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Renamed: The no-waste pantry help thread, or "Help to build up the stockpile and use up what...  

post #1 of 51
6/1/08 at 9:17am
Thread Starter 
I was wondering if anyone would want to do a different type of pantry challenge. I would never eat from pantry alone simply because I stockpile food and taking *from* the pantry without *adding to* the pantry is not something I would do.

I realize many others are also trying to add to their pantries.

In my case I have things that I *need* to use up because they are either approaching expiry or need to be rotated out of the freezer.

So, I was thinking we could do a challenge to use up what needs to exit our stores/preps (that is our stockpiled food and preparation materials) but the challenge is to try to find that replacement item (or ingredients) at your absolute BEST price. ALso, we can give each other ideas about using what needs to go and where to find good deals on replacements. Any takers?

An example for me:

What needs to go:
- Frozen casserole that uses cube steak. Goal is to find cube steak for under $3/lb.
- 4 cans of corn that expire in June. Goal is to replace with Aldi corn and use up the 4 cans
- 1 lb. of white spaghetti that needs to be used or vacuum sealed.
- 1 lb. of white onions that are starting to sprout.

What I need to buy/do:
- Add more ground meat to freezer to tide us over until next cow is butchered.
- Unbleached white flour and ww flour
- New manual grain mill
post #2 of 51
6/1/08 at 10:00am
Thread Starter 
Nobody? That's cool. I am tracking this in my household management binder, but really need some ideas of the best ways to replace what I have. I can head over to the meal planning forum for that, I guess.
post #3 of 51
6/1/08 at 10:16am
I'm interested in this thread but have nothing to add because we're moving in a month to another state. When we get settled in our new home, I'm going to start stocking up. We're going to have a big freezer and space for dry storage - I am so excited! Hope you get some replies so I can :
post #4 of 51
6/1/08 at 11:54am
This sounds like what I need to do, however, I'm not up for the challenge this month We're trying to get a better handle on cooking/eating out this month (from a finance perspective).

Good luck -- I would certainly be happy to read about your progress, if you're willing to post about it
post #5 of 51
6/1/08 at 12:20pm
I'm in- will have to be back later though....
post #6 of 51
6/1/08 at 12:25pm
i'm. we have green beans and regular beans to get rid of. i may just donate the beans because none of really like them. why do we have them?
post #7 of 51
6/1/08 at 12:42pm
Wow you're organized!!!!
post #8 of 51
6/1/08 at 1:04pm
Well, I'd like to be in, but I'm nowhere near as prepared as you are yet. What I do need to do is use up the frozen veggies that I buy and that never seem to get used up right away. Not sure how exciting that will be to post about, lol.
post #9 of 51
6/1/08 at 1:21pm
Well I posted on the other thread about how this and the OP is almost exactly what I am doing. I have my inventory list on my freezer and have a couple odd ball things that need to get rotated out. I am in the stocking up of a lot of things and am looking for a larger freezer(we need a bigger one badly).

This week I am planning on eating expressly from the house, with the exception of my small WIC check which I will be getting some milk from. It's my last one for awhile.

I have been only buying meats when they are under $3 a pound, right now we have a large inventory of burger, some pork chops, steaks, a whole chicken and some bags of chicken breast/tenders all meals are to be made from these things especially this week because it's our *low* fund week, so it will be necessary to only eat from the house.

I also have a few things that are close to date that need to be used up.
post #10 of 51
6/1/08 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by velochic View Post
Nobody? That's cool.
No, this is a good idea, but I have a lot of projects in the works (decluttering and housecleaning and gardening) and I can't jump as fast as you can on this one.

It's a good reminder, and I would like to think more about it and make a plan for my pantry.

If you do it as a month-long or ongoing challenge, I'm game. Definitely post about what you're doing.

Curious: Which manual grain mill do you have, and what are you planning to replace it with? I'm currently using my Vita-Mix to grind grain, but at some point we will probably be without electricity and needing a manual alternative...
post #11 of 51
6/1/08 at 3:15pm
My take on this would be a no-waste challenge. Which means that we make a point of using all the fresh produce that is purchased, get creative and use up our leftovers rather than letting them get yucky in the fridge, turn that heel of bread into breadcrumbs and as velochic suggested, use up things that need to be used by a certain date. Nothing in the freezer should have freezer burn. I also don't believe in using up what is in my pantry but need to make a greater effortto use all perishables. I saw an article in the paper one day about how many pounds of edible food Americans throw away. It made me ashamed.
post #12 of 51
6/1/08 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, Jennlyn. That's probably a better way to describe it. Thanks.

Okay, well, we'll keep it informal and anyone that wants to post to the thread can and others can help with ideas.

