I made up my list of recipe possibilities last week to use those expired pantry items and I've gone over it again today before I started planning meals. Then I went over my freezer inventory list. I've a couple of frozen meals from April I'd like to go ahead and use. I also sorted out my fridge and gathered all the leftovers in a basket there.
I wasted a pot of cooked rice and a dessert I'd made July 4th that got pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten. I'm going to do better with these forgotten things and get myself back to as near Zero Waste as I can.
Gathered Fragments:
1/2 can mushroom soup (saltier than usual)
1 cup cooked mashed potatoes
1 meatloaf
I jar of red cabbage, carrots and onions I mean to use as slaw
broccoli
tomatoes nearly past prime
1.5 cups mac n cheese
1 pint potato salad
I put a can of coconut milk in the fridge to chill. I'll mix that with one box Vanilla Pudding. Not exactly coconut cream, but close enough. It will be a full sugar (only the pudding is sweetened) but I'll just eat a smaller portion.
What I plan to make this week:
Soup. I know it's not soup weather, but it just sounds good. It's a good way to use up several cans of items, too. I could put in the carrots, potatoes, corn, mixed vegetables, black beans...and toss in any leftovers I find in the fridge. I'll freeze any extra which I hope will be quite a bit. I like to have a supply of soups on hand in the freezer.
Breakfasts:
Bagels and Cream Cheese
Cereal and Toast (for John). I'll do yogurt and fruit with a sprinkling of cereal, hemp hearts and flax seed over the top.
Homemade McMuffins. Agreed, Mable, they never taste the same as McDonald's. I'm curious how the English Muffins turned out. I haven't tried them yet!
Boiled Eggs, Bacon and Toast.
Banana Nut Bread toasted and spread with Peanut Butter
Mini Breakfast Casseroles, Banana Nut Bread
Smoothie for me, toast for John (fast morning)
Lunch:
Meatloaf Sandwiches (I used low-carb tortilla)
Rotisserie Chicken, Sliced Cucumber, Potato Salad (leftover). I have the whole chicken breast left so it might be well be lunch or supper another day this week though I've not listed it in my menu plans.
Tuna Salad Plate, Tuna Sandwich for John
Tacos. I found half a box of shells in the pantry.
Low Carb Tortilla Pizzas
out with Mama
BLT's (make mine a salad with a boiled egg and cheese)
Supper:
Enchiladas, Red Cabbage Salad (using slaw mix), Coconut Pudding cups. Enchiladas are frozen from freezer dated April.
Broiled Pork Chops, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans. The Scalloped potatoes will use an expired box mix, plus mashed potatoes and mushroom soup.
Spicy Blackened Chicken Burgers, Chipotle Black Beans, Coconut Rice, Green Salad with Salsa Fresca.
Teriyaki Chicken, Stir Fry Veggies, Rice. The Stir fry will use broccoli, carrots, sweet peppers, onion, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. I'll have rice leftover from the previous meal.
Meatloaf, Cannelini Bean Salad, leftover Mac n Cheese.
Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad. I have a batch of Marinara in the freezer and I'm pretty sure it pre-dates the Enchiladas I took from the freezer.
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3 comments:
Yum! Lots of good and creative meal plans here! My meal plans this week are:
Potstickers with stir-fry veggies (both frozen from Walmart)
Salmon with rice and veggies (Broccoli for me, traditional mixed veg for B)
Chicken strip salad with lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber, ranch
Fish (cod) Tacos with spicy slaw and pickled red onions
BBQ Chicken Nachos
French Bread Pizzas with Caesar Salad
Chicken & Rice Soup
Cajun Chicken Soup
Leftovers from last week:
Sausage stuffed shells
1 serving of beef & chorizo stacked enchiladas
I need to get my red onion started pickling tonight and will use it later this week. I also have a roast I'm going to cook either in the slowcooker or my InstantPot so I can make a batch of meat spread for B.
I had to toss a few things from the frig when I got home last week, but we are currently out of leftovers from the weekend.
My local nephews and niece came over Friday night to help move some furniture, and we had homemade pizza as their payment. It was an exercise in using what we had instead of what we thought we had, and it was delicious.
We still had a heat advisory yesterday, so I opened a bag of Caesar salad and cooked the last of the chicken strips. Chopped those up and we had chicken Caesar salads for a light supper.
Today's a bit nicer, so I'm thawing some ground beef for Big Mac tacos. Pork chops are thawing in the refrigerator for grilling tomorrow.
We have sweet corn and broccoli as well as lettuce salad ingredients for sides. I have a bag of baby red potatoes that need used up as well, so perhaps smashed potatoes to go with the pork chops.
I just sat down from being in the kitchen making homemade Caesar dressing, using homemade mayo. It's my first time making both, and I'm pretty happy with them. I used Venison for Dinner's Caesar dressing recipe which included the mayo recipe.
The sourdough starter is being fed so I can put some baked goods in the freezer. I'll mix those recipes up tomorrow.
Karla, I have a red onion I meant to pickle as well. Your menus sound wonderful.
Tammy, I may lose a few things more. I'm trying hard to concentrate on the fresh stuff first and fit in the expired stuff where I can.
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