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Clearing the Fridge
- Aug 12, 2009 at 12:15 AM
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We're leaving on a vacation Thursday, midday. One of the habits I've gotten from my mom is that of clearing the fridge of potential perishables in the days before leaving. So tonight we had a rather exotic looking stew that conveniently made use of most of the items still lingering. All of the following happened in my crock pot, which has gotten quite a workout in the past 10 days. I've been so busy trying to clear the other apartment that this kitchen is an absolute disaster that I'm about to head out and rectify. The crock pot has been a godsend.
Anyway, while moving, I discovered about 2 pounds or so of lamb stew meat purchased back before Passover and completely forgotten about until the move. So I started with that, veggie bouillion, and water. Then the last of the baked beans turned into baked bean soup last night, a couple serving's worth. About 45 minutes before dinner, I added most of a gallon freezer bag of frozen veggies (onions, green peppers, carrots) and a cup of dry couscous. Along the way, rosemary, summer savory, allspice, cumin, and coriander also found their way into the pot. The veggies were in the pot the perfect amount of time - they still have their color, they still have good vegetable texture but they were in long enough to also add their flavors to the stew. And the couscous thickened the whole thing up beautifully. It's going to be dinner tomorrow night, Ranger Daddy's take to work meal, and anything left I'll pop into the freezer until we get back.
Most of the eggs will be gone by the time I'm done baking tomorrow, leaving half and half and some ricotta cheese as the only potential perishables. I'm making empanadas tomorrow for traveling sweets so the ricotta will probably find it's way into some of those, sweetened with agave syrup and enriched with eggs. That sounds REALLY good right now! I wish I had some cookie dough ready to work with. The half and half, I have NO idea. Actually, I think that stuff can be frozen without degrading the quality too much. :=D I'll freeze the sucker tomorrow when I'm done baking.
I think there are a couple mystery containers in the back whose contents will end up in the garbage tonight but that should pretty much do it. If I can get the floors clean, the kitchen clean, and the laundry done before we leave town, the pile of boxes in the dinning room will seem less daunting upon our return. The two bedroom boxes I need to do before we leave since they hold some of the clothes I want to pack for the trip. Yay! More things to do. But I can do it. I got the old apartment pretty good. I can bake, clean, pack/unpack in about a day and a half. Yup, this I can do. Vacations are for resting after all!
Anyway, while moving, I discovered about 2 pounds or so of lamb stew meat purchased back before Passover and completely forgotten about until the move. So I started with that, veggie bouillion, and water. Then the last of the baked beans turned into baked bean soup last night, a couple serving's worth. About 45 minutes before dinner, I added most of a gallon freezer bag of frozen veggies (onions, green peppers, carrots) and a cup of dry couscous. Along the way, rosemary, summer savory, allspice, cumin, and coriander also found their way into the pot. The veggies were in the pot the perfect amount of time - they still have their color, they still have good vegetable texture but they were in long enough to also add their flavors to the stew. And the couscous thickened the whole thing up beautifully. It's going to be dinner tomorrow night, Ranger Daddy's take to work meal, and anything left I'll pop into the freezer until we get back.
Most of the eggs will be gone by the time I'm done baking tomorrow, leaving half and half and some ricotta cheese as the only potential perishables. I'm making empanadas tomorrow for traveling sweets so the ricotta will probably find it's way into some of those, sweetened with agave syrup and enriched with eggs. That sounds REALLY good right now! I wish I had some cookie dough ready to work with. The half and half, I have NO idea. Actually, I think that stuff can be frozen without degrading the quality too much. :=D I'll freeze the sucker tomorrow when I'm done baking.
I think there are a couple mystery containers in the back whose contents will end up in the garbage tonight but that should pretty much do it. If I can get the floors clean, the kitchen clean, and the laundry done before we leave town, the pile of boxes in the dinning room will seem less daunting upon our return. The two bedroom boxes I need to do before we leave since they hold some of the clothes I want to pack for the trip. Yay! More things to do. But I can do it. I got the old apartment pretty good. I can bake, clean, pack/unpack in about a day and a half. Yup, this I can do. Vacations are for resting after all!
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