Often the meals that come out of this week aren't necessarily balanced between protein, starch (we often have meals without a starch anyway), fruits and veggies, but it is food none the less and it needs to be used up. I hate throwing out food but the only thing I hate more than that is having a freezer full of stuff and thinking there is nothing to eat. In a recent post I cleaned out and organized our freezers, so I was well aware that there was a ton of food in there that should be used. That's when I decided this week would be a week worth of meals made from what we already have!
For breakfast I usually have oatmeal and Roman will alternate between oatmeal and waffles that I batch cook and freeze. Luckily we have a decent supply of frozen blueberries so I put those on top of his waffles. Lunch is usually sandwiches, grilled cheese or leftovers from supper the night before. Lately Roman has been loving smoothies for snacks so that will be a great use for my frozen fruits, including my massive supply of frozen bananas. Now let's get to the suppers!
Monday
On my trip to the freezer this morning a package of pork ribs were speaking to me so I pulled them from the frosty box. I will be the first to admit that I don't really know how to cook ribs; John would be the second to admit that I don't. Obviously John couldn't cook the ribs this time since he was at work so it was left to me. I decided to rub Steeped Tea's Smoky Tea-aki Rub all over the ribs then seared them quickly in a lightly oiled, hot pan. I sliced up an onion and placed the slices in the bottom of a baking dish, then sat the seared ribs on the onions and dumped a good amount of BBQ sauce over top. I used a mixture of Kraft Hickory and a Budweiser sauce since that's all I had in the fridge. I baked the ribs at 375° for 45 minutes, flipping the ribs every hour or so. I made some home fries in my Actifry and for Roman I heated up some frozen veggies in the microwave.
When all was said and done the meat fell off the bone no problem *phew*. I thought they were pretty decent but apparently I underestimated the power of my ribs. John went on and on about them for over 2 hours. Apparently he is no longer cooking the ribs, I am. I guess this meal kinda back fired...
Pizza is always a great meal when you're running out of groceries because you can put anything on a pizza and it's delicious! I always make sure to pick up naan or pitas if I see them on the discount rack in the bakery because they freeze well and then I always have pizza crusts on hand. Today I decided to top our pita crusts with crushed tomatoes, sliced artichoke hearts (which I found in the freezer), onion, pepperoni (also discovered in the freezer), and of course cheese! I had originally planned to cook the pizza toppings in a pan before adding them to the pizza but I lost track of time so they had to go on raw. Luckily Roman was nice enough to help me slice up the onions so the prep went much faster! *NOTE: Don't panic he has a butter knife and I'm pretty sure it couldn't cut Jell-O.
Interesting fact, the key to a happy marriage in this house is making sure you burn a small pile of cheese on the baking sheet for John to scrape off and eat!
I thought it was fitting that Roman ate his pizza off a Ninja Turtles plate tonight. Roman loved the pepperoni slices on his pizza which surprised me because half a slice had my throat burning... *TIP - If there is one thing you ever teach your little ones, teach them to sit in a designated spot when you open the oven! I'm so glad I taught Roman this. Now all I have to do is open the door and he immediately sits in his spot. Makes it so much easier to cook when I don't have to worry about him getting into the oven. Now if only the dogs listened that well...
I came across five chicken breasts on the verge of being freezer burnt so I thought I had better use them up. There was also some asparagus in the fridge that were starting to look a little haggered so I decided to stuff those bad boys into the chicken along with some cream cheese that I found in the back of the now empty cheese drawer. To spice up the cream cheese I added some minced garlic, tarragon and coriander. I also spiced the outside of the chicken with salt, pepper and coriander.
This one might actually turn into a full recipe post because it was that good. Roman ate an entire chicken breast himself, along with 1/4 cup of peas, and some of John's chicken. Either my chicken was that good or I forgot to feed him lunch...
Tonight is a leftover night. We already had a few things left in the fridge before this week started so it was time to clear some of it out before it went bad. Plus we had company today and I didn't have a lot of time to cook. Tonight we finished up some beef with egg noodles that I made after reading a post on Organize Yourself Skinny. I didn't have all the ingredients for the beef so I made it up as I went. Roman absolutely gobbles this stuff up so I kinda wish I wrote down how I made it. Might have to give it another go and post it so I don't forget in the future.
The final day of cleaning out the fridge and freezer! Tonight wasn't anything super creative. I decided to pull out some sausage from the freezer. It's the Kirkland mild Italian sausage and honestly it's the best sausage I've had in a long time. Even though it's mild Italian it still has some good kick to it. I decided to pair it with the last of the asparagus, which I roasted in the oven with a little olive oil and some salt, and leftover mashed cauliflower that was in the fridge. It's basically the same as my Healthier Bangers & Mash recipe but with different veggies. Roman loved the sausage and inhaled an entire link along with the veggies! I don't know what we're going to do when this kid gets older. We'll have to buy stocks in veggies and a small herd of cattle just to keep him fed.
A week without groceries wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Actually if I really had to I could probably stretch it for another 3-4 days. Those meals wouldn't be very exciting but it's still food!
I'm about to get a little deep here so bare with me! Think about the amount of food that we just had sitting in our house, that is still in the house, and one week ago I thought we needed groceries because we didn't have anything to eat. It really makes you realize how fortunate we are to have access to quality, nutritious food and that we don't have to worry about where our next meal is going to come from. I do understand that there are people in this country that aren't as fortunate and I think we should really be doing more to correct this problem before we try to solve the hunger problems of other people around the world. Yes I'm aware that statement may be a little controversial but I'm willing to stick my neck out on that one. Next time you walk past the Food Bank Donation bin on your way out of the grocery store, consider tossing in an item or two, every little bit helps!
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