Freezer Challenge | Almost a complete fail
Hoo boy.
Last week really, really did not go as planned for me.
And as a result, I had what was definitely the worst performance of my freezer challenge so far!
Last Monday, I used up both bags of salmon fillets at dinner (which, as we have already discussed, I loathed. BLECH.)
Incidentally, thanks for all your salmon comments! I had no idea there were so many different kinds of salmon, and I definitely think that the kind I had was perhaps not a very good representation of salmon.
So maybe if I get brave at some point, I can try again with better salmon.
I think I'll need a while, though. The scars from eating that fish...
To go along with the salmon, I took the advice from you guys and used the hot dog buns to make garlic bread. That part of the meal was so much better than the salmon.
So, that dinner was good on the freezer challenge front, but then I used up exactly NOTHING else all week.
Zero. Zippo. Zilch. Nada.
I know that makes for a pretty darn boring freezer challenge post, but it is what it is.
Sometimes I rock my challenges and other times I just...don't.
This week's food
I'm not going to give myself a new assignment this week; rather I'm just going to try to use up the other things from last week's pile of food.
Here's to a better week! <flexes bicep>
Well, at least you know you got the most challenging portion of this part of the challenge out of the way. No more salmon to conquer. Onward!
One of the things I like about your blog; it's brutally honest and real. We all fail. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and have the grace to put it behind you. THis is a new week.
I HATE all seafood so you are a better woman than I .. but then I don't even have seafood in my freezer.. like almost ever.. The husband can get it at a restaurant! lol
But seriously your week was pretty light so do not get down on yourself...
So you have left:
the filling for Asian chicken wraps - EASY SUPPER OR LUNCH?
a bag of whole wheat rolls -YOU CAN DO IT
two big bags of beef bones -WAITING FOR APPROPRIATE WEATHER TO STEW THESE DOWN MAKES SENSE
frozen collard greens (for smoothies)-PLANNED ALREADY
a jar of chicken broth-ANY RECIPE WILL DO
You could make breadcrumbs from the rolls and then you can tuck them back into the freezer for when you need them... I need to straighten my kitchen freezer and pull out all the partial bags of frozen fruits and make some smoothies.. I freeze them in pint mason jars for easy grab and enjoy for me and the kids..
Good Luck!
It's recouping time for that bad salmon. You've done SO well on the challenge so far (like sooooo well) I'm sure a week or 2 doesn't hurt. Hot dog buns as garlic bread sounds pretty clever!
Some weeks are like that! I had a really unproductive day yesterday, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'll just work my tail off today (kinda have to; I've got a million things scheduled). Better luck with the challenge this week! I'm eyeing those rolls you have and my fingers are itching to make bread crumbs, because all the ends of my bread end up in the freezer, waiting for me to have enough to turn into crumbs. 🙂
I once got food poisoning from eating fish that had been sitting in the freezer for too long. I'm scared for life! If the fish have sat in the freezer for more than a month, I'd be hesitant to eat it >_<
You don't have a lot of stuff left though. I still consider it a success so far. Maybe you can take a break now and jump back into the challenge in 1-2 weeks or so. The summer is still here! 😀
I'm thinking salmon is like [some other things I won't mention] that people on the internet endlessly rave about but it's just a scam and an emperor's new clothes thing. Or maybe they like eating catfood: I dunno. 😉
For my freezer challenge I pulled out a pork shoulder which is now thawing. I plan on using that to make pulled pork. Hopefully my daughter eats it because my wife doesn't. If not, I plan on bringing some to my grandmother as she likes it but never gets it.
Or they live on the West Coast. 🙂 I'm sure you have lovely things wherever you are that aren't as good in California.
Like the emporor's new clothes!
A fresh thick cut salmon filet is tasty although expensive. When you & your food budget are up for it, Kristen, I'd give it another go. Cooked medium rare, with lemon & butter, it is mmmmm delicious!
Serious question. If you hated the salmon, why did you eat it?
I used to get forced to eat food I hated as a kid, and one of the things I like best about being a adult is I don't have to eat food I don't like. If it was gross, chop it up and give it to the cat.
I agree with Rose. Life is too short to choke down food that you hate. Some four-legged creature would have probably loved it. I hate food waste and try to be frugal, but sometimes the total cost is more than just dollars.
Because it's so good for me! I know I don't get enough omega-3s and I was trying to get some into my system.
But I just am not going to do that again, at least not with that kind of salmon. Yuck.
Salmon: so sorry for the awful experience! Fresh is best. But frozen salmon is very useful for these - http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/wasabi-salmon-burgers-with-edamame-cilantro-pesto It's my go-to salmon burger recipe. I use a little of the breadcrumb *in* the burger to help keep everything together; scallions, finely chopped onion, or even shallot is interchangeable with the chives. It really does add something to it. The tofu may sound weird; but it makes the burger super tender -- I have used medium firm, and it works. I am too lazy to make the edamame pesto and it's still good.
Kudos for choking down salmon, though.
Sometimes the best laid plans, you know. It's a new week, time to start on the rest of it, which will probably be a lot easier to eat. I sometimes have to repeat an item on my weekly menu 2 or 3 times before I get around to making it.
Appropriate to nothing, this week is the first time I ever tried making "celery slaw." We had lots of sale-bought celery, no cabbage, and we wanted slaw. I make the non-mayo version (also called vegan slaw), so I tried it with finely chopped celery in place of the cabbage ingredient. We actually liked it.
That sounds good!
Hey, something is better than nothing! We're going to skip grocery shopping this week altogether, so we'll really be testing the ol' freezer stock. 😉
Keep on truckin'!
meh. I would call it a work in progress. A challenge needs a break to regather its' strength. And you really paid your dues with that salmon, so...
I just defrosted some chicken and rice- not very tasty when I reheated it either. Someone said why eat if you don't like it? Well, I hate to throw 'good' food away- good in the sense it's not spoiled; just not what I was looking for! Anyhow my personal lesson would be I really don't care that much for rice, so why eat it when I'd rather have mashed white potatoes- no more rice for me at home. I quit buying sweet potatoes- I really don't care for them either.
Well, and salmon is SO good for you too. If it had been a brownie I didn't like, I'd have thrown it away. But I was trying to put something healthy into my body. Heh.
Definitely the lesson is that I should never eat frozen salmon from Aldi again!
Pretty good week for me using things up,I had to get creative with a couple cans of soup that just aren't something I normally eat (don't care for processed loaded with salt soup) but I put some over rice & potatoes for lunch. I am finding that shopping every 2 weeks is helping cut down on the excess I have. Shopping and cooking for 2 is SO very different from shopping & cooking for 3. You would think it would not make a huge difference.
Also hoping to organize my cupboards better, things get pushed to the back as I have a very non useful deep pantry. In fact for food it makes no sense to put it in there.
I don't eat as much fish anymore unless I'm absolutely sure it is from the USA. Too many stories about Tilapia and Salmon being fed human and animal feces when they are raised on fish farms in China led me to no be able to stomach fish like I used to. China was also coloring trout and passing it off as Salmon. It's in their culture to do these things to make $$ so fish and most Chinese restaurants are off limits to me now because of their cleanliness and trust factor.