Klatsch: Don't Shop Now!

[Fat Guy]

Am I accepted?

Hooray!

[Fat Guy]

Photographic evidence will be scant until I can get my primary camera back. I was able to shoot PJ's lunch with Ellen's camera but there's a limit to how often I'm allowed to touch her professional equipment. I may do some cell-phone shots as light allows. But anyway, I was able to capture PJ's lunch today. We're really digging into the leftovers now:

Pretzel rods (still have a ton of those left), a clementine peeled and sectioned (three remaining), some apple sauce (enough remaining to survive on for a month), cantaloupe (still a whole one left), cheddar cheese (that's the end of that), and crackers (still a few left -- getting down to the broken ones at the bottom of the box).

For his breakfast: almond butter and jam on raisin challah -- a nice bread surprise I found in the freezer. That may make some nice French toast one day this week.

I also got enough out of the refrigerator this past week that it was possible to remove one of the shelves for cleaning!

[ambra]

The tarragon chicken over rice was delicious. I must admit that when I first tasted the sauce (I made it last night,) it was disgusting. However, the next day, when I served as suggested in the blog, it was perfectly delicious. I used dried tarragon since I couldn’t go out and buy the fresh stuff. I didn’t add the sugar and I added lemon because my orange was watery and I didn’t have another. I probably could have given my son the chicken but the marinade contained salt. Sometimes, I do cook without salt and add later for us, but sometimes, I don’t. (In Italy, they don’t give salt before one year except for what is found in Parmigiano, and other baby acceptable cheeses. I believe they do the same in the US.)

Tonight we are having bruschette made with fresh tomato and another toasted with garlic. Both versions will include the star of tonight’s dinner! NEW OIL! We bought 10 gallons of newly pressed oil. (THIS is the greatest pleasure of living in Chianti.)

The sad thing about the new oil is, we buy our bread fresh daily, when I inform my husband that we will not be able to buy any bread indefinitely, he will surely go bananas! I will have to bake some bread in order to enjoy the new oil in the coming days/weeks (and I suck at it!)

New oil

Edited November 23, 2009 by ambra (log)

[OliverB]

For lunch yesterday I finished my zucchini relish with some bread, was even better than the day before. Wife and kids had peanut butter muffins I think, I was out at that time.

Dinner I had defrosted a pack of chicken breasts. Cut them into chunks, s&p and a bit of flour (was on the table as I was also working on my sourdough bread). Fried that on med heat in olive oil until nicely browned. Took the meat from the pan and made a pan sauce with a half a cup or so of chicken stock (water plus the contents of one of the liquid stock bases Trader Joe's sells in a box - quite good actually) and the juice of half a lime. Strained through a sieve, back in the pan with a bit of corn starch to thicken it, add back meat and coat with sauce. Should have added some capers now that I think of it.

Sides were rice and salad with tiny tomatoes, still have half a box of those.

Was very tasty and quick, as I had to run out to see Kiss in Oakland from row 14 - now THAT was fun

Today I'm soaking some beans to make a soup with left over beef from two nights ago, add the remaining potatoes, maybe some of the brussel sprouts (not sure yet) and my bacon is done curing and needs to get smoked, so we'll have some nice warm fresh smoked bacon to eat along with this. Oh, and my first ever sourdough bread, which is currently going through it's last rise. Hopefully it'll be edible, otherwise I'll make a bread salad as side or throw chunks into the soup.

I did buy some more milk and muffins for the kids, was gonna pick up extra salad but forgot. Interesting to see how much I tend to overbuy on things. One of the problems might be that I usually shop at Trader Joe's in the late afternoon when my kid has karate. Not a good idea to shop when hungry I guess...

Edited November 23, 2009 by OliverB (log)

[ambra]

New Oil was everything we hoped for and more. Tomato, salt, (new) olive oil, on Pane Basso (short bread) which refers to the height of the bread not so much a recipe. Tuscan bread generally has no salt in it, and for many it lacks flavor. I myself am used to the saltless-ness. This may not seem like much of a dinner to most, but we are used to eating bigger lunches and smaller dinners.

