How to Make Eggnog

Eggnog Scones

Feeding a family of 4 for $150 a month

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Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Freezer Finds This Week

So I've cleaned out and organized both stand alone freezers. I had to do those because they needed defrosting. But I also have 2 freezer compartments of fridge/freezer combination units, the kitchen one and our old kitchen one (now in the garage). Neither of these need defrosting, but they do need cleaning out and organizing. So I am slowly going through both as I have a few minutes here and there.

it's dark because the lightbulb burned out several years ago --
the absolute only thing that has ever failed in this fridge/freezer

Here's what the freezer section of the old fridge/freezer looks like now after about 6 weeks. Goodness! This is about as empty as I've seen it in years. And this photo was taken right after I put 2 new loaves of bread in there. It was emptier than this when I opened the door. And yes, it is avocado green. How very 1970s!


And here's the kitchen fridge/freezer's freezer after 6 weeks of trying to use up its contents. It's getting there. It's still a jumble of stuff, but at least there's room in the freezer basket now, and I can find foods. These lower basket freezers are difficult to keep organized, as the basket slopes, so you can't easily stack containers.

Here's what I found this week:

  • more chicken stock
  • pumpkin stock (the liquid that I strain off of cooked, pureed fresh pumpkin)
  • 2 containers of unknown contents, likely someone's leftovers. One looks like it might be baked beans. I'll need to thaw them just to find out what they are.
  • ground cumin
  • phyllo dough (very old, but I may try doing something with it)
  • grape juice concentrate
  • a partial can of apple-raspberry concentrate
  • 2 1/2 burritos, homemade
  • 1/2 eggroll, homemade
  • multiple ice cream containers (5) with about 1 scoop left in each
  • whipped cream
  • 2 cups of sour milk
  • 1/2 cup chicken gravy
  • 1 cup of ham drippings
  • candied orange peel scones, several
What I did with our finds:
  • I used 1 quart of chicken stock divided between some chicken gravy to go with roasted chicken and a small pot of chicken noodle soup.
  • 1 quart of pumpkin stock has been used as the liquid in my breakfast smoothies.
  • cumin was used to refill the kitchen spice jar
  • 1/2 burrito was part of my lunch yesterday. 
  • the sour milk went into a large batch of pancakes for my family this week for breakfasts and snacks
  • the 1/2 cup of chicken gravy was mixed with the fresh homemade gravy this week, allowing us to get 3 dinners of roast chicken and gravy from one whole chicken.
What's left? And what I plan for these items:
  • the 2 containers of unknown contents, perhaps one is baked beans -- I plan on thawing at least one of them at lunch one day this week, getting my family's approval, and seeing if a family member recalls freezing it. Then it will become part of their lunch for that day. I'll do the same with the second container the following week.
  • phyllo dough -- I don't want to waste other good ingredients on something that is old, so I may just layer the sheets with butter, sugar, and cinnamon and bake. Any other suggestions?
  • The juices will be beverages at a picnic or cookout in the next month.
  • 2 burritos -- these will be used in lunches this next week.
  • 1/2 egg roll -- this is my daughter's. I'll encourage her to eat it.
  • ice cream -- this is easy. We'll have an ice cream moment on Saturday afternoon when the warm weather returns.
  • the whipped cream is a few years old -- I'll use it in a batch of scones or pancakes, thinned with some water. Or do you have any suggestions?
  • ham drippings -- I saved these drippings for making gravy. Do you have any suggestions on using the drippings or for what to use a gravy made with them?
  • no one remembers baking the scones. So I'm guessing I baked them. Using candied orange peel sounds like something I'd bake. (My daughters thought so, too.) They likely have dairy milk in them, so I can't eat any. I think I'll thaw a few at a time and set them out for breakfast choices.
What are your suggestions for the foods I haven't used yet?

1 comment:

  1. Lynn from NC Outer BanksAugust 7, 2025 at 6:43 AM

    You might use the ham gravy to go with biscuits for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy is a treat here in the South!

    ReplyDelete

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