Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Share your tips and ideas on making the most of meals!
Post Reply
Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by Kchurchill5 » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:41 pm

I usually cook my ribs in beer after they sat with my dry rub on them all night. Oven baked in beer. Then remove once tender and finish on the grill with sauce. The recipe is posted here.

I often cook extra and like you, take 2 slabs before they hit the grill, cool and freeze. Then I can just heat them up wrapped in foil right on the grill until warm about 20 minutes. Remove the foil, sauce on the grill and serve. Makes for an easy 30 min dinner.

I usually get a big pkg from sams and they usually have 4 big slabs. Too much for just me and someone else, but easier to cook all at once.

I'm constantly cooking twice as much and freezing for a half cooked meal. The best part is half of your meal is cooked and it is just a matter of thawing, reheating and finishing.

Dissie
Posts: 9065
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:15 pm

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by Dissie » Tue Mar 13, 2012 12:42 pm

I know I haven't posted a list here of what needs to be used up, and its all not in the pantry either! I found some pork hocks in the freezer. I am thinking 5 mos old? So now I gotta make beans this week! I need to use them up. Probably on second thought, going to make 15 bean soup with it. I have a bag of those that needs to be used! Since there is 2 of them, I guess I could make both! Beans and bean soup! I can always freeze the beans in quart bags to use in recipes. Yep, I need to do that tomorrow! ;)

Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by Kchurchill5 » Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:01 pm

I have one in the freezer too. I plan on red beans and rice soon.

I love making just beans to freeze ... and I admit, I haven't done them in a while.

crazyndncook
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:11 am

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by crazyndncook » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:42 pm

My ribs turned out pretty good, I cooked them in the roaster oven, I mixed up about 1/2 cup of spices, I used onion powder, garlic powder, Clubhouse Italiano and Montreal Steak Spice. Then smothered them in Honey Garlic BBQ sauce. Two racks went to the regular oven with the sweet potatoes, the other 2 I left in the roaster oven. Next time I gotta cut them into ribs before putting on the sauce, the just don't look as tasty with sauce on 2 of the 4 sides once I cut them.

I guess I should try and make up some Beef Stew soon as I have all the veggies. Then the leftovers I will make individual pot pies.

Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by Kchurchill5 » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:06 pm

This is something I haven't tried; but a good friend owns a restaurant and he seasons his ribs over night up to 48. Then bakes or smokes (weather depending; they have an outdoor grill, but not an indoor grill. Smoked foods are usually on the summer menu). Anyways, if he bakes them he finishes them on the grill (indoor) and then dips them in a BBQ sauce. It is a thinner sauce, but all the flavor. Really good.

Just a different way to make them, but they are definitely tasty.

crazyndncook
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 12:11 am

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by crazyndncook » Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:04 am

I did a "Lose It" on Thursday, I was sitting around home, bored out of my skull and had my son home, so I did a quick toss from one freezer. I had so many things in there I know I have been pushing around, and just won't get around to using, or were freezer burned. Most of it was compost bound so not much waste at all.

To The Compost

A small bag of cherries or raspberries, over taken with frost, only a handful, from 2010 I think
A half lg bag of cabbage, over taken with frost, from last summer I think
1 container zucchini, cubed, getting freezer burned and wasn't pleased with the mushy texture, from 2010 I think
1 lg bag zucchini, cubed, getting freezer burned, from 2010 I think
1 lg bag Acorn squash cubes, freezer burned, from 2009
1/4 bag Pumpkin cubes, freezer burned, from 2009
1 lg bag yellow and green beans, have so many, from 2010
1 bag (4-6 c) apple slices, seal failed from Food Saver, freezer burned, from 2009-2010 maybe

To The Garbage

1 very small cinnamon roll, end piece no one wanted to eat I guess
1/2 salmon, seal failed from Food Saver, freezer burned, from 2010
6 portions of Carrot Soup and 1 portion other soup, over taken by frost and could taste it, from this summer.

So with that clean out, I am thinking I have gotten the freezers emptied enough to now defrost them both. I didn't get around to doing this last Spring. I have the kids home this coming week for Spring Break so my son is going to have to help me with moving things around.

I was also hoping to burn our compost piles too. We have 2 composters filled, but one was totally dried out, the other has some soil in it, so I am hoping to get what I can out of there and burn the rest and start all over again. But might not be able to do that now, we did rake all the dried compost out, but it snowed today so that is going to be wet, will see how the rest of the week is, hopefully can get that done.

Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by Kchurchill5 » Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:23 am

Used up chicken I bought it bulk and seasoned with an older jar of Italian Dressing that has been in my pantry for who knows how long. It was Dad's but sealed. I don't like it for dressing so I marinated chicken and froze it for later grilling.

Last night I baked it, seasoned it with additional pepper and topped with a pkg gravy, also from Dad's stash. I added some white wine to the mix and it wasn't too bad. So those were 2 items on my list.

I also used some pantry items like my pepperoncinis for my Italian beef, and finishing up my pickles I made. I don't to keep them more than 3 months and I made several jars last time.

I last 2 weeks I have been under 25.00. This doesn't include cat food, milk, eggs, or cheese; and my fresh veggies. Although milk, eggs and cheese can last me 2-3 weeks, and same with the cat stuff. So it is really just weekly veggies.
Next week, I'm doing the same; hopefully another cheap week; in fact I still have vegetables, so I won't need that many to get me through.

I'm also making 2 soups this weekend to have on hand.
Using the leftover cabbage, onions, spuds and carrots from my CBC and pureeing it into a soup, add some fresh herbs, a little chicken broth and cream. Instant soup which is delicious.

And using my turkey bone from Jan, to make my creamy wild rice and turkey soup. I will add a little chicken to fill in.

