~ from my home to yours, living the Working Pantry lifestyle ~
seasoned homemaker * gardener * keeper of my home * food preservation * herbs * sensible preparedness * working with my hands * can do spirit and attitude * home economy * pantry * student of God's Word * sewing * wisdom that comes with age * self-care * looking well to the ways of my household

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Use It Up Food Challenge: 3/17/24

 What is a 'Use It Up Food' challenge?

 It's about food waste or more specifically not wasting food ...

 It's about repurposing our leftovers into another dish,

 It's about using every part of fruits and vegetables,

 It's about using up the really small amounts of food ...

It's about using up food scraps, peels and stems ...

It's about being mindful of every bit of food that comes in and through our kitchens and finding a use for it ... all of it!

That's our purpose for this series, so, how did we do this week?

It started with about a half of loaf of potato flake sourdough bread that needed to be used ...


I sliced it into about half inch slices ...


and then cut it into cubes for croutons ...


next, I sprinkled the following seasonings over the 4 cups of bread cubes along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and mixed gently in a bowl ... 

(all measurements are approximate)

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons ground up Italian seasoning 

(I used a grinder like this one to grind up the Italian seasoning.)


I spread the mixture on a dehydrator sheet over a tray and placed them in the dehydrator at 110 degrees for about an hour.  You can also dry them in a flat pan in a 350-degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.


Here they are ... I'm letting them cool completely before adding a lid.  

(These will be a nice addition to the salad greens that are just about ready to start harvesting from my garden.)

Yet one more thing, I can add to the list of things I can make instead of buy and it started with a half loaf of sourdough bread that needed to be used!

What leftover, bits and bobs, etc of food did you use up this week?

With this post, our Use It Up Food Challenge is going away until later in the year.  Gardening season is in full swing in our area which means I need to clear my schedule.  I will continue to write my Hunkering Down posts on Fridays and my A Journal of My Days posts on Mondays, but for now our Use It Up Food Challenge is going to be paused.  I hope you understand.

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

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

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

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12 comments:

  1. Thank you for your ideas! I'm not so good at using up stuff.

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    1. Laurie, it's a learning process and we all learn from each other.

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  2. I understand you need for more time. I need to do croutons in the next few days because I am out of them. I have some bags of bread crusts in the freezer. I do mine in the air fryer. It dries them so well that I can make them in quantity and vacuum seal them. They keep for months that way.

    I poured a half gallon of milk into a glass jug two days before it's date and we were able to use it for 4 days past the date and then the rest for baking after that when the taste went off. Those old thrift store juice jugs have saved us untold dollars in milk over the last 6-7 years.

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    1. And you're going to laugh but we had some ice cream treats on cones in the freezer for a long time that the cones were soft when we bought them. At first I said to throw them out but then we decided to eat the tops off all of them and throw away the cones. The top is where the good stuff is anyway.

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    2. Lana, you better believe the top of the ice cream cone is where the good stuff is ... I would have done the same thing!

      The next time I make croutons, I'll have to use the air-fryer. I didn't think of that!

      That's a really good milk tip!

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    3. 390 degrees for 6-7 minutes

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  3. We love homemade croutons. I save the end slices of the bread and other crusts. I've also seasoned them with Mary's Nest poultry seasoning and saved them for stuffing. Sure saves a lot around the holidays. This week I made stock out of all the bones that were saved in the freezer which yielded 3 quarts. I had a few bits and bobs of cheese and steak but not enough for 2 meal, I also had about an ounce and a half of uncooked rotini in the pantry so that got cooked up , 4 strips of bacon and salad veggies were added to the mix and we had a lovely dinner with a garlic bread side. Cookie

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    1. Cookie, your meal made from 'scraps of food' sounds delicious! This is the kind of thing, I'm trying to improve upon!

      I get so much inspiration and healthy recipes from Mary's Nest!

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  4. I make jams and jellies for the food pantry at my church. First I made apple butter and caramel apple jam. Then I put the peels and cores in a pot, covered them with water, and boiled them until soft. I strained it and made apple jelly. Then I composted the peels and cores. I ended up with 13 jars of apple butter, 10 jars of caramel apple jam, and 26 jars of apple jelly from 3/4 of a bushel of apples.

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    1. I am impressed!!!! Talk about getting the most out of 3/4 bushel of apples!

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  5. I took 1/2 of the leftovers and made"Chinese" meal with it. Took the other half and made 123 pasta meal. I use leftover bread for French toast or bread pudding. We don't use bread crumbs( I use oatmeal in meatloaf and meatballs) or croutons hardly at all. I seldom use panko crumbs. Very seldom eat stuffing/dressing. We will also toss leftovers into eggs for a meal. I try to cook veggies that will combine together if we don't eat all of them . Like corn one day, green beans the next and toss what ever is left the 3rd day together. Peas and carrots is another, cauliflower and broccoli and add carrots if not enough to make another meal.My Nonna always tossed leftovers in a soup pot she kept in the frig for Saturday nights. Her big meal of the week was Sunday.

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  6. I used the last of the whey from the cheese I made a week or so ago. I used it to mix up both bread and waffles this past week. I used every last drop of that 'not quite good' milk. This week I sorted out the 'ready-made' foods basket. We are eating those this week rather than making new meals. Funny thing, one of these was not a favorite when I had my family living here, hence it had been in the freezer quite a long while. John exclaimed over and over again tonight how good it was. It certainly made an easy supper! Terri @bluehousejournal

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