Crisco? For real?
Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
As you all know, one of my summer goals is to declutter my house from top to bottom.
Well, I got around to one of my cabinets recently and found a little container of very old Crisco. I think it expired two years ago.
Crisco has a stupid long shelf life, so I must have bought this eons ago. I don't even like Crisco, and I must have just bought it for a recipe or something.
Anyway, I threw it out, and I doubt I will ever buy more.
I also found a few other things:
Now, these are all past their best-by dates, which means that they're still safe to eat, but probably just won't taste all that super.
So I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with them. Nothing there is exceptionally nutritious, and to use this stuff up, I'd have to combine it with other perfectly good ingredients.
Which means if the taste is off, I'll end up wasting more than if I just threw these out.
I am currently leaning toward throwing the ingredients out and recycling the packages. What would you do?
Oh, I also let an avocado go bad, somehow:
And in my produce box, I got a bunch of heirloom squash. I turned one into something like zoodles last night, which was pretty good. I'm not a crazy big fan of squash, but hopefully I can manage to get through these!
________________________________________________
How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the widget below. You'll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog! And if you don't blog, you can still share about your food waste by leaving a comment.
Those of you who participate in Food Waste Friday can now grab a fancy-schmancy button to perk up your posts. If you copy and paste the following code into your Food Waste Friday post, this little graphic will appear.
If you blog on WordPress, just make sure you're in html mode when you copy and paste the code, or it won't work properly.
Yours is an avocado - mines a watermelon!
As you know I'm an advocate of using up what you can, but when it comes to decluttering - there can be the case of complete inertia when deciding what to do for the best. If you can't see a good reason for using it, and could potentially waste more then I'd let it go.
You can't make 'nail soup' out of those ingredients 😉 I can out of my potential waste.
Thinly slice your squash and throw it in a lasagna, you will never know it's there!
As a note: heirloom squash makes just as good zucchini bread as the regular kind.
I'm sure the minute tapioca is still good. I'd keep it around because sometimes you need to thicken soups or pies and it's easier to use than cornstarch or flour. The Baker's chocolate starts out tasteless (as baking chocolate goes) so being stale won't make any difference to it.
I was just wondering about the fat in the chocolate...couldn't that go sort of rancid?
I think it would tAste fine but it won't melt as well and you will end up wasting other ingredients.
It can go stale - the source of the potential off taste - but sugar, cocoa powder, and cocoa butter don't go rancid.
Some things that go into flavored chocolate can actually go bad, such as fruit (not fruit flavoring but actual pieces of fruit) or nuts.
I have given away "expired" food using Freecycle. I just leave it on the porch (porch pick-up). Our local food bank will also accept that kind of thing, they have a separate shelf where they place such things.
http://foodloveswriting.com/2013/09/25/sponsored-post-sweet-and-tangy-late-summer-squash-quinoa/
Try this one for the excess squash. Any variety of squash will do - I've used several different kinds at once.
Pudding - mix into a chocolate cake or brownies?
Maybe try melting the chocolate for a syrup and see if it tastes ok?
Tapioca - great for thickening soups, wonder if the freezer is an option?
The best-by dates are pretty conservative. If they're not that far past, they'll taste fine.
The Baker's Chocolate will be fine when used in baked products such as brownies, cakes, and cookies. It might not be excellent in hot chocolate or maybe maybe not in pudding.
You can use the pudding mix to make pudding for pudding painting outside: great messy fun.
Squash is very tasty when roasted: cut in half or pieces, toss with oil + flavorings, roast on preheated pan till cooked and the surfaces are browned/carmelized.
You can also use them shredded. Shred the squash on a grater, then squeeze out the liquid by twisting the shreds in a kitchen towel. The shreds have numerous uses:
- quick bread
- sauteed alone (recommend oil, garlic, salt, herbs of choice)
- sauteed with other veggies (I'm particularly fond of shreds + shrooms)
- in casseroles (sauteed first)
- in omelets (sauteed first)
I think the tapioca was, um, 2010? (insert embarrassed face)
If you made the pudding for painting, would you just use water instead of milk? I'm slightly loathe to use edible milk for nonedible purposes...
Use the tapioca to thicken soups/stews. 2010 or not, it's fine for that.
I was wondering that myself for the same reason. Give it a try and let us know?
FYI I used some pudding mix of similar vintage in a cake recipe (I remember it used pudding mix, cake mix, and cranberries; all things I needed to use up). Surprisingly to me, it came out great. It disappeared in a wink and I was asked to make another one. And no one got sick.
What do I have to lose, right? I already have the mix, and water is practically free. 😉
Zucchini fritters!!!!! Even better than zucchini bread, and heaven knows I'm a fan of that too.
Something happened this week in my fridge. Things turned...lots of things that should have been just fine turned sour and yeasty in my fridge...milk, yogurt, juice, almond milk...literally anything open and not a condiment needed to be tossed. Everything in the fridge has been scrubbed and we're starting fresh.
