Amazing Meals From The Pantry #7

 

This month I embarked on a two month pantry challenge.  Pantry challenges are a great way to save money, but even more importantly they help me use things up and curb food waste.  I typically will start my pantry challenge with the freezer on top of my refrigerator to do just that.

 

One of the things I did was to use up some frozen cream I had in the freezer.  A couple months ago I had a carton of cream nearing its best buy date so I had poured it into ice trays and frozen it in cubes to use later on.  I was able to stretch the quart of cream I bought at the beginning of the month by using a couple of those cubes each time I made my daily cup of Keto coffee.

 

It was time to do some meal prepping!  The goal being to use up some open packages and jars of stuff and refill my kitchen freezer with lots of nutritious meals to just grab, thaw and reheat.  I donned my new apron and got to work!

 

I had an older package of shrimp from 2023 that was vacuum sealed and was in the top freezer as well as a package of asparagus from last year, a partial package of bacon, a steak and a small package of frozen sliced onions and peppers.  I started out by cooking up all of that bacon and the rendered fat was used for the other recipes I was going to make.  I like to have already prepared bacon on hand to add to salads and other recipes.  Cooked bacon freezes well too.

 

I had extra eggs that needed to be used so I hard boiled some and the rest went into a small quiche that I baked in my oven along with a lovely coffee cake and an applesauce cake.  After it had cooled I cut this quiche into fourths and put each piece into a meal prep container and back into the freezer.

 

Next up I used all of the frozen cabbage, some onion, a grated carrot and two jars of pork sausage to make a delicious batch of eggroll in a bowl.  The day before I had prepared a cup of rice so it would be ready for my meal prepping day.  Using a cup of the cooked rice, some of the bacon and some of my eggs I made fried rice.  I added the end of a bag of peas & carrots and the rest of a bag of riced cauliflower too. I paired these in meal containers for another easy to grab and reheat dinner for the freezer.

 

I used another cup of the cooked rice, a half pound package of lean ground beef and a jar of my home canned black beans to make Fiesta Rice (recipe to come).  I was able to make this and use up an open jar of salsa I had in the refrigerator, a half pint of salsa from the pantry as well as the remains of an open bag of frozen corn.  I divided this into four dishes and plan to top each one with a bit of cheddar cheese when I reheat them.

 

All of this left my kitchen!

Next I sliced up the sirloin steak and stir fried it with the frozen onions and peppers along with some taco spice from the cupboard to make a small batch of fajitas.  I decided to just freeze this in one container with the idea that I can use it later for a quick meal with a couple flour tortillas, some grated cheese and then top with a dab of sour cream.  This should be enough for two meals for me.

 

Washing up as I go

Lastly, but certainly not least, I cleaned up the shrimp and sautéed it with the asparagus, a dab if butter and used up an open jar of pesto I had in the refrigerator.  I had enough for three dishes to serve as a side with a nice grilled steak, chicken fillet or a nice piece of salmon.

 

After cleaning up my kitchen the coffee cake and applesauce cake were cool enough for icing.  I drizzled a simple vanilla glaze over the coffee cake.  I had a half block of cream cheese in the refrigerator that I used to make a nice frosting using up the remainder of a bag of powdered sugar I had in the pantry since the holidays.  It made enough for two cakes so I froze half and frosted the cake with the other half.

 

The freezer on top of my refrigerator is now restocked with loads of delicious and easy meals to keep me going this summer and will help me and my kitchen stay cool.  I also have several servings of coffee cake and applesauce cake on hand to serve whenever someone pops by for a visit.  In the process I was able to eliminate potential food waste by using up a ton of items I already had on hand.  Big wins here!