Cleaning out the fridge!

I thought I would share with you two of my favorite posts for saving money on food this month, they are oldies but goodies related to cleaning out the fridge!  

If you know me you know I'm a big believer in cleaning out my fridge often.  I do this about every 3-5 days so that food never has the chance to go bad!  It allows me to put things out and use them up before they go bad.  Most food only lasts (leftovers that is) about 3-5 days safely in the fridge.  So if you can use it or freeze it in that time span you can avoid waste.  Because I clean out my fridge so often it makes it very easy to do.  It goes quickly.  Mind you -- most of this cleaning is simply moving things around, and often I move things to the freezer!  I can't say this enough - label, label, label!! That little tidbit of meat might look like a banana in a zip lock bag and wouldn't make a lovely smoothie addition later.  Caution* -- if you intend to freeze things like garlic and onion, strong odors like fish, you want to do those on the same shelves as say your meat, rather than next to the bags of cut up frozen pineapple!  ( I might know this from personal experience- it goes without saying catfish flavored pineapple is um... disappointing!)  Here is how I clean out my fridge!

celery wrapped in aluminum foil will last much longer

When cleaning out my fridge originally I noticed that I routinely threw out certain things.  Fresh celery and bags of  lettuce spent more time in my trashcan than on our tables.  Those bags of slimy pre-cut lettuce, were expensive by the time you figured out I threw out half of them.  I was forever buying a bag, using a little salad and tossing the remainder of the bag in the garbage a week later. Does this sound familiar? Now, when I have bags of pre-cut lettuce I repackage them into a sealing plastic bag with a clean dry paper towel inside the bag.  I find they last much longer this way once opened.  Here again, Grandma's policy of putting everything in the fridge out on the table at meal times works to your advantage.  You're more likely to eat it if it's served.
But the real solution to the slimy salad conundrum is simply to buy heads of  Romaine lettuce.  Iceberg lasts a long time, but nutritionally it's not the greatest, it's really the equivalent of water, which is fine, but not the powerhouse, that green leafy lettuces and spinach are. The darker green is better for more nutrients.  Heads of fresh Romaine lettuce will last a really long time in the fridge.  And if they start to look bad, you can chop of the tops or peel off the outer layers and usually find a decent salad in there somewhere.  Trust me, go Romaine-- you won't regret it!

And the celery, that slimy soggy mess in the back of the drawer.....well, for one thing I don't buy it as much as I used to.  Only when I know I want fresh for a chicken salad or something of that nature, but I've found a way of storing it that helps it last longer too.  I wrap mine in aluminum foil, it stays crisp and lasts much longer, giving me more opportunity to get my money's worth out of it!  And if you are lacking in ideas for using those things up-- here's another helpful post from the past.  What to do with celery, onions, fresh garlic

2 Salads and the Dressings That Make Them So Loveable!

This post is part of Homestead Revival's Salad Dressing Recipe Exchange!

Can I tell you how strange it is to hear myself saying "I just am craving a great salad!".

Well-- let me tell you that is a truly strange feeling for me until this last couple of years. I've been gradually working towards eliminating all sorts of things from our diets and working on getting more veggies into our diets for all of us for a couple of years now and it's starting to take hold, and why not with salads as tasty and delish as these two salads.

The first is from the Moosewood Cookbook:
(can't tell you how many delectable things are in that cookbook- even for us non-vegetarians) It's there California version of a waldorf salad, and the yogurt avacado dressing is stellar! I was skeptical at first -- thinking , hmm.. .. well I'll make a half a batch and if I like it I'm not out too much. Then I proceeded to eat it all over the course of 3 hours! Now I make the dressing in full batches and freeze what I don't use for later to save me prep time, etc. Avacados freeze amazingly well -- by the way. And you can't see it in the picture because my avacado sat out while tending to toddler needs and got brown, but the dressing when made properly and promptly has a beautiful green color to it too. I'm sure if you want the original recipe as it's written you can find it. I find that with the proportions as written it is quite soggy and has too much dressing, so I wrote below what I do. The dressing I think would be great on any fruit salad, and even would be good on spinach salad with some red onion and strawberries.

California Waldorf Salad (My version):

Dressing:
Combine in a blender till smooth, use about half and freeze the rest or save for later.
1 cup yogurt - I use plain unsweetened, whole milk yogurt
1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and mashed
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 lemons, juiced
(Fresh lemons make a difference here -- in many things I like to use bottled juice, but this is not one of them, and of course since you are going to eat the rind I like to get organic when possible.)


2 large apples, peel on, cored, and cubed
1 large orange or 2 tangerines cut up and peel off
3-4 stalks celery, chopped- I add more than the original to keep it lower in carbs
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted cashews
Juice of one lemon to coat the fruit and veggies

Chop and combine the above ingredients except the cashews -- don't add those until you serve it. Add dressing and combine sprinkle cashews on top just before serving so they don't get soggy.

The second is a great stolen recipe from the book Saving Dinner the low carb way. The dressing that is.. is stolen. The combinations of the salad isn't - it's my own creation. Spinach leaves, some red onion strips, pecans, apple chunks and my personal favorite blue cheese! That and the terrific balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Which by the way is great on any salad. Especially with really good balsamic vinegar --that makes all the difference! So here it is - stolen contriband and all.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 T. dijon mustard
4 T. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Throw all the ingredients in a small jelly jar with a tightly sealing lid and shake it up really good. Shake before serving-- lasts in the fridge for a long time, allthough I always manage to use it up before it even come close to going bad.