~ from my home to yours, living the Working Pantry lifestyle ~ surviving today's economy ~ a can-do spirit and attitude ~

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

My Pantry Is ...

When we think of our pantries most of the time we think of using them to get through the 'here and now' ... the daily stuff ... getting the family fed and such.  But, my pantry is so much more than a means to get through the daily stuff, its ...

Our rainy day fund …
… it helps us deal with short term/temporary financial setbacks.  Setbacks such as unexpected medical bills, vehicle repairs, etc that use up the weekly or monthly food budget allotment.

Our insurance policy …
…  it has seen us through long term financial upsets like job loss and income reduction.

Our store house …
… it gives us the convenience of shopping when we want instead of when we have too. It allows us to be able to wait for sales and not have to pay full price which in turn stretches our food budget even more.

… it saw us through the aftermath of all the devastation of Hurricane Matthew last fall with ease and enabled us to be able to help others.  Enough said!

What is your pantry to you?

patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

You can follow A Working Pantry on Facebook and Instagram. 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site via one of these ways. Your expressions of appreciation help me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Use It ALL Up! ... Fruit

Here's a timely post by Vicky from the Vicky Challenge for finding a use for fruit ... all of the fruit ... not just the meat part.  There's lots to be gleaned ....  (Thank you Vicky!)

Over to Vicky ...

Today let's talk about fruit. Summer many of us find that we have an abundance of it and of course we can and freeze the extra, but we can do much more with it and add variety to the weekly menu plan, use up some of the excess we have and in some cases use up some of the items in the pantry that need used and rotated and also have some gifts and add to the medicinals. Over the years I have strived to have as little waste as possible when it comes to food, but sometimes one does get tired of the same thing over and over. And the animals getting some and composting is a given, but we can do more! For some this may not be new information, but for some it will be so let's have a look.

A few sliced and frozen bananas and a couple of cups of frozen fruit blended in the blender and frozen in a container make a great sherbet.

No ice cream maker needed ice cream is a can of sweetened condensed milk and a few cups of whipping cream whipped(before it's added)  with a little vanilla and add whatever kind of goodies you like from chunks of fruit to nuts, raisins, chocolate, etc. If you have sweetened condensed milk that needs used up this tastes good.

With some fruit puree, juice and gelatin homemade fruit snacks can be made for the kids

Ice and fresh or frozen fruit pureed in the blender and topped of with 7Up, ginger ale or club soda is refreshing in the summer

Sorbet is easy to make and popped in the freezer even without an ice cream maker

Apple peels, peach and pear peels and cores can be used to make cider vinegar or any peels can make flavored vinegars or vodkas

Citrus peels can be candied and if someone likes them they make great gifts too

Citrus peels can be dehydrated and ground into powder and then dissolved in water to make homemade vitamin C powder

Citrus peels can be grated and frozen for zest

Of course citrus peels steeped in vinegar for cleaning

A few cups of whipping cream whipped, a little sugar and vanilla and pureed fruit makes a tasty whip (one of my favorites)

Some fruit in the crockpot topped with a cake mix and some dots of butter is an easy cobbler

Sugar cookie dough can have bits of fruit added

Add bits of fruit to pancakes before making them

And although not a fruit I save potato peels in cold water and then drain them really well and coat them in a little oil and seasoning and then bake them for crispy potato skins

I hope there are some ideas here that are helpful!
XOXO
Vicky

Can you add anything to Vicky's list of ways to use every part of the fruit?

patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

You can follow A Working Pantry on Facebook and Instagram. 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site via one of these ways. Your expressions of appreciation help me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Saving Space in Our Pantries!

Recently, a group of us Working Pantry folks had a discussion on condensing things down to save space in our pantries.  Everyone kicked in some really good suggestions and I thought you might benefit from reading some of the ideas everyone shared. (Thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas.)

Use baskets or plastic bins to store like items together such as pouches, envelopes, prepackaged spice mixes, bags of items, toothpaste that has been taken out of the box, razors that have been taken out of their box or container, etc.

Keep plastic lids in a plastic bin so they aren't all over the cupboard and in one spot.  Who among us hasn’t wrestled with plastic lids!

Take band aids out of their boxes and store them in a plastic container with dividers, dividing by size, etc or store them in plastic school pencil containers or take them out of the boxes and put them in plastic bags.  Label the bags and put them in a clear sweater box.

Plastic drawer units are good for storing tubes of antibiotics, creams, salves, etc.

Many times over the counter medications and vitamins come in a bottle that is not all the way full, combine multiple bottles into one.  Just make sure they have the same expiration date & lot number.

Use glass jars as storage containers.  It makes it easy to see what’s inside and how much. Old mayo jars are good for this as are empty gallon pickle jars.  Some things to store are:  herbs, beans, pasta, sugar, mixes, etc.  You can also repackage anything dry such as cereal, chocolate chips, etc. in jars.  (If you have a vacuum sealer to seal jars, that’s even better.)

Speaking of cereal, you can take it out of the box and put in a vacuum sealer bag, you should able to stack the sealed bags or store them in a basket or bin.  Make sure to write what kind it is on the bags.

Repackage pastas, sugar, rice, flour and other bulk stuff into 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids.

Take freezer and storage bags out of their boxes and store them in clear bins.  Be sure to label the bin with the size.

Repackage frozen foods such as pizza rolls, fish sticks, perogies, etc. Re-bag them and save all kinds of space. If you need the cooking directions, use a sharpie and write it on the freezer bag you re-bagged them in or cut the cooking instructions from the box and slip it inside of the freezer bag.

Cover mandarin orange type boxes with contact paper and store condiments, bbq sauces, soy sauce, etc.  You can put cases of canned goods under them to maximize shelf space.

What can you add to this topic of condensing things down and saving space in our pantries?

patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

You can follow A Working Pantry on Facebook and Instagram. 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site via one of these ways. Your expressions of appreciation help me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Squash Casserole

I don't know about you, but there are times when I just don't have time to prepare a meal from scratch!   But then, neither do I want the expense of eating out or just grabbing 'whatever' when time is of the essence and the family needs to be fed.  My solution ... freezer cooking!

For the purposes of this post and my intentions, freezer meals are meals or sides prepared ahead of time and frozen ready to thaw and cook when needed.  My goal is to build up a good supply of freezer meals in my freezer for use when needed.

Since we're harvesting lots of squash right now and since we really like squash casserole, I decided the first thing I would prepare would be squash casseroles.

Here's the recipe I used:

1 quart (about 6 small) yellow squash
1/2 to 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup cracker crumbs or bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup milk

Boil squash and onions in salted water until tender, drain.
Mash squash and onions with remaining ingredients, combing well.
Plae in buttered casserole dish
Bake at 425 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until done.



Labeled and ready for the freezer, complete with cooking directions and the date it was prepared and frozen.

As you can see I froze them in tinfoil pans.

Do you do any freezer cooking?  What are your tried and true favorites?  Do you have any freezer cooking tips to share?


patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

If you are encouraged by what you read here, please consider supporting this site via one of these ways. Your expressions of appreciation help me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.