Freezer Food Challenge 2014

Time for my annual freezer food challenge.   I was going to start February 1st, but I just took a look at my freezers and I think I better start now because there are not enough days in February to exhaust what I have in the freezers.

So, from now to February 28th, we will be eating out of the freezers until we deplete what's in there.   Same rules apply.  No buying of anything other than fruits, veggies and dairy.  Oh, wine and beer are excluded from the game.

Let the game begin!

The Freezer Food Challenge is Still On

Yes, I'm still in this challenge.  I'm still making food from the freezer.  I just didn't have time to blog about it.  I can't believe we are already in the final stretch of March!

I've been eating things from the freezer and I haven't bought any meat thus far.  I saved some money and my frozen stash is diminishing.  I'm having fun but I have not made anything spectacular that I can blog about.

OK, maybe there are two dishes that are fun to make and look great on photos:

Anything Paella.  Made with things found in the freezer/fridge: pretty color bell peppers, 1/2 onion, 1 tomato, baby octopus, Chinese smoked chicken (I shredded it), leftover crab meat and yes, 2 hot dogs.

Everything Ravioli.  Dinner brought to you by leftover cilantro and basil (even the lemon wedge) from Pho the night before, mushrooms from the bottom shelf of the fridge, collard greens in the bag, frozen peas and days old caviar.

What do you think?  I love this game!  It's a good challenge to turn bunch of anything into something everyday.  It's not easy as I think though.  I have to scan through the freezer the night before and figure out what's there and what I can with it.  It's like doing homework!

What I've Learned.  I learn not to over purchase.  Having space in the freezer doesn't mean I have to fill it up.  Yes, it's hard but it's something that I should restrain from doing.  One exception would be if there is a great sale.  How can you resist BOGO??

What's in the Freezer

I didn't do too bad on day 1 of the freezer food challenge.  Found julienned pork, and a vacuum-packed saba.  So I decided to make a rice stick main dish since I have plenty of veggies around and a grilled saba.  I even have enough stuff to make a cauliflower soup with half of an onion, potato and kale.

I like the pre-julienned pork packages.  Just divide them into smaller packets so I only have to defrost what I need.  I got the cauliflower soup recipe from a cooking show couple of weeks ago.  Simple and nutritious.  So besides the pretty orange butternut squash soup that I usually make, I now have a recipe for a pretty cream color soup.

The 2012 Freezer Food Challenge

THE GAME: Last March, I put myself to a freezer food challenge. For the entire month of March, I challenged myself to cook with only what was in the freezers.  Yes, it was a test of my cooking creativity (and recipe searching).

My mom and dad were good sports. They went along and cheered whatever I made and ate the dishes enthusiastically. I think we lasted 28 days. I made good progress with food inventory reduction, and I shamelessly declared myself winner of the 2011 freezer food challenge! (applause please)

A year later, my two freezers are packed again. How that happened?  Well, I guess we're playing the easy-freezy game again.

SAME GAME RULES: I can only use what's in the freezer and in the pantry. No buying of new food except milk, eggs, bread/bagels, veggies and fruits. I do need to get onions, garlics, cilantro, green onions - you know, things that make food taste good. And, beer and wine, pIease. Timeouts on Saturdays and on days that we get sick of eating freezer foods.

LET THE GAME BEGINS!  So starting tomorrow, it's all about frozen food.  I hope now with a game under my belt, I'll be able to do better and be more creative than last year. Oh, the pressure... the pressure...

Hopefully, this also means I'll go back to more regular blogging.  Hey, and with my Project 365, I think this will be a very busy month.  Now, that's a good challenge!

Wish me luck peeps!

The Freezer Game - Home Stretch!

Wow!  Can't believe I last this long on this freezer food challenge.  Mom and Dad are great too!  Unconditional love and support for my cooking.  Whatever I cook, they always have positive things to say.  I notice that they have started drinking lychee sake every meal.  I wonder if that's to make food go down easier?  Hmmmm...

