Pantry Challenge- New Year! - Page 3

[artemis33]

Originally Posted by FrugalGranolaMom 

I have some polenta I need to use. Does anyone have any good recipes?

I like to pan fry it with a little butter and serve it with a creamy mushroom sauce.  Funny, I have a bag of mushrooms I need to use and no polenta, and I was thinking about how good that would be!    (I'm going to saute them with some italian sausage and make pizza tomorrow instead).  Or, if it the creamy from scratch kind (not the tube) I like to add butter and cheese (parm or blue cheese) and serve it along side roasted chicken.

I have no idea what I'm making tonight though.  Littlest babe and I are sick and I am not feeling inspired.  I am making a pot of chicken stock though so soup will be o the menu soon!  Also planning to cook up a big pot of pinto beans tomorrow.....

Amy1st - do you smoke any of your own pork bones?  We don't have a smoker and I have a bunch of 'raw' hocks.....I think I'm going to get hubby a smoker for father's day but I wonder if I can make them work without one....I've been just buying hocks to cook my beans with.  They aren't expensive but they also aren't as good of quality as the ones I have, yk?  Anyway, just wondering.

[justmama]

Wanted to make muffins for breakfast yesterday but I was running out of perishables like eggs and butter.  So I subbed out the eggs and butter for canned pumpkin(just had a tiny bit in the freezer) and applesauce my mom and I canned back in October and made the most amazing moist muffins I've ever had.  Served iwth the last of the strawberry greek yogurt and had 4 happy little girls to send off on the bus to school.

Kids ordered lunch at school.

Snack was apple slices with the last of hte graham crackers smeared with peanut butter.

Dinner was veggie shepherds pie.  Had some sweet potato, carrots, and broccoli already steamed in the fridge.  Combined with sauteed red pepper that was going bad, some leftover onion, and some peas and corn from the freezer.  Used the very last little bit of tvp from the freezer.  Topped with homemade garlic mashed potatoes.  It was AMAZING.

[lilacvioletiris]

I had a great polenta dish at a conference once - fried 1/2 inch thick round of polenta, covered in spaghetti sauce with mozzarella cheese.  It was so yummy!  I made a special note to the chef about it.  I should make up some polenta from the cornmeal I have in the cupboard.

[Amys1st]

Tonight used up some ground beef patties for 'greasy cheese burgers' as DH calls them. Had some sweet potatoes in the crisper so made those into fries. Yummmmeeee.

[frugalmama]

Originally Posted by lilacvioletiris 

I had a great polenta dish at a conference once - fried 1/2 inch thick round of polenta, covered in spaghetti sauce with mozzarella cheese.  It was so yummy!  I made a special note to the chef about it.  I should make up some polenta from the cornmeal I have in the cupboard.

I've had that too - it's yummy!

Originally Posted by FrugalGranolaMom 

I have some polenta I need to use. Does anyone have any good recipes?

I don't know if you can do it with polenta, but I take cornmeal and make mush with it for breakfast {or any meal really} with butter and salt. Yummy on these cold mornings. 

I'm roasting a turkey tonight - not sure if we'll be eating it tomorrow or not though. I got a couple bad turkeys a while back we kept to use for dog food, and I can't remember if this is one or not. But we need the heat from the oven, so it's getting roasted. 

meals lately have been hit or miss - I've been really really busy and it's been really really cold so I haven't felt like getting out of my warm places long enough to do more than pop pizza in the over or something equally easy. 

[FrugalGranolaMom]

Ooh, thanks ladies for the polenta suggestions.

[Amys1st]

Getting down to the nitty griitty at mid month!

Found tortilla shellls and a huge chunk of cheese. Making quesodillas for lunch. DH found a bunch of shrimp so we are putting those in.

DD wants to make sugar cookies with frosting so using up some baking ingredients and food coloring from holiday time a few weeks past.

Tomorrow having a ham from the freezer and mac/cheese home made with the huge chunk of cheddar and elbows we have.

To use up some rice noodles and canned asian style stuff, we will have tofu stir fry. DD likes to take it leftover the following day for lunch.

Do have to do a grocery run for some fruit, bread, and a few little things.

[Amys1st]

oops, had to add, have 2 really ripend bannanas. Will have a great bread this week!

