Now is a good time to clean my fridge!
Recently we had a lot of big expenses all at once, some we were ready for and others, not so much. We found ourselves with a long weekend and not enough money to get a real grocery shop so I pulled out all the stops and dove right into living on what was in the cupboards and the fridge which already wasn’t very much and made it to payday. Well almost, tomorrow’s payday and this is my fridge this morning but I have enough money to get some groceries for tonight and then we get paid tomorrow!
A long weekend with my husband home and no food and I managed to do it because I know about food. It isn’t just about stretching a buck, it’s about how to get the most out of what I have for as long as I can. There were no huge sacrifices this weekend by staying in since it either snowed or rained the majority of the long weekend. Yes, I said snow. It’s always snowing here. There was a lot of playing Warcraft going on, catching up on shows we had recorded since there has been a lot of good and new TV on for once and I did my best to prevent us from feeling like we were going without. It was not until yesterday that we went back to our poor roots when I had to make up some Kraft Dinner and no-name Kool-Aid (real Kool-Aid has sodium in it, yuck!). To my credit, there were fresh herbs and frozen vegetables in the KD so I feel less guilty for it than usual.
After that we indulged in homemade Martha’s Peanut Butter and Toffee Cookies and tea which made us feel like royalty. I actually used big milk chocolate chunks from a giant chocolate bar we got for Christmas. Last night I used the last of the vegetables we had and defrosted and cooked the last of the chicken from my freezer and added ginger and red chili pepper flakes to a rib sauce to pretend like it was for a stir fry. Not bad on rice!
When you know how to stretch what you have because you have knowledge of food and what to do with it, you can get through the tough times without sacrificing your health. I of course do not recommend using KD or no-name Kool Aid unless absolutely necessary, LOL. Times are hard. I truly believe that the more we know about food, the better our lives are. The more we can do to get through our hardships and still feel well fed and perhaps a little prosperous. When we eat warm homemade cookies with tea, it is harder to feel poor.
KD is one of my guilty pleasures. I’ll make it and add a sauteed onion and some frozen green peas(Cooked with the pasta at the last minute) and a can of tuna!Easy and tasty and cheap.
Oh and speaking of food….we had a deep fried turkey on the weekend! A first for me. It was yummy. If you want to have a peek, I did post some pics on how it was done. A mystery to me:)
As long as there are homemade cookies, KD will have to do!
The best part of it all is that you made do and had fun with your love. That’s what it’s all about! Snow and lack of groceries did not stop our Super Suzie! YAY! 🙂
So true, Suzie!
Awesome Suzie! (I have to ask though… what is KD? I can’t figure it out!)
My problem with an empty fridge/pantry is I usually don’t have things that work together. I need to get better about having some staples on hand that I can easily throw together into something edible!
I made a super yummy dinner last night – Mike had brought me a bottle of wine from North Carolina, and I made chicken scallopine to go with it. I didn’t like the sauce by itself, and was worried until I combined the sauce with the pasta and chicken. YUMMY! I even found noodles that were low glycemic index, so I didn’t have to worry about my blood sugar! 🙂
I am the same way about tea, Suzie! Tea with something warm…cookie, scone, toast…one of which we usually have stuff to make, even on the leanest weeks — well that just makes me feel all high tea like, as if I’m at the Empress or the Plaza on a retreat day 🙂 Rice and root vegetables are huge blessings! Can see me thru almost any stretch. Anyway just lots and lots of miracles to you…
PS: Riven has seen us thru many a rainy weekend 🙂
AliceinParis, KD is such a guilty pleasures, isn’t it? Wow, with tuna?! I never thought of that, excellent idea for a empty-fridge recipe, thanks! That deep fried turkey looks amazing! Holy cow!
Thanks for the support Genie Sea, I did my best with what I had and my hubby didn’t feel like he was going without. 🙂
Nice to see you Tracy! I knew you would appreciate this idea, you’re a economic food queen.
Tammy, KD = Kraft Dinner. That is hard when things don’t work together. It’s why I always have a ton of rice and pasta and flour for bread. You can work those in and make them go together. Isn’t that amazing you scallopine worked well altogether? I’d love to hear more about those noodles, I’m always looking for healthy but yummy versions of pasta.
Kara, hello sweetheart! Tea and treats make you feel like a queen too do they? Isn’t it amazing how you can treat yourself even when you have so little? Yes, I need to get more rice and root veggies.
Hiya Suzie,
It’s Steve back in T.O.. Pantry survival is always a challenge and one I remember well. I usually eat at the restaurant, so my fridge is usually empty except when the kids are around. So when I get the urge to cook at home, it’s often late at night, with the stores closed and a rumble in my stomach. Luckily, when money is good, I top up my pantry with a few items that make everything good:
-unique dry pasta (I love orrechiete!!)
