BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Food Pantries and Stretching Out Meals

It's a Mediterranean classic with tabouli! I think you'll love it.

Do you have a food dehydrator? Slice your surplus veggies thin and sprinkle them with a little salt. Don't think of the salt as flavor or a dietary issue, think of it as a mechanical element. It helps draw the water out of the vegetable so it dries quicker and more evenly.

I did this recently with some zucchini and I sprinkled some ground cumin on top, along with a little bit of salt. I absolutely love the flavors of zucchini and cumin together. I dried this till the zucchini was brittle and it was soooo good I nibbled away till I ate the whole batch in one day. If you've got more restraint than I do, store the dried zucchini or other veggies in an air-tight container for longer term keeping.

Jilly, do you like chilled soups? I don't but here's an idea that just came to me:

Chop lots of lettuce into really small pieces and heat it with some flavorful broth - meat based or veggie, either one. Start with just a little broth because the liquids in the lettuce will cook out, adding to the liquid volume of the soup. Add some onions, garlic, a little bit of salt, and pepper; use a little white pepper if you don't want black specks in your pale green soup.

When the lettuce and onions are soft, toss everything into a blender and puree till smooth. Let it cool and then add some yogurt (or tzatziki sauce) to thicken it, then chill it for a while. (If you add milk-based foods to hot liquids, it's likely to curdle so let the soup base cool first.)

You'll have a nice refreshing soup that's totally loaded with nutrients.

To fancy it up, top it with croutons, toasted bread crumbs, fresh herbs, dried parsley, grated cheese, perhaps some diced ham or other meat or seafood - any or all of the above. Sprinkle a little paprika on top, too, maybe?

Might even be better the second day, after the flavors have a chance to develop overnight.

Sandy, if I don't have a blender but do have an old fashioned hand mixed that you crank, will that make the soup smooth enough?

I try to do everything the off the grid way. I do have a dehyrator, though.

I just took my six squishiest little potatoes and planted them in a mound. Now to figure out how to store the rest.

I love Greek sauce! There is so much you can do with it!

I would look on craigslist for people wanting to get rid of a freezer chest. I just picked mine up for $35. It stores all frozen goods, leftovers, and I even have room to store bug prone pantry products. It is a worthwhile investment, as it saves money on waste.

I'm with Sandy - I use my dehydrator daily. I take my dried fruits and turn them into teas/tinctures. I'm actually in the process of harvesting prickly pear fruit and drying.

I don't know if Sandy lives in AZ. I know when I lived in the Midwest and on the East coast salt was necessary. I honestly have not had an issue drying in AZ so I have been skipping the salting step without any negative result. I mention this as many women have issues with high sodium consumption, so just food for thought.

I would use a hand masher over a hand beater to smooth out for soup ... I still highly recommend a basic Hamilton Beach food processor - it has endless uses.

Nope, Sandy doesn't live in AZ but she's right in the middle of the driest year on record in Texas - it's brutal!! It is so dry here the salt might not be necessary but I think it helped get the job done quicker. And it was pretty tasty, too! Although I didn't add enough to make a medical difference.

I really love the idea of adding dried fruits to teas! Thanks for that one. Haven't made tinctures in a few years but I'm missing doing so. Maybe I should revisit that some day soon. Thanks for that.

Yes, Jilly, your old-fashioned, hand crank mixer will do just fine. Just be sure to cook the veggies till they're tender or you'll need to add some extra elbow grease to the recipe. I admire your off-the-grid style

yesterday i got my second box from the food pantry - there was a TON of produce. Honestly there is no way I can use it all. They will be good in the compost pile at least.

What i got this week -

Five kinds of bread
eight onions
ten plums (a little past ripe - not sure what to do with them)
more potatoes
lots of celery
lots of summer squash
more cucumbers
more acorn squash
a bag of dried pinto beans
a liter of soda
a can of applesauce
a package of peanut butter crackers
a large bag of baby carrots
five tomatoes on the verge of mushy

I am going to try to figure out how to store the onions, potatoes, carrots and acorn squash (i have a book on root cellaring techniques), work on eating the summer squash and celery, make breadcrumbs from the bread (I still have bread from last week), pickling the cucumbers and, of course, storing the nonperishables.

Didn't someone suggest making a plum sauce? How to do that?

Does anyone else collect food from food pantries and food banks ?

PS - i used the nearly mushy tomatoes tonite in some quick nachos. They were fine like that!

Make Plum Jam - chop the plums into small pieces, cover them with sugar, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, till you've got jam. Jams and jellies keep a long time without refrigeration.

I haven't been to a food pantry but you're sure making me want to scout out the pantries in my area. I've got that on my to-do list for tomorrow. Thanks!