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Friday, April 1, 2016

Cooking From Scrap

I have been kind of insane about using the food stores I still have in the freezer.  After all we are getting perilously close to restocking time (strawberry season is just around the corner) and that requires freezer space. Lots and lots of freezer space! And the only way I know to get said space is to use up the stuff that is already in there.  So that is exactly what we are I am doing. (Since  "we" eat whatever I cook I guess this really is a solitary operation with collateral cooperation.)

I was at my Wednesday class this week and after it was over we were talking about funny things kids say when one of the women said she had made a cake recently and her grandson wanted to know if she made it from "scrap" or a cake mix.  We laughed about it and I didn't think much about it again until last night, and I realized I truly had made supper from scrap.

Step 1: Realize it is after 6 and you have given not one thought to food prep
Step 2: Head for the freezer to see what is prepared (Hope there is something in the very back you                   have overlooked because you don't remember anything.)
Step 3: Find 4 cooked boneless chicken thighs, 1/4 bag of chopped broccoli, and 6 unbaked frozen                 biscuits
Step 4: Stand in front of the pantry looking for anything inspirational, settle on a can of cream of                     asparagus soup (Only cream of anything soup in the pantry)
Step5: Find 1/2 block of  cheddar cheese (slightly moldy but salvageable)
Step 6: Cut the mold off the cheese, which reduces it by half.
Step 5: Salvage 1 cup of cauliflower 2 ribs of celery and 8 mushrooms from the crisper
Step 6: Grab one onion from the basket
Step 7 : PUNT!

This has no name but really was kind of tasty, or maybe it wasn't but we were hungry and anything would have tasted good.  No really it was pretty tasty.

Almost Pot Pie

Chop the frozen cooked chicken into bite size pieces and put in a bowl.  Add the broccoli, chop the cauliflower, celery and onion and throw it in the bowl also. Slice the mushrooms and toss them into the mix, then stir in the cream of whatever soup mix.  Spread it into a baking pan, top with foil and stick it into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Take it out of the oven and remove the foil. Give everything a good stir and add a little water if necessary. (I added about 1/4 cup).  Salt and pepper then grate the cheese evenly (sparingly?) over the top.  Add the biscuits, bump the heat up to 400 and bake until the biscuits are done.  Eat and enjoy knowing your freezer is a little lighter and you have used some produce that needed to be used right then.

Vow you will never be caught off guard with no plans for supper again.  Keep that vow at least until the next meal__ then repeat.


10 comments:

  1. I had to do a double take when I saw 'cooking from scrap' rather than 'cooking from scratch'. My pantry was almost empty by March 2nd as we ate as much as we could till I would re-buy anything. It took a few weeks, but we managed to devour almost everything in there. Some items were over a year old!
    Now, thankfully, we've restocked and back to square 1.
    Your dinner looked scrumptious. Good for you!!

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    1. It feels good to get things out of the freezer, but I know as soon as I have it somewhat empty I will begin filling it up again.

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  2. Hee Hee! You are funny! :)
    That looks like a pretty good "from scrap" meal to me!! :)
    I find that I am most creative when I am in a pinch. Sometimes it works out and the meal tastes like a carefully planned recipe and other times.... well, we just tend to not look back on those meals. :)

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    1. We eat some of those unmentionable meals also. A lot of them actually! And it was a good from scrap meal. I just never realized until Wednesday that I generally cook from scrap!

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  3. I do a lot of cooking from scrap. And sometimes it shows.

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    1. Oh me too! Usually those meals don't get the photo treatment through. We just eat them and move on to the next forgettable meal.

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  4. I like it--"Cooking from Scrap". That's what happens a lot here. It helps that you always seem to have some cooked chicken in the freezer. Cooking it ahead of time has served you well many times. BTW,Your dinner looks delicious.

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  5. I almost always have cooked chicken and browned ground beef in the freezer. When I buy in bulk (on sale) I buy a lot, cook and freeze it. Now instead of buying more I am trying to use everything.

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  6. That looks delish! Thanks for stopping by!!!

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    1. I stop by often, just don't comment, but the song was too lovely to not say something.

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