food pantry stuff

My partner's brother works at a church that runs a food pantry and he brought us a huge box of stuff.  Which I really appreciate because money is really tight right now.  Getting stuff from the food pantry is always kind of challenging because you get stuff you wouldn't actually go out and buy yourself and you have to figure out what you're going to do with it.

Now, we did get a lot of canned goods which we will easily use, and we got some organic 1% milk.  Who would have thought you'd get organic milk from the food pantry?  Of course, I just picked up two gallons of raw milk from the farm two days ago so now I have milk coming out my ears.  I guess I will be making a lot of yogurt!

I guess the food pantry must have gotten a donation from some food service company.  I got two jumbo size boxes of cornflakes.  What am I gonna do with those?  I was thinking of crushing some and using them to bread cheesesticks.  But I need other ideas.

I got a ten pound carton of macoroni salad.  Seriously.  I dunno what I'm gonna do with that.  Try to feed it to my partner with every meal he eats, I guess.  I can only eat a couple bites of pasta at a time, it feels too heavy in my pouch.

I also got five pounds of American cheese.

Ooh.  And bagels.  And granola bars.  And a giant box of microwave popcorn.

the cheese, milk, and bagels will all freeze beautifully. It's kind of funny to realize how many carb-heavy foods end up at the food pantry. Nothing wrong with carbs, but it does limit what you can eat.

As far as the macaroni salad, maybe friends would like to have some? that is a whole picnic's worth of salad!

glad to hear you guys have help. I'm sorry times are so lean right now and hope it gets better soon.

I might send the macoroni salad to work with my partner.  He could put it in the lunch room and share with everyone.

I don't know why I didn't think of freezing the cheese.  I know it does freeze really well.  Does milk freeze OK?  I've never frozen milk before.

I used to share extra food with my neighbors but... ah, it's a long story, but the guy is having some very serious medical problems and is in a hospital about an hour away and his wife is staying there with him and the kids are with a family member right now, so they are not around to share with.

A lot of carbs do end up at the food pantry.  I also got several bags of egg noodles.  I think it's 'cause they are cheap, often non-perishable (other the macoroni salad would sure go bad), and can really stretch a meal.  Which would work well for many people.

 i've heard good things about freezing milk but have never tried it myself (i drink it too quick anyway)

I have frozen milk. Works fine. Give it some time to properly thaw in the fridge.

fun/needed/ challenging:))) someone posted they freeze milk to make  thier shakes. sounds like  the tv show where they got the mixed box and have to make a meal, what fun :)))))

Yeah, I am the same with noodles. Remember that casserole for church a few weeks back. I made too many noodles and ended up with a 2nd casserole...which is still sitting in my fridge.

My girls are so accustomed to not having pasta they never touched it!

So that is to say, if you can send the mac salad somewhere, that'd probably work best.

Cornflakes...do you like cheesecake? I make protein cheesecake all the time and use crushed cereal as my crust.

Oh cheese...holy yum... I am jealous!

Did you say (or was that me just suggesting it) that you'd try making cottage cheese? I can't remember. But with an excess of milk you have the materials for experimentation. I've watched it done on YouTube and it actually looks manageable (if you like the stuff).

Yeah, I did say I was gonna try  making cottage cheese.  I don't like it much myself but my partner does.

And yes, of course I like cheesecake!  I'll have to check out your recipe - is it on Bariatric Foodie?

Search cheesecake. A PLETHORA of options will appear...

  
Just wanted to let ya know that your website.... BariatricFoodie.com was thrown out at my wls support group meeting by someone  last nite as a great source for recipes!  

I checked it out... Awesome stuff.  :).    

-Apple