It is freezer/pantry challenge time once again. (1,757 views)

mcgee --- Great use of what you have on hand! I've never made gravy before. And like your DH I don't like dark meat (but I will eat wings can't figure that out, chicken legs -- not happening).

I just looked up cauliflower bolognese -- sounds interesting. Thanks for mentioning, I might give that a try with the cauliflower that I have.

Tonight I'm making Pasta Fagioli and will up the veggies quite a bit. And tomorrow I might make a smitten kitchen recipe (one pan farro and tomatoes) that will use up the farro. parm and onion.



I'm amping up my freezer/pantry challenge by seeing how little I can spend in the next few weeks on groceries. This time I'm trying to go with an actual dollar amount --- $20 for next week. If nothing else, it will motivate me not to buy things to simply have on hand for later, those impulse buys etc.

I think I can do it or come close if I stick to a list -- assuming I don't blow off the idea . Note to self, walk past the awesome cheese section! Plus, I do want to use up some things that I just seem to let sit in the cabinet/freezer. I am planning to just get some fruit/veggies/milk/yogurt.... Thankfully I find winter fruit quite boring, if it was the summer, all bets would be off.

mcgee, now I want gravy
Yikes, soupandstew! Hope it is all installed now.
Good luck, applecrisp. $20 is a good goal!

Been doing good here.

Almond meal used in Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies (but 1/4 c meal left--keeping it in freezer).
White whole wheat flour finished up and dry milk used (and the rest tossed: several years past exp date!) to make muffin mix then made one batch of muffins (one batch of mix left in pantry).
Cappuccino chips finished up in the Espresso Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot.
Hot sausage and one bag of escarole used in Pasta Shells with Escarole, Sausage, and Cheese.

But now I am stalled out. Took some chicken breasts out for dinner, but they were a recent purchase. And stashed some grated cheese in the freezer so it didn't go bad. Also cooked the barley and put it in there and some basmati rice. Might make chicken pitas for dinner and use the last two naan that I have in there. I seem to be accumulating bread lately. Thinking I will use up the masa harina to practice tortillas this weekend, but then will have to buy more for supper club next week. Maybe I'll plan on using the oxtails so I can get something in the win column, too

soupandstew -- I'm with you on having go to meals in the freezer. So many times over the last few weeks I just pull out a container of soup or whatever in toss in the fridge. Then for dinner I throw together a salad or veggie and just heat up the soup etc. I don't even label them although I could usually tell what they are. In fact I'm going to make some spinach tomato soup later today for the freezer.

Although a bit of a hassle getting the generator installed, what a great thing to have. I'll have to keep an eye out for that Aldis product -- is that the cheese tortellini that in a kind of shrink wrapped package. Ironically I was just in Aldis and was going to buy it for the soup recipe. I usually sub with orzo but it does use tortellni.


erin -- Great job using up some items. I'm trying to use up items but add things too. I want to have more quick meals (or parts of a dinner) ready to go...... so using up the last small chicken breast, that opened bag of Alexia sweet potato fries, and add some cooked rice, soup, pasta sauce, chocolate (oh wait how did that get there) ... Oh and I blew my $20 goal. I didn't really even think about it (or should I say I just
ignored it) when shopping. I only spent $15 in WF so I was good, but then I went to Aldis. I might shop at Aldis every few months, if that, since since not that convenient to me. And well they had avocados for 34 cents, then I like their whole wheat crackers, and that organic salad dressing and ...... Well you get the idea.

varaile -- Great going too! I know how annoying it is to buy something and then realize you have lots of it already on hand -- but hey, at least organizing the freezer, you now found it. Ha. I had Chicken Mole at a restaurant a few months back and loved it!

Have a great week!

erin -- Some great cooking going on in your kitchen! I didn't want to leave you hanging but I haven't done much cooking -- lots of throw together meals and grabbing soups etc from the freezer. I ordered some groceries a few weeks back so I won't be running out of chickpeas or black beans anytime soon so I'll be making some soup .....

