Ahhh, food storage. I love stocking up on things (that we will use). For example, 2 weeks ago Meijer was clearing out all their natural peanut butter for $1.07/jar! So, duh, I bought 15, because otherwise, I would have only gotten 4 for the same amount of $$$. Funny aside here--carrying Payge (my currently 26 pound, not walking yet, one-year old) around has obviously given me some arm strength. I didn't really think of it until I picked up the case of PB, set it on the conveyor belt & went to pay for it. The cashier went to lift it to put it in my cart for me & couldn't get it off the counter! So, I walked around, picked it up, and set it gently in (glass jars, you know). She just stared at me. ha ha. Thanks baby Payge!
Anyhow, back to my goal here: eating from the pantry--recipes included today!
Breakfast
Pancakes (see this post for mix recipe)
Choice of syrup: peach pit or red grape.
Peach pit syrup recipe:
After getting as much peach off the pit as possible (when canning or making jam), soak the pits in a big bucket of water (clean bucket, clean water) for about 24 hours in thet fridge. Overnight works pretty well. This will give you a bitter, but slightly peachy tasting water.
Then take:
7 Cups of the liquid
1/4 C lemon juice
1 box pectin (or 1/2 C clear gel--available at many bulk food places)
7 C sugar--this is how much my mother-in-law uses...I am more apt to stick my finger in and taste before I add this much.
Mix the clear gel with 2 C sugar very well first, if using clear gel. It'll help it not be lumpy.
1. Bring the liquid & lemon juice to a high boil before adding sugar and thickener.
2. Add sugar and thickener. Bring to a boil again til thick. Stir, stir, stir!
3. Fill pint jars (I think I got about 7 per batch)
4. Process in hot water bath (see canning book for instructions) for 10 minutes.
DONE! Keeps well for over a year in the cupboard...if you can get it to last that long.
Red grape syrup
Take a bunch of red grapes that don't seem to be liked by the family. In this case, one bag was really great, and the other was too tart, so I used the too tart ones. Stick in the blender. Pour puree in a pot.
Boil with juice of 1/2 a lemon (hmmm, 1 T bottled?) and a cup of sugar. Simmer til thick...put in a jar (you'll only get one) and stick it in the fridge to be eaten that week.
Lunch
Pizza with veggies from freezer: bell peppers, onions, diced tomatoes.
Dinner
Whole wheat pasta tossed with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and dried tomatoes.
Magic bars: made with my "free" chocolate chips. I chose this recipe because we are running low on eggs.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Another Day, Another Dollar--not spent.
Posted by Jillian at 11:17 AM
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2 comments:
OK, so I'm curious, now that you're approaching the end of your week, how "bare" are your cupboards of necessities (eggs, milk, etc). Maybe you don't use them much???
The other thing, and I understand in a way you're doing this to "turn over" your food storage, but won't you have to replace the things you eat anyway? So, do you think it is really saving you $$?
Just curious. I think I might try this some after my visitors leave. There's tons of food just "lying around" that we need to use up... kinda. It's mostly nonperishables or slow perishables (pasta, salad dressing, etc). But, as for produce, I don't have any stored (frozen or canned). Hmmm, makes me consider my food storage a little more....
I have three eggs left. I did get a gallon of whole milk yesterday--that's what Payge drinks, and I consider it a staple for her, not something I am eating from the pantry. Flour & sugar and such are things that I have a lot of. Can't think of any other necessity.
Yes, I will have to replace the things, but since the farm is coming up, and I know it will be an abundance, I need to eat the frozen things from last year in order to have room to store the bounty from this year. I'm not rushing through the wheat, oats or things that I know will keep for a long time.
I do think it's saving me $$ because I know that I got these items at a very discounted rate. Therefore, I stocked up, and I need to use them, but instead of using them quickly, I replace a few weeks of grocery shopping.
For example, had I bought PB at $3.50/jar, meat at $3/lb and various veggies this week at over $2/lb, I would have easily spent $60 for what we ate. BUT, since I paid $1 for PB, $1.50/lb for the meat, and pennies per pound for much of the produce, it would have come to around $35. Like the pasta last night...it's usually about $2/box. We paid 88 cents when it went on clearance. A box feeds us twice, so we paid 44 cents for our pasta dinner last night (plus the veggies we threw in that were frozen/dried from summer time.)
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