Oh, dear readers - I'm sorry to have neglected you over these past two weeks or so, and now look - December's here already! Well, things continue to perk along at our house with the Pantry Project, but Thanksgiving did get in the way. We had to do some grocery shopping for grandchildren coming unexpectedly to stay - that was fun! Funny thing...you have to feed kids more often than adults...did you know that?!! I typically don't even think about breakfast or lunch very much...just help yourself to whatever's there. Dinner is the main focus for the adults. Children, however, are another story! So there were more groceries bought than would have been usual for us, on top of the larger Thanksgiving purchases. Now that we've pretty much finished everything there was at Thanksgiving, or frozen a few things, we're kind of back to our 'normal' eating down.
The other day my stepson Doug said, "You have GOT to be finished by now!" Well, not quite. We do have room on the shelves in the pantry. Aside from some condiments, quinoa, farro, and a little pasta remaining, there are just a few cans of items that I always have on hand that I am trying DESPERATELY to use up. I would like to see less of the above before going back to whatever normal will be.
Since last I wrote, we have enjoyed Quickie Chickie a couple of times, more homemade pizza, turkey soup, leftover turkey and various trimmings, and a couple of dinners of just leftover veggies and sweet potatoes. Didn't know I'd made so much, and those little rascally grandchildren talked me into allowing them ONE broccoli floret each, ONE carrot each, ONE tablespoon of sweet potatoes each...sigh... We keep trying!
We do have a freezer full of delicious turkey soup, into which I was able to put a little leftover carnaroli rice (I did cook some one night) and used up the last of some barley I had on hand. The soup is delicious, and we look forward to having more in the cold months to come.
I'll probably post only once a week or so as things slow down for us in the pantry department, and gear up for the Christmas activities ahead. If anything really exciting happens in our kitchen, though, I'll be sure and let you know.
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
I'm back...
What a long time it's been between posts...apologies to my understanding readers! Work has consumed my life these last 2 weeks or so, but I'm determined to catch up once again. I had previously tried to post every single weekday so I wouldn't forget what we'd done the night/day before. Since I obviously haven't done that, I'm going to give you some general ideas on what we've done to continue "eating down the pantry and freezer."
We continue to eat down our on-hand carbs. As friend Emilie pointed out the other day, "You must have LOTS of pasta on hand!" Actually, thin spaghetti is something we HAVE bought since this started, but at the same time we've concentrated on the other pastas already on the shelves. I now only have 1/2 box of lasagna, an unopened box of carnaroli rice, and a partial bag of curly noodles. I read about carnaroli rice about 8 months ago in a cookbook, "Lydia Cooks from the Heart of Italy", and thought it sounded good. Very shortly afterward, I picked up a box at Big Lots. Haven't touched it since. Typical, isn't it?
We have really enjoyed several creative dishes during this time. I made a delicious soup from cans of chicken broth and tomatoes with chilies, chickpeas, carrots, onions, and a sprinkling of cumin. One night Ken served pork chops, potatoes, salad, and a veg I can't remember - that was Ken getting his meat fix. Another night I intended to roast veggies and put them over couscous. My sweet husband chopped the veg, but they were too small for roasting...so I sauteed them in olive oil, a sprinkling of salt, chicken broth and a good splash of white wine. When the mixture had cooked down a bit, there was a nice sauce that we ate over either couscous or quinoa - I can't remember. It was wonderful!
There's been the ubiquitous scrambled eggs with bits of leftover things added - we do love that. One night I discovered pizza sauce in the freezer, so enlisted our grandchildren in pizza dough-making...they are very good at it! We split the dough and the sauce, and they took it home to cook with Dad. Ours had onion and cheese, I think. Yesterday we worked on some hummus I'd bought for company a few days ago, eating it with celery sticks. A nice beef stew was on the table last night, made with some on-sale chuck, and onions and carrots on hand. I'm trying desperately to use up some balsamic vinegar that's been hanging around so that went in to the stew. There's also a little bit left of the mushroom ketchup we bought in Cornwall a year ago. It adds a flavor that isn't matched by anything else I typically have on hand, so into stews it goes. There are other uses for it - friend Derrick adds it to risottos. Fresh broccoli and spinach salad accompanied the stew.