Oh no. Did you check your fridge's temperature with a thermometer?
That was my first thought, too - fridge temperature.
I actually have a thermometer that stays in the fridge so I know that it's the right temp so that wasn't the issue. I still have no idea what caused it.
Oh, I love that patty pan squash! I haven't had it in so long. I cube it up and cook it with onion in a pan with some bacon fat. So good. I did OK this week - several leftover meals were made for the freezer for my struggling on-his-own-now son. I also made mire poix with some wilty celery, carrots, random onion, and half a zucchini. I like to freeze it in zip locs, and add to soups, sauces, etc. Throw the boxed stuff out without a second thought...
You could shred the squash, squeeze out the excess moisture and make fritters! There are a bunch of recipes out there for zucchini fritters, just sub in your little lovely patty pan guys.
You know what you could've done with that Crisco? Fried some chicken in it! 😀
Dude, this was gross, even for Crisco. It had kind of separated somehow, and parts of it were really dry (apparently fat can dry out?)
Anyway. It was inedible, even if you happen to feel Crisco is edible. 😉
Crisco is fine in small doses. Do you eat Oreo cookies (as in those cheap knockoffs of the far superior Hydrox cookies?) If so, you're eating Crisco and Sugar between two cookies.
Butter Flavored Crisco is good in cookies, though I rarely (well, never) use it any more.
I have a cookbook from the 50s suggesting Crisco be used as a sandwich spread (to replace the lard used in stuff like zsÃroskenyér.)
I actually don't usually eat Oreos. Ha. Crisco and its ilk are the reason I rarely like commercial frostings or creamy fillings-they all taste like Crisco.
The only exception is when the filling of sandwich cookies is really minty (like when I'm eating Peppermint Joe-Joe's). Then I can't taste the non-butter fat.
I don't like working with tapioca so I can't help you there--but I would use the pudding in cookies as pudding/cornstarch yields a bakery-style cookie. Check out averiecooks.com for her chocolate pudding cookie recipe. I've baked it and it's total yum. And I've used chocolate WAY past the "best by" date and I'm still alive ... maybe you could use the chocolate in frosting for the cookies?
Your unsweetened choc doesn't go bad - regardless of the date stamp. It may bloom, but that will disappear when you melt it. If the tapioca is just dried tapioca, it too will not go off. both those items kept in a cool dry place should keep nearly indefinitely. I have used unsweetened choc that was lost in the back of my cabinet for hmmm maybe 5 years with no ill effect.
Yeah, it's just plain old dried tapioca. Good to know!
So the fat in chocolate doesn't go rancid after a while?
I have never had chocolate go bad. And I've had some really, really old chocolate. After my husband's grandma died, we had M&Ms from her house dated 1982. They were awesome, as M&Ms should be.
LOL! I think my box of tapioca is older than Zoe. I only use it as a thickening agent in a yummy lemon chicken crock-pot recipe. At one tablespoon per batch, it's going to take a long time to use up. It works perfectly, so why toss it?
It is mind boggling to me that we live in a country that uses imaginary best-guess expiration dates to force us to increase our consumption by throwing away perfectly good food. Unless it looks or smells off, I'd keep it on the shelf.
As to the Crisco, I have a 50-year-old cookie cook book that I use at the holidays. Several recipes call for the stuff. I think it's vile, but it does make wonderful cookies. I think I'll move my extra from last Christmas into the fridge so it won't be a nasty surprise when I start baking cookies in December.
Tapioca is just a root. I would think it would be fine.
You could make chocolate tapioca! 🙂
Haha, great idea!
You can grill those lovely little squashes. Slice 'em up, brush them with olive oil, s & p or any seasoning you like. Leftover grilled squash is good chopped up in pasta with Parmesan or on a pizza!
If it was me, I'd probably still eat those things, since they're just pantry items anyways. At least if they look and smell okay.
I'm like you, I hate to waste. But if it's something fairly unhealthy, it gives me a good excuse to get rid of it. I figure there are some things that are better in the trash than degrading my health, lowering my immune system, or making me fat! 🙂
RE: the squash. I make a pseudo-ratatouille by sauteing onion and garlic, and then whatever vegetables I have on hand, in order of hardness. I typically use peppers, squash/zucchini, eggplant, carrots and whatever else I happen to have. Put a little tomato in at the end and no one will notice the squash.
And thanks for reminding me that I really should clean out that cabinet over the stove.
Crisco is excellent for seasoning cast iron pans. Ancient Crisco is probably just as good as fresh?
I dunno-this looked pretty awful!
Surely you took a photo?
I did not! (I know. What??) I just took a photo of the container with the lid on.
This post made me smile,few months ago I decluttered our kitchen cabinets and found expired two tapioca pearls(big and small) and pudding too!
