bit late, but this challenge sounds exactly what I need. I have a packed pantry and freezer, and am forever throwing stuff away that is rotten or out of date. I think a lot of the problem is, I buy things that I think I will use, but I am intimidated by cooking (I ONLY cook with recipes, and I measure EVERYTHING) so I end up cooking the same things over and over (usually WW pasta and a tomato sauce, or salmon with potatoes). I have a bunch of things to use up, so I am going to try and start today.

A couple of you have mentioned falafel, which I love. Do you have a recipe? I'm also looking for a recipe for banana bread that is made with molasses or something rather than sugar. Help!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Cristi & Amy -- Oh, if I had a Trader Joe's near me I'd jump up & down with joy! As it is we drive by a town in MA (on our way to my IL's house) that has a Trader Joe's & a Whole Foods. I'm tempted to stop & go shopping just cause I can.







:

Anyway, this challenge for me isn't so much about cleaning out the cupboards as it is becoming more mindful of my eating & shopping habits. We'll all probably fall off the wagon at some point. We went out for pizza on Saturday & had McD's when DH worked late Tuesday night.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

Kristina,

I cook in my crockpot all the time and I still haven't figured out the rice thing. I usually just make a huge batch on the weekend and freeze it then take out how much I need through the week. That way I don't have to worry about it getting gross in the crockpot and it is always available. It freezes really well.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I'm also a novice at the crockpot so I can understand- but Rome was not built in a day and they did not have crockpots!

My crockpot is a 2 quart that I got off the clearence table several years ago for $10. I am thinking the reason I never use it is because its combersome to wash etc. I am upgrading this week - any ideas on which one? There are a few on sale at Kohl's.

This pantry challenge is no longer clearing things out, but its a chance to try new things like the crock pot, the bannana blueberry bread, fun stuff and learning what my family is very capable of. I'm also revisiting things I have not cooked in a while and realizing what kind of budget is feasible. I am hoping to cut off several dollars of our food budget- we shall see.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I asked in the Frugal mams forum to give me ideas and oh did they ever. I also added a few onto the end of this. This can easily be cut and pasted into a word document. I have a folder in my docs just for recipes.

*Crock pot*

>chicken breasts, half a taco seasoning packet or equivilent of homemade mix, 16 oz salsa cooked on low for 8 hours and then mixed with a cup of sour cream after chicken is removed.
Pour "gravy" over chicken breasts.

>chicken breasts with lime juice, brown sugar, a splash of white wine or juice and some water mixed together and poured over chicken and slow cooked 6-8 hours on low.

>. Beef (or bean) stews, chicken and turkey soups, pasta sauces are all pretty easy to do. Plus you can make extras to freeze. I find it fun to be creative -- like some chicken, brown sugar, honey mustard, and a bit of rosemary.

>Meat - pork, chicken, beef, whatever
can of cream of whatever or homemade cream soup
little can of tomato paste or puree, not the juicy stuff like sauce
dump it all in, cook all day on low
When it is done, you have a nice thick gravy, you can also dump in any leftover veggies you have. We usually eat this with rice or noodles.

Saucy beef:
2 lbs stew meat
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package dry onion soup mix
Mix soups together and pour over beef in crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. We usually serve ours over egg noodles or rice.

Sweet and Spicy KielbasaKielbasa (I do a lot of this at once and freeze it)
equal parts brown sugar and brown mustard.
Mix the sugar and mustard together and pour over sausage. Cook on medium about 6 hours

Chicken and Stuffing
6 chicken breasts
2 packages Stovetop stuffing mixed with ingredients on package (I'm sure you could make your own stuffing mix)
2 cans cream of mushroom
Place chicken in bottom of crockpot, add stuffing and pour soup over top. Cook on high about 4 hours. This recipe can easily be split in half for smaller families.

>My favorite things to do with the crock pot is soup. I just dump in whatever we have around- leftover meat, fresh or frozen veggies, dry or canned beans, lentils, broth or boullion, spices, pasta, and extra water. It always tastes good, no matter what I put in.

Ham & Lentil Soup
2 cups lentils
1/2 pound ham -- diced
1 onion -- chopped
1 bay leaf
2 ribs celery -- chopped
1 clove garlic -- minced
salt and pepper -- to taste

Combine all ingredients with 2 quarts water in the crock pot. Cook on low, covered, 8 to 10 hours. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Mac n cheese
8 oz macaroni noodles, cooked in salted water.
1/2 c. butter
3 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 c whole milk (I used 2%, it came out fine)
2 eggs

Grease cp lightly w/spray on oil. Cook noodles in salted water, add to cp. Add butter and cheese, mix. Add milk, evaporated milk, and beaten eggs. Season w/salt and pepper. Cover and DO NOT LIFT LID!!!! (I know, it's very hard for us stirrers!) Cook for 3 hrs on low.

Chicken and gravy w potatoes
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Potatoes, quartered, with jackets
About 6 stalks celery
1/2 pkg baby carrots
1 can cream of chicken soup*
1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Place vegetables on bottom of crock pot. Brown chicken breasts in PAM or vegetable spray. Place over vegetables. Cover with the cream of chicken soup, undiluted. Sprinkle with dry onion soup mix. Do not add water. Cover and cook all day on low, or 6 hours on high.

I had planned to substitute either Campbell's healthy choice or reduced fat cream of chicken.

Potato soup
8 potatoes (peeled or not) chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped small
1 can chicken broth
2 T dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
sliced green onions, grated cheese, and chopped bacon for toppings
Put all ingredients down to and including the pepper into the crockpot. Add water to within 1" of the top of the crockpot (this recipe is for a 5 qt, so adjust accordingly). Cook on high for 8 hours. 1 hour before serving, put milk into a small conatiner with a lid, add flour and shake till well mixed. Add to the soup. Rosemary can be added for a good flavor

barbecue, beef, crockpot

2 1/2 lb beef round steak
2 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup catsup
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 small onion -- diced
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup celery

Cut beef into thin strips. Brown in skillet. Meanwhile, combine lemon juice, catsup, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, mustard, onion, water, brown sugar and celery. Pour into crockpot. Add meat. Cook on medium heat for 3 or 4 hours. Serve over hamburger buns


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

This is kind of cheating b/c I had bought the materials earlier intending to make it but never got around to it... still, I did clear things out! I saw this one on tv.

I used regular bread and painted a little olive oil on it. I had a jar of Trader Joe's roasted red peppers and a jar of green olives. I sliced the olives up and then layered peppers and olives on the bread. I then put mozzarella on top and closed off the sandwich. We made paninis using our George Forman grill (x-mas present from MIL).

Sooooo good.

Tomorrow I'm going to make applesauce in my crock-pot: peel and cut apples into cubes, toss into crock-pot with 1/2 cup of water (maybe more if its a lot of apples). Dh adds sugar when he makes it but I don't think it needs it unless they are very tart apples. Let them cook until you can smash them with a spoon or fork. When they are cooked you can either stir it really well or blend in your blender. Sometimes I add a little cinnamon at the end.







:


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Also made the blueberry bananna bread into muffins. I guess they were good, they're all gone!

Glad they were a hit. This reminds me - I sometimes make "individual" pound cakes in a muffin tin. I have a recipe for "light" pound cakes that is really good and not too terrible for you. I usually put blueberries in those too. I'm going to have to scare up the recipe - I found yet another package of frozen blueberries in my freezer.







:


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

mmmmmm..the paninis sound good. I can't believe how long this thread is getting. Last night, I made split pea soup w/ leftover xmas ham that was in the freezer. Had no idea how to make it, but I guessed and it's gone so it must have been close, lol. Tonight was the worst. DH volunteered to "make dinner". He is a reservist and he had some MRE's from drill. Needless to say he won't be "cooking" again anytime soon. I see all these crockpot recipes. Are there any other cast iron dutch oven mamas here? :LOL


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*

Tomorrow I'm going to make applesauce in my crock-pot: peel and cut apples into cubes, toss into crock-pot with 1/2 cup of water (maybe more if its a lot of apples). Dh adds sugar when he makes it but I don't think it needs it unless they are very tart apples. Let them cook until you can smash them with a spoon or fork. When they are cooked you can either stir it really well or blend in your blender. Sometimes I add a little cinnamon at the end.







:


if you add tiny bit of salt it will draw the sugar out of apples and will be naturally sweeter wiout any added sugar.

i am surprised how much stuff you all have in the freezer. i have almost nothing! some frozen veggies but no frozen soups or anything









the problem in our family is that my husband won't eat anything two days in a row. I wll,even whole week, I don't care, but not him. He will eat anything I cook, but not twice in a row. That makes the chalenge harder.
I pretty much try to cook eaxct amount for 2-3 people so there is no leftovers.

Can we have a recipe for that pound cake please?


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

*Jen* I love crockpot applesauce! I made 4 quarts in September and it's all gone now.







I cannot wait until next fall when I have my chest freezer and I can a ton.

I am not doing very well with the challenge this week. I've been lazy and dealing with my new field placement... which has led to eating out or picking up an Amy's entree at the corner store. I am going to map out a better plan for this next week and stick to it! I have a ton of stuff to eat up still.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
I see all these crockpot recipes. Are there any other cast iron dutch oven mamas here? :LOL

Glad you like the recipes, this is new to me. I cook more with my Le creuset pots then anything but I am trying the crock for fun. I cook my beef stew in my le creuset dutch oven pot in the oven. It is soooo good. We made it for the il's one time and my fil took a generous second helping and said this is real good, it tastes like the one my mom made while growing up. I thought my mil would fall out of her chair along with dh. I guess he has never said anything like that before. Needless to say she cornered me later and wanted to know how I did that!








Its so funny since I had been after her to buy one of these for years and she asked for one for mother's day that year. She has taught me how to cook things before so I found it so funny.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Glad you like the recipes, this is new to me. I cook more with my Le creuset pots then anything but I am trying the crock for fun. I cook my beef stew in my le creuset dutch oven pot in the oven. It is soooo good. We made it for the il's one time and my fil took a generous second helping and said this is real good, it tastes like the one my mom made while growing up. I thought my mil would fall out of her chair along with dh. I guess he has never said anything like that before. Needless to say she cornered me later and wanted to know how I did that!








Its so funny since I had been after her to buy one of these for years and she asked for one for mother's day that year. She has taught me how to cook things before so I found it so funny.

Oh Le Creuset - I admire those EVERY TIME I go to Whole foods







My secret love......
BTW - their website has recipes:

http://www.lecreuset.com/usa/recipes.php


----------



## edamommy (Apr 6, 2004)

Okay, I cannot believe I'm diggin' this frugal mama thread! I'm proud of my self for even reading it! I am a recovering product-junkie! ;0

Pantry challange! ahhhaaaa we call it "cupboard meals" at my house. When the cash runs low the cupboard meals thrive!

Last night we had: pumpkin/potato pancakes w/ roasted broccoli!

we had a 16 oz can of organic pumpkin left over from thanksgiving. Plus left over mashed potatoes in the freezer which we thawed out...

even amounts of pumpkin / potato in food processor until smooth
add 3 tsp self rising flour
1/4 cup ap flour
1 egg
3 green onions (chopped)
salt/pepper
**mix in bowl and fry w/ olive oil for 3 min. on each side.

Broccoli...
left over from raw salad.
preheat oven to 450. coat broccoli w/ olive oil, salt, marjoram and mix in a tsp crushed garlic. Roast for 30 - 40 minutes. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Recovering product jumkie? That would be me. Back during our double income days and no child we bought every gadget, appliance there was. My friend does pampered chef so I had a mess of their no need to have products. I actually ended up giving them back to her for her demos so someone can buy the stuff to end up in their closet.

We do use our ice cream maker to make sorbet, I am pulling out the yogurt machine this weekend,- I do use all the time- my kitchenaid mixer, food processer, food chopper, pizza stone, griddle, espresso maker,(starbucks or the local coffee house is almost $10 for the two of us!) I have also got rid of different gadgets we don't use.

We do enjoy cooking in this house and always have so it makes sense to try things. I also pared down my cookbooks. We have always gotten them as gifts since people know we love to cook. I donated 20 (yes 20) to the library last week.

Last night mac n cheese- awesome!


----------



## edamommy (Apr 6, 2004)

I'm a cookbook HOUND! And we're vegetarian. I currently have 55 cookbooks- and I read them daily! Really! And use them every two weeks to put together our meal plans.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *edamommy*
I'm a cookbook HOUND! And we're vegetarian. I currently have 55 cookbooks- and I read them daily! Really! And use them every two weeks to put together our meal plans.

WOW!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *edamommy*
I'm a cookbook HOUND! And we're vegetarian. I currently have 55 cookbooks- and I read them daily! Really! And use them every two weeks to put together our meal plans.

That is how many I might have had at one time. We use our books all the time. We have recieved some where the recipes don't jive with us so I get rid of those, but we have 3 or 4 vegan books, almost all ethnic, you name it.


----------



## tuffykenwell (Oct 23, 2002)

I haven't been a part of this thread (alright I have been big time lurking LOL but haven't posted until now)...but I just have to share this recipe that I made last night because it was just so delicious (and CHEAP!) I hate peas so I substituted all corn (and wrote it into the recipe) instead of 1/2 cup peas and 1/2 cup corn. Its really easy to substitute in this recipe too...use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes or green pepper instead of celery. Its all good!

Don't be afraid of the dried lentils either...the recipe actually cooks up in under an hour and it is really yummy (sort of reminiscent of hamburger soup except it is meat free). Oh and I actually skipped adding the cheese and parsley on top and it was still delicious!

