What's on Hand/July Menus

I didn't make a 2-week menu for July and probably won't for August. We tend to eat differently in the summer than we do the rest of the year, even though no one in my family is actually on a school schedule. But we have random garden produce, are on the go/traveling more, and I'm needing to defrost my big stand-up freezer to get ready for the hoped-for August garden bounty (and some more freezer meals)! So, here's what I have on hand right now (*=Big Freezer). I need to clear up room in the two smaller freezers (we have an extra fridge/freezer combo in our basement--the fridge compartment stores extra milk and other beverages) because I know I can't use up all the chicken stock and flour in the Big Freezer.

I also tend to store a lot of grain/nut-related products in my freezers because we've had problems with moths getting into them in the pantry.

(strike throughs and things in red are things I've used up/changed since this post first published!)

Meats (most meat below has been repackaged in smaller amounts for my freezer; we tend to eat less meat/person than 1 typical store package assumes)

• 15 11 1-pound bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (hit a big sale AND had coupons)
• 2 1-pound bags boneless, skinless chicken tenders
• 1 whole chicken*
• 1 pound organic chicken thighs
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 bag of chicken for stir-fry
• 4 1/2-pound bags beef cut for stir-fry*
• 2 8-oz. bags Italian sausage*
• 1 pound kielbasa*
• 2 1/2-pound bags smoked sausage*
• 1 1/2 pound breakfast sausage (cooked)
  
• 2 small bags homemade meatballs
• 2 1 bag fish
• 1 bag fish packets (on the menu for tomorrow night)

Condiments/Sauces/Stock

• chicken stock--a ton*
• pesto--3 cups homemade; more on the way if my basil plants keep it up

Dairy

• shredded cheese--a ton*
• American cheese
• feta cheese
• Danish blue cheese (a mild gorgonzola type)
  

Baking Supplies, Grains, and Breads

• flour*
• cornmeal
• nuts*
• oats
• pie crusts (3) (2)
  
• filo dough (been in there a while....)*
• 2 1 box puff pastry (also been in there a while....)*
• small carton Cool-Whip
• ice cream... should be thrown away maybe
• 4 1 loaf bread*
• 2 1 bag tortillas
• 1 bag pita bread
• 3 pizza dough balls (using up some of that flour!)
  

Vegetables and Fruit

• beans (dried)
• 2 bag corn kernels
• 1 big bag peas
• 1 small bag peas
  
• 2 bags vegetable blends
• 3 small boxes vegetable blends
• 3 2 bell peppers
• 3 2 boxes spinach
• 1 bag sugar snap peas
• big bag sweet potato fries*
• bananas (what was I thinking? We have enough bananas to live off smoothies and banana bread for quite some time....)
• miscellaneous fruit
• ginger
• red beans (cooked for red beans and rice)
• 2 "cans" equivalent cooked black beans (using up chicken stock and pantry supplies)
  
• 2 "cans" equivalent cooked pinto beans (using up chicken stock and pantry supplies)
• 4 cups chopped onion (from my garden)
• 7 green bell peppers, chopped (from my garden)
• 2 Poblano peppers, chopped (from my garden)
  
• 2 quart-sized bags green beans (from my garden)
• roma tomatoes (from my garden)
• jalapeno peppers (from my garden)
  

Random

• Pot sticker wrappers
• popcorn kernels
• pasta
• 3 hoagie rolls

Meals that immediately jump to mind:
Stir-Fry! We do this a lot, but in the summer they have a bit more of a Thai flavor (bell peppers, basil, jalapenos, etc.)
Beans and Kielbasa (baked together)
Pasta with Sausage Sauce
Grilled Chicken (eaten plain, on top of green salad, used in chicken salad, etc.)
Homemade Pizza

That's our menu for the summer! Side dishes will be crudite (my volunteer cucumber plant is prolifically producing monstrous cukes), homemade salsa, pasta with homemade marinara sauce, etc. My garden is full of tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, and winter squash plants. A few green beans sprinkled here and there. It provided plenty of napa cabbage and snow peas for our spring stir-fries (and lettuce for salad). The summer stuff is just coming in, so hopefully we won't need to buy much produce!