At any rate, good progress still.  It's like treasure hunting.  How about 2 boxes of soft shell crabs? I deep fried them in batter last night.  Tasted great but the batter was kind of thin. 

Note to self: follow the recipe next time!!

Tonight my challenge was frozen grounded chicken meat.  Can't remember why I got it.  Must have been on sale or meant for a particular dish.  So, I decided to try making this Elephant-Bar-like "Wok-Fried Chicken and Lettuce Wrap."  Pretty simple ingredients.  Again, see what you have in the refrigerator and in the pantry first.  I chopped up mushrooms and water chestnuts.  Sauted everything with finely chopped ginger and seasoning.  I made my own sauce with oyster sauce + sugar + balsamic vingar + sesame oil. 

Another note to self: check out plum sauce next time.  No need to mix own sauce.

Two more days left to the challenge.  I don't think I'll be able to empty out the freezer  in time but I think I have done a pretty good job thus far.

The Freezer Food Quest

Week 4 of my "Eat Only Freezer Food" game and I'm proud of myself for sticking to the rules.  I have not bought anything for the freezer since February 28th.  Yes, I still buy fresh veggies and fruits, but I did not buy any meat or fish.

After four weeks of digging and looking deep the freezer, I've made good progress in reducing inventory.  Let's see in the last week or so: I've baked a tray of stuffed clams, broiled Japanese Saba fish, and made Cajun jambalaya using frozen green/red peppers, frozen peas, ham and chicken.  I did buy a package of Cajun sausage to kick it up a notch.  Nothing wrong with that, right?

Tonight, I made two more freezer food dishes:

First: What more ways to use the julienned pork? How about stir-frying it with Shiitake mushrooms and wooden ears and half of a can of julienned bamboo.  Add a sauce made of black bean paste, vinegar, rice wine and sugar to incorporate the flavors at the end, and I made my version of 魚香肉絲.  Yes, it was good!!

Second: What to do with bags of frozen veggies ready for steaming?  I thought steaming would be boring.  So, I stir-fried a bag of green beans with garlic, fresh crimini mushroom and half a can of baby corns.  I got a healthy dish and I got to clean out the canned food too.  BONUS POINT!








Mommy notes that I'm getting creative.  I accept the compliment shamelessly because I think I do deserve a pat on the back.  :o)

Bon appetit!

The Freezer Find: 榨菜湯麵

I found some pork in the freezer.  I decide to julienne, marinate, and saute it for various use.  You can make many dishes out of the julienned pork.  Julienning is the time consuming part.

As I was julienning the pork, the first thing that came to my mind was to make Pickled Cabbage Noodle Soup (榨菜湯麵).  It's a classic northern Chinese noodle dish. Flavorful topping in a bowl of noodle soup.  Drizzle sesame oil - add a little bit of chili sauce if you like - and you will be on top of the world!!

It's pretty easy to prepare the topping.  Saute ginger, garlic and the pickled cabbage with a little bit dried red pepper.  Season with salt and white pepper.  Add pork, adjust seasoning and let the flavors incorporate.  You can make in bulk and put them in refrigerator for few days.  Just have the broth and noodle handy and you can feed an army.  Bon appetit!

Easy Freezy

Another great freezer food meal tonight!  Today's dishes were either steamed or baked.  Easy to make and easy to clean up.

Steamed vegetable soup.  Napa cabbage, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and ham.  Very simple to make and looked elegant.

I tried out a new recipe for steamed pork with  black "wooden ears".  Definitely a dish that I would make again.  The pork was seasoned with "sa-tay" sauce which was not usually associated with steamed food.  Yeah!  I learn something new everyday!

While two dishes were being steamed on the stove top, two more were being baked in the oven: bacon wrapped scallops and garlic butter escargot.  Yes, they were in the freezer.  Man, why haven't I eaten them earlier?

The giant scallops were from Trader Joe's.  I just wrapped them with bacons and they tasted like a million bucks!  I did not stuff the escargot in the shells.  Instead, I used the two stainless escargot pans that I found at Goodwill last year.  I put the garlic butter on the bottom, add the snails and top with bread crumbs.  Oven at 400.  The scallops in first and 20 minutes later, I popped in the escargot.

