Making room for party food -- an interesting supper of odds 'n ends leftovers

On Friday I will be making a trip to Cash & Carry (a wholesaler that primarily serves small restaurants, but will also sell to the public) to pick up a large amount of produce, cheese, and sliced meats. I will need all of the fridge space I can spare, both for the purchase and for the trays that I prepare with all of this food. In addition, I will have water and blackberry lemonade to chill. I have a garage fridge, too. I am moving everything I can, which won't be needed for Sunday, into that fridge. Unfortunately/fortunately, I did my senior shopping on Tuesday, so that fridge is already quite full. My back-up is a picnic cooler which could hold items like condiments, which would free up a bit of extra space in the fridges.

Earlier this week I began cleaning out the fridge by using up all of the odds and ends of leftovers and almost-empty jars of various items. Wednesday's dinner did a great job of using these bits.

I made an odds and ends soup, using leftover bean soup, leftover, previously frozen canned tomatoes, and some diced tofu. I added chili powder and a bit of salt. The soup was quite tasty and just enough to serve all of us without any leftovers to go back into the fridge. I also made a very good jello and fruit salad, using the sweet leftovers of cranberry cream cheese spread, blackberry lemonade, red currant jelly, and the last bits from 2 jars of applesauce. I combined all of this with some dissolved, plain gelatin, and a spoonful of sugar. Once set, I scooped into individual dishes, and topped with sliced bananas. I thought it was very tasty, and a great way to prevent food-waste. Bonus --  one lucky family member got the scrapings of the practically empty peanut butter jar on their buttered bread, which accompanied this soup and jello salad supper.

Today's lunch found a lingering, single hot dog and bun. As of now, there is someone's small bowl of canned tomatoes, a single slice of salami, a slice of cinnamon swirl toast, and 2 halves of peeled, raw carrots. I'll be asking to whom those items belong this evening. (Plus there's my daughter's punch -- she buys this herself.) Otherwise, I think my fridge is ready to be filled!