Anyone up for an April Pantry Challenge? - Page 3

[aisraeltax]

im so jealous of that pantry!!! my kitchen only has cabinets...but maybe thats good for cutting down extra stuff. but, boy, woudl i love to walk into a pantry! oh well...

[Desdamona]

Originally Posted by aisraeltax

im so jealous of that pantry!!!

Me too!!

Deb, What a great pantry! But I could only imagine what I would fill it with if I had all that space!

Getting rid of oatmeal... I made 3boysmom's recipe for Choc-Oat Chip Cookies (YUMMY!) but still had more oats to use, so I came across this recipe on AllRecipes.com. So easy, so simple!! I substituted apple sauce (which was sitting in the back of my fridge just waiting to be used!) for the oil and used raisins (again sitting in my pantry WAITING to be used) instead of dates and added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg for flavor... They came out so good. And guilt free! I had no problem letting the little ones gorge themselves on these! My only suggestion is to make sure you flatten them out when you put them on the baking sheet or they will still be "wet" inside. But considering the ingredients that poses no problems.

[HydeParkB]

I haven't been doing so well with the pantry challenge.

I did find a bunch of powdered flavored coffee creamers that I am going to start using up - yummy flavors like cinnamon, assorted vanillas, mocha. I'm hoping to feed the freezer with pizza crust dough this weekend, and those ingredients are already stocked.

[TwinMom]

I just looked at my pantry photo again and realized that I had taken it before I needed to go grocery shopping, so it's not even really full. It is nice having such a large pantry, but you know it goes--the larger space you have, the more STUFF you fill it with!

Last night I made a great dish that everyone LOVED. In the crockpot I put about 6-7 cups of black beans (I had cooked 2.5 cups of dried beans earlier in the day), a can of tomato paste, tons of garlic, two cups of salsa, and a bunch of green onions that were almost slimy. I know that's not technically a "pantry" item, but I needed to use them one way or another. We ate it on top of brown rice, topped with some vegan sour cream. I needed to use up the rest of the whole wheat tortillas, also not pantry, but they needed to be eaten, so until those were gone we made burritos with the black beans and rice. Mmmmmmmmm. I am so happy that there are leftovers in the fridge!

As you can see from above, I am turning this into my own personal pantry/fridge/freezer challenge!

This morning I made banana-blueberry bread (bananas that were overripe + blueberries in the fridge) and I have six quarts of vegetable stock simmering right now (all those leftover bits and bobs of vegetables are being used instead of rotting and getting thrown away).

This is a great game!

[aisraeltax]

i made mmgarda's shepard's pie.

everyone asked where the potatos were instead of the bisquix, but both dh and ds1 went back for seconds, so i dont think they minded that much. and i promised potatos next time.

[mmgarda]

I'm flattered!

Originally Posted by aisraeltax

i made mmgarda's shepard's pie.

everyone asked where the potatos were instead of the bisquix, but both dh and ds1 went back for seconds, so i dont think they minded that much. and i promised potatos next time.

So, what did you put in it? I recently discovered a box of Bisquick in my own cupboards and am thinking of making biscuits this weekend. DS1 loooooves biscuits with honey. Also, I was going to make chicken veg soup at some point soon (bones in the freezer) and was thinking dumplings. . .

[aisraeltax]

i followed her recipes with the bisquix and the herbs she recommended for beef..other than the last one and i dont know what that is! lol!

tonight im getting rid of spaggetti sauce dh keeps buying! i have tons in teh freezer thats home made but he keeps buying it.

and i think ill do the oat-choc chip cookies too. yummy!

[luv my 2 sweeties]

mmgarda, thanks for the millet suggestions! I made plain millet with a califlower and green pea curry. YUM! The millet was a hit with everyone -- both kids had several servings. I guess that's a pantry item I might replace. I didn't expect the curry to be well received by the kids, but dh and I loved it and ds (age 3) ate some too. Thanks again.

Deb, really nice pantry! When we lived in Boston, we had a *true* pantry -- a little room off the kitchen with shelves and cupboards. I still miss it after 9 years...

[aisraeltax]

OMG! i made 3boysmom's choc-oat cookies tonight and let me tell you, i have never had a recipe give me so many cookies! tons! and super easy! and very yummy...the only nuts i had in the pantry were almonds and walnuts, so i used the walnuts...still great! this is a recipe that i will use over and over again!
thank you!

[Synchro246]

Bisquick recipe for breadmaker???

Anyone know of one?

I can see that this pantry challenge is easily going to extend into May, possibly even into June. My mom is mormon and she has influenced me heavily to have food storage. So. . .

How bout that bisquick recipe?

