Use It Up Advice Thread

[SteveinMN]

Kelli, as cdttmm said, they don't have to be ground. If you chose to grind them, you could improvise, especially since neither mustard nor coriander seeds come with the kinds of husks you see on cardamom or nutmeg. Even a rolling pin or a heavy glass jar bottom would do the trick, though it would be more work than a grinder/mortar & pestle.

As for the coconut milk, it still can go in a lot of dishes. Asian and Indian dishes tend to use non-sweetened coconut milk. But the sweetened kind probably could be cut with water or stock to make it usable. Or just save it for desserts and sweeter dishes.

[Azure]

Not really a use it up, I think, but a keep using it lol I had bought my 1st reed diffuser on clearance at work last fall. It is a lovely subtle scent that I really enjoyed. It dried up so I decided to try adding some rubbing alcohol to the bottle and it worked! It smells good again.

[fidgiegirl]

Chose this recipe to finish off that coconut milk. Had the added bonus of using four squashes from last fall. Only about 20 left. Our squash didn't have super flavor, so I don't think the soup turned out AS well as it would have with a really sweet squash, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

http://grumpygranny.wordpress.com/20...winter-squash/

[Tiam]

I've really pledged myself not to buy more food, but work on what I have. It seems I have quite a lot. It makes it clear to me, how much I buy when I don't need to. I'm out of coffee, and nearly out of half and half but still have tea. I think I am out of sour cream but may have a creme fraiche that I made that didn't set too well, left. There seems to be more about than I dreamed of, and not buying anything new, I am still having trouble using it all up!

[fidgiegirl]

I looked up a few recipes for the caraway seed, and will put away the mustard seed for pickling.

Also going to take some peppermint sugar to work to use in coffee. I also plan to throw some cheddar powder in some pasta this week.

We have so many spices and spice blends right now because my DSis gave me all of hers (she's not that interested in cooking and doesn't know what to do with spices). I combined a few jars of like or almost-like things and tucked a few others further back in the cupboard. Little by little we will use them, but I am planning to focus on some of the infrequently-used, almost-gone stuff to get it out of there.

Noticed that my washing soda is one big cake in the box. Will rip the box up and scrape the soda back into powder in order to use it. I'll have to hunt down a sealed container I can use to store it in to avoid a repeat performance, surely we have something laying around that will work.