Col figured it out but no verdict yet

Col figured out that I had washed the beef "in purified water I hope". Sure, Col. We'll have for dinner tonight. It's only been one week and I had to use the rest of the sprouting potatoes and made shepherd's pie. I'm going to freeze it. Have a lot of food for us to eat in the fridge already. Had cabbage for at least three weeks so used that today to make stuffed cabbage - didn't get many good leaves but enough for at least three of us. I know Katy won't eat it. Made more lentil soup using sun dried tomatoes and one of the few remaining potatoes. Have four baby carrots left and about 5 onions. Also, have some lemongrass (yes lemongrass), and ginger. May be able to make a lemongrass soup with coconut milk.

Day 6 - chicken parm/pasta tonight

Have 11 frozen cutlet breasts from Costco. Not very big but will be making 5 - Matt and Margo may be eating here. Have enough parmesan and mozzarella. Made marinara sauce so we are set for today. Still have to figure out what to do with that beef stew - maybe just wash all the beef and make beef and orzo soup. Don't think I have any barley left. Carrots are running out too and we are only in week one! Why did I ever accept this challenge - really doubting that we will make it. Just have to remember what my dad said - they ate soup every day. We have been eating just fine all this time. The one good thing is that Col has peanut butter and pasta. Great for sesame noodles - much better than pb on cracker.

Some pics

Don't know how to add pics to the old posts, but here are some of the pics of the food I made

5 cans of clams instead of 3

Since we ended up having company, I used more clams than I was expecting. I was hoping to have linguine/clam sauce for 2 dinners. Now I will just make some manhattan clam chowder. Very little linguine left over - good for maybe 1 lunch. Matt has even been taking the soups to work - so they are going very far. When my father was dying, he told my brother Tim that since his family was so poor - they ate soup everyday. I can see where that is true. I make my soups so thick, they are more like a stew but very filling. Matt said he didn't even need a sandwich because he was full. I make great soups even in the summer - like gazpacho and vichyoisse (cold). I will have learned from our little challenge how to make our food dollar go further. We don't throw out leftovers and if we are not going to eat them - we feed what we can to the dogs. They are always appreciate of things like meatballs and pasta (hold the clams please!).

Today on to tackle the freezers. Looked yesterday and there are some things that I can't really identify. Have to do a better job of labeling the contents and the date. Since I have only been in NJ for 7 months - know the food can't be older than that.

Soup for breakfast

Well, I had spinach soup for breakfast (wanted to save the eggs) and lentil soup for lunch. Dinner still needs to be decided - I'll talk to Col about it. Came up with about 20 meals so far for dinner with the food I have on hand. Going to need to get more creative.

Day 1 Meals Made

So far, I made lentils and pasta soup with mint (Middle Eastern version) just like my dad made, ratatouille without the peppers - didn't have any, and acini di pepe pasta with spinach soup. Going to clean out my refrigerator so that I can store all the stuff I made so far.