I'm with you on not taking the chance of contaminating perfectly good ingredients with your questionable stuff. That being said, I still would use the tapioca to make Cherry Pie, and although the chocolate pudding may be less than stellar as pudding if you use it to make popsicles (Fudgescicles) I think your children wouldn’t complain.
Hi Kristen,
I can tell you from experience that you should just toss the baker's chocolate. (experience being my fantastic chocolate cream pie that NO ONE would eat.)
Ohh, that is so sad! To put all that work into it and then have it taste bad.
One of the most easy things that has really helped me
to use what food I have in my cupboards is to mark on the item the date
that I buy it. ". I just have my marker and roll of masking tape ready "to go"
and after food shopping I mark the it as I put it away.
.
Do you always use butter in place of Crisco? I have a recipe for bisquick mix that calls for Crisco. I haven't tried anything else because I wasn't sure how it would work. but most of the things I use butter so I don't see why it wouldn't. (Newbie-ish when it comes to baking). Love your tips and recipes!
Butter and crisco are very similar and so generally are interchangable. They aren't quite the same so the outcome will vary a bit.
1) They taste different. Butter has a notable taste, crisco is generally considered tasteless.
2) They have different melting points. Butter melts as just under human body temp, so things made with butter have a wonderful mouthfeel (literally, how it feels to your mouth and tongue when you eat it). Crisco, and margarine for that matter, melt a bit warmer than human body temp and so doesn't have that lovely mouthfeel. That, btw, is how people can tell if cookies are made with butter or margarine.
3) I believe they have different amounts of water and therefore different amounts of fat. [goes to check] Based on calorie count, Crisco has more fat and less water than butter. Not much, but if you're cooking something really finicky it might have a noticable effect.
For the record, biscuits are not finicky. However, because of the melting point difference your biscuits might be a bit less flaky with butter than with crisco. [Second lecture, this one on the science of flaky biscuits, deleted.]
Good to know, thanks! 🙂
I wouldn't say Crisco and butter are completely interchangeable in baking, but you can generally get away with it. A better sub for Crisco is actually lard - no water content (butter always contains some percentage of water, and American butter has a higher water content than European brands), and similar melting point. The water in butter interacts with the gluten in flour and can make biscuits tough if you're not careful or working in a warm kitchen. Lard eliminates that problem.
Yeah, I use butter, and thus far, the sky has not fallen and my baked goods are fine.
I do not make pie crusts, though-for those I know butter generally does not produce great results as a one-for-one sub.
I have only made pie crust once or twice so I'll keep it in mind for future reference.
I have great luck with an oil crust--in the Betty Crocker cookbook--key is to use ice water and handle the dough as minimally as possible. Bakes up really flaky, more so than my mom's Crisco crust.
Aw, you shouldn't have thrown away the Crisco! You can use it as a light source in emergency situations. {You can find more info about it on Pinterest, if you're interested.}
The baker's chocolate has a wonderful one bowl brownie recipe on the back/inside of the packaging. Easy Peazy. I sometimes add instant espresso and extra chocolate chips to it. Seriously, the only brownie recipe I use.
I make tapioca pudding all the time. Just follow the directions on the side of the box. Your kids will love it. (it's one of my go-to things if I have some milk that needs to be used)
We like it better a little warm, rather than very cold.
I would use the puddings and tapioca up. A little treat from time to time is ok and if you find something healthy to have it with then even better!
The squash also has many uses such as soups, stews and muffins 🙂
Here is my No Waste Friday breakdown. Mouldy pepper 🙁
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/creamy-mushroom-pasta-with-marinated-vegetables-avocado/:
Grill all the squash! Slice 1/2-1-4 in thick, toys with oil, salt, pepper, some dried spices like oregano, then char on a very hot grill. Even great cooked and eaten child on a sandwich, so just cook it all!
"Chilled", not "child"! Still getting used to the auto correct on my kindle.
Just some ideas for these foods:
The Crisco could be used to make suet for birds.
The pudding could be mixed with whipped cream cheese for a light, small dessert without using up too many other ingredients.
My favorite way to eat squash though not the best for you - slice & dip in egg then in Jiffy cornbread mix. Fry until golden brown on each side, add a little salt & pepper. I have to eat at least one this way every summer.
You could make brownies from scratch with the chocolate and mix up some of the pudding. Combine them with some sort of fruit (fresh or frozen) or whipped cream and you could have a trifle of sorts.
the green zuccini can be added the last 5 minutes of any stew. And some can be grated and pan fried with some egg wash, a tbs or so of flour, and make into little patties (added feta chesse is really yummy) just after you grated the zuc. or squash, make sure you salt them and then squeeze the extra juices out of the them! Then add your flour, egg and/chesse! yum
If it were me I would eat the pantry items since it would be an excuse to make and eat some less healthy items...