Breakfast over the weekend was Irish soda bread, one of my favorite things to bake. It's so easy if you plan ahead and have buttermilk in the fridge. I like to keep buttermilk on hand just for this reason.
Well, for the most part that's what I can remember. Sorry it's not more detailed, but that's life these days. With Thanksgiving coming up, and company coming, I did shop for groceries this weekend. It was the strangest feeling, but a good one. I enjoy grocery shopping anyway, but this time I had pictures of the fridge, freezer and pantry in my mind much more clearly than before. Not only did I buy fresh veg and fruit, cheese, oj and salad items as we've been doing over the past couple of months, I bought turkey and a couple of other dinner items that haven't been on my list for a long time. There's a plan for every single thing I bought, either specifically for Thankgiving Day, or other meals during the week. Still, with a trip to Trader Joe's, Aldi (one of my favorites), and Harris Teeter, I still only spent about $100. (Check Aldi for sweet ripe pineapples and red/yellow/orange peppers - two of my favorite things to buy there.)
I hope to keep you better informed about what we're doing, now that a couple of work projects have slowed. Have a nice Thanksgiving, and keep me posted on what you're doing in your pantry. See you tomorrow.
We continue to eat down our on-hand carbs. As friend Emilie pointed out the other day, "You must have LOTS of pasta on hand!" Actually, thin spaghetti is something we HAVE bought since this started, but at the same time we've concentrated on the other pastas already on the shelves. I now only have 1/2 box of lasagna, an unopened box of carnaroli rice, and a partial bag of curly noodles. I read about carnaroli rice about 8 months ago in a cookbook, "Lydia Cooks from the Heart of Italy", and thought it sounded good. Very shortly afterward, I picked up a box at Big Lots. Haven't touched it since. Typical, isn't it?
We have really enjoyed several creative dishes during this time. I made a delicious soup from cans of chicken broth and tomatoes with chilies, chickpeas, carrots, onions, and a sprinkling of cumin. One night Ken served pork chops, potatoes, salad, and a veg I can't remember - that was Ken getting his meat fix. Another night I intended to roast veggies and put them over couscous. My sweet husband chopped the veg, but they were too small for roasting...so I sauteed them in olive oil, a sprinkling of salt, chicken broth and a good splash of white wine. When the mixture had cooked down a bit, there was a nice sauce that we ate over either couscous or quinoa - I can't remember. It was wonderful!
There's been the ubiquitous scrambled eggs with bits of leftover things added - we do love that. One night I discovered pizza sauce in the freezer, so enlisted our grandchildren in pizza dough-making...they are very good at it! We split the dough and the sauce, and they took it home to cook with Dad. Ours had onion and cheese, I think. Yesterday we worked on some hummus I'd bought for company a few days ago, eating it with celery sticks. A nice beef stew was on the table last night, made with some on-sale chuck, and onions and carrots on hand. I'm trying desperately to use up some balsamic vinegar that's been hanging around so that went in to the stew. There's also a little bit left of the mushroom ketchup we bought in Cornwall a year ago. It adds a flavor that isn't matched by anything else I typically have on hand, so into stews it goes. There are other uses for it - friend Derrick adds it to risottos. Fresh broccoli and spinach salad accompanied the stew.
Breakfast over the weekend was Irish soda bread, one of my favorite things to bake. It's so easy if you plan ahead and have buttermilk in the fridge. I like to keep buttermilk on hand just for this reason.
