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Farm Kitchen:  Pantry Cooking Challenge  |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 2:52:05 PM
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To go along with Alee's grocery challenge, I am trying NOT to shop for pantry items until I run out, sometime at the end of January. I am just buying things like milk, eggs, cheese, to get by. Tonight, I used up hamburger meat and half a package of corn bread stuffing mix, added together to make meatloaf, with a leftover mashed potatoes with cheese on top. Frugal AND yummy!!!
So I challenge you clean out those pantries and freezers and see how long you can go without replenishing. This will help with the grocery challenge, by lowering your weekly bill. It's time to use it all up ladies!!!
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
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cw246
True Blue Farmgirl
153 Posts
Cheryl
Largo
Florida
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 3:19:36 PM
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I love this idea too. I also am trying to "shop at home" first -- tonight I am making four beans and rice. I am using beans and supplies that I have in my pantry. Also I buy my Jasmine rice from the oriental store. What an awesome buy.... 25# for $12.50 This is really encouraging to hear others ideas too. Tomorrow I am making flounder that I already have in my freezer. I only had to buy some red potatoes and I have plenty of fresh veggies to make with it.. so we will have baked flounder, baked red potatoes and sauteed vegetables.
Thanks again.  |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 3:43:47 PM
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| Heather, There is no way I would let my pantry, celler, or freezers get low. The economy is so unstable and you never know when a food will be Off the shelf because of a bad batch of something. I guess I am a left over from the depression (no, I wasn't around then) but I feel very secure with my pantry FULL. I just have to really watch the expiration dates. I shop my stores daily. This a.m., I went out with a groc sack and got talipa fish and asparagus from the freezer, rice from the pantry and we'll have some left over cole slaw. |
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
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Firemama
True Blue Farmgirl
1731 Posts
Amanda
Medical Lake
WA
USA
1731 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 4:15:41 PM
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I was thinking the same thing. I cant afford to let our pantry go low. With the weather and economy I will always try to have a full pantry. I do check the pantry before I go shopping and never go just for the heck of it.
Goodluck girls!!
Mama to 2
FarmGirl# 20
People can only make you feel inferior with your permission, and you dont have my permission......
Dont let the chain of love end with you.....
http://myfarmdreams.blogspot.com/
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 4:19:07 PM
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Ok, well do your best I guess. Didn't mean to offend anyone by meaning get down to the last crumb during these hard times.
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
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mikesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3659 Posts
Sherri
Elma
WA
USA
3659 Posts |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 5:05:28 PM
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I would probably not need to go to a store for food for a year, as much as we have put up. We'll have pork a plenty in a few weeks and still have lots of chickens I butchered this past summer. Plus a little deer. Both freezers are full and so much I canned, too.
I have not left my house now in 6 days and have not gone hungry yet. Plus I make bread, too. I just have to get very creative with I have to use. My kids would never make it if they could not go to the store every day. I don't know where I went wrong with them!
I just made cream of tomato soup with some of my dehydrated tomatoes and cream from my friends Jersey cow.
I have to be careful with our money this year, with the way my hubby's truck runs have been lately. Not much coming in. I will need to go out tomorrow and pick up tooth paste and bleach and a few other things.
Kris
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori proverb |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 5:41:07 PM
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Oh Heather, we were not offended! I understand where you are comming from. Use up some of the stuff that has been there for a while. Make a point to cook that Pork butt roast that you bought because it was on sale and thought you would use it someday for company.
Kris, my kids go to the store everyday too. And my daughter does the McDonalds drive thru a lot. I keep telling her she needs to do some of Rachel Ray's 30 min meals. She says she dosen't have time to watch the show let alone cook the meals. Funny, I used to work a full time job, 3 teenagers, and did the gardening and canning and fixed supper every night. Where did "I" go wrong. |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 6:59:43 PM
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Belle - when we lived in town it seemed much easier to get fast food than to cook. Now that it is a half hour drive to anywhere, not really....Plus our priorities have changed.
Heather - I'm with you on this, I have stuff in my cupboard - like the two jars of sundried tomatoes I posted about in the grocery challenge - that are just taking up space. I would like to get to where I just have staples - flour, rice, potatoes, tomato products, etc. - and have used all the "convenience foods"
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" |
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5 acre Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1007 Posts
~~~*Terri*~~~
WA.
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2009 : 9:13:35 PM
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What a great idea, I am trying to do the same, use what I have first, then buy fresh, especially staples....
