Practical Mardi Gras Challenge Post #3, in Which I Play Catch Up

I have an apology to make.

I've fallen really behind on blogging the freezer clean out. I've been cooking from the food I've cleaned out, but I haven't been documenting it.

And now here we are. Lent starts tomorrow.

So here's what I dug up from the mysterious depths of my freezer.

1.) Donuts.

I had a bag of about six donuts in the freezer leftover from an academic event. My husband is an academic coach as well as a teacher, and so we often end up with leftover pizza or donuts from the hospitality rooms at academic competitions. (Once, there was an entire ice chest full of leftover baked potatoes. It was ridiculous. There are only so many ways to use up potatoes. The chickens ended up eating a fair amount of them).

I decided to use them to make a french toast type casserole. I poured a mixture of milk, eggs, a little honey, and some nutmeg over the torn up chunks of doughnut and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Then I baked it in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  I also added some raisins.

If you look closely, you can see that I used some with frosting and sprinkles.

It was delicious how it was, but adding some drizzle type icing on top would be yummy on this too.

2.) Hamburger buns.

I'm pretty sure these were leftover from some school function or other. I'm honestly not sure. They've been in the freezer for quite some time.

I broke out the food processor and made seasoned breadcrumbs.

I just tossed them, still frozen, into the food processor with some salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano.

In process. I added them a few at a time. 

Finished product. 

I'm storing them in the freezer to use whenever a recipe calls for crumbs. Though they're still in the freezer, I'm counting this as a use-up because they're now in a more readily usable form.

3.) A bag of frozen cantaloupe.

This was another food processor project. I used it to make sorbet.

The cantaloupe 

  I put the cantaloupe in the processor, then added some simple syrup (two parts sugar dissolved in one part boiling water) and a couple cubes of frozen lemon juice.

We buy lemons on sale, juice them into ice cube trays, and store the resulting cubes in the freezer, about one lemon per cube

Then blend together. 

You may need to add more syrup or a little water to help it blend smoothly. 

Finished product. 

Taste it as you mix it, and add more syrup or lemon juice to adjust as needed. This keeps well in the freezer-- it will get a little hard, but still workable. It tastes very good on its own, but would also be good mixed with a little liquor for adults. It is Mardi Gras, after all.

Have a wonderful Mardi Gras today. Tomorrow we fast and do penance, but today, we need to eat up all the butter and sugar.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!!