Author: Livia N

Okay, so there was a lot of food cooking this weekend. The lamb was around the tenth level of awesome, and I ended up having someone to help me eat it – and *still* had leftovers. And then I made stock… even though I have no room in my freezer. Right. So. Making lists.

Bread products
heel ends of honey wheat loaf
tortilla chips
pita bread
banana bread (brought that into work and am eating it now)

Meat products
1/2 leg of lamb (packaged up and ready to be frozen as soon as I sort through and compact the freezer) – frozen
roasted lamb leftovers
1 sandwich-worth of cold cuts
stock on the stove in the fridge

Dairy
whole milk (reaching expiration fairly soon)
gorgonzola cheese
habanero cheese slices
horseradish cheddar
sour cream
yogurt cheese
tzatziki sauce
seasoned yogurt sauce

Produce
carrots
lemons?
grapes
jalepeno peppers
6 tomatoes
partial head of red lettuce
spinach
2 cucumbers
1 zucchini
scallions
2 bananas
leftover mashed potatoes

Monday (no commitments)
strain stock and put in fridge
clean out freezer
sandwich: bread ends, cold cuts, lettuce, habanero cheese, tomato, seasoned yogurt sauce
maybe also a bowl of cereal with a banana

Tuesday(no commitments)
risotto: lamb stock, red wine, truffle essence, zucchini, sour cream, spinach?
freeze risotto
lamb & spinach curry
And cucumber and tomatoes – should I marinate in balsamic or a lighter vinegar and dill?

Wednesday
1/2 day, going out to dinner with my mom

Thursday
dinner after work with <[redacted]> and [redacted] – ACK! Are you guys picky eaters? Could I cook? Please?

I’m feeling a bit self conscious about all the food lists. Here’s part of the deal – growing up, we always had plenty of food. We could have fed an army (a large one) for a month through careful management of the food stores in our house at any time. But that also meant that where was a good deal of wastage in our vegetable drawer.

So if I make lists and keep track of everything, I can (theoretically) eat everything before it spoils and I won’t waste. There you go.

Okay, so in this entry I scheduled the food consumption for the entire week. And I still had to freeze a piece of meat to wait until the following week.

Only now my grocery store is having some nice meat specials:
boneless skinless chicken breasts: $1.58/lb
beef chuck steak (with bone): $.99/lb
mutton (MUTTON!): $1.99/lb
(note: specials end on Friday)

And my freezer is just about full!

Oh noes!

So now I need to figure out how to use up the things in my freezer before such time as the meat would be in dire need of freezing.

Things in my freezer
in the door:
-packets of frozen chicken breasts (6 or so)
-packets of frozen ground beef (3)
-packet of frozen ground beef cooked with taco seasoning (1 large)
-box of phyllo dough
-frozen steaks (2)
-partial bag of pecans

far left:
-stacks of frozen lunches (these can be moved to work, but I like to reserve the space for future lunches)
-boxes of butter (2)
-pint of peach sorbet
-there’s a thin box of something I can’t remember what
-bag of corn (1)
-bag of peas (1/4)
-container with frozen egg whites
-container with frozen waste grease
-small container of chicken fat

far right:
-ice cube container
-ice cube trays (3) (2 are freezing coconut milk)
-bag with 5 bagels
-marinating london broil
-failed rolls (my mother made them – they are terrible rolls, but great as bread in soup or other things, very tasty, but poor texture)

middle: (most likely to be easily used up)
-gallon bag of chicken stock ice cubes
-quart bag of chicken stock ice cubes
-gallon bag of chicken gravy ice cubes
-gallon bag (so far half full) of coconut milk ice cubes
-tray of fat back cut into strips (I can give this to my mother)
-bacon rind
-bacon (1lb)
-bag of 2 bagels (2)
-bag of 3 bagels (1) – (I can give this one to [redacted])
-chicken backs
-small bottle of vodka (2)

So it looks like I should either make soup or eat a lot of bagels, and I’m not really ready to do either.

Conclusion: If I make a lot of soup, will someone else eat it for me?

Bread products
tortilla chips
1 roll
1 loaf of honey wheat bread

Produce
carrots
celery
lemons
turnip greens
snow peas
2 very ripe tomatoes
potatoes
grapes
jalepeno peppers

Dairy
whole milk
cheese cubes
gorgonzola cheese
brie cheese
habanero cheese slices
horseradish cheddar
roquefort cheese made into salad dressing
goat cheese (sealed – will keep for a bit)

Meat
London Broil (has been put into freezer, marinade and all)
1/3 lb turkey cold cuts

Monday (check out Rite Aid closing sale)
sandwich: cold cuts, spicy cheese, fancy mayo, tomato, (turnip greens?), jalepeno peppers, wheat bread

Tuesday (take grapes to work)
Sandwich: tomato, brie, jalepeno pepper, wheat bread

Wednesday (see Cassendre Xavier at the Rotunda until late)
sleazy cheesy dip and chips

Thursday (Devil Wears Prada screening)
leave work at 12:30
lunch = sandwich (big so that I can order cheap things for dinner)
Farmers’ market – buy salad greens?
dinner = eat out

Friday (don’t leave the house)
Cereal for breakfast
Snow Peas – stir fried with lemons & jalepeno peppers?
Mashed potatoes (with milk and misc cheeses)
Make chicken stock?
put London Broil to thaw for Sunday

Saturday (game night)
breakfast – cheese biscuits?
farmers’ market – maybe Rittenhouse Square one, if salad greens aren’t good enough on Thursday

Sunday
grill London Broil

Monday
bread pudding?