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Pasta squid are a thing too.   poke uncooked spaghetti into a 1" hot dog section and boil the whole thing.   Kids LOVE this.  

 

More picky eater ideas from my kids:

 

1.  cut shapes out of carrots or other veggies with small cutters.   Cut carrots on diagonal to get big pieces then press out shapes.   Rest of the bits can be chopped up for soup/freezer.  

 

2.  Toothpicks can make lunch fun

 

3 & 4  Personalize lunchboxes by stamping on them then go over the stamp with fabric paint.  Fun lunchboxes make kids want to use them.  

 

5, 6, 7  Sandwich cutters are amazing.  They are cheap, square and press into the sandwich.  If you have leftover bits, just cut into big chunks at the break points and put those in with the shape.  I have elephant, cat, puzzle, and penguin cutters.  

 

8.   Carrots can be fun.   The divided plastic containers are a godsend.   You can put ranch or yogurt in them.   I have smaller containers that I can sit down in them too so it is tight and doesn't spill.  

 

9.  Leftover easter peep kabobs.   Somehow we always end up with peeps on the verge of stale and no one will eat them.   Kabobs fixed that.

 

10.  I cannot seem to find King Cake up here, so I usually make one when wanted.  One of the kids did the frosting for this one so it looks like I had a lot of 'help'

 

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Edited by euphrasyne
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I think some of prepping is mindset.   Dont want to eat leftover peeps?  kabobs.  Don't like spam?  Its elephants.  Peanut butter and jelly ....again?  Its peanut butter Penguins.    Making food interesting can help with food fatigue and encourage people to a) eat the food and b) help you make the food.  

 

Some people can get on with the mindset 'this sucks but it is what we have to do.'   Some people cannot.   You can usually tell who in your family needs a bit of extra help to get in a mindset where what needs to happen...happens.  The key is to figure out how to encourage them.

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Thank You Euphrasyne! Grandson is going to see his granny in brand new light. River is a lucky little girl. 

 

I've seen different shaped cookie cutters for cookies but what a great idea using them on sandwiches. If gas ever gets reasonable again, I'll be headed to Lehman's. They have a whole wall of really neat cookie cutters. Probably expensive but what the heck. A one and done buy. 

 

I also think a major key will be keeping kids involved in the preparation process. He really enjoys helping his mom cook. In pre and K they taught them about simple cooking and table setting and table manners. They also have to take their own dishes to the sink and wash them. They have chickens on the property where the older kids have to take care of them but the littles have to feed them. 

 

One issue I have is he hates mashed potatoes. His mom is a good cook but her potatoes are bland. She makes them from scratch. I'm hoping I can serve them with meatloaf or a roast and the juices from that will change his mind. It could be a texture thing though.

 

I would love the peep kabobs. I like them stale. 

 

His birthday is the 4th. of July and his mom made these for his school party. She used angel food cake. After the kids stopped using them for sword fighting, they were a big hit in the taste department.   (not her picture)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I saw someone making sausage oat patties.  We did the vegetarian thing for a few years decades back.  This is what i made instead of sausage:

 

100 Calorie Chickpea patties

30 oz cooked, drained chickpeas

1/2 c cooking liquid

1 1/2 c oats

1 clove garlic

salt & pepper

Process chickpeas and liquid to paste. Process oats to powder and mix all.  Shape into 12 patties.  Grease pan and patties.  Bake 350F 15m.  Flip.  Bake 15m.  Freezes very well.

 

They are a good substitute texture wise.  You can fry them in meat grease for added flavor.  Seasonings are highly adjustable and I usually vary it to what else i am cooking.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I thawed a top round chuck roast 3.5lb cost around $12 when I bought it.  DD14 has decided she likes cutting meat.  She sharpened my knife then I told her how to cut.  She sliced off 4 1/2" steaks.  Then we cut the rest in half.  Half was cut into strips and half was cubed.   We packaged everything and returned to fridge.

 

steaks were marinated in balsamic vinaigrette for about an hour then grilled.  We served it with a can of lima beans, a carrot dish, and roasted potatoes.  Steaks were very tender and good.  Carrot dish was a huge hit and I loved the potatoes.  

 

Potatoes

Wash and cube 6 potatoes. Cut half and onion into big dices.   Mix with olive oil.  Coat with a package of onion soup mix.  Put on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with paprika and Italian seasoning.  Bake 450F 40m.

