Food Waste Update; Old Oranges

Today was the second no spend day for the year. I wanted to spend a good portion of today baking so little Abe and I started bread dough early in the afternoon. Then, I knew that I had three old oranges that I needed to either use or dispose of so I went to pinterest looking for an orange cake recipe. I settled on one but as usual I majorly altered it. I only wanted to make half of what the recipe called for. I didn't have any concentrated orange juice, and lets face it I'm virtually incapable of following a recipe to a T. The very delicious looking recipe that I chose for inspiration for our chocolate mousse covered orange cake is HERE Our old oranges cake didn't end up being the best cake we've ever eaten but it was still a special treat.

Wait, "chocolate mousse covered" you say? The recipe for that is HERE. I've posted a link to this particular recipe a few times because the chocolate mousse portion is possibly the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. And the chocolate cake recipe results in the tastiest chocolate cake I've ever made. When I do make this chocolate cake I not only follow the recipe exactly for both the cake and the mousse I also do not make the frosting any more (I've made this cake at least four times). The mousse is so fabulous and the frosting is so decadently sweet that I prefer to just leave the frosting off.

chocolate mousse covered old oranges cake

Okay, back to the chocolate mousse covered orange cake; although I haven't done a food waste update in awhile I just love posting these because turning three wrinkly oranges into this just so happens to be one of the major highlights of my life (baking is so awesome). Oh, and I managed to squeak a new experience in for today (like I posted about earlier). I tried a new recipe. Win, win here!

of course there was cake so we had to sing happy birthday

Average daily spending for 2016: $19.09

Oh yeah, and the bread; any day with fresh baked bread is just so much better!

Leftover Smorgasboard

This one's for you SAM! Over at A New Frame of Reference SAM just posted about using stuff up, not wasting food and getting creative with leftovers. During one fridge clean out not to long ago I was appalled at how much I threw out. So I've been in using up left over mode, again.

(sorry for the ugly photos) Today for lunch I made eggs and fried mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were from dinner several days ago. There wasn't a lot left and I didn't really want old mashed potatoes as a side to our eggs but making little patties out of the mash and frying it up (probably added un-necessary calories but) gave them a subtle crunch/ crust and really revived the old dish. Sidenote: I make our mashed potatoes very thick, we like substance to our mashed potatoes. And I almost always boil carrots or sweet potato along with the regular spuds. This particular mash had carrots in it.

This was a very yummy hot lunch.

This evening I attempted to use up a rather brown banana (which I would virtually always make mini banana bread muffins with but our oven is on the fritz). I saw this banana, peanut butter, chocolate treat on pinterest and tried it out once before. VERY scrumptious! Okay, it's better with a not so overly ripe banana but this was still a nice treat this evening and that brown banana has now been eaten.

Melted chocolate chips on top of a mini peanut-butter-banana-sandwich

Another leftover favorite which I had just a day or two ago involves taco meat and mac noodles. I stumbled upon a homemade hamburger helper of sorts when I threw some taco meat into my cheesy noodles awhile back. I actually have a strong aversion to hamburger helper. I think my mom stocked our house with every variety of it and we ate a lot of it as kids. But homemade hamburger helper... that I can do!

To preface I make a very simple, very quick, very basic mac'n'cheese that both little Abe and I love. I just boil one cup of macaroni noodles, drain, and then put a little butter in the hot noodles, about 1/2 a tablespoon, or less. Once the hot noodles are coated in butter I throw in handful of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (a handful is somewhere between half and one cup of cheese). Mix together, cheese should completely melt and then eat. It's way too easy and way too cheesy and oh so good! Well I did this the other day but added about 1/2 cup of frozen corn to the boiling noodles once there was about three minutes left. If you do this, crank the heat up to high so you can bring the water back up to a boil quickly. Then I drained the noodles and corn together, put in the little bit of butter, stirred in the cheese and then added my left over taco meat. You can then add anything you like, sour cream, a little bit of sliced tomatoes, anything tacoy that floats your boat. This was far yummier than I'd imagined it would be. I might end up using old-ish taco meat this way on a regular basis now. 

I hate throwing away food. Finding yummy ways to re-purpose leftovers is the best way for me to keep the food in our tummies and out of the trash. Win, win, win this week!

FOOD!!! (Green Tomato Chutney Recipe (sort of))

I've struggled with depression for decades (thankfully not at the moment). It always passes but its never fun at the time. I am very artistic and pretty unorganized by nature but I'm a perfectionist in most aspects. I'm certain that perfectionism raises stress levels especially when you're always juggling 100 balls at once. While I know that I'm a perfectionist there's a catch 22 because I don't believe perfection is attainable.

