Wednesday, November 30, 2022

My Wednesday Pantry - Kitchen Talk

      I guess this is a sort of a free for all, but on the state of my kitchen, pantry, fridge, and freezer. I've cleared the fridge of leftovers from the comings and goings of the long weekend. There's a few things like  containers holding a meals worth of cheesy potatoes and bean soup intentionally reserved in the freezer. Wait, one more bowls worth of soup is left for my lunch today. It will be welcome as it's going to stay below 20° until after 12:00. I made it Sunday, sent home a jar with my daughter, and kept one for us. It was cold and snowy yesterday, so perfect for a soup and sandwich supper. 

     Sluggy's November food post reminded me that I'm clueless of what I spent in the month. I'm going to try and pay more attention in December, and start tracking in January. With DH's pending retirement, I need to know if my budget is realistic. We'll want treats and special meals occasionally, but just like bean soup on a snowy day, I'm happy for simpler fare day to day. I'd just like more variety than days of leftovers. 

     Are you still doing a lot of eggs? I've found we're eating fewer. DH used to have them a couple times a week as sandwiches or breakfast burritos, but has learned towards bagels and cereal lately. I bake more with flax seed eggs than real eggs as I like to share with my daughter. It's not so much the eye watering price as it is were just eating fewer as eggs. I made brunch the other day thanks to seeing sausage links at Kwik Trip at $2.99 a package. Eggs, sausage, toast, and leftover cheesy potatoes was a feast. Even at $4 a dozen, I can make a broccoli or spinache and cheese quiche or egg bake, for about $1.25 a portion. I'll probably add more egg meals to December. 

     By happenstance, I saw packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts at $1.69 a pound. I grabbed a package that had about 1.5 pounds. I should have grabbed more but didn't have a cart or basket as I ran in for just one thing. I already had plenty of chicken, but at that price, might get some more. My sister in law made chicken cordon bleu the other night. It was ok, but over baked a bit so dry. I'll perhaps stuff these with cheese and spinach and coat with bread crumbs for a little change in just the same baked option. 

     No recipes to share today, or much if anything but rambling. What are you thinking kitchen and pantry heading into December? Are you on a simple track or do you start the decadence and fancy stuff all month? 

I thought this meme was funny, and feels like the state of my kitchen from time to time. 


25 comments:

  1. We do use a lot of eggs but thankfully we get backyard chicken eggs either free from one friend or 2.00 a dozen from another. I always have 2-3 dozen eggs on hand. We have breakfast for dinner once or twice a month.

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    1. I wouldn't want to care for chickens but that is sure a benefit. I had breakfast for supper once in a while when kids were young.

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  2. December will be my big spend on groceries month. My pantry is well stocked but, Uncle will spend some time here, possibly 2-3 weeks. Also, SIS and BIL will be here to celebrate the New Year. I make everybody's favorite side dishes. Hard to believe another year is almost over.

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    1. Enjoy your company. Do others live in Turkey too or do they travel internationally?

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  3. I don't eat a lot of eggs, as I typically have a "brunch" type of meal after a workout, and I'm usually trying to eat leftovers of some sort. I love breakfast sandwiches, but don't have as much time to make them, and don't want the other food to go to waste. M eats his fair share of eggs, however.

    M grilled a big batch of chicken on Monday, so we will have leftovers of that tonight. Maybe with pasta, or perhaps samosas. We have a bit of rice leftover, as well as one serving of butternut squash soup.

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    1. It makes sense to use up those leftovers for your post workout. Your body probably craves a meal.

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  4. My November food expenses were higher than normal but we had 3 extra bodies in the house for a week and that makes a lot of difference. From now until a couple of days before Christmas I plan on having pretty simple meals. We ate a lot of heavy foods over the past week and need to lighten things a lot.

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    1. If my son makes it home, no doubt I'll add $100-150 just to be able to spoil him a bit! I made a very successful chicken and pasta dish last night. It was not light though- sort of Alfredo like sauce.