I am loving this thread BTW..I have gotten many really good ideas from it so far!

Steph

* Exported from MasterCook *

Winter Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 stalk celery -- chopped
1 potato -- peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 cup lentils -- green or brown
1 carrot -- thinly sliced
1 cup corn kernels
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, lowfat -- shredded
2 tablespoons fresh parsley -- minced

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion, garlic, celery, potato, herb seasoning, salt and pepper stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

Add stock and green lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Using potato masher, mash soup until slightly thickened but still chunky. Add carrots, corn and tomato paste; simmer, covered until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.

Make ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate until cold. Cover and refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 weeks. Reheat to serve.

Ladle into bowls; garnish with cheese and parsley.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 138 Calories; 2g Fat (11.9% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 414mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
That is how many I might have had at one time. We use our books all the time. We have recieved some where the recipes don't jive with us so I get rid of those, but we have 3 or 4 vegan books, almost all ethnic, you name it.









*hey, give me some ideas for good cookbooks!! Please!* Vegan or vegetarian, anything will do! I love cook books I just never know which one is good and which one I will really use.
You know what I don't like about some cookbooks - that they have in their recipes things like Peggy's baking mix (I just made it up because I can't think of anything particular) and I can NEVEr find those things in the store, not to mention Whole foods. You know what I mean - they use those ready to bake or cook things that nobody knows what really is and it does not explain anywhere in the book what to replace it with if you don't have it.


----------



## tuffykenwell (Oct 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Kristina*
I ruined dinner







I was trying so hard to stick to the pantry challenge and use some things just kicking around. I used the crock pot and threw in a bunch of stuff from a receipe but I added rice. Thats where it went wrong. It was cooking for 7 hours when I got home to a dried out mess. I added plenty of chicken stock, at least for stove top cooking. Maybe I should have used more liquid. I am bummed....everything is a learning experience I guess.









I am intimidated by the whole crock pot thing...I really want to be able to use it more but I need more practice to boost my confidence.

Cook everything but the rice and then add the rice when you get home and turn it on high for about 45 minutes or so. It will work much better (same deal with pasta).

Steph


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
*hey, give me some ideas for good cookbooks!! Please!* Vegan or vegetarian, anything will do! I love cook books I just never know which one is good and which one I will really use.
You know what I don't like about some cookbooks - that they have in their recipes things like Peggy's baking mix (I just made it up because I can't think of anything particular) and I can NEVEr find those things in the store, not to mention Whole foods. You know what I mean - they use those ready to bake or cook things that nobody knows what really is and it does not explain anywhere in the book what to replace it with if you don't have it.

If I'm not mistaken Peggy's baking mix is the Peggy here- right?? Usually that should be at the beginning of a book in the basics. If this is correct, its something similar to LeLeche League mix. Its a already made up mixture of usually flour, baking powder or other like ingredients. Its still scratch cooking and meant to help the cook along.
On the other hand, I do not like any recipes that call for a can of this, a package of that. Usually that is a recipe genrated to sell more of a particular product. Sometimes those books are published by those companies. I am not saying all, but some- so I do not need to hear about how great anyones can of this recipe is. If you look at my crock pot recipes some of them call for ingredients like that- I'm just passing them on.

A good place to start-
World Vegtarian by Madhar Jafrey- she also has a few others
The Joy of cooking
Whole Foods for the whole world - LeLeche league (very inexpensive)
"I'm here for the food" Elton Brown

I have or have received most "celebratity chef books" I do not recommend them unless someone can loan you a few until you get started. I do suggest checking out Elton Browns book though since it talks about technique.
Some of my best dishes that come from any extreme have been from the Joy of Cooking- lastest edition. They are all scratch dishes and have stood the test of time. But there are many other books that I have not even suggested- anyone else suggest any?


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
Can we have a recipe for that pound cake please?









Here it is but I alter it and throw in some fruit and I usually make it into muffins instead of a loaf (cooking time will be shorter).

Light Pound Cake


----------



## stretchmark (Apr 10, 2003)

Hi, I've been lurking for the past few days and want to join officially now that DHs paychecks are really delayed and we have 0$.

We've been here before and I am always amazed at how creative I have to get when we go broke. THere is no fun cooking when we can afford salmon and sour cream and all the fixin's.

Tonight we are having spinach fettuccini with alfredo sauce (from a packet) and broccoli. I wish we had a can of tuna to throw in but we don't.

My shelves become more and more bare everytime we go poor and while I am happy to use up all the excess stuff, I hate to start a pantry challenge with them so sparse.

ANywhoo, hello.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Well dh tried to make soup last night in the crock pot, didn't work out. The beans never got soft, maybe they were too old? I can cook dried beans in the crock pot, right? We soaked them over night.
Tonight it's just me and dc. I'm defrosting some carrot soup and thought I'd put it over some of the grains a many I have.
Dd is asking for mac n cheese, it's the last box we've got, so maybe.
I can hardly believe I can see the shelves in my pantry and freezer!


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

I came late to the challenge so I still have fairly full shelves. I just did inventory and I have some strange stuff in there.

Some of the more unusual items...
3 huge cans of organic pumpkin - guess I'll make muffins or pancakes
1 can of diced pimintos (no ideas why I would buy those)
almond paste and marzapan (bought to make x-mas cookies that never got made, maybe this weekend)
a TON of nuts
plus more "normal" items.

I need to tackle my freezer next. That is where I'm really bad. I buy stuff and it gets lost in the artic. I have so many bags of frozen mango and blueberries...







: I love them so I buy them often but then the half-bags I didn't use go to waste 'cause they get pushed to the back. I need a better system, I guess.

Tonight I used up some frozen hamburger and we made sloppy joes and ate them in pitas (that also came out of the freezer). DH is really getting into the pantry challenge too - he's been suggesting stuff all week.


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
*hey, give me some ideas for good cookbooks!! Please!* Vegan or vegetarian, anything will do! I love cook books I just never know which one is good and which one I will really use.
You know what I don't like about some cookbooks - that they have in their recipes things like Peggy's baking mix (I just made it up because I can't think of anything particular) and I can NEVEr find those things in the store, not to mention Whole foods. You know what I mean - they use those ready to bake or cook things that nobody knows what really is and it does not explain anywhere in the book what to replace it with if you don't have it.

Any of the Moosewood cookbooks or Laurel's Kitchen books are awesome. I have them on perma-renewal from the library. The Laurel's Kitchen bread book is probably the best non-bread machine bread book ever.









Tonight I made baked chicken parm over spinach and pasta. Yummy!
Amys1st- I just have some hardware store iron potsm but I love them dearly. I never thought about putting stew in the oven. Great idea.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
Amys1st- I just have some hardware store iron potsm but I love them dearly. I never thought about putting stew in the oven. Great idea.

What I usually do is get the stew meet going on the stove. Then afterwards I bring it to a boil and then I cover it & stick it in the oven at 300 for about 3 hours. It can then be cut w a fork and its yummy. I then add carrots & pototes and raise the temp to 350 and cook another hour.


----------



## tuffykenwell (Oct 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Well dh tried to make soup last night in the crock pot, didn't work out. The beans never got soft, maybe they were too old? I can cook dried beans in the crock pot, right? We soaked them over night.

Did you use boullion cubes or broth with a lot of salt in it? Salt in the cooking water of not yet cooked beans can cause them to never soften (even if you cook for days!) Also if your soup had canned tomatoes that could have added enough salt to cause that problem.

If you want to cook a soup with dried beans I recommend cooking the beans in the "soup" with everything except the salt containing items (so homemade broth is alright but if you are adding boullion or canned broth do it after the beans are softened...same with tomatoes).

Steph


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

No, we didn't add any salt, but there were tomatoes. I never heard that they could toughen up the beans. Those limas were like almost five years old, honestly.
The carrot soup wasn't defrosted yet, so dc and I had the half box of quinoa pasta I've had for 6 months with some cheddar, half and half, frozen peas and baby carrots. Gourmet pantry mac n' cheese


----------



## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

Okay, I've just been lurking, but I have a few suggestions for questions mamas have asked:

1. Sliced almonds: Saute them with sugar until they're dark and carmalized (do this on low heat). Toss them into a salad, onto some ice cream, into cookies, whatever. Delicious!

2. Cookbook recommendation: I just got "Jamie's Dinners" by Jamie Oliver. It's fantastic! The meals have a very gourmet flavor and don't take forever to prepare. All the ones I've tried so far have been big hits. (My babe loved "Jools's Favorite Beef Stew.") Very inspiring!


----------



## sovereignqueen (Aug 5, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*
I came late to the challenge so I still have fairly full shelves. I just did inventory and I have some strange stuff in there.

Some of the more unusual items...

almond paste and marzapan (bought to make x-mas cookies that never got made, maybe this weekend)









If you don't make the cookies you can let the kiddos mold the paste into shapes (little fruits, animals, etc) and dye them with food coloring then serve them for dessert -- great with coffee & tea (or coco)


----------



## root*children (Mar 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
No, we didn't add any salt, but there were tomatoes. I never heard that they could toughen up the beans. Those limas were like almost five years old, honestly.

Some beans don't cook when they are really old, you're right. I've had it happen with soy beans, split peas, etc. That's probably what happened.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Any black bean soup recipes for the crockpot anyone?


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Any black bean soup recipes for the crockpot anyone?

No but I do have a non-crockpot recipe that isn't too hard if you want it.

I'm going to make buffalo chicken salad which is my absolute favorite. I cook (frozen) chicken breasts in my George Forman grill and then slice into strips and drench them in hot sauce when they come out. Then I combine lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and avacados with the chicken and serve with blue cheese dressing. I'm going to have to cheat and buy the tomatoes but everything else I have.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I am cheating w the black beans but DH wants black bean soup. They are soaking right now. But they were 97 cents for the bag. I have the rest of the ingredients and it will last all week. We just finished the lentils- they cleansed us well and very filling.
Next weekend its potato soup. I usually make soups during the winter and then we eat them all week.

We had blueberry pancakes this morning with the blueberries we found in the freezer and the remaining amount will be muffins tomorrow. We also had a few sausage links in the freezer and now thats gone.

Lunch was the remaining lentil soup and the rest of the mac n cheese.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Ok, I have 2/3 a bag of hashbrowns and some cheese. I am thinking of doing a creamy potato soup with a Mexican cheese mix. Do you all think if I start with a butter and flour roux and then add in milk, potatoes and the cheese that will taste ok? I also add in some spices too... maybe some nutmeg, salt and pepper?


----------



## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
we didn't add any salt, but there were tomatoes.

Actually, I recently read that the salt slowing beans is a long-standing culinary myth (and, not having heard that before, I had always used plenty of salt in my cooking liquid, with no problems), but that any acidic foods (like tomatoes) added before the beans are completely done will cause major slowdown!

I got rid of some lentils (I can never remember whether I have them on hand, so I always end up buying more, and they start to take over the kitchen)and some frozen sausage by making a great lentil soup with italian sausage, but it necessitated a trip to the store, since I can't stand to make it without a bunch of fresh mustard greens in it!

Amys1st, could you post your beef stew recipe for me? I'm bored of mine. Thanks!









alsoSarah


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I got this out of the joy of cooking years ago and it works for me.

I buy the meat marked stew meat at the local butcher -what ever you use works too.
1/2 c carrot finely chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/2 celery finely chopped
The meat needs to be put in a flour coating with salt and pepper added.
Brown the floured meat in a large cast iron pot (this is how I do it) in olive oil or veggie oil like wesson.

Once its browned a bit, take out meat and put aside. Put in mix of finely chopped onion, celery, and carrots and cooked until onion is getting brown.
Put the meat back in and pour in until meat is covered- red wine or beer or if thats not your thing- beef or chicken stock. Let liquid come to a boil for a few minutes and then reduce to low heat. After 20 minutes put in an over that is at 300. Leave it in there at least 3 hours stirring every 30 minutes or so. The last hour of cooking add 1 cut up potato for every 1 1/2 person the stew will serve and 1 carrot chopped into pieces for every person. Raise up to 350 and cook for another hour stirring. If the potato is still not done, put the stew on the stove at mid heat for another 30 minutes. Serve with a warm crusty baggette to wipe up stew juices on your plate. I also usually serve with a mixed green salad and red wine.

For the liquid I usually do red wine that is left over in the fridge. It really makes the meat a wonderful taste. I find beer makes it tougher. But, I have poured leftover red wine in and added some white or stock. Basically whatever is leftover in the fridge that could be a liquid- works. This is really easy and everyone loves it since its what my dh calls "slow food"

If you have any questions let me know.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

The potato soup turned out well, something Julia Child would be proud of with all of the butter.







If you have some taters and cheese you need to use up, this is very good.

4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1 cup half and half or thickly mixed powder milk
1 cup milk
1 pound shredded potatoes
4 oz cheese of choice, shredded or thinly sliced
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Melt the butter, whisk in the flour and cook until smooth. Whisk in the half and half. Add the milk. Bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes. Cook until done, about 10 minutes on low. Add in the cheese and stir constantly until all cheese is melted. Add in seasonings.

This was a fab thick and smooth chowder that made about 6 cups.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Any black bean soup recipes for the crockpot anyone?

Here is my non-crockpot version. It is from a cookbook called "Is it Soup Yet?" that we







and use frequently.

Black Bean Soup
16 oz of dried black beans
6 cups water
2 ham hocks
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
ground pepper

Cover the black beans with water and soak overnight.

