How my freezer challenge is going (plus Food Waste Friday!)
Well.
My freezer isn't empty, but it is looking SO much better of late.
What have I been doing with my freezer contents?
Well, I do have one freezer loss to report:
Though we ate almost all of the taco meat in our freezer, this last little bit of thawed meat stayed in the fridge a little too long.
On to better news!
I used some of the bread to make bread pudding.
I used the frozen tomatoes to make a little batch of tomato sauce.
Which I then used to make some pizza.
I used part of the frozen mashed potatoes to make potato rolls.
and then I used the rest of the mashed potato to make potato cinnamon rolls, which were fluffy and soft and generally delicious.
This isn't freezer-related, but I used some leftover rice to make rice pudding.
(That also handily used up the last of a container of half and half.)
In other fridge news, we've gone through lots of greens this week, in smoothies and in salads, so, yay us!
Unphotographed freezer efforts: I made several chicken meals this week to use up the chicken in the freezer, I made a seafood and chorizo stew to use up my chorizo links, and I made smoothies to use up all the fruit.
So, here's what I've got left...a bit of lunch meat, ravioli, bread odds and ends, bread crumbs, and a bit of cooked chicken.
(The chicken breasts are new this week, so I'm not counting them. 😉 )
The ravioli will not be hard to use.
The lunch meat? I'm gonna have to think about that. The texture is a little iffy when thawed, so it's not like I'd be prone to using it in sandwiches.
I think I'm gonna use a French toast casserole recipe to use up more of the bread odds and ends. And I'll also probably make some croutons.
(Hit me with a favorite overnight french toast recipe, please!)
The bread crumbs? Not even worried about 'em! They can hang out in the freezer until I have a recipe that calls for them.
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So! My freezer is in very decent shape right now, and to keep it that way, I'm gonna start a new habit of posting fridge AND freezer pics on Food Waste Fridays.
(Because clearly I need some accountability in order to keep my freezer from descending into a stuffed disorganized state.)
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How'd things go at your house this week with food waste? And those of you were who cleaning out your freezers with me, how's it going?
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P.S. Joshua has some photos up from his trip to CA!
(Where he visited the Joshua tree park. Because of course.)
You did great! You can chop up your lunch meat, saute it with some chopped veggies and make a fritatta. 🙂
Oh, good idea! And scrambled eggs, of course. Duh. Why did I not think of that?
I was thinking along those lines as well, or mince/puree the meat and add it to a sauce or use as part of pizza topping.
Smitten kitchen has a good overnight baked french toast recipe.
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/12/new-years-day-2001/
When I made it, I omitted the booze for vanilla extract, and baked it with peach jam and cream cheese.
Alton Brown has a good French Toast recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/french-toast-recipe.html
If you don't have real maple syrup, then I feel very sorry for you and hope that the situation rectifies itself soon enough.
Oh, I DO! Aldi sells real maple syrup. 😉
You didn't state what kind of lunch meat you have. But what about a quiche? it would be cut up into small pieces so the iffy texture shouldn't be noticed.
I have an easy reciepe and it always goes over well. Got it out of the newspaper years ago!
4eggs
1cup milk
cheese of your choice, (swiss, white chedder, ect) 6oz
meat (ham, bacon,ect)
veggies (or not)(roasted veggies, broccoli ect) cooked
1/4 tea pepper
1/4 tea salt
1/2 tea ground mustard powder
crust
350
Whenever I have frozen lunchmeat (turkey, chicken, or beef) I turn it into hot sandwiches by adding gravy/broth and simmering a bit - this rehydrates the meat. Sauteed onion and/or mushroom can also be added for flavor, or a little wine. Homemade gravy is best, of course, but with a few add-ins even canned or powdered makes for a pretty good meal.
I would suggest this for the lunchmeat (it is to die for!!): http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-ham-and-cheese-party-sandwiches/
And here's a yummy french toast casserole:
http://www.5dollardinners.com/caramel-apple-breakfast-casserole/print/
I was just going to add that we sometimes add a slice of meat to our grilled cheese sandwiches! And I freeze lunchmeat too and it turns out just fine.
Kristen, I think your potato roll pic is so beautiful it might have to be your next blog header!!
Regarding the lunchmeat.,, maybe defrost, slice thin, and saute with a chopped onion and any odd and end veggies. toss in eggs and you have a "Western omelette"
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/overnight-blueberry-french-toast/
This is so so so good! It is my go to when it is my turn to bring something for MOPS. I usually dry out the bread cubes in the oven first. I've used 1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese instead of 2. Weighing it down with a few cartons of broth over top the cling wrap overnight helps it soak up the custard. Also it says to leave out for 30 mins in the morning before baking, just put it in the cool oven and let it preheat with oven.
Ooh, that DOES look delicious!
Kristen, when I see your freezer challenges, it always encourages me to do the same. I made a freezer inventory this week and have been trying to make meals from what we already have. I posted the inventory on the fridge and mark stuff off as we use. We made a huge frittatta for supper last night, along with a salad (I do the cooking, hubby makes the salads) using up all sorts of fresh and frozen veggies. May also copy your idea for bread pudding. Keep up the good work!
