There's money in your refrigerator...

 

There's money in your refrigerator.

 

No, really.

 

Go on, have a look.

 

Can't see it yet? Look closer.

 

No, it's not $100 dollar bills. Or even $10 ones.

 

It's food.

 

See that half full punnet of strawberries with the mouldy ones growing hair on one side? And the tin of condensed milk you opened to make that slice that only needed half a tin, but that you popped in the fridge still in the tin, convinced you'd make another slice tomorrow...and that was a week ago? And what about that onion you halved and wrapped in cling wrap, then forgot about and cut up another onion the next day? The asparagus spears that you bought and then didn't use because you decided on chicken risotto instead of asparagus and parmesan fettucine, they're there at the back of the crisper going wrinkled. The celery's limp because it's shoved up the back of the crisper with leaves and all, and you can't even see it. Half a lime drying out all by itself. Surely that's gotta go.

 

Yep.

 

All of that....money...down the drain.

 

A while back, I started this little routine, where before I menu planned prior to the weekly grocery shop (a huge money saver in itself), I'd clean out the refrigerator and pantry. This was mainly to ensure I hadn't missed a meal or two in the making. I'd line up all the stuff I was about to toss, on the bench, and do a mental tally of how much money I'd spent on those items. To my abject horror, some weeks I was throwing anything up to $50 in the bin, through poor storage, forgetfulness, change of heart or just plain laziness. That's $2500 a year or a decent holiday! No more.

 

I looked in my refrigerator this morning and saw the aforementioned limp celery, 3 baby cucumbers gone soft at one end, the asparagus and onion half also mentioned above, about a teaspoonful of grated parmesan, 1 tiny green spring onion, a scant 1/4 of a bottle of lactose free cream, and the last of a punnet of fresh coriander. Now upon a time, I would have just ditched all of that.

 

In the pantry I found a handful of gluten free spiral pasta, certainly not enough for a meal, a packet of Italian Soup Mix bought when it was still Winter around here, and the last of a packet of pickling spices. I could have tossed that too...BUT....

 

Immediately I saw possibilities. With practice, so can you. There are many ways to use up those little bits of almost nothing hiding in your refrigerator, turning them into delectable morsels for eating or gifting. Let me share a few.

 

It's unseasonably chilly and wet here today. So stock made with limp celery leaves, halved onions, a couple of chicken necks, and Italian Soup Mix mean delicious Tuscan inspired soup for dinner tonight, complete with gluten free toast drizzled with real Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, carefully nursed home from our recent trip.

 

Good Basic Stock recipe...To a large saucepan of water, add the celery ends and leaves, 1/2-1 onion quartered, 2-4 cloves garlic, 12 peppercorns, 6-10 chicken necks or 1-2 chicken carcasses, a teaspoon of stock powder or 1-2 stock cubes, and any other sad looking vegetables in the crisper, peeled and chopped into large chunks. Let this simmer for up to 3 hours. I usually then drain the liquid into a large bowl (I once accidentally drained it down the sink...waaaah!), squishing the vegetables to extract as much goodness from then as possible. The stock then becomes a soup base or the cooking liquid for a risotto, and I use the cooked and now almost pureed veges to add to my doggies' healthy food base.

 

Healthy Dog Food Recipe...For his food, I steam a huge batch of brown rice using the absorption method, add the veges mashed well, allow it to cool, then in goes three eggs, a good swig of olive oil, some lecithin granules, some Brewers Yeast, and a raw dog food/bone meal pattie. That all gets mixed and divided into 2 cup serves in ziplock bags. To each ziplock bag, I then add a Weet-Bix or a half a cup of rolled oats and two tablespoons of powdered milk. To serve it to doggie, I tip it into the bowl and add half a cup of hot water to soften the oats or Weet-Bix, and mix well. He LOVES it and after a snack later in the day on raw chicken necks, he's pretty darned happy.

 

End of the Week Soup Recipe...To the stock, for our dinner, I'll add more vegetables, diced finely this time, some herbs and spices (bay leaves, spring onion, basil, thyme), and a diced chicken breast or two which will only need simmering in the stock for about 5 minutes to cook through and remain succulent. Yum. I'll have soaked the Italian Soup Mix for several hours, adding a teaspoon of Baking Soda to keep the colour of the pulses vibrant, before rinsing well in a colander till they stop frothing. They then go into the soup for around 45 minutes or so. Ready.

 

Limp celery sticks were easily rescued by a bath in iced water, followed by a pat dry, a paper towel blanket, and a snug bed-down in a ziplock bag. Even the root end of the celery is going to be reinvented as a stamp for home made gift wrap...that's if the Pinterest pins saying you end up with an image that looks like a rose are to be believed!

 

 

 

Pasta Recipe...Little bits of pre cooked pasta, parmesan, the cream, the spring onion, and an egg, stirred over a low heat until thick, like an old fashioned custard, made me a delicious authentic Pasta Carbonara for my lunch.

 

 

Really Easy Pickle  Anything recipe... Refrigerator pickles are not difficult and you can add anything you like to them. The baby cucumber, I sliced thinly,  and the almost-almost-done-for asparagus was halved lengthwise, and blanched quickly. To recycled jars, I added a sprinkle of pickling spices, the half a lime sliced and divided equally between the jars, then the blanched asparagus and baby cucumbers slices, and a pinch of chilli flakes, with the remaining whole sprigs of fresh coriander (cilantro) winding decoratively around inside the jar. I added a teaspoon of coarse salt to each, and covered the contents in white vinegar and rested them in the fridge for a few hours and, presto.... I had Thai inspired refrigerator pickles. These are unbelievably good with chicken or fish or cold meat. Try. You will like, I promise. Gift in a hamper to the men in your family...they will love you forever!

 

 

Further inspection of the depths of the crisper, yielded two punnets of strawberries, both opened and half the berries missing...grrrr to the Husband and Daughter....hulled, halved, simmered with sugar and lemon peel, and with Vanilla Galliano added...presto two little jars of gorgeous jam to gift.

Any Fruit Jam recipe...You can make small batches of jam you know. It's just equal parts by weight of any fruit and sugar, stirred together till the sugar dissolves, and simmered with a lemon peel or some commercial pectin like Jamsetta, until a teaspoon of it on a cold saucer wrinkles when pushed with a finger. That's usually about 10-20 minutes. Check it often and give it a stir pretty regularly too. Spoon the cooked jam into cleaned and sterilised recycled jars, seal, and tip the jars upside down on the bench until they cool. Set them upright when cooled, and the little popup button in the middle of the lid, should suck in, vacuum sealing your jam. That's it! Again, play with flavours, add liqueurs or essences like Vanilla or Coconut or Rum, and have fun coming up with your own specialities!

 

 

How much did I save or generate in value, by my efforts today?

 

Hmmmm...I reckon about $10 in ingredients were rescued, and anything up to $80 on gourmet deli purchases for eating or gifting were manufactured, and of course there was one very tasty lunch for me!

 

I'll call it an even $100 at least, I think. And that's from food items I would once have thrown away. Shame on me!

 

See? There really IS money in your refrigerator!

 

How much did you find in yours?

 

Tell me about it...warts, mould and all.

 

...Mimi...   Sharing at...   Life Loving