Drain the water and put the beans into a 4 qt stock pot. Add 6 cups water and the ham hocks. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Add onion, celery, carrots, bay leaf, cloves and mustard. Simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove ham hocks, bay leaf and cloves. In a food processor, puree half of the beans. (can do all of the beans in the f.p. if you prefer). Stir pureed beans into rest of soup. Serve with ground pepper.








:


----------



## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Thanks, Amys1st!


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *juicylucy*
I think a lot of the problem is, I buy things that I think I will use, but I am intimidated by cooking (I ONLY cook with recipes, and I measure EVERYTHING) so I end up cooking the same things over and over

Lucy, I have always been the exact same way. Doing this challenge has forced me to get creative with food and just "wing it". I will not claim that everything I have made has been gourmet, but it has all been edible and most has been pretty darn good. It has given me a lot of confidence to do things on my own without a recipe.


----------



## tnrsmom (Apr 8, 2002)

I fell off the wagon last night. We were completely out of a lot of things that we really needed. I bought eggs, milk, friut and veggies, chicken and lots of cereal because it was half off. Getting back on track though.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*
Here is my non-crockpot version. It is from a cookbook called "Is it Soup Yet?" that we







and use frequently.







:

This looks real good. DH will make this real soon- he is in charge of the bean soups.








Well I bought the new crock pot and its going back tomorrow. Its a Westbend (about $25) at Kohl's. 5 quart and all but metal and I think its super hot. You cannot touch the outside and not get burnt. Then the lid is warped. I am cooking in it right now and I went to put the lid back on and it won't go down all the way. Thank god I saved the box and its innards. Oh well, I guess I'll get the rival version.

Sarah- anytime! I hope it turns out well. Its a little effort that goes a long way.


----------



## edamommy (Apr 6, 2004)

You need:

2 cans black beans/ rinsed and drained
1 can your favorite salsa
sour cream / chives to serve

take out 1/4 cup of salsa and set aside for garnish
sautee the remaining salsa in a heavy bottom soup pot for 2-3 minutes over med/low heat.
add black beans and stir for about 5 minutes.
add 2 cups water and bring to a boil.
Once boiling lower to a low simmer and partially cover for 10 minutes.
at this point take out 1/2 of the soup and puree. add back to soup and serve!!!!!
mmmmmmmmmmm


----------



## juicylucy (May 20, 2002)

well, we're doing pretty good here. I am impressing myself by how creative I am being. I made a wonderful veggie lasagne the other night. Even DS1, my picky eater, had two servings. That is unheard of- one serving is usually a challenge!!

Tonight we are having mac and cheese (homemade) with cauliflower. The recipe looks yum. My cauliflower is got a couple of tiny brown spots on top as it is getting old- is it ok to use? I've had it in the fridge for a week.

.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

This one is my mother's recipe and I almost always have the ingredients on hand.

1 lb of stew meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of white wine* (see note below)
1 beef bouillon cube
1 can of mushrooms (if you have them, they can be omitted)

Put all ingredients in crock pot. Cook until meat is tender. Stir it occasionally.

Serve over rice.

*If I'm pg or nursing, I omit the white wine and the beef bouillon and use a cup of beef broth instead.

Sooo good and really easy.


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

juicylucy said:


> Tonight we are having mac and cheese (homemade) with cauliflower. The recipe looks yum. My cauliflower is got a couple of tiny brown spots on top as it is getting old- is it ok to use? I've had it in the fridge for a week.
> 
> Just cut the brown parts off. It probably is just on the surface. Should be fine.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

We did the freezer/pantry tonight:

Frozen turkey meatballs I had made up all ready to cook up on top of speggetti (pantry item) for dd and I and DH had stuffed shells leftover from my parents freezer from xmas with his turkey meatballs. We used our own jarred sauce from our garden from the pantry.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

I just threw together some crock pot soupy type thing








I put in potatoes, tomatoes, canned black beans, garlic, and carrots.
So maybe it'll be good?
Do I put the seasonings in the crock pot at the beginning like I would regularly or at the end?


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

OK, I have everything for enchiladas...except tortillas. Do you think I could make enchilada lasagna? I have noodles.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

I'm glad I found this thread. I've been shopping a lot lately. Part of the problem is I love to go to the health food store and the co-op. They are expensive, but also have so many tempting items i want to try or like to have. And I also buy organic whenever possible, so it really adds up. Add it to the list of stuff at the conventional grocery store, and well, it's just been too much lately! There is plenty of stuff in my pantry and fridge and freezer. I just have to figure out what to do with it!

For the last 3 nights we have had roast beef that I made in the CP. First night it was sliced. Second and third nights it was shredded with broth and stewed in the CP, on hard rolls with a side of cabbage salad that I made. Very good but we are wholly sick of it by now! Wonder if I can freeze the beef for another time? I originally cooked it on Fri.

I think tonight we will have roasted chicken thighs with asparagus and sweet potatoes. It's an easy recipe and I have to use up the asparagus before it spoils.

We get a milk delivery every Mon. so I won't have to worry about that. Bread should be okay for a few days. Have eggs, they are going to expire soon so will have to make something! The only thing I forsee us running out of soon is yogurt. We all eat a lot of it. And fresh fruit. I have lots of canned fruit in juice but I like to give DS fresh whenever possible.

I have other things that can be used up before I shop:

pasta, rice
TVP
canned beans (maybe I'll do huevos rancheros tomorrow!)
frozen bacon, nitrate-free
a bunch of frozen veg
have hamburger, italian sausage, and natural fish sticks in freezer.

Really we should be set for almost 2 weeks, except for the fruit and yogurt issue!

GREAT thread!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
OK, I have everything for enchiladas...except tortillas. Do you think I could make enchilada lasagna? I have noodles.









Sure, or just make a casserole. Throw it all together and bake it up.


----------



## juicylucy (May 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
OK, I have everything for enchiladas...except tortillas. Do you think I could make enchilada lasagna? I have noodles.









definitely, sounds yum! And BTW,







We miss you here! I make hummus using the recipe you gave me all the time, and it is a big hit!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Back from visiting the IL's. What a weekend! Dinner tonight will be a crustless quiche (if dd will let me put her down long enough to put it together...) since I have a ton of eggs & cheese to use up. Here's the recipe. I'll note my alterations too:

Crustless Spinach Quiche from www.cooks.com

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tbsp. vegetable oil -- will use olive
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced -- 1 can of sliced mushrooms
1 c. chopped onion -- onion already chopped from the freezer
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. plain low fat yogurt -- sour cream cause I don't have plain yogurt
3 eggs, beaten
5 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated -- sharp cheddar instead
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash pepper & nutmeg -- omitting nutmeg cause we don't care for it

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain spinach and heat in oil; saute mushrooms until golden brown and set aside. Add onion and garlic; cook until soft.

Combine yogurt, flour in bowl and add spinach, mushrooms, onion and remaining ingredients; mix and pour into 8 inch pie plate. Bake 40 minutes.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

I buy big roasts and have them cut in to smaller pieces before I bring them home. I usually use one and freeze the others. I almost always have one or two in my deep freeze. This recipe was given to me by my secretary but has become a family favorite. We always have leftovers that I turn into sandwiches.

*Crock Pot Italian Beef*

In a Crock-pot combine and simmer at least 6 hours:

3 lb. Rump Roast
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 onion, diced

Remove roast from crock pot and slice thin. Remove any grease from pot. Leave beef out on a plate.

Then, in another pan (on the stove), add the liquid from the crock pot and add:

½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon onion salt
½ teaspoon oregano
½ tsp basil
1 package of dry Italian dressing

Boil for 15 minutes. Put beef back into the crock-pot and pour juice over the roast and simmer for another 45 minutes.


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Well, I didn't really fall off the wagon so much as I jumped. :LOL We went to visit my mom in the Chicago suburbs (about 3 hours away), and I bought tons of great things at Costco, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods that we don't have here. Now, though, I want to make sure that we make the most of what I bought, so I'm jumping back into this thread. Now, I just hope DD lets me set her down long enough to actually cook every day.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
Back from visiting the IL's. What a weekend! Dinner tonight will be a crustless quiche (if dd will let me put her down long enough to put it together...) since I have a ton of eggs & cheese to use up. Here's the recipe. I'll note my alterations too:

Crustless Spinach Quiche from www.cooks.com

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tbsp. vegetable oil -- will use olive
1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced -- 1 can of sliced mushrooms
1 c. chopped onion -- onion already chopped from the freezer
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. plain low fat yogurt -- sour cream cause I don't have plain yogurt
3 eggs, beaten
5 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated -- sharp cheddar instead
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash pepper & nutmeg -- omitting nutmeg cause we don't care for it

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain spinach and heat in oil; saute mushrooms until golden brown and set aside. Add onion and garlic; cook until soft.

Combine yogurt, flour in bowl and add spinach, mushrooms, onion and remaining ingredients; mix and pour into 8 inch pie plate. Bake 40 minutes.


Oh my god, you must have read my mind!!!! I was thinking all day about asking you guys for quiche recipe!!! And even for spinich one! Amazing!








Thank you! I will make it tomorrow!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
Well, I didn't really fall off the wagon so much as I jumped. :LOL We went to visit my mom in the Chicago suburbs (about 3 hours away), and I bought tons of great things at Costco, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods that we don't have here. Now, though, I want to make sure that we make the most of what I bought, so I'm jumping back into this thread. Now, I just hope DD lets me set her down long enough to actually cook every day.









Where did you visit? I live outside of chicago. We have all of those near us but then they are everywhere up here.


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Where did you visit? I live outside of chicago. We have all of those near us but then they are everywhere up here.

Mom lives in Shorewood, just west of Joliet. We went to the Costco and Trader Joe's in Naperville, and the Whole Foods in Wheaton. Mom said the Trader Joe's was small, but I have nothing to compare it to.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Actually that Trader Joes is small- the one in Glen Ellyn is much better (thats the one I go to) I also go to the Wheaton whole foods.

Its a small world after allllll..........


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Cool! Next time I go to visit Mom, I should post a thread and have a MDC party at her house. :LOL


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *juicylucy*
definitely, sounds yum! And BTW,







We miss you here! I make hummus using the recipe you gave me all the time, and it is a big hit!

I miss you guys, too. This place is hell.....cheap hell, but hell none the less.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Wow, I was thinking of making spinach quiche tonight, too :LOL But I used all the eggs at lunch.
Dh and dd are making pantry peanut butter maple cookies right now


----------



## abbylotus (Dec 29, 2003)

Wow! I can hardly wait to show my DH this thread....he is always initiating "Operation freezer/pantry Liberation"! This is how we live every day. He is a chef so I really don't do much cooking at all....I make the bread (wheat with flax seeds) and that's done in a machine.







We eat our big dinner-ish meal midday before he goes to work and then the kids and I eat whatever I find lying around.....nuts, bread, fruit, yogurt, cheese (can't forget the cheese!).

Every few months we buy a bunch of meat (we don't eat it a lot) and portion it out, make sauces, and then we freezer suck them into bags (a lovely xmas gift from grandma) and pantry stuff like pasta and random cans of things...my DH can't pass up the ethnic food isle without stocking up on at least one of everything. We buy fresh produce, eggs, juice, and soy milk bi weekly. We save quite a lot of money this way...I think. I bet we spend about $200 when we go on our mega-stock up and then maybe $100 or less/mo on the perishables.

This system really works for us, but then again I don't have to plan and prepare a nightly meal. Also, my DH brings home soup and left overs sometimes from the restaurant where which he works and that breaks up "Operation Freezer/Pantry Liberation," too.

I think all the recipes people have posted are great!! A no-brainer stir fry is always tasty, too!!


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
We went to visit my mom in the Chicago suburbs (about 3 hours away), and I bought tons of great things at Costco, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods that we don't have here.

Are you anywhere near St. Louis? Since we moved here (5 years ago) they have gotten their first Costco, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. T.J. and W.F. are across the street from each other. I







making the T.J./W.F. trip. Must be how I got all this stuff in my pantry!


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*
Are you anywhere near St. Louis? Since we moved here (5 years ago) they have gotten their first Costco, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. T.J. and W.F. are across the street from each other. I







making the T.J./W.F. trip. Must be how I got all this stuff in my pantry! 

Nope. St. Louis is 2.5 hours away. We're about equal distance from Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis. Right in the middle of frickin' nowhere. :LOL


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *abbylotus*
Wow! I can hardly wait to show my DH this thread....he is always initiating "Operation freezer/pantry Liberation"! This is how we live every day. He is a chef so I really don't do much cooking at all....I make the bread (wheat with flax seeds) and that's done in a machine.







We eat our big dinner-ish meal midday before he goes to work and then the kids and I eat whatever I find lying around.....nuts, bread, fruit, yogurt, cheese (can't forget the cheese!).

Every few months we buy a bunch of meat (we don't eat it a lot) and portion it out, make sauces, and then we freezer suck them into bags (a lovely xmas gift from grandma) and pantry stuff like pasta and random cans of things...my DH can't pass up the ethnic food isle without stocking up on at least one of everything. We buy fresh produce, eggs, juice, and soy milk bi weekly. We save quite a lot of money this way...I think. I bet we spend about $200 when we go on our mega-stock up and then maybe $100 or less/mo on the perishables.

This system really works for us, but then again I don't have to plan and prepare a nightly meal. Also, my DH brings home soup and left overs sometimes from the restaurant where which he works and that breaks up "Operation Freezer/Pantry Liberation," too.

