Comments on: Eating What You Have On Hand

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:16:19 +0000

This is great. I do this with rice pasta (only b/c I avoid wheat) and chicken – my b/f and I just add various seasonings and veggies to appease our appetites that day…sometimes buffalo chicken, Italian chicken, some sort of Asian chicken etc. Your ideas are cheaper though. Nice work.

By: DDFD at DaddyCooksQuick.com

DDFD at DaddyCooksQuick.com — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:22:56 +0000

Nice post– it is amazing what you can whip up with some very basic ingredients . . .

By: john deflumeri jr

john deflumeri jr — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:36:29 +0000

Yes, it’s true that you will save a lot of money that way, you will probably eat more healthy things, and a lot less FAT, because when you’re making your own food, you See the ingredients. Also a lot of time is saved by eating at home. Thanks for the good article!

John DeFlumeri Jr Clearwater, Fla.

visit me too.

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:13:13 +0000

I really hate to cook up hamburger or ground sausage meat in the fry pan (to be used in chili, with brown rice and veggies, etc.). I finally realized I can just do a “big cooking” of the meat (2 lbs. or more) all at one time, then spread it out on a couple of cookie sheets, cover with foil and put it in the freezer. Later, I just break up the chunks and store the meat in 2 big ziplock bags (1 for beef, the other for sausage). Whenever I need some, I can just go to the proper bag and pull out what I need. Since the meat is going into soup or some kind of casserole dish, it’s perfect. Quick, easy, and I only have to clean up the stove and pan about once a month!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:33:14 +0000

Since I’ve been widowed, it is hard to use everything I cook. I bag up leftover rice & freeze so it doesn’t get wasted, just as I do with my pasta. I buy (& grow) veggies, which I steam lightly. I toss these in with rice, or ramen & have a nice main dish. I use them in omelets with a little cheese. They are great to mix in with potatoes when making stuffed twice baked potatoes. For a great appetizer, lightly toast bread, rub with garlic, spoon on some veggies,season, add a little cheese & heat in the oven til chees melts. I “try” not always successfully, to use all I buy.

By: mfan

mfan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:37:02 +0000

I have a calendar on which every meal is written in daily. On the back is an inventory of everything in the freezer. As it is used it gets scratched through. This allows me to see at a glance what is available and not to duplicate the same meals too often. This way I can see what I may need to prepare a meal. I don’t ever need to run to the store because I’ve run out of something- I know what is there.

By: ~megan

~megan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:31:52 +0000

Somewhat off topic, but since you list saffron as an expensive ingredient, look for it at an Amish grocer–if there is one nearby. I can get 3x as much for $4 there than I can get for $18 at the local grocery store.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:15:54 +0000

Mary W (24)–Thanks for the advice on the rice. Yeah, I don’t see it keeping in the fridge at all and that’s why we’ve avoided it so far.

We’ll go with your freezing idea. That sounds like it has to potential to turn rice into a “fast food”, which will be a winner in our house on a number of fronts.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:03:29 +0000

Frozen veggies are made for this! I never ate much spinach until I discovered the joys of frozen spinach. I like don’t like it plain or in large amounts, only raw in a salad or mixed in things, so I could never justify buying it because it would go bad or I would get sick of it before I used it fresh (and canned is gross). But $1 for a pound of frozen spinach jazzed up all kinds of soups, stirfrys, and pasta sauces with flavor and a super healthy addition. I also tend to keep frozen peas and green beans on hand, for the same reason. So easy to just toss a handful into what I’m making and add some healthiness and tastiness without buying a lot of fresh veggies that might go bad unless I get the urge to eat a big pile of them.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:54:52 +0000

Try supercook.com. It’s perfect for this.

By: Melinda (Aussie-Girl)

Melinda (Aussie-Girl) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:56:19 +0000

This is where 2 slow-cookers(crockpots) are invaluable. Soup can be extended and extended again – remember the story of Stone Soup?

I’ve got one soup ready to eat & heat (turned it on high at breakfast)& one meal in the first stages of preparation (turned on low for 24hrs).

At the moment we’re enjoying Spicy Clam Chowder (dinner last night/lunch today & tomorrow) and Chicken Carcasse just gone on to simmer for Spicy Thai Soup later on in the week.

Remembering it’s Winter here so obviously menu’s change due to the season.

By: Tuimeltje

Tuimeltje — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:55:24 +0000

I love this idea. I’ve been meaning to get into the habit of this ever since I first read about it on a now-locked blog by a woman who cooked a large pot of lentils and rice each week and used that as a base to feed a family of four.
For me, however, it would probably only work long-term if I’d combine it with a bit of meal-planning, which I hope to get into now that I’m likely to spend some more time at my own flat rather than be all over.