My son had steamed broccoli, potato and grilled chicken. It didn’t go over very well. He likes his Italian baby food (pappa) much better than my American attempts. Thankfully, all of that was already in the house, and I probably won't need to go buy him anything fresh for at least a few days. (I have broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach or chard, and the minestrone I mentioned earlier that he can eat. I only have one chicken breast left though. We'll see!)

For dessert we had ‘ciaccino’ with walnuts and raisins that my neighbor brought me. It is basically a (lightly sweetened) foccaccia with raisins, walnuts and sprinkled sugar. There are other versions with actual grapes. More often it’s called ‘'schiacciata.' Sadly, I didn’t get a picture before we swallowed it whole!

Off to figure out what to defrost for tomorrow! Am I supposed to list my inventory?

Edited November 23, 2009 by ambra (log)

[pax]

This is an easy time of year for me to live out of my larder, I've spent all summer putting stuff in it. The only things I buy regularly are laundry detergents, diary, eggs and olive oil. The real challenge for me would be living out of the larder come May.

And I NEED to buy Grand Marnier to make my yummy Cranberry Grand Marnier Trifle, which is a must for Thanksgiving Day.

I need to join y'all in spring. Right now it's fat pickins.

[thock]

Anyone have any idea what I can do to use up (and hide the taste of) whole wheat noodles, i.e. egg noodles, penne, etc? My SO abhors whole wheat pasta (says it tastes acid), so I need to get through a bunch of it to get rid of it. The whole lacking-a-job thing has me reluctant to just give it away, but I will if I have to. I'm looking for something where maybe I can crush the pasta and use it not as pasta, but I'm not imaginative enough to come up with ideas on how to use it. Might it work in bread, somehow?

Thanks!

[Fat Guy]

Does your SO like cold sesame/peanut-sauce noodles? A thick coating of that sauce really tends to mask whatever the underlying pasta is.

[LindaK]

New Oil was everything we hoped for and more. Tomato, salt, (new) olive oil, on Pane Basso (short bread) which refers to the height of the bread not so much a recipe. Tuscan bread generally has no salt in it, and for many it lacks flavor. I myself am used to the saltless-ness. This may not seem like much of a dinner to most, but we are used to eating bigger lunches and smaller dinners.

That oil is beautiful. I would happily have that for dinner.

I'm nearing the end of my participation in this. Tonight was day 8, and dinner was the posole soup I made last night with the excess meat from the pork ribs. Very tasty and enough for the freezer, which I know I'll appreciate when the weather really turns. I still have a small pork roast in the freezer, but I'm reluctant to pull it out right before Thanksgiving when I'll have plenty of leftovers of another sort. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I don't imagine lean pork freezes/reheats very well, unlike the fattier cuts. I also have a few batches of pesto from my garden in the freezer, but I definitely do not plan on using it until I have the eggs to make homemade pasta. And I'm down to my last egg. After that, there's a lot of frozen edamame.

Still, I did much better than I would have guessed, given the bareness of my fridge and freezer compared to that of most folks on this forum. Saved some money, which was a bonus. Mostly I feel like I've learned some good lessons about what to stock in my freezer and pantry. Next time, I'll go for two weeks!

[thock]

Does your SO like cold sesame/peanut-sauce noodles? A thick coating of that sauce really tends to mask whatever the underlying pasta is.

Ah, unfortunately, he's allergic to peanuts. He's not very adventurous when it comes to food. He likes seafood and meat, and some veggies, but not much else. For instance, he can't wrap his taste buds around raisins in Middle-Eastern-inspired dishes.

[Pierogi]

Progress update from the w/end...

Friday night's dinner was a small hunk of meat loaf from the freezer, dipped in egg and then panko (both from stock) and pan fried. Made some quick brown gravy from stock items, and had it with home-made biscuits from the freezer that I baked off. Veg was some roasted Brussels sprouts from the fridge. It was entirely satisfying, AND the dogs had some of the meat loaf shards so we were all happy.

Saturday, as I'd indicated, I bought some provisions for a pseudo Thanksgiving meal for my surrogate family. However, there was some ground lamb and peas used from the freezer and celery, onions and carrots from the fridge in the main, the salad killed some over-the-hill Savoy cabbage, radishes, half a cuke and croutons I'd made last weekend, and I made the dressing from pantry/fridge stocks. Same for a focaccia I made. The main was a shepherd's/cottage pie, and I have one leftover lunch from it, and some went home with my guests, so I'm feeling fairly virtuous.

