Step by Step: Use What You Have

Start where you are. Use what you have.  Do what you can. ~ Arthur Ashe

Use What You Have.

Well, what do you have?

We've already looked at some of these things in 'Start Where You Are'.    But let's look just a little deeper at things, okay?

I've shared the process of building a pantry one or two extra things at a time.  I didn't share specific products or items that you ought to buy because that is so individual to each household.  

One thing you likely have is access to the web.  And if you do then you've got a world of knowledge at your fingertips.  You can learn how to stockpile your pantry via Youtube or you can read a blog dedicated to stockpiling.   You can learn how to garden.  How to save seeds from fresh items you purchase now, and how to plant them to provide future harvests of food.  You can learn to can, dehydrate or freeze.  You can learn to make your own mixes and products that you currently buy.  

This year as I've struggled with a grocery budget that wants to swing far above my generous budget of previous years, I've been looking at what I can make at home that will help me save money.  I looked at what I have.

I don't buy a lot of convenience items. I tend to focus heavily on staples because that's how I'm accustomed to working but I do buy a few.  I shared a short list in a previous post of items I'd like to start making at home.  I can tell you that most of the things I shared are all things I used to do as a matter of surviving on a budget.  I let those things drop as time passed, our household size decreased, and we could afford more.  Well...I don't have to tell any of you about today's grocery prices and I'm definitely looking to cut back.

Because I keep most basics on hand in good supply, I can make a great many things at home that I've been buying.  Some will be shelf stable.  Some will fill the gap between what I might purchase at the grocery that I've found to be simple to make, like bagels, biscuits, bread.  It's not a long lasting item once made but boy does it stretch those grocery dollars when I can eliminate those items from my list of things to buy.

I've shared a good bit that requires some skill in using things but let me share a few tips here that I've employed for years upon years.

I keep a steady supply of stock on hand, chicken and turkey.  I tend to find few cuts of beef with bones in but when I do, that bone goes into a stock bag for making beef stock in the future.  Yes, I also keep bouillon cubes and bouillon powder on hand in the pantry, but why let something that is right there ready to be used go to waste.  Or as Patsi says often enough on her blog, The Working Pantry, "What's that in your hand?"

If you buy bone in chicken or turkey then use those bones to make stock. They are there for the using.  It's a simple matter to make a quart or two of stock from the frame of one chicken.  And that's nutrition that is right at hand.  You can use it to make soup.  You can use it to make sauces. You can use it to cook vegetables or meat in.  You can cook rice or pasta in it.  It adds food value to all of those foods.  

You can save the liquid you drain from canned vegetables to make soup, too.  

Or you can make your own soup stock.  Just save the tops and root ends of onions, the tops and tips of carrots, the portion you typically trim away of celery, right there at the tip or the root end.  That makes vegetable stock.  It can season your meat stock.  It's good nutrition just waiting to be used.

Even if you don't make your own bread, how often do you toss those end pieces because no one wants them?  DON'T!  I saved mine in the freezer and then I made them into croutons for soups and salad, I made them into fresh and dry bread crumbs to use to mix into ground meat or to top a casserole.  I used the fresh cubes to make breakfast casseroles and stratas.  I used ALL of the bread I bought and I do the same today with all of the bread I make.

And don't just save the loaf bread.  My grandmother always made her stuffing/dressing from leftovers of cornbread and biscuits that she'd made.  There was always a slice or two of corn bread leftover that no one wanted to eat.  I'd gather that up and freeze and add to that bag until I had enough to make a delicious side dish to go with a roast pork or roast chicken dinner.  I'd use that to make my stuffing for my turkey.  

You can add bits of leftover cooked oatmeal or rice to put into muffin mix and extend that batter.  Or to make pancakes or waffles.  

There are so many ways to use the little bits of this and that you might never even think about until you ask yourself, "What can I do with this?"  As it turns out, once you begin asking yourself that question you discover you can turn it into all sorts of things that will continue to feed your family.

And if you're making MORE food from what you already have, then what's in the pantry can last even longer can't it?  And if you're using all of what you have, then you're getting every penny you spend returned to you, aren't you?  There's no waste.  

My kids wanted to eat the 'little trees' of broccoli, but you can save those stalks and use them!  Trim and shred them to make a slaw.  Or add to coleslaw.  Or spaghetti sauce.  I hid all sorts of added vegetables in my meals back when my children were home.  Dice and add to stir fry or roasted vegetables.  

Shredded broccoli, finely chopped cauliflower, shredded squash or zucchini all went into meatloaf and spaghetti.  I used cubed pumpkin to put into chili.  These foods are all added nutrients and you're not wasting anything of the food you've already purchased.  

Speaking of pumpkin, it's great pureed for a pie or soup.  Carrots make a great soup, as does butternut squash.  And butternut squash or sweet potato can easily be mashed and made into a pie for dessert!

You can use apple peels and cores to make jelly.  

I recommend following ThreeRiversHomestead on YouTube.  It was Jessica at Three Rivers that taught me I could make my own apple cider vinegar.  This past year, I watched her make cherry jelly with the pits from the cherries she'd harvested and peach jelly with the peach pits.  She's used the core of a pineapple to make Pineapple vinegar.  

And it was Jessica at Three Rivers who taught me that the congealed fat on top of beef and chicken broth are GOOD fats with nutrients that come from the meat.  It's great to use to brown more of the same meat or to brown vegetables.  

Or read Tamar Adler's book, An Everlasting Meal. *Amazon Associate Affiliate Link.  I earn a small commission if you shop at Amazon through my link.  

Adler is a huge proponent of using every ounce of the foods you buy.  Another good cookbook author to pick up from your local library is M.F.K. Fisher.  She wrote in the era of the Great Depression and shared all sorts of ways to use all the foods you have at hand.  You can find their books used if you feel they are soemthing

I expect that in the comments of this post others will share helpful vlogs, cookbooks, and blogs that they follow that encourages them to use all the foods that come in the house.  Check them out. Perhaps the sources I've shared won't resonate with you but one of the sources they share might.  

There is so very much we can do when we learn to use what we have!