What foods have you got rid of lately out of your pantry?

[gertbysea]

Firstly, thanks for the recipe I love my TM but more importantly, so sorry to hear about your daughter.  It must be a real worry for you and I hope the professionals are soon able to help her get better. 

Ditto  from me too  I love my TM.  Happy that the TMX is making life easier for you to spend more time for your family.

Gretchen

[Very Happy Jan]

Welcome I love my TM. Thanks for the Lara Bar recipe. I had never heard of them but they sound delish. I tried blitzing dates once and I nearly lifted the roof of the house with the noise. I used the packet dried pitted dates and I think they were a bit old and too dry. 
Hope the TMX makes life easier for you I love my TM - sound like you are busy with your DD. Hope all goes well for you.

[Kym]

Thanks for that.  DD1 loves this coconut rough (http://fulllittletummies.blogspot.com/2010/07/filling-tummies-with-homemade-coconut.html) which has similar flavours so I'll be trying those bars.

[cottchick]

Thank you, I Love My TM! I haven't made Lara Bars for years and had stopped because they were a bit of a nuisance to make in the blender. I had a friend in the states send me some ages ago and HAD to find the recipe they are so beautiful. Now I can make them again, YAY!!

I have gotten rid of bikkies from my pantry. i wasn't buying all that many really but now if the kids want one we make them - never buy. I love it.

[cookie1]

Thanks for the recipe, they sound delicious and healthy. I'm thinking of you and your DD.

[quirkycooking]

Lara bars sound a lot like what we call 'treat balls' or 'bliss balls' (we roll them in balls, usually) - the kids snack on them a lot!  I use all sorts of nuts in mine - mostly almonds, but also cashews & macadamias.  Sometimes add dried apricots /sultanas too.  Great for energy, specially with raw cacao powder! 

[meganjane]

Must try those Treat Balls and Lara Bars.

So sorry to find that your daughter is ill ILTM, but I bet the TMX is making life easier for you if you had to prepare specialised food for her.

This post led me to a doing this blog post of what I don't buy anymore since I've had Herman. I must admit to buying Gravy Mix, but I do buy a good one (in bulk). It's Knorr Rich Brown Gravy with Real Roux. We all adore it. I buy the 2.4kg tub and shell out heaps to friends and family.
I'm impressed with the ingredients of this mix. Aside from flour etc, it has:
toasted onion powder
tomato powder
herbs
apple juice powder
carrot juice powder
garlic powder
herbs & spices

It does, of course, have flavour enhancers, but we don't have it every day...

[quirkycooking]

I forgot to add that I never buy tinned soup now!  I used to get so annoyed with all those recipes with a tin of 'cream of...' soup in it, because I hated to use it!  Now I make a quick white sauce based, condensed soup in the tmx to substitute for the tinned soup!  Tastes better, and better for you!

[meganjane]

Oh yes, have to add that one too!

[andiesenji]

Welcome I love my TM. Thanks for the Lara Bar recipe. I had never heard of them but they sound delish. I tried blitzing dates once and I nearly lifted the roof of the house with the noise. I used the packet dried pitted dates and I think they were a bit old and too dry. 
Hope the TMX makes life easier for you I love my TM - sound like you are busy with your DD. Hope all goes well for you.

I posted in another thread about dried fruits that are a bit "long in the tooth" or too dry and too hard. 
You can bring them back to life with steaming.  It may take five minutes or fifteen minutes or even a bit longer but eventually they will plump and be useful.  I am very frugal and it pains me when I see people tossing food, and expensive food at that, when it is possible to save it. 
Last year I had some figs that had migrated to the rear of a cupboard and the package was like a brick.  It took half an hour of steaming, fifteen minutes to get to the point where I could separate the figs, and another fifteen until a skewer penetrated easily.

A few days ago I reconstituted some papaya strips that were so hard I could probably have driven nails with them.  My fault, I forgot they were in the dehydrator and did not remove them after turning it off a couple of weeks ago and have not had occasion to use that one. 
Ten minutes of steaming and they were perfect for chopping and adding to scone dough.

[Very Happy Jan]

Thanks for that tip Andiesenji. I must have missed that thread (or just forgotten it). I have some mango slices that are like concrete so will try to resurrect them today

[Cornish Cream]

I found this tip about steaming dried out fruit very useful Andie.It's dried apricots that tend to get forgotten in my cupboard.

[andiesenji]

Here's a couple of photos that illustrate how well steaming can bring dried fruits back to life after a long period of storage. (Or forgotten in the back of a cupboard.)

I took these photos a year ago of a batch of dried fruits, plus some of my homemade candied ginger that had also dried out too much to be easily used and not quite dry enough for grinding into powder.
The fruits in the mix are mango, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, apple, red plums, besides the ginger.



After fifteen minutes of steaming they looked like this:


You can easily see that the big slice of ginger, that was opaque prior to steaming, is now translucent, all the fruits are tender and perfect for eating as is or inclusion in a recipe. 

[Cornish Cream]

Wow Andie, that is amazing. Thank you for looking in your archives for the before and after photos for us to see.

[Zan]

Wow that's great. Thanks for the tip Andie - I am certain i will use it one day (probably soon, lol).