Anyone else doing a low-spend/cook from the pantry January?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not officially doing this but I am trying to get through some pantry and freezer stuff. So far I’ve done:

— peach cobbler with canned peaches which was amazing
— burrito bowls with frozen leftover rice from Mexican takeout and frozen fruit virgin daiquris

If anyone has recipes to use up applesauce or Jams please let me know. I bought a ton of applesauce before my kids decided they don’t eat it anymore, and I somehow ended up with an insane amount of specialty jams in weird flavors. We did a cheese and jam board for new year’s but that only goes so far.

OOh I make the best jam scones. If you recall the Starbucks Raspberry Jam Scones, these are a copycat of those - and I switch up the jam flavours all the time. Super simple, too! https://www.restlesschipotle.com/starbucks-copycat-raspberry-thumbprint-scone/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you pls post the canned peach cobbler recipe.
Thank you

I used this. I cut the topping recipe in half for one can of peaches -- I really probably should have cut it in third or fourth, as it was still a lot of topping and so much butter! I also added a little vanilla to the topping and some cinnamon. I did not add any extra sugar or the lemon to the peaches. (Note that the full receipe calls for 2 cups sugar -- one cup is for the peaches. So I used one cup for the topping and that was it, but to make it more peachy, I really should have just used a half cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk, etc..) I also used 2% milk because that's what we had, and that was plenty rich.

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/fresh-peach-cobbler

I basically ate the whole pan myself, so it definitely would have been healthier to just toss the can of peaches! It took about 5-10 minutes to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not officially doing this but I am trying to get through some pantry and freezer stuff. So far I’ve done:

— peach cobbler with canned peaches which was amazing
— burrito bowls with frozen leftover rice from Mexican takeout and frozen fruit virgin daiquris

If anyone has recipes to use up applesauce or Jams please let me know. I bought a ton of applesauce before my kids decided they don’t eat it anymore, and I somehow ended up with an insane amount of specialty jams in weird flavors. We did a cheese and jam board for new year’s but that only goes so far.

You can make muffins or quick bread with applesauce. Either find a recipe that includes it, or swap it for half the oil in a recipe that calls for a lot. It also works when mixed into oatmeal or smoothies or yogurt. Jam is good with oatmeal or plain yogurt too. Or on toast. Depending on the flavor, you might be able to mix a little in to a salad dressing, marinade,. cocktail, or use as a sandwich spread (turkey and arugula with fig jam...mmm!)

[Anonymous]

canned peach bread pudding is very good also. Skip the cinnamon.
You can also use can pears and fruit cocktail.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/easy-spiced-peach-bread-pudding-3051806

The only thing we shop for are refrigerator items. The rest are replacement prep items we've used and I only order that once a month or more.
Proud of you OP and others doing this type of cooking. It's worth the effort and gives you much confidence knowing you can do it.
Good skills to have.

[Anonymous]

I've been consciously looking for recipes to use up what's already in the freezer and pantry, although there have been some fresh veggie additions. So far I've made:

1) Black lentil and sausage (frozen Italian) stew using the pressure cooker, with frozen spinach added at the end. (NY Times Cooking)

2) A chicken curry with coconut milk using frozen skin-on bone-in thighs (although skin removed before cooking) in the slow cooker, with brown basmati rice on the side (a Milk Street Cooking Fast and Slow recipe). I'm saving the bones in a freezer bag to make chicken stock in the pressure cooker.

3) A mojo-style pork to use up a 2-pound pork shoulder (also from Cooking Fast and Slow)

4) An all-in-one pasta dish with sauteed thinly sliced green cabbage and yellow onions (NY Times).

I've got frozen chicken breasts, various precooked sausages, and a ton of ground beef in our downstairs freezer, so I'll be planning around those soon.