Sunday was frozen meatballs (killed the bag) and the end of a bag of wide egg noodles from the pantry, made into a sort of Swedish meatball dish. I made another brown gravy, again from pantry stocks, and the veg was the end of the package of Brussels sprouts. Although not as sucessful as the meat loaf, it was still pretty good, and the leftover noodles & meatballs will be another lunch this week. And yeah, the dogs might've had a couple of meatballs.....

Tonight was an Asian grilled halibut filet. The halibut was from the freezer, and the sauce was from the pantry (vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic and cilantro). Did the fish on the grill pan, made some rice (from the pantry) and the veg was a bag of snow peas that actually expired yesterday, but which were perfectly serviceable briefly stir fried and then tossed with sesame oil and lime juice (the lime had absolutely seen better days, but it worked). Actually a surprisingly good dinner.

Tomorrow is Carolina-style pulled pork (from the freezer) sandwiches (on a roll from the freezer) with slaw (from the fridge).

Wednesday I have a late appointment, so I'll probably swing by something fast food-ish. Thursday, I've been invited out for T-day, and we'll continue on with this challenge on Friday. My cupboards and freezer are still plenty full.

[baroness]

For THOCK:

Many King Arthur Flour recipes that use traditional (red, not white wheat) whole wheat flour include a healthy amount of orange juice, which seems to neutralize the bitter undertones some people taste in ww. Perhaps you can concoct a sauce with some citrus elements.

Edited November 24, 2009 by baroness (log)

[thock]

For THOCK:

Many King Arthur Flour recipes that use traditional (red, not white wheat) whole wheat flour include a healthy amount of orange juice, which seems to neutralize the bitter undertones some people taste in ww. Perhaps you can concoct a sauce with some citrus elements.

Cool, I'll have to try that. Thanks!

[ambra]

THOCK,

You might try looking for a recipe for Pizzoccheri like this one.

Supposedly, the only kind of pasta that can hold up that kind of condiment is Whole Wheat....

I can't stomach whole wheat pasta either though...

[ambra]

Today for Breakfast: Coffee with Emergency long life milk (no fresh left!) and breakfast cookies. I have enough for about a week.

Lunch: I was alone for lunch today, so no bells and whistles. I had a one egg sandwich with ham and sottilette which is the equilvalent to American cheese slices here. For bread, I used ‘Pane in Casetta’ which is like Wonder bread in the US only it lasts longer? Well, maybe it doesn’t but I keep it around for emergency grilled cheese etc.

My son drank milk and only milk today as the poor little guy is not feeling well. For dinner, he will have pasta with oil and parmigiano.

Dinner tonight will be prepared by my husband as I will be off teaching. Hopefully, he will take some pictures!

[Milt]

My week without any food purchases was too easy. I knew I had too much on hand. It hasn't been necessary for me to constantly cook because I tend to prepare enough for two or more meals regardless of what I am preparing.

I have now prepared, and we have now consumed, a pasta and sausage entree, roasted yellow squash, zucchini bread, stewed apples (intended as a side dish, but it was eaten as a dessert), minestrone soup (from a Kadem package I bought on closeout after the holidays a year ago), and last night's dinner - marinated strip steak, cole slaw (not finished yet), feta mashed potatoes and the ever present relish plate of carrot strips, celery sticks, and until they ran out we had radishes.

We ate out more often than usual this week. Usually Sunday noon is our only meal out, but this week we ate out on Thursday evening, attended a chili cookoff at church on Saturday evening (used only on hand ingredients in my entry - bison, bell pepper, onion, seasonings, etc.), and ate out again Sunday noon. Janis had class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings which also reduced how much cooking was done. She goes straight from school (teaching) to school (student) on those days. Her graduate program is now over until January. Tonight we are eating out again - an Interfaith Thanksgiving dinner at Temple Emanu-El.

Only 18 meat packages remain in our garage freezer. We may not need to wait until spring to defrost, after all.

[thock]

Thanks, ambra!

