Showing posts with label dollar stretching cabinet cleaning clean up the food project 2023. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dollar stretching cabinet cleaning clean up the food project 2023. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Winter Food Challenge Update - February 21, 2023

Hello! I thought that those of you who are following along, might enjoy an update on how the winter food challenge is going.

I still have plenty of canned and boxed goods on hand (mostly pasta, some sugar-free Jello, instant brown rice, and organic chicken and beef bone broth), but was down to pretty much nothing in the freezer, except grains and nuts. I did still have the two packages of chicken breasts that I purchased on mark-down a couple of weeks ago, but I vowed that I would not to get into them until everything else was cleaned up and I didn't...until last night!!! 😊



It may have taken most of the winter to do it, but I have finally used up all the little bits and pieces of meat that were left in the house...two or three small packages of ham, several bags of oven-roasted turkey (sliced and cubed), chicken (whole), bison steak, salmon fillets, deli meats (turkey and ham), cod fillets, and more. I was down to the last few slices of cooked turkey bacon and a pound of ground turkey, when I went to the store over the weekend to restock. It feels great having plenty of meat in the deep-freeze again!



There are a still a few weeks left until the official arrival of spring, so I will continue to focus on cleaning up canned goods, boxed items, and grains on-hand, but, in future, will only purchase select items, mainly canned beans (black, chili, and green), green chilies, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and albacore tuna, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. My goal is to choose from as many whole foods as possible and make right (or at least better) food choices at every opportunity.  

I plan to make most of my own sweets and treats from scratch using high quality and healthful ingredients. Things that immediately come to mind are protein snack balls and my mother's oatmeal drop cookies (right now I've got a batch of oat bran muffins in the oven), and I plan to substitute stevia for sugar as much as possible

Anyway, the challenge is coming along quite nicely and I have saved a bundle by cleaning up the food on-hand and not buying meat all winter. Plus, I actually have room in my freezer now for other things that I enjoy...like frozen berries, frozen grapes, and frozen yogurt! Yum! 😋

Well, that's a look at where I'm at with the winter food challenge and, in all probability, this will be last update that I give concerning it, as there's really not too much left to say about it. If anything interesting arises I will just include it in my regular posts. 

How about you? How have those of you who have been following along fared with your own clean-up-the-food challenges?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Tuesday, January 24, 2023

The Winter Food Challenge Continues

As the month of January winds down, the winter food challenge continues. There's still plenty of food in the house, but I did have to shop for fresh items and other things to round out meals. I did that yesterday.

Before I went shopping, though, I decided to go ahead and go through the freezer. I knew there were a lot of vegetables in there that we had put up out of the garden, but I got to thinking about it. John was hospitalized the first time in late January of 2021. That was two years ago (hard to believe!). With his illness and death, I have totally lost track of time. How long had some of those vegetables been in there? 😲

Fortunately none of the packages that were
currently in the freezer were this old! 

There were a few bags of zucchini that I put up last summer (2022), but the majority of the vegetables in the freezer had been there since 2020. Since frozen vegetables are typically only good for one year, I decided that, after three years, it would be best to throw them away. I hated doing it, but I don't believe that eating them was even an option.

While I was at it I rearranged what was left. I stacked all the grains together...rolled oats, oat bran, wheat flour, pearled barley, and rice, and did the same with the fruits (blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries). These items will be used in making breads, muffins, and more.

I found that there is very little meat left and what there was of it is packaged in very small packages. There are single-serving sized packages of deli ham, deli turkey, and taco meat (one of each), a single pre-cooked turkey burger (am having that for lunch today), one salmon fillet, a package of turkey bacon, a small package of oven-roasted turkey breast, and two small packages of sliced oven-cooked ham. I gathered it all up and moved it to the refrigerator freezer. I will focus on using those items up first. There is also a small pork roast left. I will pop that in the crockpot sometime for a company meal. 

Since I didn't have a single piece of chicken in the house, I bought two packages of organic chicken breasts that I was able to get on mark-down at the store yesterday. I don't plan on opening them, though, until all those little odd and end packages of meat have been used up and are gone.

In other areas, things are moving along nicely. I'm using up several canned and/or boxed goods each week and, although it is slow going, I can visibly see the stock in the cabinets and cupboards dwindling. I am determined to do this!

How about those of you who are following along or doing the same? I'd love to hear an update concerning your progress, as well! 

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Friday, January 6, 2023

Winter Food Challenge Update - Friday, January 6, 2023

Good morning! It's Friday!!! 

I was supposed to work today, but they ended up cancelling today's prescribed burn, so, here I am...trying to figure out which direction to head at home. I thought I'd start with an update on the winter food challenge, then tear into the Van Gogh room. It's a mess!



