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Joined: Feb 2003
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Jilly Offline OP
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I've had a little success with drying the peppers and plums. It's encouraging me to try drying more foods. I really cannot keep up with the produce from the food pantries!

Next tuesday I am going to try a different food bank in a nearby town - i will be bringing my filled in application, with my ID and some printed out bank statement with income deposits circled. they tell me that will be all i will need to come home with a nice big box.

In this week's Bread of Life food pantry box i got:
head of cauliflower
bag of potatoes
onions
4 pack of lime soda
five kinds of bread
box of cinnamon donut holes
bag of tortilla chips
several cans of fruit
some canned veggies
can of beef stew
six heads of corn
a dozen plums
a dozen nectarines
box of wheat thins
bag of dried pinto beans
three containers of greek yogurt
three green bell peppers
a whole cantalope


What seems to be a constant, from a month's worth of boxes:
seasonal produce
potatoes and onions
bag of pinto beans
bread
at least one bag of something salty, like chips
some kind of soda
some kind of sweet snack
at least one canned item


Not much by way of meat, dairy or nuts. I did get some cooked deli shrimp a few times, and last week i got a bag of dried milk. I was happy about the milk. Not sure what to do with the shrimp since i don't like shellfish. Do cats eat it? Can I dry and crumble them for extra protein in ramen noodles?

I am told that all this produce is fortunate and uncommon - that other places never offer fresh food. I can't report on that until I find another food bank (hopefully next week).

Last edited by Jilly; 09/23/11 10:21 PM.
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Jilly Offline OP
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I have been getting lots of cabbage all fall. It's nice that those last a long time, relatively speaking, as produce. I have also been experimenting with drying cabbage in my dehydrator. That actually works quite well.

Still getting potatoes and onions every week. I'd say that is a constant. smile

Anyone else know what comes in their local food pantries?

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Jilly Offline OP
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I found two - possibly three - more food pantries. And all three that I use now have given me chicken (two birds, one in cutlets) this week. I guess that is what they do around Xmas time! It's nice - but rare - to get meat. Sometimes I get a meat stew in a can, and twice I got plates of cold shrimp. I also got some milk this week and sour cream.

One really could live off this food if they planned it out well. There isn't enough protein mainly(except for bagged beans), but there has been plenty of fruits, veggies, breads of all kinds, potatoes and onions, and even sweets <----all those things show up weekly.

The produce appears both canned, fresh and sometimes dried (like dates and prunes).

But really, there is plenty of it to go around. If i had a large freezer I could put lots of breads, produce and the occasional meats aside.

Right now i have about four heads of cabbage to deal with! I am going to dehydrate them in my dryer, hopefully tomorrow or friday.

The point is, really, that one CAN live on this, supplementing the free food with purchased items (ie - more protein) to round things out. A lot of it takes being creative.

It's intriguing.

maybe a food pantry type cookbook/menu planner is called for? Any interest in that?

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Jilly....I noticed you've been getting a lot of cabbage. Here is what I do with cabbage. Maybe you will like it.

In a very large skillet or dutch oven on the stovetop. For a small head of cabbage use the equivalent of a medium onion, for a medium head of cabbage use a large onion. Saute roughly chopped onion until cooked and starting to brown. I use olive oil but you can use what you like.

Add the cabbage which has been sliced in 1/2 inch slices and then cubed the best you can. You can julienne the larger ribs to make them cook at the same rate as the rest of the cabbage. Stir cabbage into the onions and add salt and pepper to taste, along with some more olive oil to moisten.

Cover and cook on medium heat, stirring often. Add a little more oil as needed to keep the cabbage from sticking to the bottom of the pan or pot. In about 20 minutes you will have a wonderful veggie side dish when the cabbage is cooked through and has wilted down. It will be nice and sweet from the onions too.

Last edited by Cassie67; 01/05/12 03:28 PM.

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Jilly.....what's this about pickle juice that Phyllis talked about on another topic? It was a suggestion of yours but I can't find it on this forum. Maybe tell me where to go to find it so I can read up on it. Sounds interesting.....

I like new ideas for not wasting things.


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Jilly Offline OP
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Thank you for the cabbage idea, Cassie. I do get an awful lot of cabbage. Good thing i like them! I often treat them like i would lettuce with sandwiches and mexican food and such. I also like them in my tuna fish and soups.

And thank you also for the kind comments. smile

I found the pickle juice thread. It was buried in the 'older than three months' posts. I will comment on it and bring it back to the fore. It's a good one that Phyllis started with some great ideas.

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Jilly Offline OP
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Updated report: i have been getting lots of fresh tomatoes and heads of lettuce these last couple of weeks. Also a ton of oranges. Been getting a break from the onions (i planted some and they are indeed sprouting) but still lots of potatoes.

Lots of canned produce, some canned beef stew, some yogurt, some eggs, a thing of sour cream, some pesto (nice!). Also chips, soda and candy. Those latter junky things I put in the back cabinet for when I have visitors who like to eat those things. It's nice to offer someone a soda even if i don't like the stuff.

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Potatoes and cabbage - one of my favourite soups is cooking potatoes, adding onions, mashing a bit so that the sauce is thick and adding cabbage at the last minute so it doesn't cook too much.

Ripe tomatoes - chop finely and sprinkle with dried basil - mix and leave ideally for several hours for flavours to develop. Doesn't always look great but it tastes wonderful.


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Jilly Offline OP
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Yum, both suggestions sound wonderful.

How do you eat the tomatoes then? as a side dish? On bread like tapas?

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smile
Hi, Jilly.
I am slowly making the rounds and visiting other forums.
I like the cabbage and onion dish.
I would also be interested in reading about the pickle juice topics.

Is there a website listing food banks in the cities for each state?

Yea! I have moved on to first launch stage.
One step closer to becoming a full editor.
Take care.


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