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I love vintage images that show a lovely full pantry of shining jars of jewel toned fruits and vegetables. I also love these vintage refrigerator ads which touted the breathtaking capacity of the fridge to hold a LOAD of food. Just look at her freezer! How do you even begin to unpack it?
Which reminds me of Mama saying that Gramma Crowley froze all her vegetable garden produce except what they ate fresh. I know that this is true. She packed the food into plastic baggies, tied them with a twist tie and then packed that into the neatest little white cardboard boxes.
Only she didn't mark what a single thing was. She relied on memory and nobody but herself messing about in her freezer. No matter that they put up corn or peas. If butter beans were first in the line-up come fall, then they ate butterbeans until butter beans were gone and then they started in on whatever was put into the freezer next. I'm assuming she stored her peaches and strawberries in a separate space because she always managed to find those if I requested them.
But that was her system.
Anyway, that's just my thoughts on this image. I think it's the most neatly packed freezer/fridge I've ever seen and I am utterly fascinated by how they packed it all in, lol.
My fridge is looking pretty well packed right now, too. We're eating leftovers for supper tonight and then we'll see where we stand. But I got an idea of what I have in the fridge at present. Found a few lost items that are now in the trash. A pumpkin pie I bought on sale that had the oddest spice profile I've ever tasted. John swore he liked it and helped himself to three pieces but left three behind and never went back. The pineapple salsa I so wanted to try and bought limes and cilantro (still in the fridge) to go into it got pushed to the back and did not look in the least appetizing two weeks later.
That's all the waste there was and I suppose considering how full the fridge has been of late, it's a wonder that is all I lost.
Breakfasts this week: On weekends breakfasts are very much a casual affair. We each eat when we rise and nobody cooks. Bagels and Croissants on a Saturday morning. On Sunday Cheese Toast for John and I, and Katie takes care of her and Caleb. But during the week, a plan would be helpful.
Oatmeal, Toast
Boiled Eggs, Toast, Apricot Jam
Pancakes, Sausage
Orange Julius, Peanut Butter Toasts
Cheesy Sausage Eggs, Grits, Biscuits
Lunches this week:
lunches often consist of leftovers. I think it would do me well to plan a couple of lunches just in case the leftovers are not available.
Meatloaf Sandwiches, Snack Mix, Oranges
Bologna Sandwiches, Apples, Chips
Quesadillas, Salsa, Pineapple
Tuna Melts, Potato Chips
Suppers this week:
I'll start with the two meals we've had already this weekend. Then I'll fill in for Monday through Friday. Friday nights I try to keep supper low fuss and easy on me.
Hot Dogs, Chips, Baked Beans, Chocolate Chip Cookies. Cookies were a packet I found in the snack bin in the pantry.
Gramma's Fried Chicken, 'aRoni and Cheese', Baked Beans (leftovers). Tonight's supper will be whatever leftovers we have. Katie's already called dibs on one item, pretty sure Caleb's going to want dibs on the hot dog.
Smoked Turkey, Sweet Potato Fries, Coleslaw, Corn Muffins. The smoked turkey breast was on sale this past week at Publix for $4.49/pound. Yes, it was pricey but then again, it isn't. I find smoked meat is not something you want to eat a lot of at one go. I figured we could use the leftovers as sandwich meat and this was definitely less than deli meat which is what I buy if we're having sandwiches.
Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad, Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Egg Drop Soup, Steamed Dumplings, Steamed Broccoli (or stir fry veg) and Egg rolls
Pot Roast with Vegetables, Green Beans, Rolls Sub in asparagus here.
Pizza out...I think... Caleb has a visit with his other gramma this Friday night so John and I may be meeting up with Katie at the halfway point to drop him off. There's a pizza place in that parking lot so we might well have a Friday night date this week. We'll see.
Hmmm...we'll see how this stands. I have asparagus and mushrooms we really need to use up, so incorporating those two items into the menu will take a small amount of adjusting. And this is why I check the fridge and then plan meals.
5 comments:
I must be related to your grandma as I do the same in my freezers. I do label now when I first got sick and was in the hospital for a week , Hubby requested it so it wasn't "surprise" item every meal .
I would love to be able to get those little boxes and liner bags again. Mom always packed her apples in them since we had apple trees until I was nine. All winter long those boxes came out for applesauce, apple crisp and pies.
We had family here over the weekend so we have a pile of leftovers to eat first. It's kind of nice!
I remember my mom freezing corn and peas in those bags and little boxes! They were so easy to stack in the freezer.
Not many leftovers in the frig to start our week. We ate up leftovers for lunch with the kids on Saturday, which cleaned out the frig nicely.
There are a few burgers since Greg grilled the whole package instead of just a few for supper with Silas and Layla on Saturday. I'll pack up one for his lunch tomorrow and I'll have one for lunch today. The rest will go in the freezer for a weekend meal.
I was a bit surprised to not have tons of leftovers from our Easter lunch on Sunday. Jess's boyfriend came, and I was happy to see he got up for seconds. We had stuffed pork loin, cheesy potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, green bean casserole (that's must have for Greg), a roasted beet/walnut/feta/greens salad (that I LOVED), and rolls. Pies for dessert, but they didn't each much of those because they decimated the meal. Lol. There was enough for lunch for Greg yesterday, and a small container for my lunch for a couple of days, or a weekend lunch for us both.
We got Chinese takeout Friday night, so had lots of leftover rice. I used the last of a package of Asian veggies, some cooked chicken from the freezer, and a couple of eggs to make fried rice for supper last night. It was so good! I think it was you who suggested a touch of sesame oil, and that makes it exceptional. No leftovers of that - just enough for Greg's lunch today.
It's been a slow morning after a very early awakening. I awoke about 4, then just tried to rest until the alarm at 5, but Greg was stirring, then got up at 4:30 and went outside, came back in, and started getting dressed. I asked if he was okay, and he said the rescue unit was down the street at his parents' house. He was heading out the door when his mom called; His dad was transported, but seems to be okay and won't be admitted. Greg went to the hospital before going to work, making sure things were okay. I've just been puttering around and catching up on some computer time. Now it's time to get moving around the house!
Juls, LOL
Lana, I saw those boxes and bags on Amazon at one time a few years ago. I can't even get them to come up in a search now.
Cindi, yes the ease of stacking was the appeal and what a space saver!
Tammy, I hope Greg's dad is all right. It's nice you all live so close to them.
The sesame oil trick came from Jessica O'Donohue's website, but yes, I have suggested it here on the blog. It really does just change things up entirely, doesn't it?
That roasted beet salad is on my list of recipes I'd like to try.
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