Well, for the most part that's what I can remember. Sorry it's not more detailed, but that's life these days. With Thanksgiving coming up, and company coming, I did shop for groceries this weekend. It was the strangest feeling, but a good one. I enjoy grocery shopping anyway, but this time I had pictures of the fridge, freezer and pantry in my mind much more clearly than before. Not only did I buy fresh veg and fruit, cheese, oj and salad items as we've been doing over the past couple of months, I bought turkey and a couple of other dinner items that haven't been on my list for a long time. There's a plan for every single thing I bought, either specifically for Thankgiving Day, or other meals during the week. Still, with a trip to Trader Joe's, Aldi (one of my favorites), and Harris Teeter, I still only spent about $100. (Check Aldi for sweet ripe pineapples and red/yellow/orange peppers - two of my favorite things to buy there.)
I hope to keep you better informed about what we're doing, now that a couple of work projects have slowed. Have a nice Thanksgiving, and keep me posted on what you're doing in your pantry. See you tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Winding down the week...
My days have flown by, jammed with work, meetings and projects, that I have all but ignored posting this week. Since I was gently reminded by a friend that basically I was a slacker this week, here I am again. If I don't do this every day I forget what was on the table so it really needs to be on a front burner, not a back burner.
Just as I'd hoped, Monday's dinner WAS pasta with the chunky tomato sauce...it is such a flavorful mixture of onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, and fresh basil. All this was on hand, since the basil is still standing quite tall in the garden. If there's enough, I'm going to get out there and harvest the rest to make end-of-summer-into-fall pesto and freeze it.
Last night we enjoyed some of the remaining crockpot chicken from Sunday's dinner. Ken added baked sweet potatoes and a wonderful salad. That was nice. Tonight we'll likely have some BBQ we'd frozen from the church affair a couple of weeks ago. There's more than enough for a dinner, so it will probably show up in a lunch tomorrow or Friday. Small amounts of some leftovers are piling up, so this might be a good night to investigate those and dish them up as well.
So here we are, two months into this project—and still surprised at how much we have on hand to work through and eat down. I looked at the freezer contents last night, and they just aren't diminishing the way they should. There are STILL packets of vegetables, oddments of things I haven't used yet, new things like cranberries because you can never have enough and they always get harder to find around the holidays...I'm not sure why it still looks full. I think I'll investigate more of the packets over the weekend. Maybe I'll just thaw something and whatever it is - that's dinner. Hmmm...a little scary, but we can always add a salad to these mystery bits. Are you considering doing something like this too? Or are you already doing it? Have we given you some ideas? Do let me know, and I'll keep letting you know. There may be a little delay till the next post, so stay tuned.
Just as I'd hoped, Monday's dinner WAS pasta with the chunky tomato sauce...it is such a flavorful mixture of onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, and fresh basil. All this was on hand, since the basil is still standing quite tall in the garden. If there's enough, I'm going to get out there and harvest the rest to make end-of-summer-into-fall pesto and freeze it.
Last night we enjoyed some of the remaining crockpot chicken from Sunday's dinner. Ken added baked sweet potatoes and a wonderful salad. That was nice. Tonight we'll likely have some BBQ we'd frozen from the church affair a couple of weeks ago. There's more than enough for a dinner, so it will probably show up in a lunch tomorrow or Friday. Small amounts of some leftovers are piling up, so this might be a good night to investigate those and dish them up as well.
So here we are, two months into this project—and still surprised at how much we have on hand to work through and eat down. I looked at the freezer contents last night, and they just aren't diminishing the way they should. There are STILL packets of vegetables, oddments of things I haven't used yet, new things like cranberries because you can never have enough and they always get harder to find around the holidays...I'm not sure why it still looks full. I think I'll investigate more of the packets over the weekend. Maybe I'll just thaw something and whatever it is - that's dinner. Hmmm...a little scary, but we can always add a salad to these mystery bits. Are you considering doing something like this too? Or are you already doing it? Have we given you some ideas? Do let me know, and I'll keep letting you know. There may be a little delay till the next post, so stay tuned.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Catching up again...
