Help me "eat down" my poor freezer?

[AimeeM]

If we do not eat down the freezer within the next month or so, I'm going to have to ditch food :( Not a "bad" problem to have, but we've accumulated so much meat that it's becoming pretty chaotic. Problem is, I'm in a huge cooking rut.

 

Part of me would like to say that I'm buying NOTHING, except for fresh produce and milk, for the next month, until we eat it down. We have a large standing freezer in the basement, and with frequent Costco trips... well, yeah.

 

I'm not inspired by Google recipes. I like tried and true, because in all honesty - I'm NOT creative in the kitchen.

 

Besides the meat, I also have a huge bag of bell peppers that I need to use soon, and all the normal "staples" (pastas, rices, spices, flours, etc). In fact, that's the other problem - the pantry is beginning to feel the strain as well.

 

First - would it be doable to buy nothing but produce and milk (as far as food goes) for the next month? I really hate the idea of throwing out food, but it's got to the point that I've seen it sitting there for so long, that I'm just all "blah".

 

In my freezer currently, I have (in duplicate, for the most part):

 

Flank steak

9 lbs king crab

9 lbs jumbo shrimp

Turkey breasts

Chicken breasts

Pork loin chops

Lean pork roast

other porkchops

Hot Italian sausages

Whole ham

Brats

 

 

Any favorite recipes?

[gingersmom]

One of my sons favorite is bratwurst or sausage grilled on grill with peppers and onions.

 

Foodnetwork.com is my favorite place for new recipes. 

[Annie G]

The bell peppers could be used with the flank steak, chicken breasts, and Italian sausage.   Pepper steak, chicken cacciatore, and sausage and peppers.  

 

The shrimp would pair well with pasta- lots of different sauce combos you should choose. Alfredo, marinara, etc. 

 

Do you eat beans? If so, you could cook the ham and portion it into small ziploc baggies to add to beans when you cook them, or add to soup, omelets, hash browns, etc. 

 

[LucyStoner]

I'd be making crab cakes and curried chicken salad. Perfect to eat cold with salads as summer wanes.

 

For curried chicken salad, I just salt and pepper the chicken breasts and then bake. The dice into small chunks and dress with a dressing made of:

 

Mayo

Curry powder

Chutney

A little white wine

Chopped green onions

Raisins or craisins

[Debbi in Texas]

The chicken breast, shrimp, and pork would work well with the peppers for kebabs. Especially if you had onion, tomato, squash, zucchini, or mushrooms to add.

[Pippen]

I have a teriyaki steak marinade recipe for grilled flank steak that we like.

[Amira]

I think it's a good idea to just buy milk and produce for the next month. I've done that in the past and it helps me be creative because we have to eat something. It sounds like you have plenty of food to get you through a month, but if it turns out that you only have enough for three weeks, it won't matter because you'll have eaten what needs to be eaten.

 

You could post three seemingly unrelated different ingredients each day and see what people think up for you to eat. Sort of a virtual Chopped. :)

[KatieJ]

My brains explodes with ideas, but in reality, it is of no help if you don't like my menus. All recipes.com has a fabulous search function that allows you to type in your ingredients and plan from there.

 

I would sit down with that list and think of some meals you have eaten in the past that you enjoyed.  Ask yourself how do you like your pork prepared, baked, grilled, etc.  Then find a recipe and put it the name of the recipe next to that meat. then move on to chicken or shrimp and do that same thing.

Enlist your children's brains for menu ideas.  Surely they have some favorites.

Then I would grocery shop only to complete those menus with veggies, salads, etc.

 

I personally rarely stick with a whole weeks of menus if I plan specific days. .  I get to Tuesday and I just don't want whatever is on the list.  So for me, I make menus and I plug them in that week as I feel so inclined. 

 

 

Let's take Ham.  you kind of have to start with a ham dinner.  Ham and potato salad, ham and cheesy potatoes, pick one.  Then plan some ham meals for later in the week with the leftovers.  I made cheesy ham soup today with I had in the freezer.  Go to Allrecipes.com and type in Ham and pasta for ingredients and you will get some main dish ideas.  You can use it for scrambled eggs, quiche, breakfast burritos, etc.

 

Pork Roast - roast it one night and the next night it's pulled pork.

 

Pork loin chops. do you like them tender and falling apart, or just baked and done, and you eat them like steak?

Put in a casserole and top each chop with an onion slice and a lemon slice and a tbls of ketchup.  Cover and bake til the pork chop are tender and falling apart. 

