January is over (can you believe that?!) and I thought I’d do a quick report on my “slow month” challenge. My last post was this past Sunday and I haven’t bought any groceries since. That means the grand total for the month is (drum roll, please):
$137.81
I’m really pleased with that, especially since it includes an order from the coop. My refrigerator is less full and I have a tiny bit of room now in my freezer. I still haven’t defrosted and organized it so I only have a vague notion of what lies below the top layer. I’ve used several items from it but then I’ve made things which ended up in there (ie. muffin bread and hamburger buns).
I have tried some new recipes:
- muffin bread
- naan bread
- Masoor Dal
- curried coleslaw
- hamburger buns
- black bean burgers
- chicken noodle soup (a variation from my usual recipe)
The muffin bread was perhaps the biggest hit. I’ve been wanting to find a homemade substitute for English muffins, a favorite of mine. This stuff is amazing and so easy to make. I don’t foresee any reason to buy English muffins anymore.
The naan bread was tasty but a little time consuming. I had quite a few leftover, though, so those are in the freezer for Indian meals.
The Masoor Dal was good. I was wanting some new ways to use that huge jar of lentils, this was a good choice.
I had half a head of cabbage and needed a side dish for the Masoor Dal. I looked up a recipe and then adapted it. I had used part of a can of crushed pineapple for something else so I added some, along with a bit of change to the dressing. It was really good and something I would make again.
I’ve made hamburger buns before but couldn’t recall what recipe I’d used. I looked up one online and found one on the King Arthur flour site. It had 5 star reviews from everyone so I gave it a try. It was superb and will now be my go-to recipe.
I’ve also made black bean burgers before but had seen one which used quinoa which I wanted to try. It was quite tasty and I now have four leftover burgers in my freezer.
I’ve made chicken noodle soup many times but this version was a little different in that I used dried minced onion instead of my usual fresh onion. I did this because I only had one onion left and planned to use it in a later meal. The funny thing is, this “short cut” made the BEST broth. I will be doing it that way from now on.
So, what have I run out of or wished I had? Chips! We don’t eat a lot of them but I really like a small handful whenever I eat a sandwich. Today I had a tuna sandwich on one of those yummy homemade hamburger buns and would have loved to have 5 or 6 barbecue chips alongside. We are now out of lettuce, too. Chris and Kadi ate with us last night and made a salad to bring over so that was nice. And tonight I will be using the fresh spinach for our salad. But I will definitely be picking up some lettuce over the weekend. I like to have salad with almost every dinner.
It sounds amazing but that’s really all we’ve missed. Oh, one other thing but it wasn’t a big deal. When I made the chicken soup I used fettucini noodles because we were out of egg noodles. That wouldn’t be my first choice but it was fine.
Lisa and I will be going to Oklahoma City to grocery shop this coming week. She didn’t shop during January, either. I’ll have an Azure Standard coop order the following week and I’m going to place my first order with the Oklahoma Food Coop, too. Those will both be small orders and the main things I’ll be buying when we shop next week will be produce and pasta.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get my rear in gear and organize the freezer. I’ll make a list of everything in it and then plan my meals utilizing those items.
My goals for February:
- take out my sprouter and use it (I bought an assortment of sprouting seeds which arrived the other day)
- make large batch of flour tortillas and freeze some
- make granola
- try at least three new recipes utilizing ingredients I have on hand
- start a batch of sourdough starter
- make broth from the vegetable scraps I’ve collected in the freezer
- make big pot of chicken noodle soup and freeze in lunch-size containers
Funny how much of what you're planning to do are things I've recently started/tried and things I want to do. I got an order of assorted sprout mixes through Amazon and have been trying them every week. I tried sourdough starter, but I didn't know what I was doing so I plan to try it again. I'll follow you to see any tips you might have. 😉 I've fallen away from making my own vegetable stock and recently started collecting scraps again since it's so easy to make from scratch – and free!
You know I've read on some 'emergency' food lists to keep your favorite snacks on hand. I know from being poor so many years that it's often the little things that make a difference in keeping things bearable. I don't ever have enough on hand to have extra….we'll eat them every single one if they are in the house. BUT I do keep chocolate which comes in handy, lol.
Cherie: The sourdough starter I've had the best success with uses instant potatoes and I'm not sure if I want to go that route or not. I'm going to Whole Foods this week and if they have an organic version I will probably do that but if not I'm going to go a different route. I'll be sure to blog about it.
Terri: We aren't generally snackers but I consider chocolate a necessity. At the very least, I always have some organic chocolate chips. Sometimes a woman just has to have chocolate. And wine. Ha!