I've always been pretty terrible at meal planning for the week because I tend to overcomplicate things and set up a completely unsustainable system. This year I just have a magnetic notepad on the fridge that I jot down four recipes for the week and that's the plan, no app that also generates a grocery list or a spreadsheet or an indexed and tabbed notebook involved.

[Anonymous]

I made spam fried rice tonight with frozen mixed veg, a can of spam in my pantry since summer, and day old rice. My 17 DS said it's his new favorite meal.

[Anonymous]

I mean this is every month for us, but sure. Here are our January meals so far:

- Hand pies from the freezer (made in early December) with spinach and citrus salad
- Chicken enchiladas from the freezer (extras from when we made a huge batch for Christmas Eve)
- Salads with grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, green beans, corn, white cheddar, and a mustard dill dressing
- Tortilla soup. Smitten Kitchen recipe. It's crazy easy and we usually have most of the ingredients on hand -- I had to buy chicken, an avocado, and cilantro.
- Detroit style pizza, King Arthur baking website. Not healthy at all but delicious
- Cheddar broccoli soup with homemade crusty bread
- Carrot ginger soup with homemade crusty bread

Most of theses took less than 40 minutes to throw together, some much less, except for the two "from the freezer" meals which took hours when we made them but almost no time at all to reheat

[Anonymous]

We do this anyway, so it's nothing new or difficult, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We do this anyway, so it's nothing new or difficult, OP.

Want to share what you are making?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We do this anyway, so it's nothing new or difficult, OP.

Love getting recipes from people who are good at using it up/not wasting!

[Anonymous]

Not doing this, but cleaning out the pantry a little. I had been making big batches of homemade granola but haven’t for a while and have lots of oats, dried fruits, seeds, and coconut. I made baked oatmeal with some of it and will do that again or make and freeze a big batch of granola.

I have both red and brown lentils to use before they get too old. Making mujadara with the brown lentils, with a side of roasted cauliflower. Will make red lentil soup with the red lentils.

[Anonymous]

My family likes fresh bakery bread once a week--usually a baguette, but it doesn't all get eaten before it goes stale. Anyone have good recipes that use stale bread other than croutons (making those today).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family likes fresh bakery bread once a week--usually a baguette, but it doesn't all get eaten before it goes stale. Anyone have good recipes that use stale bread other than croutons (making those today).

French toast, bread pudding and stuffing would all be good. Also, I usually slice French bread in half and freeze so that I’m only serving a 1/2 loaf at a time (which is about what my smaller sized family can eat) - you can thaw on the counter or in the microwave and pop in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes if you want to serve it warm.

[Anonymous]

A spinach-cheese ravioli dish, made with mixing all the leftover pasta sauces in the fridge. I added sautéed veggies - onions, garlic, bell peppers, snow peas and carrots. Adjusted seasoning and sprinkled parm and basil leaves on top.

Made chicken, rice and veggi bowl with leftover rotessari chicken. Threw in finely chopped sauted veggies - cabbage, leak, spring onions, garlicm cilanro etc. Added some soy sauce and sriracha.

I routinely host people and so food usually gets consumed pretty fast in our home. Unfortuantely, my DH likes to cook and he buys too much food all the time and it is a real headache.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family likes fresh bakery bread once a week--usually a baguette, but it doesn't all get eaten before it goes stale. Anyone have good recipes that use stale bread other than croutons (making those today).

I freeze all our leftover bread and then periodically make a version of emeril’s breakfast casserole. His is super high fat—I use low fat milk instead of half and half and use less cheese and less sausage, and add chopped garlic. It’s one of my kids favorite dinners—they all like it and it reheats well for either breakfast or lunch.
You can also do a Brown Betty in stove or slow cooker. Basically layer the cubed bread with chopped apples mixed with cinnamon and sugar. Over the top pour about a cup of water mixed with half cup of melted butter (amount of water really depends on how much bread and how dry it is — you want the top wet but not falling apart). Then cook about an hour in oven or 4 in slow cooker. It’s good for breakfast or dessert.