I think all the recipes people have posted are great!! A no-brainer stir fry is always tasty, too!!

Your husband sounds very sexy. A man who can cook hot meals and plan the food budget. My husband can cook too but is not quite there on the food planning part but equally sexy to me :LOL


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Your husband sounds very sexy. A man who can cook hot meals and plan the food budget. My husband can cook too but is not quite there on the food planning part but equally sexy to me :LOL

Word. A homemade hot meal prepared by someone other than me is better than a diamond.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
Oh my god, you must have read my mind!!!! I was thinking all day about asking you guys for quiche recipe!!! And even for spinich one! Amazing!








Thank you! I will make it tomorrow!






























Glad I could help! :LOL We actually ended up having this today instead because dd did NOT let me put her down at all yesterday afternoon. *sigh* I know it goes quickly and I'll miss it when it's gone, but right now the whole "in arms" stage is my biggest pantry challenge.







Totally doesn't help that I think she's having a growth spurt & starting to teeth. Basically means we're nursing 24/7, which is great for my supply problem too, but well that's a different thread all together isn't it?







:

Plus I made the mistake of unpacking yesterday while dh was home for lunch instead of prepping supper. Oh well, at least we had leftovers from dh's family reunion to eat.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Amys1st*
Your husband sounds very sexy. A man who can cook hot meals and plan the food budget. but is not quite there on the food planning part but equally sexy to me :LOL

that's exactly what i thought! i'd love to have a DH for chef!!! I LOVE watching cookery programs on TV! well, used to, we don't have a cabel any more...


----------



## macytoedt (Nov 17, 2004)

i just made rice milk for the first time this weekend....i used

1 cup cooked(still warm) rice
4 cups warm/hot water
in blender until smooth and let it sit
i also found it tricky to blend hot liquid so be careful and just pulse it...

most recipes said let it sit 30 -40 min but i think will sit it in the fridge and let it settle overnight....
oh yeah i played with maple syrup, and honey to sweeten but i did not want to add too much you can but vanilla or almond extract in as well.....
next i want to make oat milk....OG oats are really cheap in bulk...

i poured it in mason jars and the top layer was awesome.....you can filter out the rice mush and put into pancakes and muffins.....i made pancakes this weekend with the rice mush, cinn, vanilla extract and made enough to freeze them so i can pull one out at a time and put in the toaster and give to dd....they are very good finger food

peace,
macy


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Doing ok so far. Yesterday, we just ate leftovers that my mom sent home w/ us.

Tonight, we're having grilled chicken breast. DH grills them and freezes them, so I just have to thaw 2 breasts and reheat in the microwave. I'll probably cook some rice or pasta for the side dish, along w/ some raw carrots and cauliflower.

I have an already-cooked meatloaf thawing in the fridge for tomorrow. (Can you tell I love freezer cooking? :LOL ) Side dishes will probably be similar to tonight.

I also have a frozen pork loin roast in the fridge that I hope thaws by Thursday. I'll cook it in the crock pot since I'll be out of the house in the afternoon. We'll probably just eat it 'as is' the 1st night, and there should be enough leftovers for a couple days, too. I'm thinking shredded pork BBQ sandwiches and pork fried rice. Any other ideas?


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

I have a jar of masala sauce that I bought from TJ's sometime last century and I am finally going to use it up tonight. I am taking leftover chicken and white beans and tossing it in the sauce. The side will be green beans... again, because we have a ton.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Tonight we are having crockpot chicken. I got it going early on this am. We had a busy day and also have some meeting at church tonight so today was a perfect crockday.

I put peeled red potatoes cut in half at the bottom of the sprayed greased pot.
I added chopped celery, onions, and cut up carrots.
Add a few spices and poured chicken stock over it. I put 4 chicken breast on tops and added spices etc and poured more stock over it. So far I tried a potato and carrot and a piece of the chicken- very yummy.

We will eat it when we get home at 7:30 tonight!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Allright, I'm getting pretty cleared out here. I was thinking of doing a big shop, and then realized I've still got quite a bit we can eat from. Can you ladies help me out making meals out of what I've got left over?
Besides the staples, eggs, milk, butter etc...
I've got rice noodles
pasta
ramen noodles (what do I do with these)
cream of broccoli soup (huh?)
gravy mix
box mac n cheese
baked beans
fettucine
half a box of nature burger mix
cheese tortellini
frozen empanadas
frozen veg soup
leftover barley stew
frozen tofu
edamame
frozen spinach
frozen pie shell
veg burgers
veg burger crumbles
dried garbanzos
couscou
wheat/rye berries
quinoa
polenta
wild rice
millet
bulgur
dried kidney beans
arborio rice


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

*Isosmom* here's what I would do ---

Take the piecrust tofu and spinach to make a quiche.

Use the cream of broccoli soup with broccoli, wild rice and cheese to make a chowder.

Make a quick sauce of the burger crumbles, tomatoes and spices to toss with pasta.

Pair the baked beans, mac and cheese and veggie burgers together for a quick supper.

Prepare and then bake the chickpeas for a crispy snack.

Fry the polenta and top with maple syrup for breakfast. Pair with eggs for a protein.

Do a leftover soup and bread night with the barley stew and veggie soup.

Cook up your beans and whole grains and then freeze them in meal-size packages. I find I am more likely to use my beans and grains when all I have to do is pull them out, defrost and add to my meal.

HTH!







---sg


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Selu Gigage ~ holly cow!!
















Question - how do you make chowder? I never made one.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
Selu Gigage ~ holly cow!!
















What she said. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!








Oh, and how would I make the quiche?


----------



## tuffykenwell (Oct 23, 2002)

Well I finished off the last of the salmon and the dried bread crumbs tonight making this dish. It is really yummy (and I am not a big fan of salmon so that is saying something!) and fast too!

Steph

* Exported from MasterCook *

Salmon Cakes

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 10 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups soft bread crumbs -- about 2 slices of bread
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 medium onion -- chopped
2 cans canned salmon -- skin removed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Mix mayonnaise and egg in medium bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except oil and dry bread crumbs. Shape mixture into 10 patties.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Coat each patty with dry bread crumbs. Cook in oil over medium heat about 10 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and hot in center. Reduce heat if crab cakes become brown too quickly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 137 Calories; 8g Fat (50.0% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 46mg Cholesterol; 398mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
Question - how do you make chowder? I never made one.

Thanks.









With the cream of broccoli soup, I'd take the can of soup and add a bag of frozen broccoli or cut-up fresh, 1 cup cheddar cheese and a milk (either 2 cans evap milk, 2 cups whole or 2 cups powder mixed with less water). You can also add in some sauteed onion and garlic for more taste.

ETA: I forgot the wild rice. With a chowder that is mostly dairy, I'd cook the wild rice separately to avoid overcooking or burning the dairy.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
What she said. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!








Oh, and how would I make the quiche?

Hee! You're welcome. I am so glad you like them.

I make my quiche this way: first check to see if you need to pre-bake the crust. If you do, make sure to do that. It'll usually say somewhere on the directions. If it says nothing and you want it full-proof no-sog, bake crust for 10 minutes at 350*.

Defrost and then squeeze dry your spinach. Defrost, press (if needed) and chop up the tofu into little pieces. Place spinach and tofu in the crust. If you like cheese, you can also add some cheese to the mix. Take 4-5 eggs and 1 cup milk (fresh or prepared powder will work) and beat together with salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of paprika (optional). Pour custard over the filling. I do a slow bake on my quiche, so turn down the oven to 300* and then bake for 60 minutes. I do a slow bake because I do not care for too much brown on my eggs.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

We were so boring tonight. I started a class today so I didn't see ds much and he was clingy, clingy, clingy when I got home. DH made pasta with jarred Diavolocino sauce. We ate it with the pumpkin bread I made yesterday.

I have not 1, not 2, but 7 (!!!!!) boxes of couscous in my pantry. We could literally have a week of couscous. Tomorrow I'm home so maybe I'll get more adventurous and figure out something to do with some of that couscous.


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*
I have not 1, not 2, but 7 (!!!!!) boxes of couscous in my pantry. We could literally have a week of couscous. Tomorrow I'm home so maybe I'll get more adventurous and figure out something to do with some of that couscous.

I don't have a recipe for it, but a friend of mine used to make couscous-stuffed tomatoes. She'd mix the tomato pulp w/ garlic, herbs, peppers and top w/ feta and bake it. Yummy!


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

I like couscous with roasted vegetables. It's my favorite simple dish. I cut up all the vegetables I need to get rid of (tons of onions - into vedges, carrots, dying bell pepers, lots of garlic - whole cloves, squash.....) put in the baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, spices and bake at about 400F until soft (usually about 30 minutes).
Cook the couscous meanwhile with chicken or veggie broth and serve roasted veggies over pile of couscous














This is so yummy!

I also made great lentil soup yesterday. I will post the recipe shortly.

Thanks for the chowder recipe!


----------



## achintyasamma (Aug 4, 2004)

i know the month is more than halfway over, but dh and i are feeling inspired so we're going to join up. we're trying to get our budget down a little so we can have a little extra each month for fun. i'm guessing we spend about $50 each month on things we don't really need - candy, ginger brew, drinks at the coffee shop, soy egg nog, and potato chips. i thought this would be a good way to get us started. we don't have as much in our pantries as some of you mamas seem to, but we do have a lot in the fridge/freezer that we can use up. i don't have a car, so i go to the co-op twice a week. i'm going to stick to that schedule but allow myself to spend only $10 each time and only buy veggies and milk. that's $80-90 for the month as opposed to the $200-250 we spend now. i've already gotten a lot of ideas from you all. thanks mamas! i'm going to make mulberry cobbler with some mulberries dh and i picked back in july. hehe...we thought we were being really smart and thrifty by picking them from this tree that was in our apt. complex, but we never managed to eat as many as we picked. i'm also going to get out my bread machine and make some bread. i've only used it once since i found it at the thrift store last month for $7







and we're going to be snacking on organic popcorn i bought a while ago for .62/lb. keep it up mamas!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Wow, slow day on this thread. Everyone must be busy cooking









Today I'm making Amy's pulled pork, the crockpot applesauce someone else gave the recipe for (sorry I don't remember who), and the Martha Stewart banana bread. The applesauce is done & cooling. Tastes great! I added just a little brown sugar & some cinnamon. Left it kinda chunky since dh really likes texture to his food. The pork has about an hour left. It should be done in time for lunch, w/ plenty left over for supper & then some. I'm also making a can of asparagus that I've had for awhile. Lots of butter & hollandaise sauce.







The bread I'll throw together while dh is home on lunch so he can watch dd. We had a major







a little while ago cause mama had to put her down for I'd say, oh maybe, 2 min while I took the applesauce out of the crock. God really does make them cute for a reason doesn't he? :LOL


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Holly- let me know how the pulled pork comes out. Also the bannana bread!









I am making blue berry muffins today! DD want to make a cake but I think this will tied her over.

Tonight its homemade pizza. Its cold out and the oven warming up the house is nice this time of year. Also I have mushrooms to use up which will go on top.

That Salmon recipe is perfect. I have 2 cans of it that I will use for that. But since Lent is starting in 2 weeks, I will make it for Ash Wed. It really snuck up on us this year.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

That applesauce sounds incredible. I really want to try making homemade sometime. I have never done it.

Tonight we are having porkchops in the CP. They were in the freezer. With a can of mushroom soup over them. Well I had to use it up, right?







Actually they come out very good this way, and it's the low-sodium soup....

Yesterday I made banana bread from the Martha Stewart recipe with whole wheat flour and sucanet. It came out very well. I sliced it and froze it individually for snacks and DH's lunch. The bananas had been in the freezer just waiting to be used up!

I also made the light pound cake into blueberry muffins. This recipe is SO good! Such a great base for muffins. They are light and moist and really good! The blueberries were from a frozen, opened package that were perfectly good, but were being ignored in favor of the Wyman's wild blueberries.

Thanks to both PPs who shared those recipes.

I need to go to the store ASAP for fruit, yogurt, and DH's Kashi Crunch. He won't eat anything else for breakfast, so I guess I have to eat all the oatmeal and other cereals myself! He's pretty picky in some ways, not at all in others...

I was getting tempted to do a big shop this week but I am going to resist and just get the few things we really need and are out of. There is so much in the pantry and freezer that needs to be used up. Which again makes me glad I found this thread!


----------



## bwylde (Feb 19, 2004)

I know it's already a long thread, but I am going to join you guys







. I need to get cleaning out the stuff in our house. Our church encourages it's members to have a years supply of food but I never got to that point. Thing is now I have lots of odd things I need to get used up, especially since I want to fill our storage with healthier things because I want my family to eat healthier. I look forward to reading this thread and posting my humble attempts







. We did go shopping today because I needed a few staple items and some fresh stuff. I think my biggest challenge with this will be DS, who is very, very picky. I also tie security in with having lots of food in the house since growing up, we never had much.

The blueberry muffins sound good. I have a 5 pound box of blueberries in the freezer I have no idea what to do with. It would make DH's day if I did









Tonight for supper we'll be having ham with a veggie stir fry (I had a frozen stir fry veggie pack in the freezer) and probably applesauce.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mariah101*
I also made the light pound cake into blueberry muffins. This recipe is SO good! Such a great base for muffins...

Thanks to both PPs who shared those recipes.









Glad you liked them! I think I might make them this afternoon too. My dh







them.

Tonight we are having baked chicken with mango salsa (frozen mango cut into cubes, a little green onion, bell pepper and jalapeno with a little olive oil), and, of course, couscous. One box down... six to go!