Farmgirl Sister #368
http:/froccsfrillsfurbiloesandmore.blogspot.com
http://thecontentedwoman.blogspot.com
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MsCwick
True Blue Farmgirl
775 Posts
Cristine
Farmville
Virginia
USA
775 Posts |
Posted - Jan 03 2009 : 09:53:24 AM
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| Being that we are both self employed, and only relying on DH's income, we have to keep stocked up. We have had to go two months without "pantry shopping" and that is when it's nice to know I have 4 or 5 spaghetti dinners up my sleeve. We have to get what we can and keep stocked up because if money gets even slower, it might be a long while before we can stock back up. Our pantry is not stocked up so well because we don't use it like we should. It's stocked up because it might be our only food if times get tough. |
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vermont v
True Blue Farmgirl
194 Posts
Victoria
Chester
Vermont
USA
194 Posts |
Posted - Jan 03 2009 : 12:58:02 PM
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Dear Heather, you must have been reading my mind with this challenge. I often forget what's in my pantry and I have a tendency to turn it into a food museum. I seem to have a lot of beans and canned fish items I like to hoard.Last week when I had to bring something for a pot luck I was able to make a perfectly good vegetarian chili out of my pantry without going to the store. Yay!  For the last month with the holidays we spent more money at the grocery store than usual and now you have inspired me to use some things up! |
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K-Falls Farmgirl
Chapter Leader
2096 Posts
Cheryl
Klamath Falls
Oregon
USA
2096 Posts |
Posted - Jan 03 2009 : 7:49:24 PM
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If I plan my meals well enough and eliminate dessert except canned fruit We should not need anything except milk, eggs, fresh vegs for salad. It will definately be challenge to stick to menus.. We had breakfast for dinner tonight. Pancakes, sausage & eggs & OJ.. pretty darn good too..
http://www.k-fallsfarmgirl.blogspot.com/
Come visit the barn at http://barndoorcreations.blogspot.com/
Cheryl #309
Farm girl sister
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." Maya Angelou |
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kissmekate
True Blue Farmgirl
890 Posts
Kate
Delano
Minnesota
890 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 5:43:43 PM
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I wouldn't let my pantry go down either, actually I am in the process of stocking it up more-gradually.
But, I make sure to rotate and go thru my stuff periodically.
I spent a better part of the last week and a half, using mainly my pantry. It felt good not to panic if the weather was nasty out, or in most cases, I was too lazy to go out. (LOL)
I think that was the heart of Heather's message;to use up what you can, before buying new stuff.
Don't miss out on a blessing, just because it isn't packaged the way you expected. ~MaryJo Copeland |
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La Patite Ferme
True Blue Farmgirl
623 Posts
Jenn
CA
USA
623 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 10:27:50 PM
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I think proximity to town, stores, fast food, restaruants is the biggest offender against cooking at home from scratch. It is really easy to just say forget cooking today I'll get take out.
I get what your proposing Heather. We just made a stock up trip over the holidays so whittling that down anytime soon isn't in the cards, but my goal (as someone else said) is not to let things go to waste - use them up. Tonight we made Shepherd's Pie with a little bit of everything - onions, carrots, mushroom, peas, beans and topped with cheesey potatoes. It was great and I used up a bunch of veggies that were just a bit to past prime to eat fresh. When I was finished it turned out to be enough for several meals.
I think if we all looked at out pantries and fridges with a critical eye we could be crative and make a decent meal with what we have on hand. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 04:37:32 AM
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I think it is a great idea to take stock of what you have and establish a really good rotation. I need to find uses for a few things on my shelf. By the end of this week or early next week we are going to have a MONSTER Costco shopping trip so now is a great time to get creative with some of those "Shelf Surfers"
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 08:56:14 AM
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I have been planning meals/baking with an eye to what is in the cupboard rather than choosing recipes where I would have to purchase an ingredient.
Here's another one - I have 4 jars of Marshmallow Creme and 4 cans of sweetened condensed milk in my pantry - why? No idea. Neither is an ingredient I really ever use, I'm thinking about the foodbank for those.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 10:30:34 AM
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Great challenge Heather! I've been trying to use up those things that have been "hiding" in my pantry for awhile and then shop for new things to replace! I don't like my pantry to get too low but with my hubbys hours cut I'm pulling more and more from freezers and pantry and making up new recipes with the things I have as I go! I've also made a resolution this year for the whole family to eat healthier and not so much!!! I use to put all the pots/bowls on the table and let them go at it...instead I leave them on the counter and they have to get up to get more or I fill their plates and that's it - we are by far not starving but with 6 of us sitting around the table eating and talking they could finish off a whole dinner that I thought would last for 2 nights! Now it's just better proportioned!!
Melissa
Farmgirl Sister #360
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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jumpingjuliet
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
becky
oroville
CA
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 10:39:40 AM
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Amy Grace,
Marshmallow Cream makes the best fruit dip. Mix 1 jar MMcream with 1 - 8 koz pack of cr cheese and a little pineapple juice or whatever juice you prefer and mix until creamy. Soooooo yummy! I make it for every get together I have. People always ask me to bring the fruit tray. I always keep a jar or 2 of mm cream. I heard somewhere the sweetened condensed milk can be made into caramel in the oven. Right in the can. A friend of my mom made it when we ate at her house when I was little. I don't remember exactly how she did it but it was sooo good. Maybe you could find something on line. I am trying to use some of the older things but I just stocked up on some things with the sales over Christmas. I need to go to costco so I need to make room for other things.
Toodles
Becky
I am one with my inner farm girl! |
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jumpingjuliet
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
becky
oroville
CA
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 10:41:36 AM
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I have come up with some really yummy dishes by just using what I had but I always forget to write it down and I can never reproduce it. It drives DH nuts.
I am one with my inner farm girl! |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2009 : 05:13:11 AM
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what a great idea! I have a huge pantry and it is always JAMMED full!!! time to use it up!
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
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Farm Kitchen: Pantry Cooking Challenge |
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Pantry Cooking Challenge