– olives (I always have at least 3 kinds. In case of unexpected guests, a drizzle of olive oil and a few chile flakes make an instant antipasto.)
-roasted red peppers (I roast them and skin them, then freeze them between pieces of parchment paper. Great adddition to pasta or as antipasto.)
-Parmesan (I splurge and buy a chunk of parm and keep it in the freezer. Even plain pasta tastes incredible with good parmesan.)
-herbs ( I never use the whole bunch when I buy herbs, so I always throw the remnants into a sandwich bag in the freezer. Frozen isn’t as good as fresh, but it tastes a whole lot better than dried.)
-ramen (I love Asian noodles, and a nice spicy ramen will always get me going, no matter how wet or cold it is outside.)
By keping these few ingredients on hand, I always make sure I can have a special bite regardless of the state of my wallet.
Keep writing and this chef will keep reading.
Love ya and the big guy,
Steve
First of all, you know your cookies (that’s how I call them, Suzie’s cookies, when I copy the receipt for someone else – many times already!) is definitely a hit here? All my family shares the receipt and also lots of friends and family’s friends. I think you’d like to know about it.
Oh, you’re so right… Hard times are so often at my place that only stretching what we’ve got and using imagination help us to go ahead! Nowthat we’re living in the ruralarea, as soon as we move (can’t wait…), we’ll have a special vegetable garden, with as many vegetables and herbs possible to allow us to live through hard times and save money. Specially dark green vegetables are very hard to buy in the area, gods know why,so it will be useful and vital for our health to have our own little plantation.
I’m happy that you’re managinf to go through your weekend with wisdom.
Kisses from us.
Oh my gosh! Those cookies look so yummy!
A couple years ago, when I was really struggling financially, AND my daughter was into “Little House”, it was easy. I made tons of lentil soups, oatmeal, corn bread…cheap but healthy stuff. And we’d use our camping dishes almost every night – you know those blue enameled things. (they used identical ones on little house). So my daughter never felt poor, it was fun.
And we used to play “chinatown” ALOT!! I cooked rice every day! Gotta love how cheap and how long a bag of rice goes!
The noodles I used last night are called Dreamfields. http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.comThere is added fiber and protein which makes them easier to digest and less likely to raise your blood sugar. They were quite good too!
I also discovered Soba noodles over the weekend. Made from buckwheat – I did a little looking and they are actually recommended for diabetic diets because they can help lower blood sugar! I stir fried them with chicken, edamame, broccoli, and some ginger/soy sauce. YUMMY!
Keeping staples here makes food stretch faster. And also finding different ways to cook the same foods, so you won’t get bored is another good way. Now I really want to make some cookies after looking at yours.
When I saw the photo of the fridge, my first thought was ‘Suzie cleaned that fridge again!!’ lol 🙂
My standby is ‘rice n lentils’ – like some of the others, I try to have a few things like that ‘always’ on hand & like Kara said – root veggies! I also have fresh herbs in the garden & a bunch in bottles (make my own ‘italian’ & ‘provance’ blends) & an (ahemm) garden that needs some TLC SOON!! It is getting warmer here – I think – a touch of hail today, of all things!!
& my homemade granola – if I get home tired & there’s not something else, a bowl of granola will often tide me over 🙂
Hey Steve! So cool of you to stop by my blog! You know I have never tried orrechiete, I think I may pick some up, they’re so cool. Wow, real parmesan…that is a great staple, you can use it on everything and I totally agree with you about olives, so simple but also very elegant. I’ve never made my own roasted red peppers, mostly because people usually use their gas stoves and I don’t have one. Excellent idea about herbs! Mine always go bad before I use them too, I will try and freeze them. Such a great idea.
Nydia, that is so cute and I am so honoured you call those cookies Suzie cookies, LOL. I can’t wait for you to be able to live off the land, so much healthier and cheaper!
Bohemian Mom, you made food fun and very cool even during the toughest of times, you are so inspiring. I love that you used campfire plates for the Little House effects. Your stories are always so precious.
Tammy, I will definitely keep an eye out for that pasta! I am so glad you found something that won’t affect your blood sugar, excellent. I want to get soba noodles too, never tried those.
Shell, it’s so true, different methods of cooking the same ingredients definitely keeps things more interesting and less boring.
Rice and legumes go a long, long way, it’s so true Dia. Hail? Wow, I thought our weather was bad! I’ve never made homemade granola, gotta try that too.
This is off topic, but one poor luxury I indulge in is free movies from Redbox. Does Canada have Redbox? You can sign up to get a code for a free movie by email or by phone/text message. So now I get a free movie every Monday. I love it.