Next week, I plan to really utilize my pantry and freezer as well. I have pantry items for a lasagna pie, ham fritatta, soup, left over pork loin slices which I can make a mustard sauce or maybe a currant sauce, and a beef patty (salisbury steak) minus the gravy, I want to use in a sandwich with a pesto sauce and cheese; similar to a meatball sub.

So, trying to really use up on hand items

I hope everyone is trying hard to clean out those pantries and freezers!

racrgal
Posts: 1337
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:33 pm

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by racrgal » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:21 pm

KC, I am glad you bumped this up. I had completely lost track of this thread.


1) Dried tomato and garlic pesto mix. I think this was in a gift basket.
2) Southwestern Chipotle Seasoning Blend. A Tupperware freebie.
3) Knorr chicken Noodle Soup Mix. Pretty sure Sweetie bought this.
4) A cup of sour cream. All used as previously reported.

5) Enchilada sauce. Another mystery food. I make enchilada sauce.
6) 1/2 jar marshmallow fluff. Mostly gone. I need to make one more baked yam for Sweetie and that will be the end of the fluff.
7) 1 5 ounce can spicy v-8 juice.
8) Jalapeno jelly. Homemade but too much of it. Used some on grilled chicken and grilled ham. Gave one jar to a neighbor and one jar to my manicurist. All that is left is the jar in the fridge and I'm good with that.
9) Balsamic Berry Grilling Sauce. I think Sweetie "acquired" this one too. This was nasty and went down the drain.
10) Misc. liquors. Most purchased for recipes but some from sources unknown. I've tried some different drinks but much of this is going to be poured out. There is some WEIRD stuff on my liquor shelf.


I'm still working on cleaning out the freezer and pantry. Skipped the normal monthly trip to Costco, bit the bullet and bought milk and eggs locally. A bit on the pricey side but still cheaper than driving to Costco only for milk and eggs.

threefish
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:25 pm

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by threefish » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:21 pm

Hi all! I'm new to the site, but I want to jump in on this. I'm one of those crazy coupon ladies, so I can get a glut of stuff clogging up my pantry that never gets used (because I just can't pass up on free items and items I can get super cheap!)

1. Turkish seasoning from Penzy's. They keep sending me small jars for free in all my recent past orders and I've never opened even one. I've never used it before, and I don't know what to use it for, so it just piles up. I will find a dish to use it in before the end of this month and decide if I need to donate the other jars or keep them then.

2. Canned lemon pie filling. I got these all for .25 each and I have a lot. I found a super easy recipe for using it (1 box of angel food cake mix + 1 can lemon pie filling- mix together and bake and that's it!) But I have no coupons for the cake mix and I'm not paying 1.89 for it! I refuse! So, I want to use at least 2 cans of it by the end of this month.

3. Liquid pectin. I don't know why I have this. I've only ever used powdered pectin and I'm a new canner anyway and not comfortable branching out of my comfort zone just yet. I have 2 boxes of it with 2 pouches each! I will force myself to use at least one pouch by the end of this month. Then maybe I will be more comfortable using the others.

4. Splenda brown sugar. I got big bags of this for .33 last summer. I have been using it here and there, but I usually just reach for my regular brown sugar because you have to convert how much of the Splenda type to use in place of the regular type. I can be pretty lazy :oops: I will find a recipe that uses a ton of brown sugar so I can empty out at least one of these bags.

5. Canned diced tomatoes. I have a million cans of this. My DS won't eat tomatoes and since I refuse to cook different meals for everyone, I just choose to not eat tomatoes myself instead of dealing with him not liking them. Yet I keep buying tomatoes. BECAUSE I LOVE THEM!! Anyway! I have about 10 cans that I got for about .08 each. I will make something before the end of this month that uses at least half of them. And eat it all myself if I have to!

6. Prunes. I LOVE prunes, but I have waaay too many of them right now. I stocked up because they were cheap and I was always craving them when I didn't have any. Now that I have them, I'm not eating them. There's a prune cake in Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I will make it before the end of this month.

7. Red cooking wine. We don't drink wine, and for a while there I kept choosing recipes that called for red wine that I was just having to sub beef stock for. I had a coupon for this, so I bought it. And haven't need it once! There's a recipe called Pasta Amatriciana on the back and I have all the ingredients, so I'll give it a try before the end of the month. Hopefully it'll be a keeper so I can use up the bottle.

8. Cream cheese. I was at Sam's club picking up butter and milk when I remembered I needed a pack of cream cheese. I figured having a few extra packs would be better than stopping at another store since we love cream cheese anyway. Yep. You guessed it. Not using it. I want to use 2 packs before the end of the month.

9. Dip mixes. I was at a flea market at the Louisville Expo Center a few weekends ago and there was this guy selling homemade dip mixes. He had about 40 different varieties and had samples out for all of them. They were SO SO good. I bought 5 different kinds. ...and have only managed to make 1. I want to use at least 1 more pack before the end of the month.

10. Canned corn. Got these for .24 cents each and bought a lot because I love corn- but of course one of my children does not, so I end up never having it. My favorite dish on earth is corn casserole, so I'm going to use up some of this corn and make myself a treat!

Sorry for the book! I'm particularly chatty today! :o
Last edited by threefish on Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:30 am, edited 4 times in total.

racrgal
Posts: 1337
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:33 pm

Re: Use it or Lose It Challenge March 2012

Post by racrgal » Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:25 pm

3. Liquid pectin. I don't know why I have this. I've only ever used powdered pectin and I'm a new canner anyway and not comfortable branching out of my comfort zone just yet. I have 2 boxes of it with 2 pouches each! I will force myself to use at least one pouch by the end of this month. Then maybe I will be more comfortable using the others.

Liquid pectin is a good thickener for home made salad dressings. I also use liquid pectin in jalapeno jelly.

Post Reply