Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Cleaning out the Freezer - A Week's Worth of Dinners

Hello!  Well last week before I went grocery shopping I decided to really take stock of what I have in my freezer, fridge and pantry and to buy as little as possible.  I do have a teenage son at home so my as little as possible might look different than others.  However I was able to clean out my veggie drawer and make a good dent in the freezer and still have delicious meals.  I thought I'd share with you.  I grocery shop on Sundays so for me the week starts then.  I also need to state that I went to the final farmers' market on Saturday morning so I did have all of the weeks veggies ahead of time. 

Sunday: Stromboli.  I had extra prosciutto and various cheese in my deli/cheese drawer.  I had picked up the lettuce and mushrooms at the final week of our indoor farmers' market.  The tomato dipping sauce was made with canned tomatoes, spices and red wine vinegar -all pantry friendly.  


Monday: Chorizo mac and cheese with pimentos and peas.  I add package of chorizo in my freezer and my son loves this version of mac and cheese.  All I had to buy was pimentos.  I had everything else.  At this point in time I cleaned out the cheese drawer.  The brussel sprouts I picked up at the farmers' market and I have a bag of cranberries in the freezer.  I throw a few cranberries in with the roasted veggies towards then end to give just a little pucker to the sweet veggies.


Tuesday: Weeknight Tandoori chicken, brown rice and roasted veggies.  I love roasted veggies if you haven't guessed.  The chicken is super simple.  I dredge the thighs in an Indian spice mixture, saute them for a bit and then make a quick pan sauce with coconut milk and tomato puree.  For this dinner I just had to buy the coconut milk.


Wednesday: Sausage Veggie Tomato Sauce over Pasta with Salad. I made a big batch of the sausage sauce in the fall and saved half of it.  What a surprise to find it!  I just had to heat it up, boil the pasta and make a quick salad with homemade vinaigrette.


Thursday: Salisbury Steak with Mashed Potatoes, Spinach and Mushrooms.  My version of Salisbury Steak does use a can of French Onion Soup and I actually did have some in the pantry.  So why not use it up, and my family likes this meal.  Honestly I try not to use too many processed foods, but no one is perfect. I didn't have to buy anything extra for this meal.  


Friday: Out to eat. My husband and I were alone so we thought we might as well enjoy a date night out.

How can you clean out your fridge/freezer/pantry?  

As always with love from the Midwest,
Beth 




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