Gathered Fragments: Last of August, First of September

 

As I start this post it's less about what I have in the fridge that is on my mind at the moment and more about what is in my cupboards and pantry and possibly freezer.   I'm not saying I'll forgo checking over my fridge.  I have a tendency to forget things much as anyone else might do.  So I'll definitely be checking that but likely not until sometime Sunday afternoon.

What's on my mind at present: marshmallows, peanut butter, some mixed nuts that we simply aren't eating, though I've no idea why. I don't want those to go rancid.   

I had one bit of waste last week.  I went to use the corn tortillas and discovered they'd turned a nasty shade of grey.  I wasn't about to use them so I opened the flour tortillas I'd bought this past pay period.  I like corn tortillas but I do not use them as well as I do flour ones.  John will use the flour tortillas to make roll up sandwiches but not the cornmeal ones.  So in future I think I'll stick with the flour tortillas.  I almost always end up with some waste when I have the cornmeal ones on hand...so no more buying those unless I can find smaller packages of them.

Saturday:  Out with Katie today when lunch came around, so I didn't make pizza.  I brought John home a sandwich from the fast food place we stopped at.   For supper, we ate the leftover chicken enchiladas and yellow rice (1 each of the enchiladas and about 1/2 cup of rice) the pico de gallo, and our leftovers from lunch out on Friday, which we also split between us.  It was not an overly full plate despite how it might sound.  It all tasted wonderful.  And I managed a whole Saturday without doing a thing but warming up a plate.  

Sunday:  Came in from church and made pizza for lunch.  I thawed two pounds of venison on Friday and used one today, which I seasoned and browned.  I used half on the pizza, which is more than I'd typically use...I had a good half pound or more of browned meat left...We had a smaller than usual pizza but still have leftovers which we'll eat for lunch one day this week.

I did a quick check of produce drawers, not digging deep but I'd wakened with a start on Friday night recalling that I'd bought a cucumber last pay period and we'd not eaten a bit of it.  I'd have preferred to stay asleep but that's how my mind works, because apparently that cucumber is of the utmost importance in the world right there in the middle of the night... It did prompt me to recall and check the drawers on Sunday and the cucumber is there and apparently ok.  I also discovered a yellowing Green Tomato that I failed to fry as planned.  Ill do a more thorough inventory tomorrow.

Made chili with the rest of the browned venison.  I used crushed tomatoes and won't do that in the future.  No kidding, the change in texture and taste completely threw me off and I couldn't seem to flavor this as I typically do although I otherwise used all the same ingredients.  John thought the chili tasted awesome though, so there you are.  I put a quart of chili in the freezer after supper and had a cup more that I put in the fridge to make nachos.  I served the chili over brown rice and had pineapple chunks on the side.

Monday:  A proper once over of the fridge, fridge freezer and food cupboards revealed:

1/4  1/2 can Spam 

1 cup chili

1 cup brown rice

1 1/2 cucumber

1 large green tomato

1.5 heads of broccoli

3 slices pizza

1 very large kosher pickle

3 2 small bunches of grapes

1/2 c. pineapple chunks

1 cup sour milk  plus 1/4 gal of milk...sour?

2 avocados

2 oranges

5 Roma tomatoes (from that 50c packet)

1 c of assorted mushrooms

1 pound of venison

1/2 pound turkey breakfast sausage

Here's what I did:

We made nachos for lunch with the chili and 1 diced tomato (which left us with five).  I know we'll have pizza one day and most likely I'll use that bit of rice to make fried rice for lunch one day as well

I cut the avocados and found them neither ripe nor likely to do anything but rot.  Into the compost with those. 

I sliced the oranges.  We like to eat these well chilled.

I diced all the tomatoes left and put them into the freezer.

That's as far as I got in detailing what I had...Katie and Caleb came out while I was in the midst of prepping some of the above and then I got caught up in playing with Caleb and doing supper prep.

I fed Caleb 1 bunch of grapes.

I used the 1 cup sour milk to make biscuits to go with our supper.  I also browned off the mushrooms and made meatballs out of the venison.  We had Meatballs with brown gravy (I added mushrooms and onions to the gravy) over mashed potatoes.  We were supposed to have broccoli, too, but until we sat down at dinner, I never thought of it at all.