Jen


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
I don't have a recipe for it, but a friend of mine used to make couscous-stuffed tomatoes. She'd mix the tomato pulp w/ garlic, herbs, peppers and top w/ feta and bake it. Yummy!









: That sounds SOOO good! Thanks for sharing! I'm sure we'll use one of our boxes of couscous on this.


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*
and, of course, couscous. One box down... six to go!

If the couscous is plain, you can make couscous pudding (like rice pudding) chilled or baked and served warm (like kugel). I love grain-based desserts.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GriffinsMom*







Glad you liked them! I think I might make them this afternoon too. My dh







them.

Tonight we are having baked chicken with mango salsa (frozen mango cut into cubes, a little green onion, bell pepper and jalapeno with a little olive oil), and, of course, couscous. One box down... six to go!

Jen

I am already dreaming of other variations for them...putting strudel on the top, chocolate chips, lemon rind, etc. !

Your dinner sounds great. I am going to have to look for frozen mango. I have crappy luck with the fresh. It doesn't always ripen, sometimes it just rots.









I went to the store tonight to get the yogurt, fruit, and Kashi Crunch. Well, of course i bought more than that.







We needed dog and cat food, which I don't usually get a the grocery store, but it was snowing...so I won't count that. We were low on eggs. DH has a cold so I bought him OJ. I want to make split pea soup with some ham I have frozen, so I got the peas and a bag of fresh carrots, which we were out of. Plus cold cuts for DH's lunch. He refuses to take leftovers for lunch. Some bread. I can't remember what else..oh yeah, some sugar in the raw, maybe a couple other things I can't recall. All told not counting the dog and cat food it was $50!!!! GEEZ! I am going to try to stay out of the store for another week. At least I didn't fall prey to any packaged items or snack-sized items. No snacks at all in fact. Just staple type things.

So even though I feel like a failure right now, I'm actually proud that I just bought necessities and have been baking stuff at home. Some progress at least.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Tonight was just dc and I. We had grilled cheese and carrots. I had Boca sausage in mine which is pretty nasty, but I wanted to use it up.
I was looking through my cookbooks today and found a pretty good all purpose recipe for using up leftover grains and veg. Thought you all might appreciate it.

Leftover Hash
1 chopped onion
2 T butter or oil
1 1/2 c cooked grains
1 1/2 c cooked legumes
1 c cooked vegetables
1 chopped tomato
2 T soy sauce
1/2 - 1 c shredded cheese
Saute onion in butter or oil. Add everything but the cheese and heat through. Add cheese and stir till melted.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

nak

dh is working evenings, so we're doing burgers/waffle fries for lunch & leftovers for dinner.

amy, the pulled pork was a hit.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mariah101*
DH has a cold so I bought him OJ.











citrus fruit and of course juice from citrus fruit is not the best for cold actually. It lowers down the inner body temperature - which makes the body even more suspectible to cold. It's not a warming food, that's what I am trying to say.








HOt teas are way better


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

I hate broccoli, but I had an entire bag so I made a broc/cheddar quiche and I am really hoping that I can eat it. If not, DH has an entire quiche to eat. :LOL

Dinner is consisting of a weird stovetop casserole of lean ground bean, crushed tomatoes and spinach that I am going to top with a slice of white cheddar. It's kind of sort of like the dish Joe... but without the eggs and with tomatoes and cheese. So maybe not like Joe at all.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
nak

amy, the pulled pork was a hit.










thanks Holly!
Glad we could be of assistance


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*









citrus fruit and of course juice from citrus fruit is not the best for cold actually. It lowers down the inner body temperature - which makes the body even more suspectible to cold. It's not a warming food, that's what I am trying to say.








HOt teas are way better









Yeah...I like hot tea when I am sick. But he's an OJ guy. And the vit. C doesn't hurt.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mariah101*
I am going to have to look for frozen mango.

The only place that I have been able to find it is Whole Foods. I think it is about $1.79 for a 12 oz bag. Its worth it to me since you get the chopped fruit pieces and no seed or rind to deal with. There is a "trick" to cutting mango but its just not worth it to me when I can pull it out of the freezer for less than $2. :LOL

I have class this afternoon so I need to go peruse my freezer for something to stick in the crockpot.

We are doing great - I spent $10 at the store on Monday for a few necessities but that is it! I think next week will be similar. I am LOVING this challenge. Now, if I can make myself stay away from Target too, I'll be feeling rich!









We discovered my "flour stash" in my deep freeze so I'll be making more bread soon. I bought organic flour on sale at Wild Oats, stuck it in there and forgot about it. I also found 12 lbs of cherries that my mom brought me from Wisconsin last August. Maybe I'll make a cherry crumble this evening.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

OMG, when I am reading your replies a question pops into my head:
*
How big are your freezers??* :LOL


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
OMG, when I am reading your replies a question pops into my head:
*
How big are your freezers??* :LOL











I hate side by side refridgerators b/c there just isn't enough freezer space. So, when we bought our new fridge a couple years ago, I bought a "traditional" one with a huge freezer. I also have a big deep freeze in my garage. I don't know what I'd do with my freezers! That is where I keep all my "good stuff"!


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
OMG, when I am reading your replies a question pops into my head:
*
How big are your freezers??* :LOL

:LOL
Well..... We have a side-by-side refridgerator/freezer, an approximately 2' long x 3' deep x 2' wide chest freezer, an approximately 5' long x 3' deep x 2' wide chest freezer. The fridge came w/ the house, the 1st freezer we got in college for our apartment, and the 2nd freezer was a hand-me down from my in-laws when we bought our house. It sounds like a lot, but we fill it up when things are on super sale!


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

oops, I had postedd this by mistake on the main nutrition board. Meant to put it here since you guys are so helpful with all these frugal ideas!

I have leftover CP porkchops with broth and noodles from last night. Today they look just awful...I didn't separate the broth to skim the fat so now it's all mixed in with the noodles. Blech. I hate it when I do things like this.

Anyway, assuming I can reheat it, cool it, and get the fat out, any ideas for a casserole or anything? It was kind of blah last night, didn't come out as good as it usually does. The broth is made from light cream of mushroom soup, btw. Thanks for any ideas!


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Tonight, I made the crockpot pork roast, and it was deelish! I buttered the crock, put in about a cup of water, put in the roast, and put in 5 potatoes (unpeeled, cut in half) on top. I cooked it on low for 7 hours and then high for the final hour.

I wanted to post about a frugal way of using seemingly unusable leftovers. I've read about this in magazines, and I'm giving it a try. Right now, I have two gallon-size Ziploc bags un the freezer. To one, I add the juice every time I drain a can of fruit. When I get enough juice, I think I'll use it to marinate some chicken breasts. I think it would also be a good base for chilled fruit soups or smoothies. For the second bag, I've been adding leftover broths, soups, cooking juices. I think it would make a good base for stews or liquid for mashing potatoes. Any other ideas for using the juice or broth?

I also know people who put leftover vegetables and tomato-based juices in a freezer container and use that as the base for a soup. You can add pasta, rice, meat, and/or veggies.

I've also read about keeping two Ziplocs in the freezer for crumbs at the bottom of bags, one for savory crumbs (bread, crackers) and one for sweet crumbs (cookies, granola, graham crackers). The savory crumbs can be mixed w/ flour, cornmeal, etc., for breading baked or fried foods. The sweet crumbs can be used for toppings for fruit, ice cream, yogurt, or mixed w/ crushed cookies for dessert crusts.


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Yin Yang*
OMG, when I am reading your replies a question pops into my head:
*
How big are your freezers??* :LOL

I'm wondering the same thing, mama! Mine's pretty small....and bare.

Tonight was cheeseburgers/fries. MIL's boyfriend always sends a huge box from Omaha Steaks for x-mas and these were the last of it. I'm pretty proud of myself, actually. We had no buns...so I made them. God, I love my bread machine. :LOL

It was actually a horrifying meal prep. DS is cutting 4 molars and apparently my touch is the only thing that helps (aaah, to be a mom..). He's screaming and hanging on my leg. The griddle w/ the burgers starts to smoke and sets off both smoke detectors. DH won't help w/ dinner b/c (oh, horror of horrors) I"M FRYING THE POTATOES b/c I got started too late and didn't have time to bake them (







) . DD's freaking out b/c of the smoke alarms (she absolutely hates loud noises....intercoms even freak her out)....Needless to say I am really enjoying the witching hour this eve









I also made tsatsiki(sp?) today. I had a big container of plain yogurt about to expire. I plan on hummus, falafel, pita....again. Only this time, I think I'm going to try falafel from scratch. There's only 8 cans of garbanzos in there, so WTH? I'll make the pita tomorrow morning (hopefully the little suckers hollow out better this time :LOL).

Has anyone had any luck making yogurt w/out a yogurt machine? Super Baby Food goes into great detail about it and I think that is going to be this weekend's adventure (along w/ homemade fruit leather







)

See you tomorrow,ladies!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
Has anyone had any luck making yogurt w/out a yogurt machine? Super Baby Food goes into great detail about it and I think that is going to be this weekend's adventure (along w/ homemade fruit leather







)

See you tomorrow,ladies!

We have a yogurt machine. You need a special starter to get the whole thing going. Then you take a bit to pass onto the next batch later. I usually found the starter at health stores or whole foods might have it as well.


----------



## bwylde (Feb 19, 2004)

I used to make a lot of yogurt in the oven. You need some yogurt to start. How I'd do it would be heat up 4 cups of milk until just warm (I would use reconstituted powdered skim milk). Pour into a glass bowl, stir in the yogurt starter (about half a cup), cover and put in the oven with the light on over night. Sometimes it came out great, sometimes not so much, it depends on how active your starter is (a couple times I tried when the yogurt was close to the expiry date, which turned out a bit stringy and slimy). I would like to try and find a crockpot method.

Yesterday DS and I made candy







. We brought 1/2 cup molasses and 1/4 cup brown sugar to the soft ball stage boil then poured it on snow to make shapes. I only made a small batch to see how it came out and it was pretty good, although DH will probably be the only one too eat it (too sticky for DS and I'm not much for candy).

Last night we had smoked salmon, baked potatoes, corn, cucumber slices and raw baby carrots for supper. I've had the salmon in the freezer for a while because we find it way too strong and I can't find a good recipe for it. I still have a fair amount left but it will probably be a while before we use it again.

I'm not sure what we're having today. DH starts work at 4 so we'll probably have a late breakfast/early lunch and early supper. I'm thinking soup and sandwiches this morning and maybe pizza and salad for supper.

We have a mini chest freezer and the fridge part of the freezer. You can put a LOT in them if you do a lot of arranging, lol! I've come home from shopping where the freezers were packed full, but I still managed to squeeze a couple of bags in.


----------



## root*children (Mar 22, 2004)

We have a 9cu ft. freezer. Check out the TWG for more info if you're looking to buy a freezer. Amy D.'s got some good words on what type to buy, how much space you need, etc.

We're having pizza tonight (well, every friday night is Pizza night for us!). We use WW/UB flour that was bought in bulk & on sale at 79c/5 lb bag, yeast that was mail-ordered in a 2-lb bag, and moz cheez that was bought at $1/lb, shredded and frozen. Then I'll have to dig up whatever fresh veggies are hiding in the fridge and need to be used up (I think tomatos and peppers are what I have tonight).


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Bwylde- Here's a crockpot method, as per Super Baby Food:

"If your crockpot has only a low and high setting, it's probably too hot to incubate yogurt. Usually a crockpot's lowest setting is 200F and the high is 300F. If you have a rare crockpot where you can set temp, fill it partway w/ warm water, place the jar in it*, and set it to between 110F and 115F. Verify w/ a thermometer that your crockpot stays at the proper temperature."

*She uses covered, sterile jars to incubate. Pre-warm immediately before you put the yogurt mixture in them.

There are tons of money saving ideas in this book, so if any of you have never read it, go to your library and check it out. If they don't have it, it is definitely worth buying.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Usually every friday night at our house is pizza night as well. But we made it on Wed this week since I had a craving. We do the same thing you do- we have preshredded zella in the freezer we did already.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*

I wanted to post about a frugal way of using seemingly unusable leftovers. I've read about this in magazines, and I'm giving it a try. Right now, I have two gallon-size Ziploc bags un the freezer. To one, I add the juice every time I drain a can of fruit. When I get enough juice, I think I'll use it to marinate some chicken breasts. I think it would also be a good base for chilled fruit soups or smoothies. For the second bag, I've been adding leftover broths, soups, cooking juices. I think it would make a good base for stews or liquid for mashing potatoes. Any other ideas for using the juice or broth?

I also know people who put leftover vegetables and tomato-based juices in a freezer container and use that as the base for a soup. You can add pasta, rice, meat, and/or veggies.

I've also read about keeping two Ziplocs in the freezer for crumbs at the bottom of bags, one for savory crumbs (bread, crackers) and one for sweet crumbs (cookies, granola, graham crackers). The savory crumbs can be mixed w/ flour, cornmeal, etc., for breading baked or fried foods. The sweet crumbs can be used for toppings for fruit, ice cream, yogurt, or mixed w/ crushed cookies for dessert crusts.

Thanks for these good ideas!

I am still not sure what to do with those leftovers. We didn't eat them last night. They gross me out just looiking at them. And after the day I had with DS (tantrum and refused a nap for the first time ever in his life) I had no motivation to deal with the leftover pork. We had some pasta and leftover broccoli instead.

