Using Things Up

Barley: Wayne's not a fan of barley, so an opened package has been sitting in the pantry for a few years. However, he is a fan of saving money by using what you have. Hopefully, this Beef Barley Soup will be an acceptable way to make some room in the pantry bin. The fact that I'm using "real" beef (a chuck roast that has been in the freezer for a while) instead of wheat/meat is a big plus. He's also not a fan of celery, but I bought some for his latest recipe, so we need to use that up as well.

Coconut Milk, Coconut Oil, Lime Juice, and Freeze-Dried Chicken: I actually found a recipe containing all of these ingredients - Thai Chicken Coconut Curry - and it even turned out well. 

Fresh Coconut and Reject Almond Toffee: We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Brad's family over New Year's. One of their favorite activities was searching for coconuts and cracking them open. The ones we found in the neighborhood weren't edible, but we did pick one up at the grocery store that was delicious. Cody taught me their tricks for successfully making Almond Toffee, but we also found a great use for the batch I tried earlier that didn't set up properly - granola. I melted the candy failure and mixed it with some oats and nuts, baked for a few minutes, then stirred in some craisins and sliced coconut meat. (Later we even added a few M&M's.) It was a great treat to nibble on while putting a puzzle together.

Some of the granola I added to an oatmeal cookie recipe, which I then baked as bars. That option turned out well also.

Beef and Beef Broth: We normally use chuck roast in soups, but this time we had leftover rib roast from Christmas. We also had leftover broth - the result of creating "leftover" meat for a recent Dutch oven recipe. A while ago I read an idea to cook rice or pasta separately and then add it to the soup bowl when served; it's a great idea and prevents the "mushiness" factor. This was a delicious "clean out the fridge" soup.