Or bread them lightly with panko, or parm cheese, and bake in oven til done and eat like a steak. 

[texasmama]

When in doubt, I search for crock pot recipes.

[Tina]

Pork chops browned and then baked on top of stuffing- homemade or boxed.  Or soaked a bit in a milk/egg mix and then coated with corn flake crumbs/parmesan cheese/herbs.

 

Or cubed for a stew:

1 lb lean pork, in 1/2" cubes- brown in a tsp oil

14 oz chicken broth

1 TBSP tomato paste

1/2 tsp each: garlic pwdr, thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

2 c sliced carrots

2 c cubed potatoes

1 c water

10 oz pkg peas with onions

 

Brown the meat, and add the broth, tomato paste, spices.  Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, 40 minutes.

Add carrots and potatoes, water, and cook- covered 20-30 minutes.  Add peas and cook another 10 minutes.

 

Or cut up for beef and pork chow mein.

 

Turkey tetrazzini.

 

Italian sausage, potato and kale soup.

Italian sausages on buns.  Cook them in a sauce of 14 oz. catsup with instant coffee (= to one strong cup) and a few dashes of worcestershire sauce.

 

Ham and scalloped potatoes.

 

Ham and Potato Bake

3 tsp butter

1/2 c chopped onion

1/2 c sliced celery

3 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1 1/2 c milk

3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

4 c frozen french fries

1 1/2 c cubed cooked ham

 

Saute the onion and celery.  Blend in flour and seasonings.  Add milk, stirring and cooking, til thickened. 

Stir in 1/2 c cheese til melted.

Layer potatoes and ham in a greased shallow 2 qt dish.  Pour sauce over it and bake, covered at 400*

for 30 minutes.  Uncover and top with remaining cheese.  Bake until melted. 

[Kebo]

nm

[Mrs Mungo]

Flank steak: use with the peppers to make fajitas?

9 lbs king crab: crab chowder?

9 lbs jumbo shrimp: stir fry with peppers and rice

Turkey breasts: stuffed turkey breasts?

Chicken breasts: honey like chicken

Pork loin chops: a while ago dh made some Parmesan encrusted pork chops that were really good

Lean pork roast: pulled pork in the crockpot

other porkchops: breaded with mashed potatoes

Hot Italian sausages: break them up and make pizza with them

Whole ham: cook it, use leftovers in a breakfast casserole or omelets or 7 bean soup

Brats: I have seen a lot of yummy looking brat recipes on Pinterest lately.

[LucyStoner]

You should call Lynn Rosetto Kasper. She'll talk you through anything.

 

http://www.splendidtable.org

[zoobie]

Go to Pinterest and search for the ingredient. The pictures help me.

 

King crab would be a big old crab boil. I wouldn't pick the meat out.

[KatieJ]

Whole turkey breasts can be cooked in the crock pot.  You can use the meat for casseroles, sandwiches, etc.

 

I have also done them on the grill.  Turn your burners on one side and put them on the other side.  COok until the right temp, but I think it was several hours.  It is really good!

[Mnemosyne]

Produce and milk is usually all I buy during the week, I tend to stock up on meat too. Meat for breakfast is great - steak and eggs, chicken and eggs, burritos, omelets... works awesome. You could make homemade tortillas too, to use up some flour. Mexican in general would be good - meat, rice, beans. All staples that you could use up fairly quickly.

 

I'm not a very imaginative cook, so we eat lots of Mexican, curries, and meat/veggies. It works for us, though. We love meat and we love veggies, I could eat the same thing every day... hubby just needs a little bit more variety so we're trying to branch out a bit.

[LostSurprise]

I made something with hot Italian sausage the other night. I wanted pasta, but I didn't want tomato sauce necessarily. I cooked the sausage broken into small pieces, drained, set aside. I boiled pasta like cellantani in salted water. I added broccoli to the pasta water the last few minutes and then some frozen peas right before I turned it off (that's what I had).  I put some olive oil in a pan and added chopped garlic and red pepper (any mild-med. pepper will do, dry or fresh, I only used Aleppo pepper because I thought it was hot enough :p ...add to taste). Lightly saute. Add sausage at the end. Pour over drained pasta and vegetables (actually, any veg will do, I think a mild zucc would be excellent you can saute it with the garlic) and toss. Taste. Add olive oil, salt, or other spices to fix. 

