Lately I have made it a challenge to spend less energy on traditional menu planning and weekly shopping.
I know it sounds a bit heretical, but instead, I have been searching through my freezer, pantry, and refrigerated produce bins to see what needs using up and then thinking of a recipe that would use most of the ingredients that are on hand or ready to go bad.
For example, I made a Layered Mexican casserole with the following on hand ingredients:
Crushed leftover tortilla chips, taco seasoned hamburger, fresh cilantro going bad, leftover sour cream about to go bad, leftover Monterey Jack Cheese about to go bad, a smidgen of cream cheese, frozen cherry tomatoes, an avacado, and a can of diced green chilis.
I can’t give the exact measurements, because I just used what I had. Surprisingly, a delicious Mexican flair casserole was served with a salad on Saturday movie night. Mary and I both remarked it was delicious.
Tonight, I made blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries that had been in my freezer over a year, and sour cream in my refrigerator with some previously milled Kamut flour from my freezer. I served the muffins with Hash Brown Quiche, made with leftover frozen hash browns that had been sitting around for about 6 months, leftover frozen grated cheddar cheese, eggs, milk, and frozen diced green peppers.
All was yummy, all was made with a little of this and that just sitting around.
What can you make with what’s been sitting too long in your freezer, pantry or refrigerator?
Tell me about your adventures in making something delicious with on-hand ingredients!
Photo courtesy of janetishungry.blogspot.com/2007/05/onion-and-…
I do this all the time. Especially with soups. Take a jar of home canned chicken broth and make soups out of what you have in the fridge. Sometimes I’ll add a pint jar of beans, some leftover meat and veggies, 1/4 cup lentils or barley or both.
Wow, I just did this with some fish last night! I had some individually shrink-wrapped halibut fish steaks that looked like the vacuum seal wasn’t doing so hot (lots of frost), so figured I’d better use it up (turned out okay–no freezer burn, thank goodness). The fish had been in there for who KNOWS how long!? Anyway, I had some lemons that were past their prime, so pulled out my faithful Julia Child cookbook for some quick ideas, and ended up with this: In the trusty cast iron skillet, melteded some butter while the broiler preheated and the fish thawed (in the package in water). Broiled the fish 6 minutes on each side, and meanwhile whipped up a salad, chopping some tomato that was on its way out and topping with some cottage cheese. Moved the fish to a warm plate and back in the oven (off) to stay warm, and in the skillet squeezed one mushy lemon into the hot pan and about 3-4 more tablespoons of butter (one at a time). (I was lucky–this lemon had no seeds, so I was able to squeeze out some of the pulp; if it had been a seedy lemon, I would have used a piece of cheesecloth over it to catch the seeds). Tossed into the sauce a scant tablespoon of parsley (could also use dill or any other favorite herb) and stirred to brown the butter ever so slightly. Topped the fish with the sauce, and YUM! Let’s see: used up FROZEN FISH, TOMATO, COTTAGE CHEESE, LEMON. This was a nice, tart fish sauce that would also be good over chicken! Seems I might have some of THAT in my freezer that needs to be used up…
Love the idea! I am such a stock pile girl, that I’m never running out of stuff. But, I need to be better about inventory. Making sure the old is used first has always been a problem. Great ideas!
That’s actually how I do all my menu planning, since I am a member of two CSAs (community supported agriculture, where you get 1-4 bags of vegetables per week from the farm). I write what I need to use in one column, the recipes I want to make that would use them in another, and in the third column the additional ingredients I might need.
That mexican dish looks great…I would eat it for dinner any time 🙂