[OliverB]

Thick 25 bean soup with some fresh bacon and sourdough bread last night, was very good. Of course, just about anything with bacon fresh from the smoker is good, I bet even Whole Wheat pasta would rock

Lots of left over beans, not sure if we'll have them today or tomorrow. Might also make some pasta with egg and bacon tonight, as I still have a good pound or so of bacon unfrozen. Also got my 8 1/2 lb heritage turkey delivered today, but I think I'll cut that up tomorrow and freeze it.

It's interesting that we can eat for a whole week with no shopping at all (aside of milk and some salad) and not notice a difference. We probably ate better this week actually, as I had to grab my books and think about what to make, instead of making things up while traversing the aisles at the supermarket or farmer's market. And buying more stuff to make those made up dishes....

Thu and Fri will be off site with family, I'll be making a veg side dish that I have to shop for, a cranberry sauce, and bake some flat bread sticks for which I have all I need. We'll probably continue this experiment for an other week or so.

[Fat Guy]

For those who have done a week and found it easy, do another. I'm in my second week now and the challenge is just starting to get fun.

For those who haven't participated, it's not too late to start. Start the day after Thanksgiving if you like -- commit to those leftovers.

As to my day, we have a tradition that once a week PJ gets sushi for lunch. Usually an avocado roll. I get it from the Chinese restaurant near my mother's house that, as is the current fashion, also serves Japanese, Southeast Asian, etc. food (it used to be called Empire Szechuan and is now called Empire Szechuan Kyoto Sushi). But buying sushi for PJ's lunch wouldn't have been in the spirit of the no-shopping challenge, so this morning I got up at 6am, fired up the rice cooker and got set up to make sushi. I made PJ an avocado roll and a cucumber roll. They weren't the prettiest rolls ever, but he sure did enjoy watching me make sushi first thing in the morning.

Also, good news, my friend Sean came into the city today and returned my camera. So I'll be able to report on Sunday's fried-chicken experiment soon.

[Peter the eater]

Today’s food abundance has smothered self-restraint.

Steven, that's the message I got from the first Don't Shop Klatsch. I'm just lurking this time round, but enjoying the commentary immensely. Grocery shopping is therapeutic -- it's easy hunting and gathering. I wonder how many calories are stored in the fridges, freezers and pantries of the G-20.

[robirdstx]

Thursday would be my usual shopping day, so Thanksgiving will begin my week without shopping. Here is the inventory I took of the proteins and home-made items in my freezer. It looks like we could definitely go a good month without using it all up as there are only the two of us here!

Number Weight Item

1 4 lb Tur-Duc-Hen Roll

2 Turkey Thighs (1 lb each)

1 6 1/2 oz Chicken Breast Half, Boneless, Skinless

1 4 lb Chicken Thighs, Boneless, Skinless

3 1/2 lb Pork Tenderloin

2 Ham Hock, Smoked (10 oz each)

3 Pork Rib Chop, Thin, Bone-In (1/3 lb each)

4 Pork Loin Chop (5 to 6 oz each)

2 1/2 lb Pork Sausage, Ground, Regular

1 2 lb Pork Spareribs, 12 Ribs

1 1 1/2 lb Pork and Green Onion Gyoza (about 28 pieces)

2 1/2 Andouille Link (4 oz each)

1 3 lb Beef Chuck Roast, Boneless

3 1/2 lb Beef Chuck, Ground

1 1 1/4 lb Lamb Rib Rack, 4 Ribs, Frenched

7 Tilapia Fillet (3 to 4 oz each)

Size

1 12 oz Minute Marinara

3 12 oz Meat Sauce for Spaghetti

3 12 oz Pork Chile Verde

1 12 oz Chile Verde Sauce

2 6 oz Basil Pesto

1 6 oz Tikka Masala Curry Sauce

1 20 oz Bean and Bacon Soup

[Elisabeth]

Ok, I'm in the middle of week 2 and barely feeling the pinch.

Since my last post, we've had (I can barely remember!) pasta with cilantro chutney from the fridge along with broiled halibut from the freezer, a white-bean-and-ham soup for another dinner; and breakfast for dinner (eggs, bacon, hashbrowns) on yet another night.

Then, last Friday, it was my day to pick up veggies from my CSA farm share, so, without shopping, I had a haul of carrots, parsnips, kohlrabi, butternut squash, potatoes, onions, leeks, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, fresh oregano and 2 heads of lettuce.