 

DH loved it. The boys that liked hot loved it. The boy that doesn't like hot had spaghetti (I had a little bit on the back of the stove in case there were issues). I liked it but it was at the top of my hot enjoyment. I don't eat hot sauce or a lot of peppers. With regular pork sausage I would add more peppers to the oil but this was great. It was good cold the next day too. 

[LostSurprise]

If I have something I can't think of what to do with I like using the Yummly search interface. It's a federated search so it searches through several respected recipe sites like Epicurious, Martha Stewart, etc. If I see something I like I copy it to Pepperplate (a free online recipe holding site) for later (lots of the larger sites have a direct interface with Pepperplate so you don't have to cut and paste but the smaller sites don't). 

[Miss Tick]

I like the thoroughness of America's Test Kitchen. This weekend I was perusing their book, The Best Make-Ahead Recipes. Basically that tell you how to cook meat (2 chickens, turkey breast, etc.) and then get two or three meals out of it. I wish I had your freezer right now!

[Momof3littles]

Shrimp and crab legs could go into some sort of shrimp boil or something like Ina's clambake.  Could throw in brats or sausage instead of the kielbasa used in the Ina recipe.  Leftovers are great with some heavy cream to turn it into a chowder.

We did paleo nachos the other night with peppers chunked up and then topped with chicken I had cooked with salsa in the dutch oven earlier in the day (could also use the crockpot).  Add cheese, bake for a few mins in the oven.  We added shredded lettuce, more salsa, guac once it was done.

 

Flank steak works well with the peppers for fajitas as previous posters have said.

[Upennmama]

I thought paleo had no dairy?

[stripe]

Roasted red peppers are really yummy!

[Laura Corin]

Chicken breasts marinated in garlic, lemon juice and fajita seasoning, then stir-fried with those bell peppers.

 

Risotto with chicken/turkey breasts/thigh meat and shrimp.

 

L

[Tina]

One of the most bizarrely delicious comfort foods I make came from a recipe my piano teacher shared. I came to her home for a lesson and could barely make it through, the house smelled SO amazing.

 

Recipe? Essentially a pork hotpot.

 

1 lb pork roast

1 cup beans, soaked (I've used navy beans and black beans to great effect)

1 lrg can Sauerkraut

 

Toss in crockpot, cook for hours, enjoy.

 

So stinking good. Some recipes add some white whine, sautéed onion, pepper, etc, but even just made as is it is scrumptious and completely inexplicable. My family doesn't even really like kraut or pork, but MAN was this worth the skepticism I had upon making it the first time.

 

this reminds me of the pork roast cooked with pinto beans ( and a few spices) and then shredded and served on tacos.

 

[Whitworth]

Please don't ditch the food! After inventory and menu planning, why not share or donate what your family can't eat this month? :001_smile:

[TammyS]

 

In my freezer currently, I have (in duplicate, for the most part):

 

Flank steak

9 lbs king crab

9 lbs jumbo shrimp

Turkey breasts

Chicken breasts

Pork loin chops

Lean pork roast

other porkchops

Hot Italian sausages

Whole ham

Brats

 

 

Any favorite recipes?

 

Ok, let's see:

 

1. Bell peppers and flank steak become fajitas!!!  Yummo!

2. Jumbo shrimp becomes 3 recipes worth of spiced shrimp (super easy, super yum)

3. King Crab: have another family over and ask them to bring: pasta salad, hush puppies, and corn on the cob, you supply crab and beer!

4. Chicken breasts: chicken salad, grilled chicken over pasta salad, chicken parm, chicken saltimboca, chicken cordon bleu

5. Turkey breasts, put your favorite dry rub on, cook over a smoker (or grill with wood chips), slice for lunchmeat

6. Pork chops: pan fry with salt and pepper, serve with your favorite fruit chutney and sides

7. Pork roast: dry rub for two days in fridge, smoke over moist wood chips, shred for amazing sandwiches

8. Hot italian sausages: grill or pan fry, serve on toasted hot dog buns with pasta salad and green salad

9. Ham: cook whole and have friends over one Sunday afternoon for lunch.  Save the bone for split pea soup.

10. Brats: Boil in a shallow pan with beer, serve with saurekraut and onions on toasted rolls.  Baked beans, beer, and salad on the side.

 

Hope that helps. 

 

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I was thinking about donating also if you had a soup kitchen or place in your area that serves the homeless or needy people in your area-we have a place that makes 2 meals per day and no questions are asked if you're hungry you can come in and eat---sometimes they will ask for donations (like for holidays) but I'm sure places like that would love any type of donation.....good luck

[SunnyDays]

Following along.... I have the same freezer problem.