I know that there are other bits and pieces I need to consider using this week but I shall have to wait until tomorrow to discover what they might be.

Tuesday: I made Sausage Gravy to go over the leftover biscuits from last night's supper.  I think I forgot to put 1/2 pound turkey breakfast sausage on my list above.  That's used now, too.  It was so good and I was delighted that the morning air was nearer 70 so the meal felt seasonally appropriate.  I had a tiny bit of that leftover so I added it to the meatballs and gravy which was also a small amount of leftovers.

This morning I sorted out the kitchen cabinet.  I have nuts, saltines, and marshmallows there to use up.  I have an unopened bottle of malt vinegar that I bought an age ago.  In the cupboard under the baking center I found balsamic vinegar glaze (not too worried about that even if it is expired, it is vinegar) and a jar of lemon curd which still looks quite good but is also expired.  We can't forget the apricot preserves either which I went and pulled off the pantry shelf.

Then I went through the fridge freezer.  I found one item that was a complete surprise to me.  1/2 cup of dice carrots that I'd frozen.  I popped those out of the container and put them in the bag of vegetable scraps I'm saving for broth.

Today I am making a Shoebox Supper but I altered my plans because I had fragments to use! I waffled about this for a bit but I have perfectly good food on hand that I don't want to waste and it made sense to use them for this meal.   I figured in an emergency, I'd have used what was in the fridge first to prevent losing it to spoilage, right?  

I mixed leftover cooked brown rice with the small amount of wild rice I cooked.  I needed 1 cup.  I had 1/2 cup of uncooked wild rice in my container.   

I am using broccoli as my side instead of green beans.

And instead of using a can of fruit cocktail I am making a fruit salad using the grapes, some oranges, the last of the pineapple and some fresh chopped apple.   

Wednesday:  I needed a quick lunch today and was so tempted to ask John to stop at the Grill and get something but I mentally shook my head and said "No...I can make something when I get home!"   My fridge and fridge freezer are looking rather bare, typical of the week before we get our funds in.  I have leftovers but one was skimpy and the other is too much for a  lunch.  Thinking now I believe I can stretch the skimpy to make lunch for two but I didn't think of it at the time.

Here's where my few convenience items come in mighty handy.  I had bought a bag of pot stickers at Aldi last pay period and I decided to cook those.  I chopped up another half head of broccoli and added in some of the green onions I froze last week and some of the bell peppers I'd sliced and put in the freezer.  These all steamed together and then I added the sauce packet, additional soy, sesame oil and crushed red pepper flakes.  This turned out very good, and I don't mind if I am the one saying so!  We ate more of the orange slices for our finish on this meal.  It was satisfying, heavy enough that if we don't eat prior to my leaving for Bible study, we'll hold well until we can get something.

For supper tonight I cooked the last two frozen pre-formed burgers and used the last of a bag of Crinkle Cut fries.  I didn't have either one on my list of fragments but they were using space in the deep freeze and netted me a small amount of room to shift things as needed when seeking out food items.

Thursday:  I made breakfast sandwiches this morning, using two of the last three English muffins, half of the Spam, cheese and eggs.  They were big hearty sandwiches and I  was really surprised to actually feel hungry when 12:30 rolled around.  I seem to be in a hungry season.  I was hungry when we came in from church last night and woke with my stomach growling loudly with hunger in the wee hours of the morning.  Had I been able to think of a single thing to eat at that hour I'd likely have gotten up and eaten something!

For lunch, I made toast then heated the meatballs and gravy with the sausage gravy mixed in.  I chopped up the meatballs.  This made an SOS type mixture that was quite good over toast.

Supper tonight was Chicken Parmigiana and Pasta, Green Beans and Salad using a portion of the cucumber.  

We end the week having used a good bit of the fragments I had on hand and with just enough Wild Rice leftovers to make an easy supper on Saturday evening.   I'm going to end here but I'll tell you that I plan to take the rest of the cucumber and make John a batch of the fresh pickles he likes so well.  It will be a nice side for some meal or other this weekend.