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  5. I generally eat an egg and tomato sandwich every morning(sometimes I add cheese) and the price of eggs is just……oatmeal nor cereal seems to hold me and I am starving if I eat either one by 10 am at work… Cindy in the South

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    1. Even at $4, it's still under 40¢ an egg, so not a bad choice. As I don't eat until after 12 usually, I too have leftovers but I like a good egg sandwich or burrito too.

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  6. We eat a lot of eggs, if you have eggs you’ll never go hungry. The three dogs all have an egg each day as well.
    Happenstance is a great word. Megan

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    1. My pup loves a bit of scrambled egg. I save a bit for him when I make them. Three dogs? Two are doing me in, lol.

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  7. I am not feeling like cooking, which is unusual for me. I actually haven't even felt like eating a proper meal, either. In fact, none of us have. Last night, I made a meatloaf, but nobody felt like eating, so it went straight to the freezer. Since having chickens, I only buy local eggs from neighbors, at $4/ dozen, or certified humane. My girls stopped laying for the season...and as tgey are (3 years old, are probably finished.) When we build a run with a roof, we will add some more girls. Generally, I only use eggs for baking, although D.H. does love an egg sandwich...but I am not grocery shopping, or fixing any food for anybody until they snap out of their picky eating funk.

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    1. Fend for themselves is a great plan for you until the kitchen bug comes back. It is frustrating to cook and have food ignored.

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  8. I'm on a kick of cleaning out my cupboards, pantry and freezer too. I just ruthlessly threw out 2 bags of noodles well past their expired dates and some rice paper wrappers. I have been going through finding things like 2 open packages of coconut! Why did I buy 4 cans of evaporated milk during the pandemic?

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    1. There's a ton my daughter brought back from school that needs to be scrutinized. I'm sure most is quite outdated by now.

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  9. I order prime rib as it's the only thing Hubby asks for at Christmas as his Dad's mom always fixed it. I haven't bought eggs in years, Amish neighbor keeps me supplied and when she over runs me, I freeze them whole for baking and noodles when her hens aren't laying enough. We usually have 3-5 dinners that we take something so I try to make it from what I have in the pantry. Hubby's mom said she was waiting closer to Christmas to decide what they were doing because of all the flu, Covid and RSV and the stomach bug.

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    1. I wouldn't begin to know how to cook prime rib. There is a lot of illness again. We're having to not just live with Covid, but all the other viruses that really are bad now. How old is your hubs mom? You have five generations! That's incredible.

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  10. The great thing about winter has got to be soup! It tastes great and you can more or less throw any odds and sods in and it turns out great!

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    1. I definitely will be making soup this weekemd. Probably chicken tortilla as so many shared their versions. I have both bean and chicken noodle frozen too.

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  11. Okay, I’m totally stealing your stuffed chicken breast idea for dinner. I have a ton of frozen spinach and leftover cream from thanksgiving that needs to go and a lot of cream cheese for some reason. It’s a perfect day to put the oven on and have a nice hot meal. I think I’ll add some mushrooms to it as well. Eggs don’t agree with me, and that’s putting it mildly. I did get two farm fresh eggs to try and see if they are any better but I’m nervous. I miss eating eggs. JoAnn

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    1. I love the stuffed chicken breasts. They are easy to make and feel a bit indulgent. I'm sorry eggs don't work for you.

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  12. Even at the price, eggs are still a good source of protein for the money. Our chickens are down to about one egg a day and are going into the season where they don't lay. They will start up again in the spring. $1.69 is a really good buy for chicken breasts.

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    1. I'll have to get some more chicken, then get creative so we don't get bored. I agree that while the price might be high now, penny for penny eggs are still an economical source to build a meal around.

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  13. I am not much of an egg person. I cannot eat them in the morning at all. Sometimes I make a nice salad, add a hard boiled egg to it and just have that for dinner.

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