I heard on the radio the other day that the human mind is incapable of experiencing two conflicting emotions at the same time. Stress, sadness, fear, anxiety; these all go together. Just go ahead and experience the lot of them all at the same time. Happiness, excitement, contentment, joy; again, our mind can handle these all at once. But try and mix happiness and anger together, or try stress and contentment and apparently our little finite minds can't do it. Interesting to say the least... 

I shouldn't admit it but there's absolutely no denying that food really makes me happy. I suppose you could surmise that while I'm eating momentaryly stress just melts away, the anger subsides, and the anxiety of a perfectionist trying to keep 100 balls in the air all the time takes a little break. No wonder we human beings spend so much time (and money) with loved ones at restaurants dining out and chatting over food or hot beverages or cold beverages. We almost create for ourselves these little moments of happy, of peace, of "shut down all those negative thoughts little mind of mine because I'm going to work on being content for a few moments."

Now these "few moments" is probably why I really enjoy cooking as well as eating. I love food! I love the billions of different flavors one can experience through combining a few different ingredients. I love what heat can do to a few eggs, some flour, butter, sugar, and just to bring it up a notch add some cocoa powder. Food is amazing! But the experience of eating it is, lets admit it, short lived (unless you eat all day long non-stop; I've been there). I enjoy cutting up all the fruits and veggies for a meal or a salad. I relish mixing together flour, sugar, and salt for a loaf of bread, combining it all with milk, butter, water, and yeast. Putting my hand in the bag of flour to sprinkle all over the table so that my son and I can take turns kneading the dough is delightful. Pressing the rubbery ball of ingredients out on the table and working it back and forth with my hands, taking turns with my little helper, is therapeutic. Then once the very long process of bread making has almost come to a close and the loaves are ready to go in the oven that wonderful aroma begins to fill the house. All the work, all the anticipation, that smell; it's so close to the moment when we can take the hot loaves from the oven, cut them up immediately and spread melty butter on that first slice that steam is still wafting off of. For me, baking takes those happy moments of eating food and extends them much further along. I suppose gardening has a similar role. Not only am I transforming food into delicious dishes but I'm growing the plants that grow the food, tending to them, watching them come to life and bring forth life.

I love to bake, I like to cook, I am delighted at gardening and I really, really enjoy food. 

Lunch today consisted of that green tomato chutney I made yesterday spread on slices of homemade bread that I lightly buttered, topped with chunks of pepper jack cheese and popped in the oven until the cheese was hot and melty and the bread was nice and warm (I spread the chutney over the cheese after it came out of the oven). I ate the wonderful treasure with a fresh cup of steaming hot coffee (even though I normally try and keep my caffeine intake to mornings only).

Needless to say, and I sort of did just spend four paragraphs saying it, I am at peace right now. Green tomato chutney made from tomatoes grown in my garden on bread that little Abe and I baked together yesterday, yep, that's happy, happy, and happy right there.

^ Longest intro ever to a recipe but here it is, not so much so you can try it because I altered it quite a bit and I've never made nor eaten chutney before now so I am in no way qualified to give anyone a lesson on chutney, in fact I'd read it was to spread on toast but a little birdy just told me it should be eaten on cheese or cold meat (notice I added cheese to my toast up there? That's partially because I love cheese and partially for you Frugally Challenged) but because I love the way this turned out and in case I ever lose the note card I jotted it down on I can at least come back here and find the concoction I've done up.

Linked HERE is the original recipe I used to make my crazy concoction.

Green Tomato Chutney (my recipe)
2 cups Green tomatoes - diced small (that's 2 cups diced, not 2 cuts whole tomatoes)
4 ounces of balsamic vinegar
4 ounces of water
3/4 cups raisins
1 cup brown sugar
about a quarter to a half of a large sweet onion - diced small
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 large apple - diced small

Boil for about three hours (until desired consistency)

Add juice of half a lemon just before removing from heat

I made a pretty small batch seeing as I wasn't really even sure what chutney was and I was trying to use up all of my fallen tomatoes. As for the vinegar water thing, I feel I should explain. I did not have any white vinegar on hand and although I'm fully aware that it's not the best idea to add balsamic vinegar in place of white vinegar I actually love balsamic vinegar, did have it on hand, and decided to just chance it. I used half the amount of vinegar called for because I knew the strong balsamic flavor would cook down and I might be left with something gross and substituted the other half of vinegar with water because again, I knew the balsamic would cook down and I figured the water would counteract that a little. I'm pretty sure I put in too much brown sugar, but honestly who is ever going to notice that, and I did not put in the chili peppers called for in the original recipe. I added the lemon juice at the end simply by intuition. I read no where about doing so but I like the little hint of tangy it added to this savory sweet yumminess. Despite my madness and possible chutney blasphemy I am very happy with how this turned out. It is super yummy and as usual I'm thrilled to have made a new food/ recipe.

