My *own* challenge isn't over yet, but it has actually been an entire week since any groceries have been bought for this family of six! As you can imagine, this is getting more and more difficult. Just take a look inside my refrigerator! (Mostly leftovers from my recent cooking and a turkey I've been thawing for the past few days.)
** I asked my son (17) if he had any idea how I could shrink this since I have no idea how to do it. His response: "Well, that would be really hard to do. Just get another fridge."**
Seriously?
OK, back to what's on the menu. Slightly more creative today. Oh, and I didn't mean to, but I lied to you all. We have jelly, jam and apricot preserves. I suppose they count as fruits, huh?
Anyway, I pulled pork chops out of the deep freeze. Believe it or not, it was actually pork this time! I wanted to slather them in barbecue sauce, but you already know I'm out of that, so I used apricot preserves. I browned the chops first in cooking spray and then topped them with the preserves, setting the stove's burner to low for a couple of minutes each side. Should have baked them instead of frying as I burnt some of them. :(
So, I was going to bake some potatoes but my oldest daughter heard *fried* and started cutting them into chunks. (She's a great help, by the way!) I have some salsa con queso on my refrigerator door and was going to use that as a topping on the baked potatoes. We didn't get to try that, but maybe next week? Steamed a bag of frozen mixed veggies with these. (Broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.)
This lack of fruit is the pits and I'm not counting the preserves on the chops as *dessert*! Man, I could go for apple crisp again, but you do realize I don't own an orchard by now, right? Aha! I'm going to attempt to substitute the apples with applesauce.
Nothing crisp about this, but it was rather good, although very sweet. (Wished I hadn't accidentally bought sweetened applesauce.) In fact, my 15 year old anime-lover had 3 friends spend the night and they scarfed it down! (They are going to an Anime convention with poor Mr. W. in the morning.) They even ate the burnt pork chops...and ENJOYED them! :) They really wanted popcorn and my daughter begged me to let her go buy some at the dollar store nearby, but I refused! Aren't I mean?
There are a couple boxes of cereal out there with your name on them, girls. PRETEND you're eating popcorn. :)
2 comments:
It seems you are getting a definite list of required foods: apples, fruit, popcorn.
Don't know if you have a can of tomato sauce and tomato paste on hand (if you don't but have ketchup, that works too,) ...you can make your own BBQ sauce, and it's really good!
http://bbq.about.com/od/barbecuesaucerecipes/r/bl70927a.htm
Here's a link to recipes for all kinds of condiments and household basics (e.g. make your own Bisquick.) Saves tons of money plus none of the junky chemicals in so many processed foods.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/homemadeconveniencefoods.htm
These links are awesome, thanks! I usually have lots of tomato paste on hand, but was oddly out of it this week. I would have enjoyed trying a new barbecue sauce recipe! I love to make my own spaghetti sauce with just tomato paste, water and spices. Sure saves a lot of money!
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