Spring Cleanup! (Week 3)

Slow-Cooker Chili

After last week’s sad list, I amped it up for this week. My success this week was in part due to the Easter weekend – we didn’t have time for groceries, so I had to make do with what we had on hand.

Use-it-up tally:

  • Chili – this was a lifesaver one day when I didn’t have any leftovers for lunch!
  • Italian sausage – used in a pasta dish
  • Paneer – used in an indian peas and cheese dish
  • Green peas – used in an indian peas and cheese dish
  • Fesenjan sauce – used in a pulled fesenjan dish
  • Chicken breasts – used in a pulled fesenjan dish
  • about half of the pierogies

My highlight of the week was the pulled fesenjan. With the sauce pre-made, all I had to do was throw the chicken breasts into the slow-cooker with the sauce in the morning. I came home to a fully cooked dish, that only required a little manual shredding, some rice and a vegetable side. Very nice!

Now for the shameful waste. I forgot to include this stuff last week, so the list is a bit bloated.

Shameful waste tally:

  • a half a chayote
  • a couple of old avocadoes

I was sad to have to throw these things out; there was really no reason for the waste. These are ingredients that we enjoy, that we were using up quickly over the last few months. My guess is that I haven’t made any tacos from my Mexican cookbook lately, and therefore the chayote and avocadoes were neglected. Boo!

Wanna join in? Just leave a comment on the Stephfood Facebook page! Every week, I’ll post an update of my progress, and I’d love it if you would too!

This month, cleaning will ensue!

Delicious, delicious cleaning!

Spring Cleanup! (Week 2)

Lobster -raw tails

This week doesn’t look as impressive as last week… I wasn’t home to cook much!

Use-it-up tally:

  • 3 wee frozen lobster tails
  • 2 frozen pitas (to eat with my leftover babaghanoush!)

Yeah, pretty pathetic. I’m sure I’ll be cooking more next week, and have plans to use up more of my freezer contents. Trying to decide whether I’m more in the mood for Persian or Moroccan…

Now for the shameful waste. I forgot to include this stuff last week, so the list is a bit bloated.

Shameful waste tally:

  • frozen chopped lemongrass (seriously, don’t bother freezing it!)
  • frozen bread ends (just prolonging their agony)
  • leftover Mansaf sauce (couldn’t freeze it, didn’t need it all in the leftovers)

I’m eyeing some really old Bacardi drink mixes in the freezer… I really hate throwing things out, but I don’t see myself ever using these up! I’d rather have a nicely chilled gin and tonic on a hot summer day.

Wanna join in? Just leave a comment on the Stephfood Facebook page! Every week, I’ll post an update of my progress, and I’d love it if you would too!

This month, cleaning will ensue!

Delicious, delicious cleaning!

Spring Cleanup! (Week 1)

Eggplants

I keep lamenting the state of my freezer. I know, deep down in my heart, that it will never be “tidy” – not with me as its keeper. There are things in there that I wouldn’t even recognize had I not labelled it myself.

It’s time to do something about it.

This month, I’m doing a Spring Clean challenge. It starts with a little inventory… me, the crazy freezer archaeologist, digging through the remnants of a forgotten great idea. It ends each week with a tally of the items I was able to happily use up.

There may also be a little bit of waste-shaming thrown in for good measure. A use-it-up challenge is nothing without an accompanying food waste challenge. (You mean I can’t just empty the contents of my freezer into the trash and claim victory!?)

Wanna join in? Just leave a comment on the Stephfood Facebook page! Every week, I’ll post an update of my progress, and I’d love it if you would too!

This month, cleaning will ensue!

Delicious, delicious cleaning!

SPRING CLEANUP: WEEK ONE UPDATE

This was pretty easy, as I had LOTS to choose from. Here’s what I managed to use up.

  • a bag of shredded purple cabbage (used in soup)
  • a partial bag of frozen corn (used in soup)
  • 1 container of vegetable broth (used in soup)
  • 2 bags of cooked sweet potato (used in tagine)
  • 2 cups of cooked chick peas (used in tagine)
  • 5 halved apricots (used in tagine)
  • roasted eggplants (used in babaghanoush)

I’m pretty happy with my progress so far. As you can see, things like soups and stews offer a great way to use stuff up. They’re pretty forgiving.

My favourite on the list – by far – is the babaghanoush. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out; my eggplant was roasted and frozen in 2010 (SHAME!). When it was thawing, I wasn’t even sure it would be worth trying to use in a dish. Luckily, it was in great shape and had no signs of freezer burn and tasted fine.

Until next week…