Spending rundown today: $16.95 on groceries. The basics really; milk, cheese, eggs, butter, an apple, strawberries. Can you really get more basic then that. Oh and I bought a bag of frozen french fries (a rare treat around here) and some lunch meat that I ate while working (placed between two slices of bread I'd made the night before).

My budget for the month is $436 which leaves $186.80

Average daily spending for 2015: $18.04
^ SOOOOO close to being under $18 a day again!!!
A no spend day tomorrow would put me under $18
Darn it I think I need to buy dog food tomorrow, gah!

Food Waste Update

I'm shooting for three no spends in a row Tuesday thru Thursday.
I just spent $9.99 on toilet paper, $36.97 on food and $9.25 on two birthday gifts, one for my little guy and one for a different niece. The clearance toys and sporting goods are an additional 50% off today.

Average daily spending for 2015: $16.25
The average factors in the next three no spends and does not factor in cat food I'm going to need to purchase probably today.

The food waste situation is on the verge of getting out of control here.

I bought a beautiful large orange today, sliced up the three wrinkly clementines, and I'm working on another batch of orange marmalade right now. I'm not sure how well it will work out but I sliced up the yuck strawberries that didn't have any mold on them and threw them in with the oranges. It'll be an interesting batch of marmalade with orange, clementine, strawberry, and a little rum. 

The other three strawberries got tossed out. I think I'll freeze the bananas and use them for smoothies. I'm highly contemplating using my new mini muffin tin to make a batch of apple Tassies with those two rapidly decaying apple halves. That'll be the second batch of Tassies I've ever made.

I've also got some creamy mushroom chicken in the fridge that I need to use up and I'm not sure if I should transform it into soup or just freeze it before it's too late... Something must be done about it today! Really keeping close tabs on the food we throw out is leading me to believe I threw out way more food than I ever thought before. It takes some work but I'm glad to be trying to utilize all of the food we bring into our home. It's only fair to the food, the people who produced it, and certainly the animals that gave their lives. AND it certainly helps save money.

Moldy Red Peppers Make For Very Happy Snowmen

After the first snowman was constructed I absolutely pulled the moldy pepper out of the bin to cut the most perfect happy snowman mouth from it.

We've had a lovely morning and a lovely time at breakfast with my friend. Afterwards the three of us drove down to the lake to see how far it'd frozen out; Lake Michigan is very much alive. Less than a month ago there wasn't a single frozen formation in the lake (I always refer to the mountains of ice that form at the shore as frozen waves). Our lake doesn't freeze out flat because of the huge waves so rather it has large mesmerizing frozen hills along the shore. The frozen waves went out very far already and the lighthouse was covered in a very thick sheet of ice.

When we arrived home my little guy and I headed into the backyard and built some happy snowmen together. He also made some snow angels and we ran around with the dogs a bit (okay, he ran around with the dogs a bit). All before nap time... now that's a good Saturday. 

Average daily spending for 2015: $18.20

Food Waste Update - Clementine marmalade

We're ten days in to the new year. I'm paying super close attention to what food we're throwing away this year and hoping to throw away very little. Until today I had been very successful at using up anything that was close to going bad.

I had a box with several shriveling clementines that I didn't really know what to do with though. I imagined I'd have to throw them out sooner or later (because I tried to eat one and it was gross) but I held onto them anyhow. I bought a new box of clementines a few days ago and gosh darn it there were 3 moldy ones and a few really shriveled ones in there too.

Now, do I buy orange marmalade? No. Have I ever made orange marmalade before? No. Have I ever eaten orange marmalade before? I honestly do not remember. But for some reason it crossed my mind today to use up the not moldy but very shriveled clementines (I think I put about 10 in) to make clementine marmalade. It's so yummy!!! The stuff is like candy. I made a very small batch because I just used the shriveled clementines I had but it's awesome.

Today I threw away six moldy clementines but the marmalade that I made with the shriveled ones is a total success!