 

Carrot dish

1 can carrots

1 can mushrooms

1/2 onion diced small

1.5 T butter

large sprinkle Sazon

Simmer 40m.

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We did  a stirfry with the strips and a beef curry with the cubes.  

 

Beef Curry 

Beef Cubes

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can rotel

sprinkle dehydrated jalapenos

3 cubed potatoes

6 baby portabella mushrooms sliced

1 can coconut milk

2 c water

1 onion diced 

tumeric

curry powder

cilantro lime salt & pepper seasoning

minced garlic

Add everything to crockpot.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Low 8 hours.  Serve over rice.  

 

I forgot to thaw anything for yesterday so we had tomato soup and chicken quesadillas.

Soup, milk, salsa, jalapenos.  heat through.   serve with sprinkle cheese and fried onions.

 

Chicken Quesadillas

1 can chicken

8 tortillas small

taco bell spicey ranchero sauce (bottle from grocery)

Monterey jack cheese

Layer chicken, sauce, cheese on half tortilla.  Fold over.   Fry on griddle to melt cheese.  Flip, heat through. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Lemonade

 

1c sugar

1c bottled lemon juice

6c water.

Mix well and chill.  Serve over ice.  I like mine with a splash of lime juice in the cup.   If you do it in the blender with ice like a margarita it tastes like the frozen sonic slush.  You can add in a piece or six of frozen fruit to change up the flavor.  

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Change it up Leftovers

 

Day 1 Country chicken Soup

1 can chicken

every leftover veggie in fridge which included bits and bobs of:

field peas i forget what seasoning

lima beans seasoned with bacon, salt & pepper

carrots in a lemon pepper sauce

1 can mushrooms

6 c water

2 T chicken bullion

Italian seasoning

half a pack of smoked sausage cut up

Heat all through and serve with homemade bread.  

 

Day 2 Dirty Rice

Half a pack smoked sausage

1/2 pack breakfast sausage

garlic

Onion

2 bell peppers

1 can mushrooms

1 can rotel tomatoes

3c leftover rice

Cajun seasoning to taste

Cook sausage, veggies in sausage grease.   Add remainder and heat through.  Serve with a vegetable.  

 

Day 3 Cajun chicken Soup

Dump remainder of soup from day into colander and strain.  Rince and Dump in Pot.   Dump Leftover dirty rice  in colander and strain out all rice and rinse clean.  Add meat and veg to pot.  This is about 4c solids.   Add in 8c water, 2T tomato bullion, 3 cubes beef bullion, garlic herb seasoning, and cajun seasoning.  Heat through.  Serve with small sandwiches made on leftover Panera side baguette chunks.   (we had panera delivered on garage sale day because we were all overheated.   Meals all came with a side baguette piece which was the perfect size to make a sandwich on.)

 

My Sandwich (baguette slices were about 3x5" cut at an angle)

Layer:

Panera baguette bottom

cream cheese

oil packed sundried tomatoes to finish off jar

3 thin circles turkey lunchmeat

3 slices salami

1 slice provolone

3 slices heirloom tomato

salt & pepper

Mixed lettuce

Balsamic glaze

Top of baguette

 

DH and kid made their own sandwich, but everyone agreed that mine was the best.  

 

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  • 2 months later...

I cooked last night and did not use any new items beyond a packet of yeast.  Everything else was either leftovers or fresh produce.  *I do not consider spices as part of this as I use spices in everything.   There are just the 2 of us and the baby right now so I'm cooking for much fewer people than normal.  

 

Bread

1c water warm

1/2 c sour cream

1 T oil

1 T sugar

1 t salt

3.5 c flour (started with 3 but very humid day needed 1/2 c more at kneading)

1 packet yeast

Make dough and rise.  Roll out 1/2 inch thick.  Spread with cream cheese.   Sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning.  Fold over cream cheese touching cream cheese.  Roll chopped parsley into top at about 1 inch thick.   Cut into long wide strips about 3 inches wide.   Grease dish.  Grease cup and put in middle of dish.  Wrap strips around cup cut side up (up and down for middle strips).  Rise 30m.  Bake 350F 30-40m.

 

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

2 portabella mushrooms

leftover stuffing

leftover turkey sauce from previously cooked turkey.  

Parsley

Mix enough leftover stuffing with parsley, diced mushroom stem, parsley, and turkey juice.   Place in greased dish (I reused the bread dish) and bake 350F 30m.