There we had it.  Easy and delicious.  I did good again!  :o)

The Freezer Food Combo

Frozen Chicken Breast + Frozen Vegetables + Frozen Pie Shell = Piping Hot Pot Pies. 

Chicken Pot Pies + Salad + Wonton Soup (yes, I found some wontons in the freezer too) = Tonight's Dinner.

Dad and Mom gave me the thumbs up.  Dad asked if I can make one with scallops and shrimps next time. OK, Dad.  I'll check if I have frozen mixed seafood in the freezer.

The Freezer Food Inventory

I took inventory of what's in the freezer and started my menu planning for the month. Instead of relying on running to the store to pick up what's called for in a recipe, I improvised. I tried to see how I can combine the ingredients and create new taste.

So what did we end up with?


For dinner last night, I took the easy way out and made hotpot. Taking all the little packets of lamb, chicken, tempera, corn cobs and adding them to a soup base of napa cabbage, tomatoes and tofu. Nothing fancy but it was perfect for a chilly night. Best of all, I cleaned out the little bags of frozen food here and there. Yes, when in doubt, make hotpot. Just make sure you have plenty of veggies and a good dipping sauce.

For tonight, I defrosted the beef short ribs made red wine-braised short ribs. New recipe. Made with simple ingredients of celery, carrots, shallots. And Oh My God, it smelled sooooo good!! I think I'm going to call this recipe one of my favorites. Thank you Williams-Sonoma!

As for the frozen chicken meat, hmmm... how about chicken with black-bean sauce? I stir-fried it with green and red peppers. Hey, it came out pretty good. Great with rice.

So, I think I did pretty good the first two nights. Let's give me a big round of applause!!

The Freezer Food Warm-Up

So my Eat Your Freezer Food game doesn't start until tomorrow. But since I had some time this morning, I figured that I'll give it some practice.

Let's see what I have: 1/2 bag of baby spinach, little bit of feta cheese and eggs. Hmmm... how about a Frittata? I also found some frozen breakfast sausage patties and frozen green/red peppers in the freezer. Perfect!

1) Stir-fry the green/red peppers

2) Throw in slightly chopped sausage patties

3) Some chopped garlic. I found some in a jar in the refrigerator.

4) Stir in the baby spinach

5) Whip up 3 eggs. Add milk. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in feta cheese. Pour into the pan. Top with Parmesan cheese.

6) Pop it in the oven at 350. Baked about 45 minutes or so.

7) Voila! Eat.

Hey, it came out pretty yummy. :o)

The Freezer Food Challenge

WHAT'S IN YOUR FREEZER? I was looking for some ingredients in the freezer the other day. I took all the stuff out and really dug. I couldn't find what I was looking for - I don't even remember what I was looking for now - but I have a little mountain of frozen food. Ugh! All these food, and none what I need! How that happened? What am I supposed to do with all these stuff?

GAME ON. So I declared to Mom and Dad that we will have a food challenge in March. Our challenge will be to consume what's in the freezer and to deplete what's in there before I start stock piling again. This means though, I'll be making food that may not always be Chinese. It may be American or Italian. Heck, I may end up making Japanese or French (ya, dream on). Mom and Dad were good sports. They said let's go for it. So, here we go, from this Sunday, 2/27/11 through 3/31/11,we will play the Eat Your Freezer Food game.

GAME RULES: I can only use what's in the freezer and in the pantry. No buying of new food except milk, eggs, bread/bagels, veggies and fruits. I will allow myself to buy onions, garlics, cilantro, green onions - you know, things that make food taste good. And, I have to have my beer and wine to go with whatever I'll be making. And, timeouts on Saturdays.

WATCH ME PLAY, PEEPS. This should be interesting. A good cook should be able to make dishes using what's at hand and make them tasty too. I'll chronicle my food challenge. We will see if I can really cook.