[justmama]

kids had snack plates for dinner tonight.  It was a weird night, no one really wanted a meal and I didn't want to cook so it was a fend for yourself type of deal.  

On the plates:

cut strawberries

yogurt in a cup

almonds

ants on a log(celery sticks filled with pb and topped with raisins)

mini zucchini muffins from the freezer

baby carrots iwth ranch dressing

[mags.bubble]

I would like to join.....officially. I have been meal planning from the freezer/pantry for most of the month, but decided to join in the conversation.

Last week was

sheppards pie with some ground lamb from the freezer

deep dish pizza

Trader Joe's orange chicken with some rice & veggies

leftovers

sushi from the grocery store....(in honor of an extremely busy night)

Haven't planned this week yet. will do that this afternoon....

[mags.bubble]

Okay, based in what I found in the freezer/pantry this weeks meals will be:
pasta with tomato & pesto sauce
Oven-fried chicken
Hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls with sw potato fries
Beef Stew
Leftover night

Off to the grocery store for milk & produce, as well as a few misc items.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by artemis33 

I like to pan fry it with a little butter and serve it with a creamy mushroom sauce.  Funny, I have a bag of mushrooms I need to use and no polenta, and I was thinking about how good that would be!    (I'm going to saute them with some italian sausage and make pizza tomorrow instead).  Or, if it the creamy from scratch kind (not the tube) I like to add butter and cheese (parm or blue cheese) and serve it along side roasted chicken.

I have no idea what I'm making tonight though.  Littlest babe and I are sick and I am not feeling inspired.  I am making a pot of chicken stock though so soup will be o the menu soon!  Also planning to cook up a big pot of pinto beans tomorrow.....

Amy1st - do you smoke any of your own pork bones?  We don't have a smoker and I have a bunch of 'raw' hocks.....I think I'm going to get hubby a smoker for father's day but I wonder if I can make them work without one....I've been just buying hocks to cook my beans with.  They aren't expensive but they also aren't as good of quality as the ones I have, yk?  Anyway, just wondering.

They come smoked, my butcher who does our pork does it for us. I have raw hocks as well and they taste just as good in the soup.

 

[worthy]

I am in.  I got bumped from food stamps this month and need to pinch pennies for awhile (maybe forever).  I have plenty of food in my pantry and need to be more diligent about eating from pantry.

My world fell apart when my XH left last year and I'm only just getting back on my feet.  Haven't had it in me to really cook for a long time -- lots of thrown together meals and some convenience stuff.  Time for that to change.

I want to move more in the direction of beans and lentils, and less meat-heavy meals. 

If only I didn't have picky eaters.  Gah.  It's also hard managing leftovers when the kids are gone at their dad's for some parts of the month.

I worked out a new monthly meal plan with the kids, but it won't go into effect until I shop for February.

My goal is to not shop for food again at all before February.  And then to buy what I need for the whole month all at once, from my meal plan, mostly just buying perishables to supplement the pantry supplies, and not shop again until March. 

I have some beef marrow bones that came with our last beef order, and no idea what to do with them.  Anyone want to take a stab at that?

I cannot wait until garden season.  Need to put some kale and lettuce seeds in my indoor windowboxes.  We have parsley and chives growing in pots already but I'd like lettuce and kale as well.

[justmama]

Oh how I miss garden season.  I miss sending the kids outside to see what was ready and then planning a meal based on that.  This year's garden is gonna be EPIC.  I'm a former brown thumb so the last 2 years' gardens have been small but the second bigger than the first.  Now I'm ready to rip up the entire small patch of sun  on the side of the house and plant the entire thing.  

meals today:

breakfast: zucchini mini muffins, strawberry greek yogurt and blueberries.

lunch: kids ate at school.  I had a veggie wrap with hummus.  spinach, cukes, tomatoes.

snack: grapes and a few banana chocolate chip mini muffins that had just come out of the oven for tomorrow's breakfast.

dinner: kids with dad.  I had leftover veggie lo mein from yesterday and a bowl of grapes.

ETA: hit the grocery store today and bought yogurt, grapes, strawberries, cheese, cukes, spinach, hummus, and soda water.  I feel good about it all. All stuff that we will consume completely without waste and can supplement the dry pantry goods.