Quick update of the last few days, of which I'm pretty proud! My sweet husband greeted me at home on Friday night with the makings of dinner - hamburgers, avocado slices, onion slices, and the ubiquitous carrot sticks. He read my mind (what? you bought something??) and said, "I know, I know! I couldn't help myself! I've been dreaming about hamburgers!" Cracked me up. What a terrific combination it was, too - extremely tasty, despite its simplicity.
Saturday's breakfast/brunch was a few leftover potato chunks crisped up in oil, over-easy eggs, and toast. Yum. Saturday night saw us out for a nice dinner with friend Peggy. While grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon, I picked up some boneless chicken thighs on sale, to use for Sunday night. I sliced up onions, laid some of the thighs on top, and added a sauce mixture of a bit of leftover BBQ sauce and homemade fig preserves. It certainly didn't need the fig preserves added, but since they never really thickened up to a spreadable consistency, I'm trying desperately to think of ways to use them. It was a nice addition, I think. On a bed of rice, and with edamame and a couple of avocado slices on the side, this was a really delicious dinner. There's enough left over for at least one more dinner. I also froze 4 of the thighs for future use.
It was interesting that Ken and I both went shopping on Friday afternoon - he for dinner fixings, and me for a couple of things I knew we needed. Neither of us told the other we were stopping at the store. We each came home with 2 identical items - bread and avocados. Why avocados??? I'm not sure, but it was amusing to me. It may be Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce over pasta tonight, if things work out. We've got some fresh basil still holding on in the garden, and this recipe calls for it. With a can of whole tomatoes and some onion and garlic, it's simple and quick, and fits the busy schedule. Throw together a quick salad (I bought spinach, red onion, and green pepper) and I'll let you know what we end up with. I know it'll be good...even if it's an omelet and toast. See you tomorrow.
Saturday's breakfast/brunch was a few leftover potato chunks crisped up in oil, over-easy eggs, and toast. Yum. Saturday night saw us out for a nice dinner with friend Peggy. While grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon, I picked up some boneless chicken thighs on sale, to use for Sunday night. I sliced up onions, laid some of the thighs on top, and added a sauce mixture of a bit of leftover BBQ sauce and homemade fig preserves. It certainly didn't need the fig preserves added, but since they never really thickened up to a spreadable consistency, I'm trying desperately to think of ways to use them. It was a nice addition, I think. On a bed of rice, and with edamame and a couple of avocado slices on the side, this was a really delicious dinner. There's enough left over for at least one more dinner. I also froze 4 of the thighs for future use.
It was interesting that Ken and I both went shopping on Friday afternoon - he for dinner fixings, and me for a couple of things I knew we needed. Neither of us told the other we were stopping at the store. We each came home with 2 identical items - bread and avocados. Why avocados??? I'm not sure, but it was amusing to me. It may be Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce over pasta tonight, if things work out. We've got some fresh basil still holding on in the garden, and this recipe calls for it. With a can of whole tomatoes and some onion and garlic, it's simple and quick, and fits the busy schedule. Throw together a quick salad (I bought spinach, red onion, and green pepper) and I'll let you know what we end up with. I know it'll be good...even if it's an omelet and toast. See you tomorrow.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
As I suspected, delicious leftover BBQ was on the menu last night. Neighbor Shearin gave us a bottle of pepper vinegar she'd made with hot peppers from her garden, and we tentatively poured a little over the meat, as it was a tad dry. It really perked up the flavor and was very tasty. Boiled potatoes, carrot sticks, and apple slices rounded out the simple repast. I was happy to use more carrots, some of the remaining BBQ and the apples I'd bought.
