Anyone up for an April Pantry Challenge? - Page 6

[3boysmom]

I can actually see the bottom of our basement chest freezer! Yippee! The pantry is a little sparse, but I could keep going a while longer. Where did all this pasta come from?

[mmgarda]

Originally Posted by Synchro246

So anyone still have mass quantities of stuff in their cupboards? I think we are going to have to start a May Pantry/Household challange. I could go for at least another month I think.

Absolutely! I went to the grocery store for the first time this month and spent only $55. That included diapers and wipes, about 5 lbs of cheese (we are OUT) and toothpaste, among other things. Everything else was dairy or fruit/veg except for BBQ sauce (we're out and it was only $0.68 for the bottle!) and some relish (which I've been out of for like 6 months and finally just WANTED some!!).

I'm pretty proud. . .

[Desdamona]

Originally Posted by 3boysmom

Where did all this pasta come from?

Probably from the 3/$2 sale that flunked me out of the pantry challenge this month.

[ILuvMyBaby]

Someone asked for a tomato soup recipe way back, but I thought I would post this anyways...This was my favorite meal growing up as a kid.

American Chop Suey

Take some ground beef and cook it in a big frying pan. Drain (I usually poor water over the meat to get all the extra grease off). Then put it back into the frying pan. Cut up some peppers (Green, Yellow, or Red) and add to meat along with a can of tomato soup and a can of water. Cook until peppers are soft or crunchy (whatever you perfer) Pour over plain pasta

[mmgarda]

Question. . .

Courtenay_e is probably the best persont to answer this ( ), but I could use a little feedback. . .

I made a LARGE amount of chicken stock yesterday. I had previously roasted two chickens and then froze the carcasses until I was ready to use. I also had in the freezer some chicken innards I froze for this purpose, as well as a bag of the liquid left over from one of the chickens (I crockpotted it), so I know it's really rich. Anyway, I thawed everything out and then made stock. Right now it's in the fridge and I haven't yet pulled all the bones and floppy celery, etc. out. Normally, I would pick through all that and save the meat to add back for soup. However, since any meat left has been roasted, then frozen, then thawed, then boiled and simmered for a day, I'm thinking it's pretty devoid of nutrients at this point. I'm inclined to just throw it all out, especially since I won't be making soup any time soon. This broth is going in the freezer and I'll use it for whatever.

What do you think? Keep the meat, or not?

[courtenay_e]

Originally Posted by mmgarda

Courtenay_e is probably the best persont to answer this ( ), but I could use a little feedback. . .

I made a LARGE amount of chicken stock yesterday. I had previously roasted two chickens and then froze the carcasses until I was ready to use. I also had in the freezer some chicken innards I froze for this purpose, as well as a bag of the liquid left over from one of the chickens (I crockpotted it), so I know it's really rich. Anyway, I thawed everything out and then made stock. Right now it's in the fridge and I haven't yet pulled all the bones and floppy celery, etc. out. Normally, I would pick through all that and save the meat to add back for soup. However, since any meat left has been roasted, then frozen, then thawed, then boiled and simmered for a day, I'm thinking it's pretty devoid of nutrients at this point. I'm inclined to just throw it all out, especially since I won't be making soup any time soon. This broth is going in the freezer and I'll use it for whatever.

What do you think? Keep the meat, or not?

Well, I dont think I would. It's been roasted, now boiled for copious amounts of time in the crockpot? Besides lack of nutrition, I doubt it has much flavor left. Or texture. I'd say toss it...it's served its purpose!

[mmgarda]

Originally Posted by courtenay_e

Besides lack of nutrition, I doubt it has much flavor left. Or texture. I'd say toss it...it's served its purpose!

That's what I'm thinking. I scraped off a bunch of fat this morning and am letting it come back to room temp so I can pull all the solids out. Thanks!

FYI TIP: I always use my pasta pot to make soup stock. That way, I can just lift the strainer part out and have all the meat/bones/veges/whatever to toss or go through while the broth stays in the pot. Much easier than having to pour the broth through a strainer or try to make sure I've scooped out all the bones individually!

[Synchro246]

ALRIGHT women, I need to continue this challange. Who ever is with me can meet me- same forum- May challange.

[luv my 2 sweeties]

I'm going to bow out for May. I made big re-stock shopping trip already this week. (Going over 2 weeks without salsa was my personal biggest challenge! ) But thank you all for going on the journey with me in April! It was a big success for me. I still have too much of some things in my cupboards, but now I'm more inspired to use them!

Thanks again to you all! This must be the longest thread I've ever started.

[mmgarda]

Come and join us!

We started a May challenge if'n y'all wanna join!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...27#post5054527