Eating from the Pantry

Over the years, I have tried to make a menu plan at the beginning of the week.  As the kids got older, they would help out with the plan and choose a dish each to make.  This weekly menu plan is purely dependent on my mood on Sunday.  Sometimes it would get done and it made the week so much easier, knowing what I was going to cook.  More often than not, no menu plan.

Emma will be 16 in a couple of months and we have discussed having her learn a few dishes to cook She has no interest in cooking so I have never pressed it.  She's very good at baking but needs some skills in the cooking department.  So I have decided to try and resurrect the menu planning.

Grains, spices, vinegar, mom's honey

What would your basic dishes be that I can teach Emma to cook?

Upstairs Freezer.  Yes, Gifford's from Maine, Grape Nut ice cream.  The BEST.

Today, Sean and I took an inventory of the upstairs and downstairs freezers and what I have on the basement shelves.  I need to start cooking from my stores.

 Basement Freezer

Canned goods

1.  Roast chicken - a must

what else?

Here is my inventory list - this doesn't count the pantry - I have all kinds of beans and grains and rice.

What would you make from this list?

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Freezer inventory - Upstairs

Parm cheese
Rye flour
Cornmeal
Almond meal
Malt powder
Graham cracker crumbs
Toffee bits
Dried figs
Walnuts
Pecans
Pinenuts
Bread crumbs
Sweet dough
Sweet potato fries
French fries
Veggie burgers
Turkey burgers
Hamburger Buns
Buttermilk rolls
Turkey meat
Pork sausage links
Vegetable wontons
Veggie sausage
Pork and celery dumplings
Chicken breast - 1
Blueberries
Bananas
Cranberries
Blackberries
Watermelon
Strawberries
Coffee
Butter - 2
Argula pesto - with and without cheese
Basil with oil
Tomato puree cubes
Crushed tomato - 1 pint bag
Peas
Corn
Edamame
Ravioli

Basement Shelves

Sweet potatoes

Shallots

Garlic

Blackberry jam

Zucchini relish

Pizza sauce

Crushed tomatoes

Zucchini pickles

Green tomato salsa

Dilly beans

Rhubarb grapefruit marmalade

Strawberry jam

Strawberry syrup

Fig jam

Rhubarb vanilla jam

Chutney

Basement Freezer

Pecans – 2

Butter – 4

Whole wheat flour

Crushed tomatoes – 7 pints

Crushed tomatoes – 2 quarts

Crushed tomatoes – 10 pint bags

Tomato cubes – 3 bags

Cranberries – 1

Chicken stock – 2 quarts

Hot dog buns

Green beans – 7

Tomatillos – 1

Edamame

Hot peppers – 1 gal

Plum tomatoes – 1 gal

Puree sweet potatoes

Bacon

Pork loin roast – 7

Fresh pork ham roast – 8

Chicken breasts

Shrimp

2 whole chickens

Ground pork – 7

Bulk sausage – 5

Pork spare ribs - 2

Sausage links - 4

Strawberries – 3 gals

Blackberries – 1 gal

Sour cherries – 1 gal

Peaches – 7 pkgs

Spaghetti Scrub

Last month, Sean, the kids and I went to Brooklyn to visit my sister in law and her family.  While lounging in her fabulous kitchen, I noticed this funky scrubber in her sink.  She described how a friend had given it to her, it was made out of corn and that it was fabulous.  I decided I had to have one of my own.

This is what it turned out to be

Spaghetti Scrub

It comes in two types - Coarse (made of corn cobs) and Gentle (made of peach pits).  I only ordered the coarse but I'm thinking I should get the gentle too.  The ingredients for the Coarse are corn core powder, cotton and polyester.  They are made in Japan and supposedly the scrubs last for months and won't rust.

The next question is whether they are compostable?