Robbbiedobbbie's Expiration Date Po-tom-tatoes Are Edible! (Sweetie doesn't approve of them, though)
These were "hiding" in a cabinet in my kitchen:
Del Monte Sliced Potatoes and Del Monte Tomatoes No Salt Added. Both items were a few days away from their expiration dates. I know that most canned goods are "good" long past that date. But I still don't like to mess around with "freshness" -- and I wanted to use them. FAST. So I tossed the tomatoes into a big deep frying pan and sizzled them in their own lovely juiciness for a few minutes, along with LOTS of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb Seasoning and Mrs. Dash Italian Medley Seasoning. A lot. BIG SHAKINGS into the pan. They smelled wonderful. When the juice started to disappear from around the tomatoes I put in the potatoes and let them sizzle. Took about 15 minutes, from can-opening beginning to slurping-off-the-plate end. Here's what they look like:
They were soooooooo good! And guess who came into the kitchen to check out the scent?
Those of you who like things with more salt -- I don't -- would need to add some, I think. And if you felt like fiddling around with onions and peppers, well, great! I was in a hurry and wanted to use only what was right there, getting OLD in the cabinet.
Worked great!
Comments
"expired" almond milk.You're probably fine with it-- most manufacturers use the "oldest" date of the whatever ingredients they have and then figure out their date, from that one, including stability studies (if they have them) for the packaging materials etc-- and the dates generally mean how tasty it will be and how good it will look (in foods anyway)-- if the items are stored appropriately, but I'm VERY cautious about some things. I worked in an industry that was tremendously concerned with the dates (pharmaceuticals) and if I can possibly use something before the date I do. It just feels more comfortable.
I've never had almond milk, but I LOVE almonds and almond flavoring. Is it sweet?
I'd never use expired pharmaceuticals, or anything that "looks" old. My mother gave me a jar of organic applesauce a few months ago, and I innocently opened it and heated up a serving, and took a mouthful and it was so bitter and sour. I looked at the jar and saw that it had expired in 2005!! My grandmother freezes a lot of stuff, and recently she told me how she was eating some Swiss chard that must have been frozen in the 1980s. (!!)
1980s. (!!) YIKES!! There are bacteria that don't mind being frozen and need to be REALLY heated for a long-ish time to be killed...but maybe your Grandmother is lucky?
BTW -- I should have added something to what I said about how they set dates -- manufacturers also use the "shortest" date (how long something should be usable) for the most unstable ingredient, post-processing. There are chemicals in foods that react with the storage containers and the packaging containers, and that makes a difference. Generally, the mfrs err on the side of caution, because they don't want lawsuits or complaints about taste and appearance. We threw out a lot of stuff at work even though it was still good, becasue by the time it would be processed, shipped and stored on shelves it would have a date too "short" to sell out of the retailers' inventories-- and I know that some food mfrs have the same issue to tackle.
That said, you never know how something is handled before it gets to you. Preservatives and sealed packaging are great for maintaining safety, but not the whole story. I just figure that if I can control it will. So I use things before the date and wash all my produce in soap and water and thoroughly heat things and never let stuff sit out once it's heated, etc.
(Gosh that sounds awful....I saw one too many Petri dishes full of bacteria at work, I guess! Ugh..)
Oh -- is there a brand of almond milk that you'd recommend? I didn't like soy milk at all.
I do frequently fix/eat potatoes with salsa- and mixed veg -- this time I was trying to use the plain old tomatoes and couldn't think of anything else to use them for, that I would eat, that would be quick and easy.
I LOVE corn but can't eat to much of it at once -- gives me a headache and itchy skin. Lots of food allergies....so I generally do mixed veg.
that sounds delicious, what you did.
My grandmother is lucky. She's also eaten food she canned ages ago (she hasn't canned food for about two decades). My mother has tried to convince her to toss all that stuff, but my grandmother grew up during the Great Depression and is incapable of throwing anything away. If she doesn't eat it herself, she'll probably leave it out for the animals.
The packaging itself wouldn't degrade the food, within the time it's "fresh," and probably for a long time afterwards. But a lot of manufacturers are very careful to avoid the problem -- it is POSSIBLE that the metal in cans, for instance, will eventually react with the acid in foods... thing like that. I didn't mean to worry you. Plus, pharmacueticals have more "issues" than foods do, usually. I'm used to the pharma-ethic of "when in doubt, throw it out" -- since efficacy of drugs is at least as important as safety: people can die if the drug doesn't work, and expiration dates are used to predict the endpoint of the the optimal efficacy. Foods are slightly different.
You could slow down the freshness time clock by refrigerating that almond milk, I think. As long as the packages are intact, the cooling would slow down or stop most detrimental processes. Also, check to see if it's pasteurized; that would also be good. And if there's an 800 number or website you might get info on exactly what the dates mean for that product. Different manufacturers define things differently. If you contact them, they might tell you how best to preserve what you have and how long it's projected to be safe and fresh.
Wow. Can you guess I miss my job sometimes!?
No wonder Sweetie was jealous!! :)
chopped potatoes cooked in a tomato gravy! The only difference is the Indian spices instead of Mrs Dash.
Mmmm -- I'll bet they smell wonderful. I really have to get some spices.
I'm refrigerating my almond milk now - it should be gone within a few days. I'm so bad at using food up in time - I have to toss some carrots that have expired (and I love carrots, I just didn't eat them fast enough), and a yam that grew soft (because I kept it around for months...). I feel horrible for being so wasteful. I don't even have a compost bin to put the stuff in.