When I took up the challenge, I committed to one full month - at this rate, I may have to extend it for another couple of weeks!

I had run out of bread, and only had King Arthur white whole wheat flour and some self-rising flour on hand. I haven't made bread in a hundred years, but since I can't live without it, I had to, ahem, rise to the occasion. Found a recipe by Mark Bitman that takes a total of 40 seconds prep, and then, in my case, almost 24 hours total rising time and produced two very well textured, tasty, but dense loaves with good crust and crumb. Enough for a few days at least!

Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday we've had friends over for dinner.

Night One: peking ravioli from the freezer; dipping sauce from existing condiments; fried squid (squid from freezer, frying oil saved from a previous batch a month or so ago, squid dipped in self-rising flour since I'm out of all-purpose with salt, pepper and paprika added. Our guest brought 2 lemons, so we had lemon juice for the squid). Salad of fresh lettuce, shredded carrot, diced apple, a bit of grated sharp cheddar, some yellow pear tomatoes that miraculously grew in my New England climate in November.

Friends to dinner, Night Two: I had made a Szegediner Goulash with homecured sauerkraut, pork from the freezer, caraway seeds, chopped onion and apples - when I found out that one of my guests would not enjoy Sauerkraut. So I reconfigured and instead made a 3-bean soup with Turkey Meatballs (beans from pantry, meatballs from freezer). For appetizers, very thin-sliced homemade bread (see above) with butter and smoked Norway salmon from the fridge. Dessert was apple crisp with farm share apples and oatmeal/brown sugar topping.

Friends to dinner, Night Three: I must be on a soup kick. Plus, I haven't had any time to spend in the kitchen, so the slow cooker comes in handy. Dinner was Black Bean Soup over brown rice, with sourcream, lime, and salsa from a jar to spoon on. For a salad, I grated a butternut squash and a kohlrabi bulb with a dressing of rice vinegar, fish sauce, a sliced chili, sugar, salt, and a bit of hot water to thin the vinegar; added a handful of chopped chives from the garden that refuses to die.

Dessert: leftover apple crisp from the night before, in a fresh dish so no one would know. 8^)

Oh, and I found some uncooked roti in the freezer, so I tried to make some for an starter - but the dough stuck together, the rotis didn't puff, and it was a mess. We ate what I had cooked anyway, dipping the bread into homemade chutney from the pantry that was made with chocolate, chipotle, and otherwise traditional chutney seasonings. And had some olives with it.

Monday: I had formed the leftover roti dough into a dough ball, thinking it might work for a pie crust for those who like tough pie crust. To test it, I pinched off a small piece and rolled it out; I had some lemongrass/habanero meatballs in the freezer and wrapped two of them into the roti dough.

Rubbed it with a bit of oil, popped them in the oven.

It came out quite good: I think I'll make that for a Thanksgiving Day appetizer - with more of the chocolate chipotle chutney, of course!

I had not enjoyed the kohlrabi/squash slaw the night before, though others said they liked it it was too raw tasting for me. But of course it couldn't be thrown out, so I dumped the whole bowl of leftovers - about 2.5 cups, complete with dressing and all - into a hot skillet with a bit of oil and cooked it like hashbrowns. It was wonderful! I'm thinking of molding some of this mixture around the planned Thanksgiving appetizer meatballs before wrapping them in roti dough ......

But for our dinner Monday night we had the Szegediner Goulash that I didn't serve on Saturday. With potato dumplings from a packaged mix in the pantry. This is a childhood memory food for me, yum yum.

Last night I went to the movies with a friend and filled up on leftover black bean soup before, Husband seized the time to eat Chinese takeout and watch Toy Story 2.

Don't know yet about tonight, and tomorrow, on Thanksgiving, we're going to a friend's house. I will bring my planned meatball appetizers, a dish of roasted root vegetables, mashed potatoes, and some other pre-dinner nibble that I haven't yet thought of......

This is a lot of fun, BTW! Can't wait for week 3.....

[thock]

Ok, I had to buy frozen veggies, as I was out, and don't do canned, but other than that, I'm still working on stored food. I will not be doing Thanksgiving tomorrow, as we were invited to someone's house, but I think I will be doing a private Thanksgiving for just us two on Friday. We're going to smoke the turkey, a first for me. I'm looking forward to it.