Today I have split pea soup in the crockpot with diced ham that I've had in the freezer from a spiral ham I made a month ago. So it's good to be using that up. I might also make some wheat bread in my bread machine. I am actually going out to dinner with some former colleagues!!!!!! But I wanted DH and DS to have something good to eat.

I can't believe I'm going out to dinner tonight! A "fancy" meal and I shall not have to get up once during the meal to fill a sippy cup!!! LOL


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

Sharing what I did with 2 chickens from freezer......
Mon: roasted 2 chickens w/ carrots, celery, mashed tatos....same time as to roast one, even though only 1 kid ate at home!! lol
Tues: chicken casserole- ripped off most of chicken, chopped mushrooms, broccoli from freezer....didn't have canned cream something soup so I made a white sauce (butter, flour, milk) added chicken broth, poured over top & baked....also made my FIRST homemade bread....pretty good
Thurs: chicky soup, more carrots & celery and ring noodles

I think from Flylady there was a "rubber chicken recipe from Leann??, where I got the ideas I think.








Now...here is my problem.....I FORGOT to put soup in the fridge, the pot was too big, I knew if I put in garage it would freeze...baby E is teething so I held/nursed/jiggled/nursed/made faces/nursed....finally passed out from all that excitement and crawled to bed. She was up screaming duriing night btw.
So this am there is my giant pot of soup on the kitchen counter!!! GRRRRR

IS IT STILL GOOD?


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

i think it's ok. my mom always leaves soups on the stove over night, and she is extremely higenic person......
i am not like that though, i have to put it in the fridge. well, does it smell? I really think it's fine.


----------



## achintyasamma (Aug 4, 2004)

I am SO glad we're doing this. Thank you mama's for this thread! We just started on Wed. I made oatmeal for breakfast with a lot of dried fruits and some wheat germ. Lunch was leftovers and for dinner I made the strangest dish imaginable. It was definitely the most bizarre thing I've ever made. Here's a list of what I put in it:
-leftover cooked corn
-swiss chard stalks (we had just the stalks left in the fridge)
-one potato sliced really thin
-a mixture of milk powder, ground sunflower seeds, basil, dill, salt and pepper on top of the veggies
-added a layer of leftover lentils
-made another mixture of leftover peanut chutney, wheat germ, oatmeal, and onion blossom horseradish dipping sauce and put pressed it on top of the lentils
-crushed some potato chips and sprinkled them on and popped it in the oven

It was AMAZING!!! Dh loved it and so did I. and the only thing i will need to replace is the potato. yeah! I also made a mulberry and delicata squash cobbler, which was also good.
Yesterday we had oatmeal again for breakfast, I made hummus for lunch and for snacking. For dinner I made pasta sauce out of some tomatoes we froze in September. This morning oatmeal again. We've been using extra bananas to sweeten the oatmeal. Yummy - no sugar.
I am going to go the the store today for 1/2 gallon of milk and some fruit and maybe eggplant if it's not too expensive. We've only got three slices of bread left so send your bread machine recipes this way! Also, any creative ideas on what I can do with 10 lbs of tahini? We've had cold sesame noodles, hummus, and a lot of other things with tahini thrown in, but i need some new ideas. Maybe tahini cookies sweetened with overripe bananas?


----------



## Mama Rana (Aug 18, 2004)

hi all, i think i might jump on the bandwagon, just to try to use some of the things i bought on a fluke but then didn't know how to use.

i too have a big (not 10# though!!) jar of tahini to use. i do have some chickpeas to make hummus, but my recipe only calls for a couple T of tahini. achintyasamma, what was the cold sesame noodles you made?

i also have some bulgar wheat and a jar of wheat germ???? any ideas there?

finally it's dh's b-day on mon. i thought i'd make a cake. i have a box mix (i think it's chocolate) and also a box mix for a white icing. but is there any way i could also use the half a bag of shredded coconut that's in my fridge? does that stuff go bad? how can i tell?

thanks ladies!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Rana*
i also have some bulgar wheat and a jar of wheat germ???? any ideas there?

finally it's dh's b-day on mon. i thought i'd make a cake. i have a box mix (i think it's chocolate) and also a box mix for a white icing. but is there any way i could also use the half a bag of shredded coconut that's in my fridge? does that stuff go bad? how can i tell?

thanks ladies!


For the wheat germ, you can add it into all sorts of baked goods. It's also good in yogurt or shakes.

I'd just taste the coconut. I bet it's fine. My gram used to make cake w/ white frosting & topped w/ coconut. You could also go to www.allrecipes.com & look up coconut for ideas.

No idea what I'm making for dinner. Something w/ rice though since I just made up a big pot of it. Tuna sandwiches & tortilla chips for lunch. Going to the co-op tomorrow for a few essentials like potatoes & onions.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Rana*
hi all, i think i might jump on the bandwagon, just to try to use some of the things i bought on a fluke but then didn't know how to use.

i too have a big (not 10# though!!) jar of tahini to use. i do have some chickpeas to make hummus, but my recipe only calls for a couple T of tahini. achintyasamma, what was the cold sesame noodles you made?

i also have some bulgar wheat and a jar of wheat germ???? any ideas there?

finally it's dh's b-day on mon. i thought i'd make a cake. i have a box mix (i think it's chocolate) and also a box mix for a white icing. but is there any way i could also use the half a bag of shredded coconut that's in my fridge? does that stuff go bad? how can i tell?

thanks ladies!

try making HALVA from tahini! It's fantastic desert!! Mix tahini with honey - not sure in what ratio - you have to try. i'd imagine it'd be about half and half....keeps stiring - it's thin at first but the more you stir the thicker it gets. Then you can add vanilla to it or cocoa to make it chocolate or whatever, nuts. Then press it into some baking sheet or something flat and put into fridge for to cool down. It will get even thicker and you should be able to cut it with nife. It's best desert ever!
And it is so healthy! Lots of protein! Try only a tinny bit at first and see if you like the taste.


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Allright, so I went to the market for essentials yesterday and ended up spending $100. How does this happen? I didn't stray from my list, I only bought what I needed to make a meal out of what I've already got at home. But $100







: Oh well, I am kind of feeling like I fell off the wagon, but not really. Maybe I just don't have as much stuff in my freezer as you all :LOL
Anyhow, last night dh made a great casserole out of the leftover barley stew.








Tonight I'm making quinoa and millet with the roasted edamame for dc and I. And probably some apples and carrots.
For the bulghur, you could make tabbuli, that's what I'm doing with mine. Also, since I've got a lot, I'll be making a bulgur and wild rice pilaf with veggies.
Gotta go, dd is wanting to do puzzles with me.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Tonight is chili night. Its pretty chilly outside so its perfect weather for chili.
Defrosted: some ground beef, green peppers from our garden.
Pantry items: a can of crushed tomato, hot chili beans, and assorted spices.
added an onion. We will also eat from the "snack" cabinet: oyster crackers and from the fridge cheddar and sour cream.

So far left of the great pantry challenge: a can of kidney beans (Yuck, I don't even know why they are there!- any ideas?) assorted pastas that will be used up during lent, and canned salmon that will be used in a recipe posted here that will be used during lent. Also a can of beans that are spicy that need to be fried I guess. They maybe were bought by mistake thinking they were refried beans- who knows. Again- any ideas? Also a can of clams that can be used in clams and speggetti.

Plus some assorted odds and ends that I know will get used up and if not- to the food pantry they go!

Then, I had a bag of rice that I put into my rice container in the kitchen, a thing of salt -also now in my kitchen, flour-same, several teas that I have been drinking. There were some treats in there that dd discovered during a "sort" down there that got eaten up immediatly.

Last but not least- a box of brownie mix. I thought it was cake mix but it was brownie mix. I made them two days ago. As I was getting rid of the box, the side caught my eye. A recipe for smores. A cup of choco chips, a cup of marshmallows, and graham crackers. All in my cabinets! All done and DH took them to work. What a hit and too sweet for me but he and his entire staff went nuts for them. They keep telling me this when I call the office.















But little did I know during this whole thing- I Have lost weight YIPPPEEEE! I have had a few people ask me this and say I look great.

Another plus- our grocery bill this month is under budget. We usually spend about $400 -450. Its under $300 this month. I'd like to see this happen again every month or keep it around that.

I'd like to know how this has affected you and/or your family and share your successes or challenges.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Allright, so I went to the market for essentials yesterday and ended up spending $100. How does this happen? I didn't stray from my list, I only bought what I needed to make a meal out of what I've already got at home. But $100







: Oh well, I am kind of feeling like I fell off the wagon, but not really. Maybe I just don't have as much stuff in my freezer as you all :LOL

This has not happened to me as you can see from my post. But, I think you need to take inventory of what you have in your freezer, fridge, and pantry area.
-List all ready to eat meals in your freezer and fridge (just need to reheat)
-List all ready to cook meals in your freezer and fridge (put in oven, already made up meatballs, etc)
-List all leftovers for lunches, dinners, whatever
-List all things in pantry that have been there awhile that need to get used up
-Make a menu of all the listed above that you have ready to go. This way you will used what you have first. I mean everything from a pork roast in the freezer to grilled cheese. Tape it on the fridge and consult it for meal planning the next few days and stick to it.

This is the only way I have not fallen off the wagon, if I did not do this, I would have NEVER made it. But don't be hard on yourself- look how far you got.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Allright, so I went to the market for essentials yesterday and ended up spending $100. How does this happen? I didn't stray from my list, I only bought what I needed to make a meal out of what I've already got at home. But $100

Well, some of the stuff must be things you can use again, right? Maybe you were lower on certain items than you realized. I spent $50 the other night and the fridge looks pretty bare. It's alright though b/c there is a lot in the freezer, and we have eggs, milk etc.

The bummer for me today is that the split pea soup never cooked in the CP! The ham and carrots cooked, but the peas are still hard. This is the second time in 2 months legumes have not cooked in the CP for me. Same recipes I have always used. I am going to try cooking it in a stockpot tomorrow....

Amy1st--congrats on the weight loss! Certainly a beneficial side effect!

I do feel we're eating more healthfully, b/c I am baking more from scratch instead of buying snacks.


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

I hear ya'! I did so well last week - I only spent $10 but we just returned from our weekly trip to Whole Foods and we spent $40 this week. I was pretty disappointed but, honestly, I did really well sticking to my list and not straying (and there were a couple times when I really, really wanted to!). Most of what we bought was parishables (milk, bananas, etc.) that we were either completely out of or were for ds so... I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. Really, most weeks I spent about $80 to $100 so $40 is really pretty good. I was just hoping for another $10 week like last week.

On the up side, we are in great shape for this week! I have my menu planned for the entire week already! I think we can make it at least a couple more weeks on this challenge without going back to big grocery bills.


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I have been going to the grocery all along but I have stretched out days as far as possible between trips, and bought only essentials and fresh stuff we need- milk, eggs, veggies, lettuce etc. But we are under budget because it shaved off several dollars of using what we have instead of just buying whats there.
the biggest expenses were- meats (buy on sale in bulk- a ham and ground beef and we will use them for several meals)
Organic milk


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

After looking at my meal plan with all the food that I bought from the market, I'm not feeling quite so bad. Between what I've got already in the house and what I bought to supplement I can make like 3 week worth of dinners, and that's if I cook every day, plus bread, sweets, and breakfast. So overall, I'm feeling kind of proud.
And I find that as ds is starting to eat more table food, we are running out of essentials really quick. So I find myself buying 2 dozen eggs and 2 cartons of butter etc so I won't have to run out as often to buy the basics, ykwim?
Well, I brought some pizza dough home from work yesterday and today made it into breadsticks and cheese buns. They're good but really white bread tasting.
Does anyone know how I can make already made dough a little more healthy. Is it too late to add wheat germ or nuts or something? I hate to pass up free food from work








I am using most of the veg recipes that you all have posted and am loving them. I'm at work all day tomorrow so we'll see what dh comes up with. He calls this *cooking from the hip* :LOL


----------



## Mama Rana (Aug 18, 2004)

thanks for the halva recipe!! i only have a little honey but i made a little and it was really good!!! i looked up on-line and it can be made with brown sugar and milk instead of honey. it tastes familiar like i've had it before.

any good recipes for tabuleh? i didn't like the one one the bulgar package.

oh, and what can i do with somewhat wilted spinach? soup? hmmm, maybe i should have added it to the jambolya(sp?) i made today. i feel like i'm filling my freezer rather than emptying it!!!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

This is the recipe I'm using for tabbouleh
1 1/2 c boiling water
1 c bulgur
1/4 c lemon juice
olive oil
1 c minced green onions
1 c each chopped mint and parsley
1 dice diced cucumber
2 c cherry tomatoes
Pour water over bulgur. Add lemon juice, 1/4 c olive oil and salt. Stir and cover and set at room temp for an hour.
Add everything else to the cooked bulgur.
You can sub just about anything, veggies, herbs. Put it's pretty necessary to use the parsley.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Rana*
oh, and what can i do with somewhat wilted spinach? soup? hmmm, maybe i should have added it to the jambolya(sp?) i made today. i feel like i'm filling my freezer rather than emptying it!!!









nak

if you have some eggs, onion, plain yogurt or sour cream, and a couple other staples you can make the crustless spinach quich i posted earlier. you can also try soaking it in ice water to crisp it back up a bit.