Re#20: In my experience, rice, when properly drained or cooked keeping in mind a fairly precise water-to-rice ratio, doesn’t get soggy. It can get a little clumpy, but that’s easily broken up using a fork.
I’ve also had no problem freezing rice for later use.
Mind you, I do mostly use brown rice rather than white, that might make a difference.

By: Mary W

Mary W — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:55:04 +0000

Kevin #20 – I freeze cooked rice in bags – whatever amount your family uses. It will reheat in the microwave in just a couple of minutes. It just a good as when you made it. I find that rice goes bad in the frig more quickly than I use it up.

I started doing this when we switched to brown rice. If 20-25 minutes is too long for you, try the 55 + minutes for brown rice.

By: Bill in Houston

Bill in Houston — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:53:04 +0000

Oops, forgot to mention that one way to keep the same thing from being boring is to change the carbohydrate you serve it with. Rice one night, mashed potato another, couscous a third, black beans another.

By: Bill in Houston

Bill in Houston — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:51:42 +0000

I take an hour or so every week to prep all the vegetables we buy. I wash them, dry them, and bag them. I keep a head of lettuce (red leaf or romaine) in a gallon ziplock. I wash, spin, and dry the watercress, the scallions, the radishes, and the spinach. I wash the (bell and jalapeno) peppers, onions, eggplant, and zucchini and dry them (returning them to their original plastic bags. Since I started doing this it has been rare that something goes bad before we eat it all. The worst culprit is watercress, because our local Korean market (Super H Mart) keeps them on ice.

While we keep staples in the freezer, I’ve been making crockpot meals for the past few weeks. My bouef bourginon lasted two meals and one lunch for my wife and me. (1 pound of beef stew meat). My two and a half pounds of pork butt shoulder in beer made five meals and two lunches for us (carnitas, pulled pork, kebabs, et cetera). I did pot roast last week (four meals from 1.5 pounds of cheap beef top round on sale and one lunch). My beef stew (made last night from another third of our beef top round) should last three or four meals. What was left of that top round became four steaks that I’ll grill this week. Kroger has had excellent sales on meat the past few weeks.

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:48:48 +0000

This is an excellent idea. I plan to combine it with the idea (I think from Unclutterer) to take EVERYTHING out of the pantry & put it in boxes. At the end of 2 weeks, whatever you have taken out of the box is a true staple, deserving a prime spot in the cupboards & automatic replenishment. Now focus on eating up the other stuff b/c it is stuff that needs attention in order to get used.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:37:01 +0000

Hi, Mr. Trent! We do this, for the reasons that you indicated – but in no way are we as organized as this. I will adopt this plan, it is much better than my own! I wanted to add a few other items that we keep on hand (ok, we TRY to keep on hand) – hard boiled eggs (about $3 for 2 dozen at Costco) and bananas. Because they are simple to grab when we are starving :). Thank you so much for writing about this, I can’t wait set a specific day to do this.
Mr.Kevin@outofyourrut:
Please consider purchasing an inexpensive rice cooker. We purchase huge quantities of basmati or jasmin rice, I make a large, large batch and freeze about 1/2 the batch or more in freezer bags. Now I have to say that we like “sticky rice” – you can adjust the amount of water used or the type of rice, but we’ve found that these two types of rice freeze really well. When we are ready to use the rice we pop it into a microsafe bowl and into the microwave (add a little water and seal w/saran wrap or lid) and heat. It comes out perfect almost every time. I hope it works well for you :)

By: Lenore

Lenore — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:24:40 +0000

I think I’d rather subsist on ketchup sandwiches.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:26:22 +0000

This is excellent advice. A while back we abandoned instant rice in favor of large, economical bags of regular. The one disadvantage is that it does take 20-25 minutes to cook, and if it’s part of the base of a meal, like fried rice, it makes the whole process take a good bit longer.

Can anyone offer any advice for cooking rice in large batches and refrigerating it for later use?

I’m guessing it will get mushy and clump.

By: Amy K.

Amy K. — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:01:15 +0000

Georgia,

Carrots will do fine, but definitely put a little water in the baggie to keep them from drying out. I cut up carrot sticks on Sunday for the week and they’re fine through Thursday that way. Friday tends to be touch-and-go, and maybe a better candidate for the fried rice mentioned above :-)

The fold over style sandwich bags will definitely let too much moisture out, make sure it’s a well sealed container.

Hmm, I wonder if there’s a batch prep book with a chart showing best storage methods for 3 days, 7 days, 2 weeks, etc. That would be a good investment, avoid a lot of trial and error.