[FrogPrincesse]

I’ve been participating in the challenge for the past 10 days and we have been eating exceptionally well. My husband was skeptic at first but we are now enjoying the challenge and the associated savings.

When we started the challenge, I was very lucky since I happened to have just bought a deboned leg of lamb. I made a big batch of lamb curry (Jamie Oliver’s recipe from Happy Days with the Naked Chef) with rice and some Trader Joe's naans from the freezer. This was enough for a couple of meals and I froze the rest for a third meal.

In the freezer, I found some leftover pork belly (All About Braising recipe) which we ate over ice.

I also had some leftover 7-hour leg of lamb in the freezer (this was the recipe of “Les Halles”, which, by the way, is fantastic!) that I converted into a ragu by just simmering for 60 minutes and adding some Trader Joe's marinara sauce from the pantry. We ate it over penne.

I also had a couple of frozen chicken pot pies that I had made a while back and were just missing a crust. I made a double batch of crust and used the leftovers to make quiche the next day (see below).

With a couple of onions, cheese (tomme de Savoie), bacon, cream, and some eggs, I made a quiche which was big enough for two meals (first night as a main dish, second night as an appetizer). I used Alton Brown’s “refrigerator pie” recipe.

Another simple meal was lentil salad with bacon and parsley (unfortunately my husband hates lentils so he had another chicken pot pie that night that was not homemade this time).

Yesterday we decided to go crazy with short ribs and sampled from 3 different bags of leftover short ribs that the spanned the October 2008 to October 2009 timeframe. Last year I was experimenting a lot with short ribs recipe to find the “ideal” recipe (I must have tried about ½ dozen recipes in that timeframe). That included Marlene’s recipe, Les Halles’ recipe, and a third unknown recipe (all containers were just labeled as “short ribs” so I guess I should be more specific in the future). I served the short ribs with some baby carrots that were at the end of their prime and quickly cooked in a pressure cooker. I should have recorded the source of the meat because there were some very distinct differences between the three batches but now I cannot tell for sure which one is my favorite source (I live in San Diego and have bought them at Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, 99 Ranch, and Siesel’s in the past). I guess another controlled experiment is in my future.

The funny part with this challenge is that, past the first few days when the task seems really insurmountable and you start to panic as your stash of fresh fruit and vegetable is dwindling, you start getting into “the zone” and more and more ideas of meals that optimize what you have on hand come to mind. We are now about 10 days into the challenge and it would be easy to continue for at least another 3-4 days. Examples of possible future meals include risotto, and more items from my freezer (leftover coq au vin, frozen wild boar, a couple of frozen flammenkuchen, leftover lamb curry, pancakes, etc), pasta, etc. I did restock on a few some basic items during the week: bread, yoghurt, and milk. Other than that, our grocery shopping has been limited to a minimum. The fridge starts to look empty now but the freezer is still quite full.

Thank you egullet for organizing this event! This is fun and I am looking forward to the next one.

[ambra]

Frogprincesse,

your menus sound divine....

I was not so lucky with a lamb shoulder I found in my freezer, mostly because I didn't have time to properly prepare it. I actually bought it by accident, thinking it was a leg and threw in in the freezer at least 6 months ago. I had never prepared shoulder before and just didn't know what to do with it. So it sat there. I finally yanked it out and decided to braise in in wine and garlic etc. I did so, and finished it with frozen peas- which I always keep on hand. I didn't like it even though I normally love recipes like that. Oh well, it's out of my freezer.

Yesterday, we had bacala` that I had been waiting for a good occassion to fry. However, I let it sit there in the freezer because my husbands cholesterol was a little high, and I didn't want to have anything fried. So I cooked it in garlic, parsley, lemon and butter. I didn't like it. The texture was off. Two more pieces left in the freezer, that I will definitely fry later in the week.

The night before we ate two scallopine that my husband coated in flour and cooked in milk finished with a little nutmeg. Sounds gross. Looks even grosser. But delicious.

I have some fennel sausage I can't wait to eat. I will prepare those tomorrow. I've been saving them for a special fennel moment because you don't find fennel sausage in my neck of the woods. I'm happy to say that that special moment will arrive tomorrow. haha.

Edited November 26, 2009 by ambra (log)