 

Leftover Stuffing made the week before

1 Box stuffing mix turkey flavor

1/2 diced unknown pepper given to use by coworker (I think it was serrano)

1/2 diced red onion

4 sliced mushrooms

1/4 c sausage tvp mixed with 1/2 c water

handful chopped pecans

Make stuffing according to box directions. Sauté everything else but pecans in 1/2 stick butter.     Mix Everything together and heat through.

 

Orange Cranberry Turkey Breast made the week before

1 package of 2 turkey breast

1 can jelly cranberry sauce

orange juice

1 packet onion soup mix

Use a stick blender to mix cranberry sauce with enough orange juice to have a medium sauce.   Add remainder and cook in crockpot on high 4 hours.  Super tender!  Save leftovers and sauce.  We at 1 breast and had 1 leftover.

 

Parsley Sauce

Large handful fresh parsley

Large handful fresh cilantro

Heaping spoon minced garlic

1/2 c olive oil

1/4c lemon juice

Blend all to sauce.  Add more liquids as necessary to consistency.  Serve cold

 

Leftover Turkey

Slice turkey breast into slices, reheat and spoon parsley sauce over.   I spooned it over first to keep it from drying out as I just reheated it in the microwave.  

 

Fried Zucchini

Sliced Zucchini

Milk mixed with paprika

Flour mixed with cajun seasoning

Panko mixed with cajun seasoning

Dip Zucchini into milk.  flour.  milk.  panko.  coating all sides.   Deep fry 350F 5m.  Serve with comeback sauce

 

Fast 1m cheating comeback sauce

Ranch

hot sauce

1 packet arby's horsey sauce

garlic powder

Worcestershire sauce

paprika

Mix in desired amount, never measure, just taste as you go.

 

Banana Pudding Chimichangas

2 tortillas

leftover banana pudding

powdered sugar mixed with cardamon

Spoon 4 T banana pudding (cookies, bananas, and pudding, should be very soft leftover) into small tortilla and fold over as fir burrito.  Deep fry 350F 4m.  Sprinkle powdered sugar

 

Fast weeknight Banana Pudding 

1 packet banana pudding made according to package

1 box chessmen cookies

2 bananas

Layer Tupperware or Pyrex with cookie, banana, pudding, cookie, banana, pudding.  Chill.

 

It ended up being way too much food & carbs for me, so I only ate half my mushroom and turkey and no bread.  I saved the chimichanga dessert for today.  DH ate all his and said everything was wonderful.  

 

 

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Edited by euphrasyne
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  • 4 weeks later...

Lazy German Rouladen (almost no measuring involved)

1 pack mystery meat  **

Carrots  ((like maybe 3?)

Mushrooms (8oz pack button fresh)

red onion

yellow onion

Dill pickles (eh... like 2? medium dills jucy wet is good.)

Start wanting to do German, get everything out.  Decide you are very lazy and dice everything into about the same size.   Toss it in the Crockpot.  Add:

2 T beef bullion

4 c water 

1/3 bottle dijon mustard rinsed out with above water

sprinkle carraway

small sprinkle brown sugar.

Cook 9 hours on low.   Make a slurry with 1/3 c (eyeball it) cornstarch and add to crockpot.

Decide to be ambitious and make spaetzle.  Add to crockpot and serve.  

 

Very Lazy Spaetzle

2 eggs 

2 c flour

1 t salt

1/2 c water

Mix all and pinch off into boiling water.  Boil as for flat dumplings, ready when float to top, do not crowd pan.  

 

Amazing hit, everyone loved it.   Zero beef roll browning on all sides required.  

 

**(package --ziplock bag in my handwriting which was dated a year ago--said beef, but looked a lot like boneless porkchops to me before and after. no one could tell before or after but everyone agreed they were good regardless of what type of cow/pig they were.   there were 4 of them maybe 1.5lbs)

Edited by euphrasyne
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  • 2 weeks later...

We are sick of beef this week.  

 

The last few weeks we had a lot of beef.  I made smothered round steak, cut a roast into 3 meals:  Swiss Steak,  Beef Curry (Thai green type,) Balsamic roast.  There were lots of leftovers so I just froze 2 quarts of Beef Curry and the Swiss steak.  

