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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Waste Nothing


Necessity means that we have to be very frugal right now and stretch every penny as far as possible. One common theme in our home now is to waste nothing

One of the items my friend gave to me the other day was frozen mashed potatoes. I thawed these in the refrigerator overnight and realized that they were watery, so I decided to see what I could do with those.  

I started by placing them into my stockpot along with some milk. Once that was warmed up I added some canned carrots (I am out of fresh), dried onions (out of fresh), and salt & pepper.

Once that was heated throughout, I decided to add some cheese. I wanted my daughter to eat this and I knew adding cheese would help with that, but the texture wasn't right. I knew she wouldn't like it the way it was, so I put batches in the blender to make it smooth. And it worked like a charm. 

My daughter had a bowl for lunch today and deemed the soup, "delicious!"  Success!

So, rather than tossing these out because they were watery, I doctored them up and made them into something edible for my family. And so we continue to use up what we have and not waste food.  

Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~

12 comments:

  1. I have found that if I reheat frozen mash potatoes in the the microwave or stove top they firm up and taste almost fresh.

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    1. Sounds good. Thank you for the tip Cheryl. :)

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  2. I often freeze bits of mashed potatoes, and once I've amassed enough, making a sheppard's pie is much easier. : )
    My trick is to microwave them to defrost, then use a wire wisk to whip them back together. Works like a charm! You salvaged what you were blessed with, good for you!

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    1. Thank you, Carol. Thank you for your tip on whipping them back into shape.

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  3. I just made an adult beverage using up some long in the tooth watermelon in a blender with ice and watermelon schnapps. lolz

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    1. Oh that sounds so good and refreshing! lol

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  4. Good job, Belinda! You not only salvaged the potatoes, but you made something that would be enjoyed. Sometimes, that's the tricky part!

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  5. I really love mashing the carrots and mashed potatoes together...it is something my mother did when I was a kid to get my brothers and I to eat the carrots! I was going to suggest the same thing with the microwave with the thawed potatoes...I am looking forward to your posts all summer long about saving money here and there..

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    1. Thank you, Meme. That was a great idea for your Mother to get you all to eat the carrots. I made bubble and squeak one time where the potatoes and cabbage are boiled together and that is a good side dish too.

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  6. Potatoes and carrots with milk and cheese and seasonings = Rub my tummy/Rub my tummy. lol. As a kiddo and then a mother, I added an egg to leftover mashed potatoes, little all-purpose flour, and seasonings and formed patties to fry in little grease/oil. Milk gravy over the fried patties, sometimes with meat tidbits and leftover veggies offered a nice lunch, especially with sliced tomatoes.

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  7. Thank you, Anna. Potato pancakes were next on my list as I have several bags of mashed potatoes from my friend. Bailey likes them, so I am definitely gong to make them. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

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