The Pioneer woman French toast casserole. Not exactly healthy but super delicious! My freezer challenge is going awesome as well! Some of my meals aren't fabulous but we are saving on the grocery bill and saving food from waste so its an overall win! Thankful for a family that puts up with it joyfully 🙂
As for the lunch meat, I bet it would be great in an omelette or quiche or an eggy breakfast bake. If you had some tasty sautéed veggies plus some cheese in there to go with it, you probably wouldn't notice textural issues with the lunch meat quite as much . . .
P.S. Congrats on working your way through your freezer extras like that! You constantly inspire me to keep thinking creatively and working towards less food waste in my own home.
My mom makes something like this for overnight french toast:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/98/Overnight_Peach_French_Toast6581.shtml
So here is my two cents about the lunch meat: Make meatloaf, flatten out the meatloaf batter (is that what you call it?) into a cookie sheet sized rectangle, take the lunch meat and some cheese (I have traditionally used Ham) and layer it on top of the flattened meatloaf. Then roll it up like a Cinnamon roll, and bake it with a bit of cheese on the top. The story behind this: When I was little, My mother was looking for an inexpensive but fun main dish to make as a tradition for christmas eve. She landed on this meatloaf, which has lovingly been dubbed "Christmas eve meatloaf". It is a favorite in our family for decades, and last year when my mother decided to change it up and get a sirloin for christmas eve, the only thing she heard was shock and disappointment that it wasn't the traditional christmas eve fare:)
Love bread pudding! Cannot blog at FWF today as moving my virtual home...but did Instagram a photo of my fridge.
Fails:
- Fancy mushrooms, cooked. You'd think that at that price, they'd wash them for you but no. My attempts to wash the cooked mushrooms a failure, the expensive gritty mess had to be composted.
- Asparagus Ribbon "Pasta." The idea is to use a veggie peeler to turn asparagus into flat, pasta-shaped strips, saute, and top with sauteed garlic breadcrumbs. Sounded like a no brainer but it was both a lot of work and a total failure. I ate it at 2-3 meals then gave up. So, so, glad that I didn't use - and therefore waste - home-made bacon as well.
Successes:
- My new, simplified weekly menu has been a great success for me. I spend less time thinking about food (since I know the basics I can leave the details to the last minute), less time cooking (I'm a bit burnt out on cooking), and the volume of leftovers has decreased radically. So much so, that I need a backup for Smorgasborg Nite - there haven't been enough leftovers to make a meal.
- Made fried rice with leftover delivery rice and random bits.
My freezers are in good shape. The list is up to date, there's not much in the way of odds-and-ends, and I have most of what I need. I don't, however, ever expect to have an empty freezer. There are always good deals to be had, for stocking up.
If your lunchmeat is ham, you can use that plus the chicken breast and make Chicken Cordon Bleu (I hope I spelled that right), lol.
This is very inspiring post! We're moving in a couple months and we're working hard to use up all what we have in our fridge and freezer to save money and so that we don't have to take them with us.
p.s- your frosting looks good,any recipe?
I've made this a couple of times and it is divine. I generally don't bother with the extra butter/sugar topping tho since its already pretty rich.
http://ourbestbites.com/2012/12/overnight-baked-french-toast/
When I first saw this freezer challenge, I decided to go with a slightly different angle. We eat a fairly different diet in the summer vs the winter so I went through the fridge, freezer, and pantry and have given myself six weeks to try to use up all our "winter" foods. My guys will be out of school for the summer, we can get local produce, and I try not to use the oven. I realize the pantry items will keep, but its a good chance to turn them over and find some space. Canned pumpkin, for example, will be on sale again before I need it. So, another idea for you.
My favorite baked french toast recipe belongs to Paula Deen:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-french-toast-casserole-with-maple-syrup-recipe2.html
I've been reading for a while, but this is the first time I've written. Your potato bread is very popular here and as part of this effort I've used up some leftover mashed potatoes that were in the freezer this way.
I threw away two portions of Pumpkin Soup.
It wasn't spoiled I just didn't care for the flavor.
It was my first food waste of 2015.
I've had to use thawed deli meat before, and it's perfectly fine if you make toasted meat and cheese subs. It's almost like eating at subway once you add the vegetables and condiments
We make ham and cheese bread with extra lunchmeat!! Roll your bread dough out as you would for cinnamon buns, layer grated chess and lunchmeat on te bread. Roll up. LEt rise. Bake as you normally would. Our favorite is to Slice it and dip it in tomato soup!!
a suggestion for the bread odds & ends is to simply make bread crumbs out of them. They can be blended or done in a food processor then you never have to buy bread crumbs for your next recipe. 🙂 or you can make
Easy breakfast Casserole
1# sausage
6 eggs
6 pieces of bread broke up
1 cup sharp cheddar
2 cups milk
1 tsp dry mustard
salt & pepper to taste
Mix altogether & bake in a 9 x 13 for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees
Yummy
Not sure what type of lunch meat you have.. but make up a batch of bread dough.. flatten it, layer with thawed lunch meat and cheese ( turkey and cheddar, ham and swiss... pepperoni and provolone..) and roll and bake! Lunch!
One night do a snacky/appetizer dinner. Boil the ravioli, season breadcrumbs and then dip drained ravioli in egg wash and bread crumbs.. fry and then serve with marinara!
Those pictures look yummy. I would throw that lunch meat into an egg dish and bake it in the oven. It is almost no work and tastes great. I think at my house eggs are the most popular dinner.
I love what you're doing! I've just started following your journey and I'm excited to read more.
(: