Dejah

I've been laid low by a gimpy leg since the weekend. It started on Saturday and got gradually worse as the weekend progressed. Had to leave work early afternoon on Monday due to pain and have been home with muscle relaxants since. Teachers on staff have been filling for me. Luckily, I had pulled a prime roast out of the freezer on Sunday and it got cooked with hubby's help on Monday. We've had some leftover meatballs and cheesy broccoli on Saturday, roast beef for Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday a rotisserie chicken from Safeway came to the rescue along with spaghetti squash. No pictures were taken. Last night, I pulled a corned beef from the fridge freezer. Got it on sale at 50% way back when. It got cooked tonight along with asparagus and rice. I'll have to dig around the fridge freezer to see what's available for tomorrow

.Very late lunch of Chinese BBQ duck - mainly bones - from the freezer. Added to chicken broth with baby bok choy and shirataki noodles. Crunch and spice from pickled Sechuan radish strips. + Using up a package of frozen pickerel fillets, purchased from Lake Winnipeg fisherman in October. Took liberties and used a Lemon Chicken Piccata recipe. Had to subsitute kalamata olives for the capers it called for. Enjoyed the lighter taste of the lemon pan sauce as opposed to the slurry thickened lemon sauce. |Both broccoli and cauliflower were languishing in the fridge. Both were devoured with the pickerel.

Back on track: Half a bag of purchased beef meatballs, warmed up in a bag of arrabbiata sauce, both from the freezer. Eaten with tofu shirtaki noodles and salad.

Using up the 1.5 lb container of ground pork from the freezer.. Last night we had Mapo Tofu with eggplant. Had some fresh mint leaves and they went nicely with the spicy toban sauce. When we were in the city a couple of weeks ago, I discovered bags of tofu skin, thin and pliable. Been wanting to make tofu rolls dim sum style, so it was a good way to use up the remaining lb. of the ground pork. Added chopped shrimp, bamboo shoots, re-hydrated Chinese mushrooms, oyster sauce seasoning, and cornstarch to make the filling. The skins were huge 18" rounds. Cut them into 8 triangles, soaked them in water, and made up cigars. The rolls were pan-fried last night. Tonight, I decided to deep fry them instead of steaming them in a sauce. I did make a dipping sauce with chicken stock, oyster sauce, and chili oil. Cooked up the few leftover mushrooms with gai lan and slivered ginger and supper was complete. This was the first time I made these rolls, but it won't be the last as I still have ALOT of the tofu skin left! Apologies for the Abysmal Absence of Alliteration

Pulled a chunk of top sirloin roast from the freezer 2 days ago. It has been hiding since late spring 2016. The freezer contents must be getting lower for me to have found this fella. It came bound in a string mesh bag and cryovac, and no sign of freezer burn. Thawed in the fridge and cut into chunks. I also had a bag of celery in the freezer - stalks that were not in the best of crispiness, so I had frozen them for such an occasion - stew! A colleague's wife is working in Kuwait for the next few weeks. Altho' she has stocked their freezer and fridge, he is not one to get it ready to bring to work. Yesterday, he picked up a sugar-loaded muffin, and he is diabetic! Another colleague and I have decided we will take lunch for him each day so he will at least have one balanced meal. I will take some of the stew for him today with a bun. The other colleague who is also diabetic said it would be fine in terms of his dietary needs. One bonus - no leftovers for us! Reducing my freezer content will be even faster! Eaten with pea shoots and konjac noodles.

@chromedome: Sorry to hear about your father, but you are doing something constructive as you work through this difficult time. You parents will appreciate this act of love.

@Anna N for starting me on this journey! For the last few weeks, I have not been excited when the flyers come out on Thursday because I am not allowed to buy meat! I do go to the store, but it's mainly for the produce or bacon. Looking forward to THAT day again.

Catching up - three meals with protein from the freezer: The last whole Chicken - stuffed with kafir lime leaves under the skin and roasted. Sides - mashed Cauliflower, stir-fried mixed veg. and spicy pickled green beans (Safeway) Hubby prefers the breast and Chinese cheese (Fuyu) Pork loin chops with roasted cauliflower and steamed green beans - no alliteration was harmed in the process. Second last bag of boneless chicken thighs were cooked up as Brown Butter Chicken with Sage and Proscuitto. Made a Keto-friendly Afredo sauce for the Tofu-Shirataki Fettuccini noodles, annnndddddd...green beans! Another couple of weeks and my freezer will be emptied enough for a defrosting. Hope to get this done before we head off to China for the month of April. Won't have to worry about losing much meat if the freezer quits.

Avocados are relatively cheaper at the moment on the prairies - a bag of 5 for $2.98. My new breakfast lately: chopped avocado with chopped soft-boiled egg - gooey, creamy, and spicy with a sprinkle of lime and chili spice. Keeps the growling tummy happy and low on carbs.

Boneless Lamb shoulder, marinated in tri-colour peppercorn, fresh mint, rosemary, garlic, raspberry vinegar, burgundy. Then it was coated with Dijon mustard, more freshly ground pepper roasted for 1 1/2 hours... a little too long as I was too busy visiting with daughter and s-i-l. Eaten with grilled zucchini, Leeks, pecan toasted with Worchestershire sauce, radishes then tossed in lemon juice, olive oil, Italian parsley, and same peppercorns. We also had mashed cauliflower, a portion with leftover black garlic butter, and a portion with just butter and roasted garlic granules. And I just had to post these T-shirts my daughter picked up: She DOES have a Great Pyrenees, and she thought the saying on my T-shirt was definitely me

One of my sons showed me a picture of a lovely English fry-up. I took it as a challenge to see what I had in the fridge...everything except the blood sausage. So, for his breakfast, I fried up tomato, Portobello mushrooms, bacon, eggs, and baked beans with toast. He was happy and in food induced comatose for a long afternoon nap.

Most of the family has left, just daughter and s-i-l here - much quieter! I had taken out beef tenderloin and made Cantonese Chow Mein for the kids who were leaving after lunch. Cauliflower, broccoli, carrot stir-fry accompanied. For the evening, the four of us enjoyed Beef Fajitas with Bell peppers, guacamole, and other fixings.

Most of the family have gone home...only daughter and s-i-l here - a quieter supper for the four of us. Pulled out some beef tenderloin, sliced up, seasoned with frajita seasonings. Cooked up in my cast iron wok. Fixings were prepare beforehand. Wraps were commercial low carb.

All the kids and kidlets were home to celebrate our oldest son's 39th birthday. That helped quite a bit on the freezer challenge. Baked up a dozen of the Moroccan Spiced Cigars I had made and froze for Xmas. Still have 6 pieces left, but the dozen cleared up the space taken up by the Tupperware. I got rid of 8 x 500g packages of snow Crab (stock-piled specifically for this day), a bag of tater tots, and a bag of potato wedges. Grandson's gf does not eat shellfish, so I also roasted a 5 lb boneless sirloin roast. Eleven-year-old granddaughter is now vegetarian by choice (saw the piggies going to market), so I bought a bag of roasted cauliflower ravioli for her. Didn't take a picture of the roast as grandson & gf came later due to work schedules. We do have roast beef leftover for sandwiches today. The second letter C was Cauliflower, broccoli, radish stir-fry. Dessert was Chocolate Oreo Cookie Blizzard Cupcakes and Strawberry Shortcake Blizzard Cupcakes, which had only been in the freezer for 1 hour.

We were invited out for supper on Tuesday, then last night I didn't get home until 7:30, so I invited "Wendy" home for supper. Back to the freezer for tonight. Had picked up a large try of chicken thighs a while back. I should have bagged them into portions for two people. I think I was trying to get the package into the freezer before hubby saw it. Thawed the whole thing last night, and today, I seasoned 1/3 with Ethiopian Berbere seasoning, 1/3 with New Orleans seasoning, and the other 1/3 naked but pan fried in butter (for the kiddies). The other 2/3 were baked in the oven. We ate some of the berbere ones for supper with leftovers from the fridge - spaghetti squash au gratin, and a mix of green beans and asparagus...no alliteration tonight going down tonight but the freezer-contents is! Soon I'll be able to shop again! We liked a squeeze of lime on the chicken...tangy, spicy, aromatic.

Spatchcock rubbed with harissa and roasted for an hour. The skin was lovely and crispy. Eaten with Spaghetti Squash au Gratin and stir-fried asparagus, Sugar Snaps and bell pepper. Am I to be called up for cheating...Spatchcock instead of Chicken? Condiment of choice was a spoonful of East Indian Lime Pickle made by friends. Perfect!

Roast Beef, Green Beans, and pan-fried Bean curd. Made gravy with the drippings, green peppercorns from the freezer, and a bit of parsley. Turned out more medium than we'd like as time got away on me while collating midterm exams.

@Anna N: I hear ya! I pulled out a single-rib roast thawed for today, but I wish I knew what to do with it besides throwing it into the oven...

Thanks for this thread! Brings back a lot of memories from our trip last April. We did north and south on a 28-day tour, and the locations you described mirror our itinerary. It was interesting about alcohol and the process to buy. We saw many lines going into alleys, upstairs to a wicket, etc. And yet, alcoholism is a rising problem in India. We were at a homestay in Alleppey, the Backwaters. On an evening walk along the canals, we saw two men up in the coconut trees. They were tapping the blossom ends and sap for coconut liquor or palm wine (toddy). It’s collected in jugs and taken to a special pub and sometimes offered for private sale. The alcohol content starts off at 2% but increases to 8% almost overnight. The jugs can’t be capped as they will blow the top off. Sanjay, our guide, had some for tasting with our supper. Some were quite put-off with the smell and needed three or more fingerling bananas to get rid of the taste. LOL! As sartoric mentioned, churches are quite prevalent in the south. This was the influence of the Portugese explorers who first settled in this southern area.

It's a Beef weekend. Pulled out a 1.5 lb package of ground Beef and a 1/2 lb of ground Pork : made a double batch of Cowboy Chili Casserole. Ingredients included Beef, Pork, Peppers, and eaten with Ciabatta Bread. Had half a container of grape tomatoes that have been sitting on the counter for a couple of days. Tossed them in when the pan went into the oven. They still looked "raw" and so pretty, but OUCH! The insides were liquid and HOT! Have enough for lunches for a couple days next week or they could go into the freezer? Or NOT... We had containers of outdoor Xmas decorations to take to the farm house for storage. I browned some Beef tenderloin trimmings and threw them into the slow cooker. Added some Chinese cooking wine, big knob of ginger, star anise, dried orange peel, and chunks of onion in with splashes of soy. By the time we got back to the city, 4 hours later, it was smelling might good. Added some carrots and deep-fried Bean curd and braised some Chinese cabbage, and supper was ready! It looks much like a dog's breakfast, and all the gristle cooked down...no chew, but still tasty.

I realize now just HOW FAR I had gone down this road of FAD ( Food Addiction Disorder)! I HAVE made a dent in the hoard but even after a week or so, I am still not allowed to buy any new protein. So, it's Fffffing day in the challenge: Fish and Fennel. Had picked up 35 lbs of pickerel fillets in November ( I didn't keep ALL of it! Gifted half to neighbors who clear the snow in our driveway all winter and family members too). The fillets were breaded with low-carb breading and pan-fried in butter. We needed a change up from the ubiquitous cauliflower, so it was braised fennel. I didn't have any ouzo in the house, so I threw in a couple of star anise when I added the chicken stock. I loved it! Hubby loves licorice but doesn't think it should be in the form of a vegetable. However, he ate it along with asparagus, which were on sale at $2.98 / lb. This was a nice drop from the $5.98 / lb last week!

Curry Chicken and Cauliflower: I am not a fan of the individually frozen seasoned chicken breasts that come in a box. Can't remember the weight of the contents as I had to throw away the box to make room in the freezer. It was $15.00 I think, and I thought it might be handy for something. I've had them since Sept.. Today was a busy teaching day and I've got mucho essays to grade, so something quick was needed for supper. Cut up Chicken breasts and browned in ghee. Cooked in some Indian curry powder, Patak Curry paste, and dded chunks of onion and eggplant. Simmered with chicken stock and thicken slightly with guar gum. Eaten with mashed Cauliflower and stir-fried mixed vegetables (still trying to eat down the stuff in the fridge. Bought 4-to-a-bag green peppers, another of red peppers, and several zukes 'cos they were on sale!)

Grab a chunk of Lamb out from the freezer 2 nights ago meant for last night's supper. But, with a late afternoon meeting with financial planner until 5 (no...I wasn't checking to see if I can afford to buy a new upright freezer!), and booked to babysit grandkids at 6, we had A & W burgers at 9 pm instead of sleeping with a full tummy of lamb. After much thought and checking ONLY the produce aisle in the store, I found the second L ingredient - Lobak or daikon. The lamb loin was purchased in the summer, along with 2 others in anticipation of a visit from daughter and s-i-l, which didn't happen. Seems I've used this phrase before... The loin was grilled on the cast iron pan until pretty marks appeared. It was then finished off in the oven. The only seasoning was Berbere spice a colleague brought back from a trip somewhere. The loin was a pain to carve, so I just cut down to the back bone? and broke it into 4 segments. Licked my hand after for the lovely bits of brown and grease. The lobak was steamed in the microwave then onto a fry pan for a bit of crust. Stir-fried Shanghai Bok Choy was the other veggie. Lamb Loin purchased June 2016

@robirdstx: Looks so fresh! Love everything in it ...except for the tuna. I love canned salmon but just can't do the tuna. I keep try!

The Superbowl steaks got eaten tonight. Think I'll go the Beef steak and Broccoli with cheese route. Steaks were from the freezer. Vegetables were from fresh. A colleague brings spices back for me every time she and her husband travel - about 3 trips a year. The steak was the tail end piece of a whole tenderloin. It had some gristle and fat, and I had hoped to braise this and other collected pieces. That didn't happen. They were fine grilled on the cast iron pan. Had enough protein for two, plus some for my lunch salad tomorrow.