----------



## Mama Rana (Aug 18, 2004)

i ended up making scrambled eggs florentine--but why didn't i think of the quiche?! of course that would have been perfect. oh well the eggs were good too.

i have a great idea for the cake for dh. i mentioned the coconut, but i remembered i also have some caramel dip ( yk, the kind for apples). so i'm going to gently warm that up, add coconut and nuts, and put it on my choco cake for a sort of german choco cake!

i put most of the jambolya in the freezer. we had leftover chinese from dinner last night for lunch. tonight we'll have the jambolya i left out and maybe some cornbread (i'm running out of eggs--did someone mentioned a substitute?).


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Kind of a blah weekend. Finished off the leftover pork roast and potatoes. I really should make a meal plan for this week, but nothing sounds good right now. I think I should reread this thread for some ideas.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Rana*

i have a great idea for the cake for dh. i mentioned the coconut, but i remembered i also have some caramel dip ( yk, the kind for apples). so i'm going to gently warm that up, add coconut and nuts, and put it on my choco cake for a sort of german choco cake!


Thank you for the cake idea. I have some caramel dip in the freezer that I saved from Halloween! And coconut in the fridge that is not being used at all. I have no cake mix, but a recipe for honey brownies that I've been wanting to make and could put the topping on....sounds good!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Its cold outside and we just dug out from 10 inches of snow. It stopped late this afternoon. Getting cabin fever so we went out to a pub for for dinner. Since we have been saving some money, why not only $20 for a treat.

We are leaving out of town mid week so we are eating out of the freezer/fridge this week.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

We just had a broccoli quiche for breakfast! And was sooooo yammy!!







My first quiche ever and came out wonderfully!

i got so much inspiration on this thread! It's great!

Yesterday I made chili and put half of it onto freezer and today I wll make a split pea soup! Excited about that one - I love pea soup!

How is everyone doing?


----------



## leomom (Aug 6, 2004)

This is the COOLEST idea!









I'm jumping in awfully late. Any chance you guys are going to continue this in February. I could use the inspiration.


----------



## hlkm2e (Aug 24, 2004)

I feel like I am entereing the second phase of the pantry challenge this week. I have gotten my pantry stash under control and this week we are going to be eating strictly frozen leftovers from the pantry challenge foods I've made the last few weeks. I've already taken some berry muffins out of the freezer to thaw for breakfast this week and some barley soup for tomorrows dinner. The rest of this week is chicken and rice, white chili, and chicken enchiladas. One day will be breakfast foods. This challenge has made me organize a lot more and now I have time to tackle some other areas of my house. So this week, instead of thinking of recipes and cooking, I am going to do some winter cleaning.


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *leomom*
This is the COOLEST idea!









I'm jumping in awfully late. Any chance you guys are going to continue this in February. I could use the inspiration.









I hope we will continue in February!


----------



## leomom (Aug 6, 2004)

Just wanted to let you Mamas know that you inspired me TWICE today.









Coming home from church, I had my usual urge to go out for lunch, but I thought of you all and instead I made a noodle, tuna, and peas concoction and it was quite yummy!









Later, when I was making dinner, I realized I didn't have as much bbq sauce as the recipe called for (I had less than half). Dh promptly offered to go out and buy more, and normally I would have said yes. But, again, I thought of y'all and I said no. I looked at the ingedients on the back and pulled out the ketchup and vinegar and made my own! And it was great!







This restraint was especially good considering I chose that recipe to use up the last of the bbq sauce since we never use the stuff, and if we'd bought more it would have totally negated the point! Believe it or not, normally in the heat of the moment I would have forgotten this and bought more! :LOL Instead, I made a delicious dinner, avoided the store, and made more space in the fridge.

I am loving you ladies tonight!!!


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

I hope we continue this thread. I want to keep seeing how much we can save. We had a blizzard last night and for the first time we hired a snowplow to clear us out. Well, we only got about 10 inches--we could have shoveled that ourselves--and it was $70!!!! SEVENTY DOLLARS! My DH about flipped esp. since it was my idea. Oh well, live and learn. Sigh.

I will have to try to make up for it by eating a lot of beans or something!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

So dh and I went out last night to eat Indian food. It's ok though, it was a date and how often does that happen? Never I tell you.
I've got today and tommorow off, so I'm going to try ot get some baking done. Planning on making those blueberry muffins , some banana bread, ww bread, and some treats.
Tonight I'm making the broccoli soup sg posted for me and and asian salad using up some nasty ramen noodles I've still got.
Tommorow will probably be a wheatberry salad and maybe spinach quiche or tofu sloppy joes.
It's crazy I've got so much to choose from now that I've made a meal plan out of what I've got. Before I would have thought we had nothing in the house to eat.
Sil and bil are coming Wednesday night for a few days so I'm going to try to make some ready to eat snacks for them while they're here.
Oh, and







: to all the newbies. I'm glad your jumping in. I was thinking maybe we could start a new thread each month, I know I'd be into it. Anyone else?


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

I'm totally game starting this as a usual event. We are under budget this month by 25%. Tonight and tomorrow we will be living out of the pantry and freezer since we are departing for a few days.

It takes about 30 days to develop a habit. I am not cold turkey yet, but I am well on my way to making a few changes that will trim our grocery and dining out budget.

Again, what are some successes and not so successful things you have found during this challenge?


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

We went to my in-laws last night to watch the football play-offs, and they ordered pizza and sent the leftovers home w/ us, so breakfast and lunch for me today are free. (Any other SAHM's always eat last night's leftovers for breakfast and lunch? It's getting old.







) I still have no idea what's for supper tonight...







I need to use up some eggs, so maybe we'll have breakfast for supper--scrambled eggs or omelets. Hey, that actually sounds yummy!


----------



## Amys1st (Mar 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
We went to my in-laws last night to watch the football play-offs, and they ordered pizza and sent the leftovers home w/ us, so breakfast and lunch for me today are free. (Any other SAHM's always eat last night's leftovers for breakfast and lunch? It's getting old.







) I still have no idea what's for supper tonight...







I need to use up some eggs, so maybe we'll have breakfast for supper--scrambled eggs or omelets. Hey, that actually sounds yummy!









Well, since you ate dinner for breakfast, it makes sense to have breakfast for dinner right?









DH always takes what we had last night for lunch the next day. We always make a bit more for that reason.

Lunch today- we have to use up these bagels in the fridge befor we leave so its pizza bagel time! A little left over sauce and some zella we are in business.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mariah101*
I hope we continue this thread. I want to keep seeing how much we can save. We had a blizzard last night and for the first time we hired a snowplow to clear us out. Well, we only got about 10 inches--we could have shoveled that ourselves--and it was $70!!!! SEVENTY DOLLARS! My DH about flipped esp. since it was my idea. Oh well, live and learn. Sigh.

I will have to try to make up for it by eating a lot of beans or something!

OMG! You definitly have to shop around for plowing. We live in N VT, with a regular size residential driveway, & our guy charges $15/time. He only comes if we get several inches or if we call him.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

I'm definitly planning to repost this for Feb. Is it just me or does it seem like this would go better in the new "Mindful Home Management" forum we're getting??

My biggest challenge this month has been traveling. We did it twice & our whole routine is messed up for days afterwards. I'm so beat from trying to juggle unpacking, getting caught up on laundry, & juggling dd that dinner just doesn't happen.







:

The best habit I've gotten this month was putting dinner together while dh is home on lunch to help w/ dd.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Isosmom, I think a splurge like dinner is fine when you can afford it. Gotta have some fun! I'm starting to think of the $70 snowplow fee as a splurge--we had company all weekend so we didn't have to shovel when they were here. Still...

My successes via this thread include:

using up some items that were being ignored
baking more from scratch, bread, muffins, etc.
not spending 100+ at grocery store--just getting what we really need. Last week I spent $50, this week $75.
changing the way I shop: I used to make a big list of ingredients for recipes I had looked up. I love cooking and perusing cookbooks for new recipes. Now I am looking at what I have, deciding what I could make with it, and buying any missing ingredients.

Still it is very expensive to eat! Today I went to the grocery store with DS, b/c we were near my favorite one that has a large health food and organic section. There were a number of items we were out of. We had almost no fresh fruit or produce, nothing for DH's lunch (he won't take leftovers; he likes cold cuts--so I shop at this store to get Boar's Head,the highest quality ones I can find). I was down to like one carrot, no onions, etc. There were some more expensive items i needed like honey and organic sugar. But I got a lot for $75, mostly organic:

carrots
avocados
peppers (for a sausage dish I plan to make tonight)
pears
onions
cabbage
Kashi Crunch cereal for DH
brown rice
organic chicken broth
honey
organic sugar (couldn't find sucanet today








yogurt--lots of it--Stoneyfield was on sale--
string cheese
organic butter
deli chicken, ham, and cheese
organic wheat crackers for DS
organic juice
frozen veg.
sprouted bread
dishwasher detergent

That's it. Produce is expensive, and cheese and meat as a PP noted really knocks your grocery bill up. But, I would prefer to eat as much fresh food as possible and I like eating organic, and want a good variety for DS.

I am going to stick with my old habit of only shopping once per week. The more times you go in, the more you spend, and it gets that much harder to keep track of it! I vow NOT to go back to the store til at least next Mon.!

Love this thread!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Good things about this thread:
I'm using up those thngs I buy cause I think I might use them, not because I need them.
Changed the way I make my meal plans. I still go through my cookbooks and find stuff that looks good. But now I make what I can out of what I've already got first. Shop for only what I need to make stuff out of what I've already got at home. And then only shop when I really need stuff.
I've been eating my leftovers out of the freezer. Using things that have just been hanging out there for quite a while.
Baking more, I was already on the way with this one, but now I'm planning on doing more snacks and sweets at home, too.
Oh, and I'm getting great recipe ideas too. I love that I can tell you ladies, hey I've got a s**tload of rice, what should I do? And you all can think of something. I think I like that the best


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

OK, so I have a bag of baby limas soaking for tomorrow. Now what the heck do I do w/ them??? Have to admit the only thing I've ever actually done w/ limas is chicken pot pie, and even then they're in the mixed veggies.







:

Any ideas? I have most of the pantry/produce basics, and also a ham bone for soup. Thanks!


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
OK, so I have a bag of baby limas soaking for tomorrow. Now what the heck do I do w/ them??? Have to admit the only thing I've ever actually done w/ limas is chicken pot pie, and even then they're in the mixed veggies.







:

Any ideas? I have most of the pantry/produce basics, and also a ham bone for soup. Thanks!

I have a good recipe for this, will post later, gotta run!


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Didn't make much this weekend. My parents were in town and they took us out to eat Saturday night. My mom was here to shop for a dress for a wedding so she and I went out to lunch too while we were shopping...







: But, it was just a sandwich shop so it didn't completely ruin my budget.

Last night I made the most wonderful minestrone. I usually put potatoes in it to thicken it but we didn't have any. DH offered to go to the store and I turned him down. Then he said, "why not stir in a little bit of dehydrated potato to thicken it?" It turned out great! I love this challenge!!!

Tonight I made chicken and rice soup. We didn't have celery but it was just as good without it. I also made shortbread and put almond extract in it. I got a jar of peach amaretto jam as a X-mas present. We're going to top them with that.









I'm definitely interested in continuing in February!

Jen


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
OK, so I have a bag of baby limas soaking for tomorrow. Now what the heck do I do w/ them??? Have to admit the only thing I've ever actually done w/ limas is chicken pot pie, and even then they're in the mixed veggies.







:

Any ideas? I have most of the pantry/produce basics, and also a ham bone for soup. Thanks!

This recipe is for the CP but could probably be adapted to the stovetop. If you don't have bacon, it comes out fine, but you could put the hambone in for flavor, too...

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried limas, rinsed, sorted, and soaked overnight.
1 cup sour cream
2 T molasses
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tea. salt
1 tea dried mustard
1 pkg. ready made bacon, sliced in one-inch pieces (you can also use raw bacon)
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Parboil beans for 30 min. Rinse and drain.

Mix together brown sugar, salt, mustard, and cornstarch in medium bowl. Blend in molasses and sour cream.

Place beans in crockpot with 2 cups water. Mix in brown sugar mixture. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or til beans are tender.

This is one of our fave. recipes. It's great with a salad or other green veg. and bread. HTH.


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

We had omelets and toast for supper, and it was great. I have cube steak thawing for tomorrow night, and I think I'll bake a couple potatoes for the side. I have some already cooked salisbury steak thawing for Wednesday. Thawing for Thursday are chili and sweet corn from my grandparents' 2003 garden. I hope it still tastes ok. 







:


----------



## quest4quiet (Feb 27, 2004)

Man, I can't believe the size of this thread! I love it.
We've been doing pretty well. I made a broccoli/ham/cheese quiche and didn't have everything I needed to make crust. Turns out you can make a crust w/ cooked brown rice and egg. You just add a beaten egg to about 1 1/2c of cooked rice,along with any desired seasonings ( I used parmesan cheese and garlic), press the mixture into a buttered pie pan to make the shape of a crust, and bake at 350 for 10 min. Then fill and bake as usual. It was awesome!
Yesterday, my mom gave us 5 lbs of crawfish (yay!) so I made crawfish, corn, and potato chowder. It's my 2nd favorite way to eat crawfish, first being fried but we're trying to eat healthier...


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mariah101*
This recipe is for the CP but could probably be adapted to the stovetop. If you don't have bacon, it comes out fine, but you could put the hambone in for flavor, too...

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried limas, rinsed, sorted, and soaked overnight.
1 cup sour cream
2 T molasses
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tea. salt
1 tea dried mustard
1 pkg. ready made bacon, sliced in one-inch pieces (you can also use raw bacon)
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Parboil beans for 30 min. Rinse and drain.