Okay...the winter food challenge...

I'm really pleased with the way it's going thus far. This week I've focused on using up fresh items and odds and ends that go along with them.

For example...I had open bags of croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, and an open box of bread sticks. When I went shopping Sunday night I picked up salad makings and am using these items as additions and accompiments to chef salads (mixed greens, sliced deli meat, boiled egg, and shredded cheese) for lunches. 

For breakfasts I've been enjoying THM's "sweat pants" oatmeal almost every day, but, instead of adding frozen blueberries to it, as I usually do, I've been chopping up a whole apple and adding it instead. This has rapidly become one of my favorite breakfast foods of all-time!

To make, put one cup water, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil, and one apple (washed, cored and chopped, with skin on) into saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and leave to bubble for three minutes. Shut heat off and put a lid on the pan. Set timer and let sit for 12 minutes. Serve with cinnamon and sweetner of choice. I use THM's Super Sweet, which is a stevia-based sweetner (the closest thing to it at the store would be Pyure). I use 1 1/2 teaspoons of Super Sweet and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. 

This is, honestly, the creamiest, most delicous oatmeal I have ever eaten and, fortunately, I have a lot of rolled oats in freezer, so I will be eating this quite frequently.

This week's supper menus have looked like this...

Monday - Tuna and noodles with peas (canned and dry goods out of the cabinet)
Tuesday - Out
Wednesday - Tortellini (cabinet) with sauce (leftover from Christmas Eve lasagna, sealed, and in fridge), leftover canned peas, and garlic bread (freezer)
Thursday - Ham (freezer) with potatoes, onion, and green pepper (fresh)

Tonight's supper will be leftover tortellini with the last of the peas and homemade French bread from the freezer (turned into garlic bread, of course! I just toast it in the toaster, add a smear of butter, and sprinkle with garlic powder, parsley flakes, and dry basil...quick and easy with no fuss). 

Well, that's it for this week's update! Is anyone else out there joining me in this challenge? If so, I'd love to hear about your progress, as well. 

In the meantime, I hope your Friday is going great and that you have a wonderful weekend ahead! 

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Friday, December 30, 2022

Off and Running With the Winter Food Challenge and Sharing A Recipe For Turkey Bean Soup

I had posted in a previous post that black-eyed peas were on the menu for New Year's Day. 


Well...that was before I remembered that I had used the last of the black-eyed peas in the Basic Dry Bean Mix that I put together last winter, which, fortunately, I still have some of left in the pantry.

In thinking about it, black-eyed peas are black-eyed peas. It doesn't matter if you eat a few or a lot (or any for that matter!), but, in keeping with the long-held New Year's tradition, I would like to say that I ate, at least, a few. 


I have to work New Year's Eve and part of New Year's Day, so I won't have a lot of extra time to cook. I decided to cook today for the weekend ahead.

Instead of rushing out and spending money unnecissarily to purchase, and serve, just plain ol' black-eyed peas, I decided to kick into gear on the Winter Food Challenge and use up some of what I have on hand and make a terrific bean soup. 


I thought about making the Wintery Day Bean Soup that I discovered last winter, but, since I've got lots of chopped turkey leftover from Thanksgiving and plenty of bone broth in the cabinet, I decided to make a turkey bean soup instead. Here's what I came up with...

TURKEY BEAN SOUP

2 cups dry bean mix
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
2 quarts of chicken bone broth
4 cups chopped turkey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
black pepper to taste

Note: You can use regular chicken broth or boullion cubes in place of the bone broth if you prefer and I rinsed, soaked, and precooked the dry bean mix in a dutch oven before making the soup. 

After cooking and draining the beans, saute the onion in butter and add it, along with the rest of the ingredients, to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour. 

I plan to have some of this soup tonight with leftover cornbread from the freezer and plan to have some for lunch on New Year's Day. The rest will be separated out into freezer bags, frozen, and eaten for lunches on cold, wintery days.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food, Winter Challenge Plan 2022/23

Over the summer and fall of 2022 I built a winter food supply by adding a few extra items to the cart every time I shopped. I stocked up on grains, spices, and other bulk items at the Amish and Mennonite stores. 


Now that winter has arrived, and the holidays are over, it's time to start saving money by digging into that supply and plan meals around the food I have on-hand.

When I've done these challenges in the past, I've begun by doing a complete food inventory, but, now that I live alone, I pretty much know what I have on-hand, so will skip that step altogether.  

I will shop for fresh items and other items needed to round out what's on hand as I go, and will post my progress along the way, sharing meal plans and recipes when appropriate.

I looking forward to be taking on this self-imposed challenge and would like to invite anyone else who'd like to join me to, please, do so.