I did use up some odds and ends. A few days ago I made some chicken breasts from the freezer and a barley greek salad as a side. And made another batch of a tomato/spinach/orzo soup for the freezer.

Tonight I has salad (from a bag) and spaghetti with jarred sauce. Like I said, some beyond basic "cooking" going on.

I'm eyeing the 1/2 a bag of TJ's frozen cauliflower and I might try something with asian flavors tomorrow night.

I've frozen tortillas before but often not happy with how they defrost, I should give it another try since it would come in super handy.

Oh and that $20 max on groceries was quickly shelved even before I could try. Maybe I'll try again.

erin -- I can't wait for spring weather! The weather has been all over the place, in the 60's one day, snow the next.

Thanks for the tips on using the tortillas. I've had them stick together after defrosting before -- not sure if better to just separate first. Gotta say, that breakfast sounds really good!

I was so proud of myself the other day. I made enchiladas verdes entirely from the freezer: corn tortillas, cooked chicken, shredded cheese, and the batch of tomatillo simmer sauce I made last summer. But they weren't that good! Tried to stretch the simmer sauce too far I guess as it was too dry. Oh well--it fed me for two meals and then I did throw the last portion out. Still working on my freezer list from above, but I am down to one bag of escarole and I have my sights set on the barley for chicken and "rice." Still cold so winter food is still on the menu. It's a gale here today: snow (but it won't stick) and 30 mph winds.

I had to pull up this thread again. Last night, I finally took the barley out of the freezer and used it in chicken and "rice." When did the barley go into the freezer? January 31! Hey, at least I finally did it!

I seem to have accumulated a lot of jars in the freezer--two of oj, two of red wine, seafood stock, apple cider, pickled pepper brine (I think to make Linda in MO's Italian Beef), etc. I should start thinking about how to use some of that up anyway. It's time to start really clearing so I can make way for the new stuff from the garden this year.

Lots of inspiration posted on this long running thread!

I just learned a new expression, "scrappy cooking", as I clicked on this link.

By Jennifer Segal, once upon a chef:

When I was in culinary school, the chef instructors used to spot-check our trashcans to make sure we weren’t wasting food. And let me tell you, all it takes is one time being chewed out by a French chef in front of the entire class to learn your lesson. To this day, I’m paranoid about throwing away food and have a freezer full of old bananas, vegetable scraps, and hunks of bread to prove it.

Restaurant margins are notoriously thin, so nothing is wasted in a restaurant kitchen: bones and shells are made into stocks and soups; tough cuts of meat become stew for the staff meal; cake trimmings are turned into dessert trifles; day-old bread is transformed into croutons and bread pudding; and look out for today’s special—it’s likely a new twist on yesterday’s fish that’s about to expire!

When I was a line cook, I carved countless carrots into tiny football shapes every day—the pastry chef used my scraps to make carrot cake. In cooking school, we went through dozens of egg yolks learning to make hollandaise sauce. Guess what else we learned to make that week? Yep. Meringue, pavlova, and macarons—all made with egg whites.

For chefs, creativity is often born out of necessity. Instead of browsing through a cooking magazine, finding a delicious-looking recipe, and thinking: “I’ll go to the store after work, get the ingredients, and follow the recipe,” you might start by thinking about what’s in season (and thus less expensive) or what you already have in the fridge, and then try to find a recipe for those ingredients instead.

Oh, please, please. How do I reply to this without causing hurt feelings?
The well chosen words are those of Jennifer Segal, copied and pasted from the link given above.
Even after living in the US for over 35 years I couldn't possibly ever express myself so well.
I cook and I was born in Sweden but I'm not a chef. My maternal grandma was a chef. My mom went to culinary school but only used those skills for wonderful home cooking.
Thinking back, mom had a pantry, a small refrigerator with tiny freezer compartment and a cold basement for all the things she canned. There was never a need for clearing out freezer and pantry.
Hmmm! More space to store, more being stored and getting way past expiration date?
Time to take inventory..... again.