Last weekend when winter returned and it appeared I might not be able to make my weekly run
to town for provisions, I thought I'd better cook up a pot of something to have on hand for lunches.
The challenge would be to find a recipe that matched the ingredients in my pantry.
The kitchen angels were looking out for me because I found a four-ingredient recipe for
Simple Pinto Beans, and I had a bag of beans, garlic, salt, and beef bouillon cubes in my pantry. Score.
Upon closer inspection, I realized my beef bouillon cubes and I go way back. Make that wayyyyy back.
The date stamped on the cap is 11-20-94. Impressive. My beef bouillon cubes and I have been together
for at least 21 years, which is no doubt the longest relationship I've had. If they expire in 1994,
that means I bought them in 1992, maybe earlier. Which means they've traveled cross country
from Virginia, lived a few years in my cupboard in Albuquerque, moved to the other side
of the mountains and lived for another 10 years, then tagged along to the 7MSN,
where they've been waiting for another 10 years to find their life's purpose.
"Best by" dates are for sissies.
Did they ever dissolve??? mine don't. I put them in the coffee grinder
ReplyDeleteYes, and the beans were very tasty.
DeleteAnd how was it???
ReplyDeleteSix lunches later, they're all gone and I've lived to tell about it.
Deletebouillon cubes have enough salt in them I don't think they ever go bad! LOL I use a lot of outdated stuff, because we can never use it up fast enough! Drives my daughter-in-law nuts! :)
DeleteYou really eat a history :) Well the cubes wound get you down, at least I hope so. Your post remind me a news of couple years ago in my country, when somebody find a ready to use cake base which was, if I member right, at least 5 years old. Well, they made some cake using it and it was ok. And I'll think that they are still alive :)
ReplyDeleteJust take a look at all the preservatives on the label! It will last for ever... I doubt you would feed it to your animals though ;-) My pets eat way healthier than I do...
ReplyDeleteSo true.
DeleteYou. Crack. Me. Up!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd so does whisper_the_wind.
Next time you get provisions, pick the items for this enchilada soup. It is so good you will be happy to eat it all week for lunch.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yourcupofcake.com/2014/02/crock-pot-chicken-enchilada-soup.html
We were just stuck home for a week here in TN and so happy to have some of this in the fridge.
Be safe ..a bit worried about you without a wood stove!
Lisa G. In TN
That recipe looks delicious - thanks for the link.
DeleteTried the soup recipe....it's super good. Probably will become a staple at Casa de Cuckoo
DeleteLinda W. So glad you tried it... yes, it is a regular at our house. Just love anything I can throw in the crock pot that comes out this good! Lisa G. in TN
DeleteMy pantry items rotate so often that I seldom have outdated ingredients. The history of your cubes probably enhanced the flavor!
ReplyDeleteHa! I thought it said 11-20-34!
ReplyDeleteWow. I never thought of the flavor of beef lasting THAT long!
ReplyDeletei have found things as much as 10 years old but not this old and when i find them they go in the trash. my hubby is like you. he drinks milk that has expired and anything because HE says the date doesn't matter. since you lived to post this, it must have been safe.
ReplyDeleteA lone rancher and favorite blogger was hospitalized today with severe but mysterious ailment. "It looks like symptoms of an ailment we eraticated 20 years ago, said the doctor, I don't understand it." The victim has not spoken apart from mumbling something about "sissies". We'll keep you posted.
ReplyDeleteOh, Sigrid! I laughed so loud at this!
DeleteBut she got a few laughs out of her blog readers, so her culinary experimentation was worth it after all.
DeleteHa ha ha... Aunt jean
Delete@7MSN - But you get "a few" laughs, or a serious amount of heartfelt grins, out of your readers on a very regular basis!! So, no need to put your life on the line! OK, maybe a little... but don't overdo it. ;)
DeleteWith all the salt in in those little cubes, its not a spoilage issue. The 'flavor' profile (ha haha) might have passed its peak ;)
ReplyDeleteFor me it would be a non-starter ... can't handle the sodium and other ingredients (see the 'Monosodium' in the ingredient list ...). It doesn't play nice with me.
Some canned tomatoes (garlic & oregano, or fire roasted) ... ROTEL Original !! extra garlic, onions and pepper will spice up the beans.
My mother uses sauteed onions & garlic, rinse a can of black beans ... one full can of Rotel original , heat it up and you have a spicy side dish or a good base for a quesadilla.
M in NC
Sometimes expiration dates are just inventory control dates for manufacturers :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw your picture of the boullion, I thought it said 34 (not 94)! Even more of a record. The beans look tasty.
ReplyDeleteBut I am with you on the best by dates. I once ate yogart I found in the back of the fridge (I know, I should be ashamed) that was six months old. It was a little tart! But no ill effects. It's already curdled milk, right?
But I also have found dried things and spices from another decade!
This cracks me up. I think almost everything in my pantry is expired. Every time I find something in there that was dated before the millennium, I'm like, "I could have sworn I just bought this last weekend!" How time flies. I also have been finding a lot of food that belonged to my mother, which I moved from her house in 2011 to my house in NV and then to my house in AZ, and I'm always wondering if it wouldn't have been easier to just throw it out instead of packing and unpacking them. Pantries are as good as time machines.
ReplyDeleteApparently we are food hoarding kindred spirits. My husband (and friends) yell at me all the time for having things in the cupboard that are, ummmm.... elderly. Since I am also an odd foods hoarder, it gets better. I do believe I have some seaweed in my cupboard that is at least 23 years old. I have some nutmeg that's at least 25. It still makes good oatmeal cookies. Like you said - Sissies!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll get some bouillon and put it in my survival kit. I won't need to change it up.
ReplyDeleteMy depression-era mom has you beat. I recently cleaned out her house for a move, and she was furious at me for throwing away "stuff that was still good". Included were salad dressing from 1989, Tylenol and sunscreen that expired in1986!
ReplyDeleteOh how this made me laugh!! Our cupboards have a few hidden gems that were 'born' that same era! Now make sure you keep posting this week ore we'll start to worry that those cubes got the better of you!
ReplyDeleteGood thinking there!
DeleteThat is epically awesome. I once had a bottle of ketchup in the fridge that I finally REALLY looked at. I realized it had gone through three moves over 12 years and was from a long-bankrupt grocery chain. Guess I don't eat ketchup very often!
ReplyDeleteBut your beans look delicious!
I blame this on Joey! Wasn't she in charge of the spice cabinet when you were indisposed last year? I'm glad you survived to tell the tale. :D
ReplyDeleteWow...the year of my....first marriage. (ahem)
ReplyDeleteThis post cracked me up! You have vintage spices. Glad you enjoyed the beans.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Best if used by only means for the best flavor use by. Use by means it will go bad about a week after that date, milk last a week or ten days after the date. Keep milk on the shelf of the frig. instead of in the door and it will last longer, every time the door opens it gets a little warmth to it if in the door. I keep mine on the shelf in toward the back.
ReplyDeleteYou (and quite a few of your readers) are a kindred spirit with my mother. Her pantry wasn't vintage, it was positively antique in its contents! And nothing ailed her.....
ReplyDeleteAs if knowing when SOUR cream has gone bad wasn't hard enough, I once had a container marked to expire on August 35!
ReplyDeleteJust the other day my husband was online and he began reading to me from a list of food items that last one hundred years. You guessed it, bouillon was on there. http://www.offthegridnews.com/extreme-survival/10-foods-you-can-store-for-100-years/
ReplyDeleteHa! Vindication! Great list. Thanks for the link.
Delete