[AimeeM]

I was thinking about donating also if you had a soup kitchen or place in your area that serves the homeless or needy people in your area-we have a place that makes 2 meals per day and no questions are asked if you're hungry you can come in and eat---sometimes they will ask for donations (like for holidays) but I'm sure places like that would love any type of donation.....good luck

My local soup kitchens/food pantries cannot take food that is past the expired date, from what I hear (even though it's been frozen, and the expiration date was placed for eating fresh, or straight from the deli/store, etc).

Also, it can be surprisingly difficult to find a food pantry that will take donations of perishable foods - they haven't the certifications, or room, or something. I've tried. I would far prefer to donate large portions of meats and vegetables from my Costco runs (fresh and straight from Costco), than sodium heavy canned food, but...

[bolt.]

If we do not eat down the freezer within the next month or so, I'm going to have to ditch food :( Not a "bad" problem to have, but we've accumulated so much meat that it's becoming pretty chaotic. Problem is, I'm in a huge cooking rut.

 

Part of me would like to say that I'm buying NOTHING, except for fresh produce and milk, for the next month, until we eat it down. We have a large standing freezer in the basement, and with frequent Costco trips... well, yeah.

 

I'm not inspired by Google recipes. I like tried and true, because in all honesty - I'm NOT creative in the kitchen.

 

Besides the meat, I also have a huge bag of bell peppers that I need to use soon, and all the normal "staples" (pastas, rices, spices, flours, etc). In fact, that's the other problem - the pantry is beginning to feel the strain as well.

 

First - would it be doable to buy nothing but produce and milk (as far as food goes) for the next month? I really hate the idea of throwing out food, but it's got to the point that I've seen it sitting there for so long, that I'm just all "blah".

 

In my freezer currently, I have (in duplicate, for the most part):

 

Flank steak

9 lbs king crab

9 lbs jumbo shrimp

Turkey breasts

Chicken breasts

Pork loin chops

Lean pork roast

other porkchops

Hot Italian sausages

Whole ham

Brats

 

 

Any favorite recipes?

Ummm, ok, but it's going to sound stupid...

 

- thaw (and possibly marinate) flank steak; grill or cook on cast iron. Serve with 3 veg, and optional potatoes, gravy/au jus.

- thaw, slice and stir fry steak with veg and sauce, optional rice.

- thaw and cook crab. Serve with 3 veg and optional rice pilaf or white-sauce pasta

- oven roast turkey breasts (if they have skin) from frozen, 225* for 4+ hours until temp is safe. Serve with 3 veg and optional stovetop stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.

- thaw and poach/steam skinless chicken (or filets of turkey bread) breasts. Cool the meat, slice and serve on salads, as a cold-cut, in quesadillas, in soups or stews, stir fry, pasta, in sandwiches, etc.

- thaw (possibly marinate) pork chops; grill or cook on cast iron; serve with 3 veg and optional potatoes, gravy.

- thaw, slice and stir fry pork with veg & sauce, optional rice.

- oven roast pork roast from frozen 225* for 4+ hours, until proper temp. Spray with 'Pam' and sprinkle liberally with spices (onion powder, poutry seasoning, pepper, salt) before cooking. Serve with 3 veg, optional potato, apple sauce.

- thaw and grill Italian sausages. Serve with salad.

- thaw and roast brats. Serve with peirogies, 3 veg, sour cream.

- pasta with white sauce

- pasta with tomato sauce

- pasta with butter/oil, herbs, garlic, Parmesan (etc)

- fried rice

- bake breads and quick breads and cakes and cookies

 

Things to buy (besides produce, dairy, breads, and eggs)

 

- marinade pk (or recipe) for steak

- marinade pk (or recipe) for pork

- au jus pk (or beef bullion and thickener) or preferred steak gravy pk

- preferred gravy for pork chops

- stir fry sauce pk (or recipe) for beef

- stir fry sauce pk (or recipe) for pork

- stir fry sauce pk (or recipe) for chicken

- pilaf-for-rice recipe or pk

- stovetop stuffing

- turkey gravy pk (or bullion & thickener)

- cranberry sauce

- apple sauce

- peirogies

- sour cream

- white (creamy) sauce pk or recipe

- tomato sauce for pasta

- seasoning pk or recipe for fried rice

 

('pk' means packet -- those seasoning/gravy pouches... Know what I mean by that?)