 

Beef Pot Pie:

2 piecrust made or bought

Leftover smothered round steak with gravy and mushrooms all chopped small

Leftover Balsamic Roast chopped small

1 packet brown gravy

Remainder of qt beef broth leftover from DH drinking it for colonoscopy 

leftover french fries diced smallish  *2 cups

1 can mixed vegetables

italian seasoning

Mix everything and place between 2 pie crusts.  Baste with egg wash if desired.   Bake 375F 45m.  Dump in freezer for later because sick of beef. 

 

Having trouble finding premade Teriyaki we like to buy:

1 knob minced ginger

large spoon minced garlic

sesame oil

1/2 c soy sauce dumped out of takeout packets

1/2 c mirin (rice wine vinegar or regular vinegar)

1/2 c sake or white vinegar of choice.  

2 T leftover honey

3 T leftover orange marmalade (served with another meal in a ramekin and saved in tupperware)

Heaping spoon of brown sugar to taste

1/3 c cornstarch slurry

1 c water

1/3 bottle Hosin sauce (just to use it up, optional)

sesame seeds in desired amounts

Sauté ginger and garlic in sesame oil.  Add soy sauce, mirin, and sake (or vinegar.) Add honey, marmalade, brown sugar.  Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water, stir into sauce.   Add remainder bottle of Hosin sauce to use it up.   Add in sesame seeds for texture.  10 stars from family.  Served with pan fried tofu, stirfry fresh bean sprouts, frozen asian veg, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and 1 circle cut asian eggplant.  All served over noodles.  

   

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Aluminum Foil tip:  If you hate using foil to cover dishes while they bake because you think it is a waste, hate aluminum, etc.... use a cookie sheet.  Put the casserole in the oven then place an upside down cookie sheet on top of it.  Remove it towards the end for browning.   Less waste, same effect.  

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  • 1 month later...

We got a rotisserie chicken yesterday for $4.99 I cannot get raw chicken for that much so it was a good deal.  We pulled it apart and got about 6-8 cups of chicken out of it plus bones and skin.  3 Dinners:

Day 1: chicken enchiladas.

dehydrated onions, shredded chicken, cream cheese, cheddar, green chilis, green enchilada sauce.   Mix, stuff tortillas, cover in sauce and cheese and bake.  425F 30m.

roasted cabbage:  cut into steaks.  butter both sides and sprinkle generous fajita seasoning and garlic.   425 1H.  flip half way through.  (so good!  sometimes I eat leftovers of just this for lunch) 450F 40m if it is the only thing in the oven.  Even DD14 eats a big helping of cabbage if I cook it this way.  

Spanish rice & refried beans.

Day 2:

Chicken salad on croissants.  I haven't decided on a side yet.  Probably salad, chips, or potato salad.  Trying a new recipe made with chicken, green onion, pecans, and dried cranberries.  Dressing was mayo, sour cream, honey, dijon mustard, salt, and poppyseed.  it seemed good when I made it last night, but I won't be sure until tonight.  It did seem a bit dry so I added extra mayo.  If I keep the recipe, I'll probably double the sauce ingredients next time.

Day3

I put the bones back in the package to make chicken soup on Tuesday.  DD14 will be home as it is teacher work day so I can show her the proper way to make it from scratch.  Well semi-scratch as it is a rotisserie.  Chicken, corn, lima beans, celery, carrots, smoked sausage, onions, garlic, and seasoning to taste (bay leaf, salt, pepper, italian or cajun depending on preference)  Sometimes i add green beans or peas.   Make in the usual way for broth then cook remainder according to type (canned, frozen, dehydrated, fresh.)  Mine is always a mixture so I'm adding various things to the pot all day.  Sometimes I use bullion and canned chicken if that is what I have on hand.  No one seems to notice fresh vs not fresh.  Going to make bread to go with it.  Not sure what type yet.  

 

I was going to leave the green onion out of the chicken salad, but my eternal green onion on the deck is still growing.  DD19 started it years ago from a store one and it is still going.  Sometimes it gets 2-3ft stalks that still taste good.   That onion has been good to us.  

Edited by euphrasyne
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Euphresyne, that is not a bad price for rotisserie chicken.  When we would buy them, I would make chicken and dumplings with the leftovers and would also manage to get a couple of chicken sandwiches out of it. We would get about 3 meals off of one chicken. 

