Butter, how do I love thee?

I ran out of butter in week nine.  It was inevitable.  The rationing . . . well, I'll be honest.  I didn't ration.  I used my butter to my heart's content.  (Or discontent.  Has butter been linked to clogged arteries?)  Anyway.

In the interest of experimentation, I busted out some canned butter that Bryce and I bought in our first year of marriage.  Romantic, I know.

Here is a picture of the can.  Just ignore the dent; I did.  The brand is Red Feather and is supposed to have a 25 year shelf life.

It looked like read butter when we opened it up.  And, more importantly, it tasted like it!  I used it on toast and to cook with.  It was perfect.  I would recommend having some of this in your food storage if you don't think you can live without butter.  The only catch.  It's pricey stuff.  About $7.50 a can.  Each can is only 12 ounces or three cubes.  That's $10 a pound folks!

Given the price, I think we will keep some in our food storage, but not rotate it too regularly.  It does have a 25 year shelf life after all.

And in case you are wondering, I found a sale on butter for $2.50 a pound a few weeks ago.  I bought 12 pounds.  Yes, $30 worth of butter.  It will last us about 6 months. We should make it to the butter sales around Thanksgiving.  It was $2.00/lb. last year.  I am hoping for something similar this year, but with the way prices are going . . .

What We Ate for Dinner: Remember This?

Last night, for dinner we ate the casserole I made with turkey and homemade cheese.  (Have I mentioned I love freezer meals?)  The greens were left over from Monday night and the rolls were leftovers from the pulled elk sandwiches a few weeks ago.  I turned the rolls into garlic bread with the seasoning I mentioned here.

Nothing special, but delicious nonetheless.

What We Ate for Dinner: Garden Greens

Several months ago I did something I have never done before.  I tried to grow food from a seed.  I started lettuce, tomatoes, beans and radishes.  Only the lettuce survived.  I transferred it to a window box container just before we moved.  And it has gone gangbusters!  We ate our lettuce for the first time last night.  Some of the ingredients were the result of my shopping in the past weeks, but some were not.  Here is what we had on the salad:

Sliced pork chop--old

Teriyaki sauce on the pork chop--new

Sliced carrot--new

Frozen peas, defrosted--old

Apples--new

Almonds--old

The dressing was a mix of oil, vinegar, honey and some of the teriyaki sauce

Time Out: The Last Three Weeks

Let's just say that the last three weeks have been a time out.  I spent the last week in Mt. Pleasant getting my parents' home ready for their return.  Just before I left we emptied the storage unit.  I now have most of my food storage in one place.  I am going to try to finish out my no grocery shopping commitment.  After all, I only have ten days left.

What We Ate for Dinner: Quiznos

We have been trying to finish moving in (No we are not done!), so I didn't feel like cooking last night.  We went out to Quiznos with the Groupon we purchased a few weeks ago.

What We Ate for Dinner: Leftovers

Are you beginning to wonder how many pictures I can find of animals licking their lips?  I haven't exhausted the possibilities, yet.

What We Ate for Dinner: Asian Noodles and Grilled Chicken

Remember the Chinese chicken salad dressing I made here?  Well, the recipe makes a ton.  So, I froze the extra and brought it with me in the move.  Last night I use some to marinate the chicken legs I bought, then grilled them.  I also boiled a pound of whole wheat spaghetti and tossed it with the dressing.  Then I added carrots, red peppers and defrosted green beans.  It was a hit!

What We Ate for Dinner: A Kate Hansen Original with Frozen Burritos

I didn't feel much like cooking yesterday.  And our options have become increasingly few.  I made something that I thought was incredibly creative.

In my freezer were some of the burritos I made back here.  I put them in a casserole dish.  I would have liked to have had some kind of enchilada sauce, but I didn't have any.  So I made one up and it was delicious!

1 can tomato sauce
1 can green chilis
1 t. taco seasoning

I poured that over the burritos and topped it with cheese.  (Yes, I bought cheese.  It was only 2.68/lb at Winco.  I couldn't help myself.)  I thought this was delicious!  If you have frozen burritos in your freezer and need a quick family meal, this is it!

P.S.  Sorry I didn't take a picture of it.

What We Ate for Dinner: Pulled Venison Sandwiches

For the first time in about two months, I had to go to the store in order to make dinner.  Last night I made pulled venison sandwiches with an easy recipe I found here.

Since my roast was frozen I put it in the crock pot at about 8am.  I covered it in water since I hadn't been to the store to get any root beer.  Once home, I drained the water and replaced it with root beer.  At about 3:30, I shredded the meat.  Just so you know, venison is not easy to shred.  But I did it.  I put it back in until about 5pm.  Then I drained it again and put on the BBQ sauce.  I would have liked to have made the sauce from scratch, but I don't have all the ingredients I need.  Some day . . .

I also had to buy the rolls.  I served these with carrot sticks and a side of baked beans.  They tasted really good and a little root beer-y.

What We Ate for Dinner: Drum Sticks

Yes, I have been cheating a lot lately.  I bought some cheap chicken legs at Smith's on Saturday.  When I asked Kimball what he wanted for dinner last night, he said "Chicken."  Not to be one to deny my toddler a simple request, I complied.

For lunch I whipped up my own mayonnaise for grilled tuna since we don't have any cheese.  (I know, I'll buy chicken, but not cheese.  I'm weird.)  Of course, now I am out of butter.