I've considered making a corn bisque to can (myself) out of the canned corn. What do you guys think?
post #13 of 51
6/1/08 at 3:22pm
:
post #14 of 51
6/1/08 at 4:22pm
I try hard to use up all of our produce weekly, but then once in awhile a half of pepper shows up in the bottom and gets gross. I've been trying to make a stirfry or something that uses up the little tid-bits that need to get used. Last night I had a few strawberries and some beautiful spinach from the farmers market so I made spinach-strawberry salad instead of greek salad, and used up a rice mix that was a little past date. So I'm already off and running.

I have a couple weird things that were given to me that just keep floating around my freezer and I don't know what to do with them. One is caribou sausage(that I am a little leery of) and a couple rib steaks, I was thinking about taking the steaks and putting them in the crock pot with some BBQ sauce, that would probably be good.

When we have a bunch of little things I usually make a quiche, they are such good and flexible dishes for using up that little piece of cheese, some extra ham and veggies, so versatile. I am going to make some peanut butter bars because I have a ton of cereal and I need to use it up, I'm off to do that.
post #15 of 51
6/1/08 at 4:48pm
Can you use the canned corn in cornbread? Make a corn chowder? Or a corn and black bean salsa? Dehydrate it for parched corn? I'm not sure I'd make anything out of it and then can that-not sure how much nutritional value would be left after processing the corn twice. I did good this week- we had several cans of canned green beans that needed to be used up by the end of the month and we just ate them as a side dish. I'm not overly fond of canned beans, but they needed to be used. They made a good side dish for the potatoes and ham cubes I needed to use up. I made scalloped potatoes, tossed in the ham cubes and topped with a bit of cheddar. For the caribou sausage- if it is in casings, you can take it out and brown it and use it in a breakfast casserole. Maybe the flavor would be offset by the other ingredients.
post #16 of 51
6/1/08 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennlyn View Post
Can you use the canned corn in cornbread?
Does anyone know if baked corn bread freezes well? This would be a good use for the corn because in spite of the fact that I cook a lot of different things every week, the one thing we have regularly is beans and cornbread.
post #17 of 51
6/1/08 at 5:16pm
I'm not up for this now, partially because my house is a disaster from moving and I don't know what we have or need anyway, but I'm going to sub and keep tabs for future knowledge.
post #18 of 51
6/1/08 at 5:19pm
VELOCHIC you are my hero
We constantly rotate the stockpile. Things i will be getting tomorrow at the store
From the butcher counter boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.67/lb I will have them wrap them in 5 breast packages.
Produce lettuce, tomatoes, bananas (we use about 10 'nanners a day)

I need to USE UP our frozen veggies and re-stock fresh. Again 2 bags per meal goes quick.
I also have a plethra of canned fruit to cycle thru this month.

i also grocery game so i will manage that as well.
post #19 of 51
6/1/08 at 7:10pm
Oooh! I'm in for the no-waste.

I don't have anything about to expire in the pantry (I actually just checked yesterday when I got some flour to replace what I'd pulled out), but, our CSA starts this week, and I have no idea what we're getting, so, I definitely don't want to let any of those veggies go to waste. I may end up freezing or canning some of it, but I need to make sure it doesn't get wasted. There are a couple of things in particular that I want to use up in our freezer - some honey wheat banana muffins and a frozen jar of grapefruit concentrate (bought by mistake...and no one drinks grapefruit juice willingly here).

I will need to use the pantry stores for meals, though, so, I can keep track on here of what I pull out.
post #20 of 51
6/1/08 at 11:07pm
Count me in! My pantry has gotten out of control - I hardly know what I have stockpiled anymore. We live in an apartment with a small pantry, and things are just literally piled on top of each other. My SO will be organizing the stockpile for me this week, and I've told him to look for any soon-to-expire (i.e. next few months) dated foods.

I live in a hurricane prone area, so all the stores do canned good sales in the early summer. This week, I got 10 cans of chili for 70 cents each. I only had 2 cans left from last year's sale! I will continue to watch for good canned food deals. We especially need canned fruits.

What I need to focus on is the freezer. I have tons of organic ground beef from Costco ($3.99/lb - I have about 12 lbs in the freezer because I keep seeing meat prices going up). I also have 6 lbs of organic butter in the freezer. The grocery store had it marked down to $1.00/lb since it was close to the sell by date, but it should be good in the freezer as I froze it before the date. Anyone have any good beefy buttery recipes?
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Mothering › Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Frugality & Finances › Renamed: The no-waste pantry help thread, or "Help to build up the stockpile and use up what needs to be rotated out"