Had half of a Boston butt in freezer, pulled that out yesterday and put in slow cooker. So today I will fix up something for dinner tonight with it in hopes I can get GS to eat dinner before work. Otherwise, he can heat it up when he gets home. He's pickier now than when he was little. It was so much easier to feed him then. Just fix fish and fries and he was good to go. Now he won't eat fish though he still likes it. Guess he got tired of it. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanksgiving is done and leftovers abound.  I'm feeding a large man, a bottomless teenage pit, me (a very light eater), and a toddler, so your milage may vary.   Here are some of the things we did with leftovers:

 

1.  Microwave leftovers du jour

2.  Carcas and veggies stuffed in while cooking became stock.

3. Cream of turkey soup--2 cans cream soup, 2 cans stock.  Everyone liked.  

3. Turkey fajitas.  Cook chunks of turkey with peppers, onions, and fajita seasoning

4.  Turkey Impossible Pie--from the bisquick book standard recipe (its like a mix of a pot pie and a quiche)

5.  Soup: 3 quarts stock, leftover hominy from fajita night (hominy, bacon, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno), remainder of leftover queso jar from fajita night, remainder picante sauce, large spoon salsa.  Delicious, 10/10 from the child who doesn't like soup.  

 

Sick of turkey, so a few beef nights:

4 pack nice steaks I got on sale seperated into 2 meals

1.  2 Grilled steaks in chimichurri, duchess potatoes (mix leftover mashed potatoes with extra milk, eggs, cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, bake.), roasted cabbage

steaks cut in half because they were large so 4 portions --3 for dinner and 1 lunch.  (Baby and I together are basically 1 portion total)

2.  Hibachi at home --2 steaks diced and marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, garlic, and ginger.  Cooked in cast iron.    Served with stir fry veg, fried rice, and clear mushroom soup (beef broth cooked with dried mushrooms with scallions on top.) Salad--mixed greens, shredded cole slaw mix, summer symphony salad topper, homemade asian dressing:  4T mirin (rice wine vinegar), 4 T soy sauce, 2 T olive oil, 2 T sesame oil, 2 T tahini, 2 T sesame seeds, 1 T minced garlic, chopped up crystalized ginger to taste.  The dressing was to die for and I ate it on salads for days after.   I made a double batch of the above.  4 days later and husband is still talking about hibachi steak.  

 

1 Beef Roast about 4 pounds cubed and divided into 3 containers.

1.  Beef and Ale sauce, beef in crockpot high 2h.  Add carrots cut in  1/2 inch sections, chopped celery, about 1/2 c dehydrated mushrooms and 1/2 c beer.    Cook 2h.   Serve over last of the leftover Dutchess potatoes.   Husband loved.

2.  Marinate in last of hibachi marinade from previous meal and serve with leftover stir fry veg and white rice.

3.  Cook in Tikka Masala sauce, serve with white rice, spinach, garlic naan.  

 

I like to post these so tentative cooks can see that there are ways to use up leftovers without just eating leftovers or throwing them out.  Also there are good ways to work pantry staples into daily rotation.  I try hard to have as little food waste as possible.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

My older deep freezer has had a few issues and I need to condense everything down and get rid of it.    For the next two months, I am going to try and eat out of the freezer as much as possible.  

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Once Christmas is over, I will start using up what is in freezers. All three of them are full again. And I don't know yet what GS's company will be giving him again this year and I have nowhere to put anything else in freezers. But will work that out somehow. I will go full throttle into canning a lot of stuff from freezer making more soups and stews for canning as well as other things like spaghetti sauce and such. Also, will be doing more dehydrating. I want those freezers to be almost empty by the end of March. 

 

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I need to do a freezer clean out too it's super full. I froze a bunch of pumpkin so going to make a bunch of pumpkin bread and muffins then freeze those and bring them out in batches for everyone to enjoy. Since I have a week off that will be a good time to bake up and make things with the meat in the freezer to make freezer meals too. I will defrost the turkey and cook it up and bag up meat to use in other meals and hopefully make some more room in there once it's all made into meals. Maybe a bunch of soup too for my lunches I can pull out all winter.

 

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Used up more than I thought I would from my pantry.  So that was good. Didn't need much from store this time around for Christmas. DD took a jar of my canned chicken home to make chicken salad with. When she tasted the turkey salad, and I told her it was from what I had canned several months ago, she was impressed that all I had to do was open a jar and just shred it up for the turkey salad. Told her it is the same for the chicken salad as well, so she took a jar home to make that. I am hoping it will give her an incentive to start canning. She saw how easy it is to just open a jar of meat that has been canned to do whatever you want and not have to cook it first. Much better tasting than the store-bought canned chicken also.

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