Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pantry challenge

Looking around my kitchen, pantry and freezer I find that we are in danger of collapse. After the disaster in May we did some major shifting of possessions, what was ours became property of the D.A.V. This enabled closet management which resulted in the second walk-in closet becoming food storage. Some summer canning and some bulk buying have filled it. The freezer is full and the kitchen pantry closet is full. Time to use this up. Food snobs and purists turn aside because what we are going to talk about is the stuff of our great grandmothers. Ad these meals will all be built upon each other, with leftovers repurposed not reheated. First dinner- sirloin steak, potatoes, cheese, milk, butter, flour,frozen green beans. Salt and pepper, nutmeg, garlic powder, onion powder. Results:grilled steak with cheeses scalloped potatoes and sautéed green beans. Leftovers- 1/2 lb of steak, half the potatoes, 1/2 c green beans. Saved. Second Dinner- frozen thawed bone in chicken breast, frozen asparagus, Hersey potatoes from previous night. Okay, the potatoes did get a reheat but they were so good who could resist? Chicken was baked with the frozen asparagus in a slow oven. Remove the chicken meat from the bone before serving and slice. Reserve half if the breasts are large. Also had a salad of sliced cucumber with vinegar and oil. Nice mimic between the potatoes and the cakes. Remains: some chicken, 1 1/2 c of potato casserole. Third dinner- remains of the steak, remains of the potatoes, an onion, one carrot, one celery stalk, chicken stock, condensed milk. This became cheesy steak and potato soup. Also whole wheat dinner rolls made in the bread machine. This soup was a ten! Remains for lunch. Fourth dinner- frozen salmon, soy sauce, maple syrup, remaining green beans, frozen broccoli blend and parchment paper. Salt, red pepper flakes and lemon pepper. The vegetables on the bottom, fish on top drizzled with the soy, maple and seasonings. Fold up and bake for thirty minutes. No leftovers. Day five- taco soup. frozen ground turkey, can of pintos, can of black beans, can of corn, can of diced tomatoes, can of Ro-tel box of chicken broth. Chili powder, cumin and ranch dressing mix. Portion remains for lunches. Day six- that chicken from day two. Frozen, thawed broccoli, cooked rice, canned, drained mushrooms, onion, flour, butter, milk and grated cheddar. Salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, dry mustard, nutmeg. Chicken broccoli casserole with rice in a cheese sauce. Day seven- this would be Saturday for me. The remains of the chicken broccoli casserole get put in the crockpot with a can or box of chicken broth. The goal is soup. Keep it warm and eat as desired. Anything left in the fridge gets used today in either a sandwich, omelet, quesidilla or something. The goal for the week was to reuse. I think we did it and I never heard any complaints about leftovers!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Some recent projects

Time has escaped my grasp!  The garden, with the exception of the swiss chard, has been put to bed for the winter.  That chard won't quit.  We did have a few berries from the relocated strawberries in September but the slugs have been horrid this year.

Lots of cakes and lots of baking.  These two were both for weddings, the smaller one was a bride and groom cake with several hundred cupcakes for the guests.  The second was a large tiered wedding cake for a rustic themed wedding.



small brides cake

large wedding cake
More to come!