Gathering my Fragments: First Week of July

The post I wrote last week had such a good response, I thought I'd make it a regular feature for a bit.  I've long believed that the real art of frugality comes in how we use our leftovers, our bits and pieces that we seldom know what to do with them, the things we buy but forget.  And since this is a weekly thing in my home, although I've borrowed the featured name from Amy Maryon, I thought I'd share how often I 'makeover' a food item into something we eat and enjoy.

Friday:  I had the boys this day and didn't really plan a thing for our supper but in the end, I decided to use what I had.  I decided to make Beef Hash.   

I had 1 boneless short rib (aka Country Style Boneless  Beef Ribs from Aldi) and the broth I'd cooked them in on Wednesday.  It wasn't quite enough meat on it's own but I have a little trick I've used successfully in the past and it's such a good trick that I'm fooled myself by it!  I chopped baby portabella mushrooms into the same size dice I did the bit of beef.  Once cooked, I can't tell which is beef and which is mushroom.  One of the lovely things about these mushrooms is that they will absorb the flavor of what they are cooked in with.  They also add selenium and fiber and a small amount of protein to a dish.  

I chopped two small Russet potatoes, a little onion and a bit of garlic and browned these in a pot on the stove.  When the onions were translucent, I added salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and the leftover broth, meat and the chopped mushrooms and let this simmer until the potatoes were tender and the hash was almost dry.   

I served this meal with sliced ripe tomato and some of my homemade refrigerator pickles.  John had bread and butter, too.

Saturday:  I sorted through the freezer this morning and found a portion of squash casserole.  No, not eating it again today,  but it reminded me that I had a small serving in the fridge, so I added it to the same container in the freezer.  Now there's enough for two next time I want to have it as a side dish and the reminder saved me a bit of waste.

I found a bag of chicken nuggets with just ten nuggets left in it.  Hmmm...I'll have to do something with those.  I didn't sort through the whole freezer, but just one basket.  I'll tackle a new basket daily over the rest of the week and see what items we might use.  

I pulled a quart of soup I'd made in March, as well as a black bean and yellow rice packet, to thaw, and  a pint of Bolognese Sauce.  These will make up our weekend meals without too much trouble.  I now have a little more room in my freezer, too.  

Later I was reading through the Facebook posts from Spend with Pennies and came across a recipe for Corn Fritters.   That also prompted a reminder that I had corn in the fridge.   John loves corn fritters.  It was one of our favorite appetizers at Long Horn Steak House when they had them on the menu and the only appetizer he has ever ordered.   I found I had three ears of corn in my fridge.    So I made this recipe.  I  couldn't tell you if I had 2 cups corn or not.  I didn't add the jalapeno, simply because it meant another dig through the freezer.   I didn't have the Monterey Jack cheese but always have extra sharp Cheddar on hand.  Even with my substitutes it came out just lovely and John was very happy.   Fritters with the last of the Chicken Nuggets made a good lunch. 

I made a Horseradish and mayonnaise dipping sauce to go with the fritters.  Not quite the same as Longhorn's sauce, which I think has a touch of Siracha in it, but really good all the same.

Monday:  I noted yesterday that I had half a loaf of homemade bread in the fridge that was almost two weeks old (frozen for 1 week and in fridge for 1 week).  I cut it into cubes this morning and made croutons.  John loves my homemade croutons on salads.  I also set aside 3 cups to make a small breakfast casserole for breakfast this week.

I stumbled on a recipe for an Orange Sunflower bread that I'd torn from an old Pillsbury cooking magazine.  I happened to have sunflower seeds in the freezer I'd bought for salads only to discover that John didn't like them as well as he'd said at time of purchase and oranges that were getting old.  The recipe called for orange zest and juice.  That used up two of those big navel oranges, with 1 tablespoon of zest to go into the freezer for future flavoring of some recipe.  

I made an orange gelatin 'salad' that also called for orange juice and zest.   This meant another orange was used.

I'll cut the last one into wedges and we'll eat it as part of one of our meals this week.

I'd meant spaghetti for supper last night but Katie had us over for supper.  I'd made a tuna pasta salad as I puttered around the kitchen and decided to postpone the spaghetti meal until end of the week, since John went out to mow lawn.    I knew he'd find the spaghetti a heavier meal.  So I went ahead and made the pasta for that meal and then scanned the fridge and discovered a little more than half a cup of cottage cheese nearing expiration.  I made a Poor Man's Lasagna, aka Millionaire's Spaghetti.  You layer the cooked pasta in the bottom of a dish, top with the cottage cheese/egg/parmesan mixture and then spread a thick Bolognese sauce over the top and cover that with shredded mozzarella.  This is only going to improve in taste sitting in the fridge until Wednesday or Thursday.

Tuesday:  Last night before I closed up the kitchen for the night, I mixed up egg and milk to pour over those dried bread cubes, then sprinkled heavily with cinnamon sugar I'd made to roll the doughnuts in last week.  I baked that off this morning.  We still have enough for another morning.

I cut up the last orange into wedges and put in the fridge this morning. I knew if I didn't get on it, I'd waste it.

I pared about 8 small peaches this morning, sectioned them, tossed them with lemon juice and put in the freezer.  Now I think how good they probably would have been on that French toast casserole.