Mix together brown sugar, salt, mustard, and cornstarch in medium bowl. Blend in molasses and sour cream.

Place beans in crockpot with 2 cups water. Mix in brown sugar mixture. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or til beans are tender.

This is one of our fave. recipes. It's great with a salad or other green veg. and bread. HTH.

\

Thanks for this! It's in the crock right now. Can't wait to see how it comes out...


----------



## Mama Rana (Aug 18, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *quest4quiet*
Man, I can't believe the size of this thread! I love it.
We've been doing pretty well. I made a broccoli/ham/cheese quiche and didn't have everything I needed to make crust. Turns out you can make a crust w/ cooked brown rice and egg. You just add a beaten egg to about 1 1/2c of cooked rice,along with any desired seasonings ( I used parmesan cheese and garlic), press the mixture into a buttered pie pan to make the shape of a crust, and bake at 350 for 10 min. Then fill and bake as usual. It was awesome!
Yesterday, my mom gave us 5 lbs of crawfish (yay!) so I made crawfish, corn, and potato chowder. It's my 2nd favorite way to eat crawfish, first being fried but we're trying to eat healthier...









Wow, thanks for the tip on making the crust with rice. That sounds like a great idea!!! I have this great roast beef quiche recipe, and I think the rice crust would be great with it! Now I just have to find roast beef on sale.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *janerose*
\

Thanks for this! It's in the crock right now. Can't wait to see how it comes out...

Oh, good, I hope you like it!

The only other thing I would add is that I keep an eye on the liquid level--you want it to be just about covering the beans. Sometimes I add a little more boiling water if needed.

And, it thickens more upon standing once heat is off.

Let me know how it comes out!


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Great tip with the rice crust.
Yesterday I made the Martha banana bread. Dh even ate it and he doesn't like banana bread!
Today I've made tabbouleh, a big pot of chickpeas, which I made hummus and roasted beans with. Plus I've got some in the freezer for later. Also made a spinach tofu quiche that SG gave me the recipe for. So dinners done and it's not even 11:00. Gotta love that.
I froze half of the broccoli chowder from last night and plan on using it later for a broccoli cheese casserole








Sometimes I feel like this pantry challenge has really got me cooking in a more circular fashion. So that I use what I make today for dinner later in the week. I love it.


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *isosmom*
Great tip with the rice crust.
Yesterday I made the Martha banana bread. Dh even ate it and he doesn't like banana bread!
Today I've made tabbouleh, a big pot of chickpeas, which I made hummus and roasted beans with. Plus I've got some in the freezer for later. Also made a spinach tofu quiche that SG gave me the recipe for. So dinners done and it's not even 11:00. Gotta love that.
I froze half of the broccoli chowder from last night and plan on using it later for a broccoli cheese casserole








Sometimes I feel like this pantry challenge has really got me cooking in a more circular fashion. So that I use what I make today for dinner later in the week. I love it.

Wow, that dinner sounds good. We're having leftovers tonight (sausage-pepper dish) and a few odds and ends. I should start thinking about tomorrow already...

quest4quiet, thanks for that recipe for the rice crust. I will have to try it. I hate making pie crusts and they're so fattening..

I made carrot-oatmeal cookies today and they came out great. I substituted half the flour for whole wheat, and instead of nuts added ground up sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. The recipe called for honey, not sugar, so that was good. They are so tasty and healthy I don't feel guilty giving them to DS, in fact it is probably the only way I am going to get carrots into him right now....

Tomorrow I'm trying a recipe for banana cookies and I think I'm gonna add carob chips to them. I really like having the homemade stuff in the freezer for snacking, instead of grabbing a box or bag of whatever. I also have enough overripe bananas for bread so I think I will make more of the Martha Stewart bread, too (with yogurt, not sour cream as I'm all out!)


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Mariah101
I made carrot-oatmeal cookies today and they came out great. I substituted half the flour for whole wheat said:


> Have you got a recipe for those cookies? They sound great.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mariah101*
Let me know how it comes out!

It was a hit!







DH said it's definitly a keeper. I did add the ham bone. Just tossed it in while it was cooking & pulled it out when I turned the crock off.

Thanks a bunch!


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

isosmom said:


> Quote:
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Mariah101
> ...


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Thank you.
Think I'm going to try those limas, too.


----------



## leomom (Aug 6, 2004)

Isosmom- I'm truly embarressed to ask this, but how do you make a pot of chickpeas. I've only ever used canned. In fact, I have no idea how to make any kind of beans.







: I'd love to learn b/c I'm sure it's cheaper this way. Will you spread your wisdom to me?


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Of course I will.
First of all you soak them overnight in water to cover
In the morning, or whenever your going to cook them, drain the soaking water.
Put them in a big pot with water to cover by an inch or two. Bring to a boil and let boil 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, bring your water to a simmer, add an onion cut in half, some garlic cloves (they don't even have to be peeled) and some parsley stalks if you've got them.
You can skip the onion, garlic, and herbs if you don't have them, it just makes them taste better.
Simmer, uncovered for about 45 minutes until just tender. Once they are tender but not completely to the point you want, add salt. You don't want to add salt before they're tender or they will just stay hard.
I usually just let them cool in the cooking water. (Oh, save the cooking water. It's a really good broth for soups.)
HTH


----------



## leomom (Aug 6, 2004)

Oh, wow! That sounds doable!









Thanks so much..is this how you cook all beans?


----------



## corrie43 (Mar 9, 2003)

We are moving next month so a perfect time to do this so I have less to move. I have some ingredients maybe you could help with.

I have tons of
cornmeal
PROTIEN POWDER- like 5 cans, I got it on sale







:
instant mashed potatoes
granola (i bought it to eat as cereal, but don't like it much)
oat bran
capers

I need some ideas for this stuff. Thanks, Corrie


----------



## member (Apr 15, 2002)

Corrie --- oat bran is great for oat bran muffins and instant mashed 'taters are a great thicken for soups and casseroles.


----------



## leomom (Aug 6, 2004)

With the capers, you can make a traditional Greek Salad:

http://www.eatgreektonight.com/recip...=3&RecipeID=28

This is a delicous salad!

With the granola, you could use it to top a fruit crumble...just add a tiny bit of sugar to any frozen fruit put in dish, top with granola, and pat with a little butter. Yum!

You could also use the granola as ice cream topping, add it to oatmeal, yogurt, you could even bread chicken in it and bake it!

HTH!


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

Corrie, instant taters can be used to make Potato Refrigerator Dough. This is the recipe Amy Dacyczyn mentions in her books. The taters keep the dough moist so it keeps in the fridge for several days. Handy to have around if you want fresh bread, rolls, or breadsticks daily. I believe she mentions letting it go a couple extra days to get a "sourdough" taste to it as well.

Capers are good on any type of salad. Protein powder can be mixed into shakes of course, but I bet you could add a bit to lots of baked goods & not notice. Also, you can mix a spoonful into yogurt.

HTH!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Potato Refrigerator Dough

Recipe By : Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Biscuits & Rolls Breads

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water -- (105-115 degrees)
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup lukewarm mashed potatoes
7-7 1/2 cup all -purpose flour

Disslove yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, shortening, eggs,
potatoes and 4 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough
remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly
floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in
greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover bowl tightly; refrigerate at
least 8 hours or until ready to use. (Dough can be kept in the
refrigerator up to 5 days at 45 degrees or below. Keep covered.) When
ready to use, punch down dough. Shape into 1" balls. Place into lightly
greased round cake pans. Brush with butter. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.

ETA: Tonight's dinner is meatloaf, baked potatoes, & cauliflower (frozen)


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

leomom - I'm pretty sure you can make most beans like that. The cooking time will vary, some beans take longer than others. But the same concept applies to other beans as well.
Corrie - with all that cornmeal you could make corn cakes or corn bread or hot cereal with syrup and butter








Tonight I'm going to my sis's for dinner. She's making us pasta with homemade sauce (about the only thing she cooks but it's good).
Last night I made some dill dip to use up the last of the sour creme and some cheesy oat cracker thingys to use up my load of oats.
Got sil and bil coming late tonight. Got some pizza dough from work and thought we could make homemade pizza. Maybe they're tired of that though (they live in Chicago) so in that case I'm going to make homemade hot pockets out of the dough and leftover broccoli potato chowder.


----------



## iwearredsocks (Jan 23, 2005)

I was reluctant to use the following "recipe" because it seemed to structured or something. But, we're cleaning out the pantry, fridge, etc. and took a chance on it the other night. It turned out great.

Maybe it's good for those nights when my brain is shutting down but everybody still has to eat. ps. this is probably already somewhere out there in the forum but i couldn't find it.

---------------

Mix N Match Skillet Meals

1) Pick one item from each catergory. Mix together in skillet.
2) Flavor with salt, pepper, soy sauce, onion flakes, garlic, or whatever spices you like.
3) Bring to a boil.
4) Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes until pasta or rice is tender. Stir occasionaly to prevent sticking. Stir in cheese if you want.

Or: mix all ingredients in casserole dish and cover tightly; bake at 350 F for an hour.

Starch (1 cup raw)
Macaroni
Spaghetti
Rice (white or brown) -- must be mostly cooked in advance
Noodles
Bulgar
Any pasta

Sauce (1 can soup plus 1.5 cans milk, broth or water)
Cream of mushroom, celery, chicken, potato, etc.
Tomato Soup
French Onion Soup
1/2 to 1 cup cheese (any kind) can be stirred into sauce at the end of the cooking time.

Protein (1 pound or 1 cup cooked)
Chopped beef
Chopped pork or ham
Ground beef or turkey
Chicken
Turkey
Tuna
Salmon
Mackerel
Cooked beans
Keilbasa
Lentils

Vegetables (1.5 to 2 cups canned, cooked or raw)
Carrots
Peas
Corn
Green beans
Lima beans
Broccoli
Spinach
Mixed vegetables
Celery
Green Pepper
Whatever you have around


----------



## corrie43 (Mar 9, 2003)

Well I went to use the corn meal this morning and thank god I went to smell it, cuz when I got up close there were tiny creepy crawlies crawling all around in the corn meal. So there goes that.

I ate rice and beans for breakfast instead.


----------



## Kristina (Oct 31, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *corrie43*
Well I went to use the corn meal this morning and thank god I went to smell it, cuz when I got up close there were tiny creepy crawlies crawling all around in the corn meal.

Oh gross! I will make sure I look closely at my corn meal.


----------



## janerose (May 9, 2004)

The crustless spinach quiche was such a hit we're doing it again tonight, but with swiss chard from the freezer instead of spinach. I'm going to take my own advice & make up some potato refrigerator dough too. We'll have garlic breadsticks tonight w/ hopefully enough leftover for rolls tomorrow night when my Mom & her boyfriend visit.

Also took the chicken out to defrost for tomorrow. We'll have roasted chicken, boiled potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls & from scratch carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting for dessert (it's Mom's b-day & carrot cake is her fav).

Sheesh...I better get cooking! :LOL


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

We had the leftover Spanish rice for dinner. It was nice not having to cook, and I had enough leftover again to give to a friend who has a baby in the NICU.

I went to the co-op today to get bubble bath for DS and waxed paper sandwich bags for DH. I got some beans there for about 1.20 a lb. Black and adzuki. I am soaking the black beans tonight to make Gingered Black Bean Sauce tomorrow. It is going over the leftover brown rice that I saved from the other day.

i have been reading my "Self-Healing Cookbook" again for all the cooking ideas. There is a lot of health advice and mind-body connection stuff in it but it also has really good recipes and cooking tips. Like, cook extra brown rice to use again for another dish, and lots of simple recipes. I highly recommend it.


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

Any ideas for using up a big jar of sorghum mollases? (sp?)


----------



## Rainbowbird (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jennisee*
Any ideas for using up a big jar of sorghum mollases? (sp?)

How are they different from reg. molasses?

When i think of molasses, I think of gingerbread, baked beans, molasses cookies, maybe you could sub. it for corn syrup in pecan pie?

Sorry I can't think of much else...


----------



## Jennisee (Nov 15, 2004)

I don't know. Maybe it's the same thing as regular molasses? I was just reading off the label. Thanks for those ideas, though!


----------



## mamadege5 (Jan 5, 2005)

I just wanted to express my thanks to whomever started this thread!!







Kudos!
You have encouraged me to think outside of the box and off the recipe page.....to look at what I have and say "hhmm I could mix this with that, or I could use this instead of that..."
Usually at 6:00 I'm standing in the kitchen saying " okay I'm going to the store for dinner now", an hour and $50 later I have a meal. It's a sickness I'm sure it is. My cupboards and freezer are not empty but I have certainly saved $$$ this month. I have not had as much wasted food either because I have used my leftovers creatively!!
Thank you, thank you. Can we continue this in Feb. ???


----------



## leomom (Aug 6, 2004)

Whoever posted the mix n match skillet meal...i made it last night and dh







it...he ate it all up! Thanks!


----------



## guest9969 (Apr 16, 2004)

Amoung the things I've learned from this challenge: I buy WAAAY too much food each week. We'd either have to be feeding an army or shopping for several weeks for the amount I buy to be appropriate! This alone has helped curb my grocery bill and freed up space in my freezer/pantry.

Do we want to start a February thread?


----------



## isosmom (Apr 23, 2004)

Just wanted to let you all know that already don't, we've got a new thread going for February in our new mindful home management forum.Join us here.


----------