[aisraeltax]

i was wondering the same thing...but im scared to put it in my breadmaker!!!

[happy1nluv]

bran???

How about recipes with bran? I've made a TON of muffins with it, and tried bars (like brownies) ... I've even added some to hamburgers (sshhh...don't tell dh - he couldnt tell... ) but I swear this stuff is never ending... Anyone else have any ideas???
thanks!

[luv my 2 sweeties]

Anyone starting to run out of some staples?

I'm about to run out of sugar and canola oil. I have plenty of honey, which is healthier anyway, so I should be OK. I also have olive oil left and margarine, so as long as I don't make anything that requires high-heat frying, I should be fine. The last half of the month is going to be more challenging than the first half was! I'm pretty much out of fast meals, so I need to plan ahead better. I've already cheated -- I got take-out pizza last night! Today, I made up for it by making spinach lasagna for lunch (lots of leftovers) and another batch of the curried vegetables (see my post for 4-14 above) for dinner. (more leftovers!) I shouldn't be caught with an empty fridge for at least a couple more days.

[luv my 2 sweeties]

Originally Posted by happy1nluv

How about recipes with bran? I've made a TON of muffins with it, and tried bars (like brownies) ... I've even added some to hamburgers (sshhh...don't tell dh - he couldnt tell... ) but I swear this stuff is never ending... Anyone else have any ideas???
thanks!

Hmm... Muffins are usually my first line of attack on bran as well. I just had to toss nearly a whole box of the stuff that had gone bitter because I forgot about it in the back of the cupbord. : The only other thing that comes to mind immediately is pancakes. You could make your own pancake mix and toss in some bran. Most general cookbooks should have a recipie for pancakes. If you can't find one, I can post the one I make, but mine has a number of different grains in it. Come to think of it, it might be just the thing for using up stuff in the pantry! I'll post it later -- right now chores are waiting.

[Desdamona]

I'm a Pantry Challenge loser... I picked up a box of lasagna noodles for dinner yesterday. : And 3 more boxes that were on sale for 3/$2. Does it make any better that with the said box of noodles I made dinner for last night as well as a 2nd lasagna for the freezer?? And I have plans for the rest of the pasta for the next week or two?

Hi, my name is Desa and I have a problem with buying pasta... especially when it's on sale.

[Desdamona]

Black (French) Lentils

I picked up a bag of them a LONG time ago at Trader Joe's just because they were DIFFERENT... I just found them in the bottom of my pasta/grain/legume bin. Any suggestions as to how to cook them? I made a pot of lentil soup around Halloween with them, which came out kind of funky because the lentils colored everything... very odd to be (willing) eating potatoes and carrots in the soup that were "dyed" purple-y gray.

[skybluepink02]

I used up some oats last night to make Granola! It turned out so good and I am never buying 6 dollar a box granola again. It was so easy to make. Just 10 minutes to mix then 30 to bake. I just used walnuts and oats from my pantry, mixed with honey, and rasins that I have had forever. I could have put bran and coconut and other things to make it fancy, but I was trying to only use what I had in the pantry.

[TwinMom]

Desdamona, do you have a crockpot? If so, I have an AMAZING recipe for sloppy lentils (like sloppy joes, but lentily). It's from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. My family LOVES this! We eat it on toasted buns, with pickle slices and barbecue sauce and mustard. Sometimes I double the recipe and freeze half of it.

Sloppy Lentils

1 T. olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
1 small red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 T. chili powder
1.5 c. dried brown lentils
1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 c. water
2 T. tamari
1 T. prepared mustard
1 T. brown sugar or natural sweetener
1 t. salt
freshly ground black pepper

Saute onion and bell pepper in olive oil until the onions are soft. Add chili powder and stir to coat the veggies. Put that in the crockpot, add everything else, and cook on low for 8 hours.

[TwinMom]

I have been doing okay on this challenge, but I have purchased a few things--salt and two cases of diced tomatoes. I use the tomatoes in so many recipes that I wasn't going to be able to use up any of my other stuff without them. And salt, well, I'm not going to go without salt! Other than that, though, I've only been buying produce and bread and soymilk. Oh, and beer.

[mmgarda]

Extend the challenge!

We are trying so hard to squeeze blood from a stone right now (Mama's not working - well not for pay, anyhow! ). So I decided to extend my pantry challenge to a household challenge!

Will not buy any new soap until all the soap in the house is used up, even if it isn't our favorite kind. Same with lotion, even if that means I have to use the glittery, bubble-gum smelling crap I got from my friend's 6 year old DD. And how long can we go without replacing light bulbs? Same with garbage bags.

Whaddaya all think? Anyone with me?