[frugalmama]

I really need to buckle down and work with what we have on hand for the rest of the month - we just ran out of food stamps for the month. 

Thinking about dinner tonight - I'm thinking boneless skinless chicken breasts steamed with potatoes and carrots, and maybe make something for dessert - maybe my dump dump pour fruit crisp or just a cake. I have a bunch of cake mixes of assorted flavors to use up, and lots of canned cherry pie filling. 

[Amys1st]

I also have some beef bones leftover from last year's beef supply. We are receiving this year's beef late next month which is great because I will have more room in the fridge.

I use mine for beef stock. I plan on making that later this week since my turkey stock (made from thanksgiving carcus) is just about done. I freeze it into all sorts of sized containers since we use little bits of stock and of course large quantities of stock depending on the meal. Such as, I make french onion soup and it requires a lot of beef stock. Will make that this weekend.

right now, found a large ham hock (smoked) and boiled it a bit and then combined it with cooked lentils for a hearty soup tonight for dinner. Its freezing here outside so this should be perfect! I am thinking of adding brown rice and some veggies in the fridge and freezer that can be used up.

The girls are eating early = ravolis frozen in freezer at this moment. DH arrives home late tonight around 8pm and I teach RE until then so we will eat about then. We refer to it as bistro night and cook grown up things the girls wont eat. As they get older, its harder to find things they dont eat (blessed w two non picky eaters thankfully!) but we are having BLTs on rye, a salad, and the soup. I have to go into the office tomorrow for a meeting and I will bring in the soup and I will pick up a crusty bread to go with it. Last week's soup got raves.

For lunch today, just received my organic produce, so made up a huge salad with chopped up leftover ham, crunchy chinese noodles, blue cheese dressing, sliced cucumber and some shredded cheese I found in the fridge. Yummmmmm

[worthy]

{{{groan}}} I did end up at the store. Have been feeling really sad and depressed, and with some critical negotiation/court stuff this month I wanted a break.  Nothing fancy, but...I did go to the store and spend money.  On humble comfort food:  cheese, chocolate, and out-of-season produce: lettuce, broccoli, kiwis (sale! special!), and a bag of frozen strawberries so I can make shortcake and use up the leftover soy whipped cream from Christmas that keeps staring at me from the fridge.    I did not buy convenience food (unless you count cheese), nothing exciting, wished for exciting food but did not even look at it (like the gluten-free french bread that costs like $8/pkg...and is amazing).

I just had a really sucky negotiation meeting with XH, and he is threatening to cut the amount we agreed he would pay monthly.  It's complicated but he could succeed.  So all of a sudden I'm feeling pressured to keep the budget extra-tight and sock away whatever extra I can in case that happens.  In my state, the minimum child support wouldn't be enough for me to make ends meet (even with my job) and I was counting on the "supplemental" amount we agreed on.  Maybe I counted on it too soon.

The pantry is in good shape, though I wish we also had chickens for eggs.  I also wish I didn't have picky kids.  There are SO MANY great things I could make from our pantry that three out of my four would not even taste.  (Am working on it.)  Time to put more effort and creativity into our food.

[Ruthiegirl]

Jumping in late.  I don't have a fully stocked pantry, but I do have a number of things that I have been ignoring.  

Things to use:

3 pounds farro

5 pounds steel cut oats

2 chicken carcasses for soup

frozen basil

risotto rice

kale and chard in the garden

1 pound bag of white beans 

frozen lentil stew 

I am making pizza tonight with the basil and working the oats into our breakfast rotation this weekend.  I will get the chicken started in the crockpot for a soup.  Soup would use up the veggies in the fridge as well.  I'll dig around and see what else I have hiding in the pantry. 

Edited by Ruthiegirl - 1/20/12 at 9:45am

[Amys1st]

Ruthie, can I come over for all the meals you make with this list?

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by Amys1st 

Ruthie, can I come over for all the meals you make with this list?

Ha!   Totally.  I would love a MDC dinner with you.      

I was thinking of making this with brown rice and garden chard:  

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spinach-rice-gratin-recipe.html

And this with the farro:

http://norecipes.com/blog/2011/08/21/farro-roasted-cauliflower-salad-recipe/