It's occurred to me that there are some things that are just staples in our house that I hadn't really thought about: peanut butter, for one. My sweet husband LOVES peanut butter. It's always on hand, and when I scrape the last bit out of a jar, I put it on the list. We (well, I) always buy whatever all-natural brand is cheapest or on sale. If it's just peanuts, or just peanuts and salt, it's in my cart. Usually we have at least 3 jars on the shelf at any one time, a combination of creamy and crunchy. I'm a crunchy person myself. We often find ourselves stopping at the grocery store separately and wondering, "Did we NEED peanut butter, or did we already HAVE peanut butter?" More often than not we didn't need it, but bought it. Hence the peanut butter shelf in the pantry. I noticed this morning we now have a jar of store brand NOT natural peanut butter on the shelf. It contains 3 kinds of oil and 2 sweeteners (I think) - I'm trying to remember what the label said, but it's vague. Anyway, it's just amusing to me that the person who eats 99% of the peanut butter, which ALWAYS has an all-natural label of some description, came home with the above.
I just heard from the homefront that the leftover Cuban black beans were delicious at lunch. So I'm not sure what's for dinner tonight. I don't think there are any other leftovers. As I've said before, I love an omelet and toast for dinner...or it could be pancakes...or baked potatoes (I'm just a tad weary of them, but if someone else makes them, I'm in). Maybe I'll actually buy something on the way home tonight just to hedge my bets. Enjoy your dinner tonight, and I'll tell you about mine tomorrow.
It's occurred to me that there are some things that are just staples in our house that I hadn't really thought about: peanut butter, for one. My sweet husband LOVES peanut butter. It's always on hand, and when I scrape the last bit out of a jar, I put it on the list. We (well, I) always buy whatever all-natural brand is cheapest or on sale. If it's just peanuts, or just peanuts and salt, it's in my cart. Usually we have at least 3 jars on the shelf at any one time, a combination of creamy and crunchy. I'm a crunchy person myself. We often find ourselves stopping at the grocery store separately and wondering, "Did we NEED peanut butter, or did we already HAVE peanut butter?" More often than not we didn't need it, but bought it. Hence the peanut butter shelf in the pantry. I noticed this morning we now have a jar of store brand NOT natural peanut butter on the shelf. It contains 3 kinds of oil and 2 sweeteners (I think) - I'm trying to remember what the label said, but it's vague. Anyway, it's just amusing to me that the person who eats 99% of the peanut butter, which ALWAYS has an all-natural label of some description, came home with the above.
I just heard from the homefront that the leftover Cuban black beans were delicious at lunch. So I'm not sure what's for dinner tonight. I don't think there are any other leftovers. As I've said before, I love an omelet and toast for dinner...or it could be pancakes...or baked potatoes (I'm just a tad weary of them, but if someone else makes them, I'm in). Maybe I'll actually buy something on the way home tonight just to hedge my bets. Enjoy your dinner tonight, and I'll tell you about mine tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Catching up...
Yesterday flew by in a heartbeat so I couldn't even think about posting here. I'll catch up today. Tuesday night's supper was nice and simple - baked potatoes and salad again. We splurged with a little sour cream which, because I never use sour cream on baked potatoes, tasted almost too much. I typically use a little butter and ground pepper - that's my favorite. Anyway, it was most enjoyable, followed later on by popcorn. Yum. Last night I tried to get us out of the baked potato rut, and succeeded nicely. Remember the lone can of tuna that I've been trying to use? I picked it up and studied what else was on the pantry shelf. Okay, a small can of sliced black olives would do, and two boxes of thin spaghetti. I've been using half white and half wheat pasta, and have finally found the wheat one we actually enjoy. It's Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti, and blends right into the white stuff so you don't really even see it. I chopped up an onion (always on hand) and a couple cloves of garlic (always on hand), sauteeing them in olive oil (always on hand). Once they were soft, I added a blob of butter for a little richness, and about 1/3 cup of white wine (usually on hand). Once the spaghetti was done, I blended the whole thing together. We enjoyed the combination very much, and will definitely use it again. We had carrot sticks on the side (no, not that pitiful early bag of carrots I couldn't seem to get rid of - this is a new bag, which is dwindling at a satisfactory pace.)
Now, what's for dinner tonight? Not sure, though it could possibly be barbecue, from our church's BBQ sale this weekend. We bought extra and froze it, but I suspect my husband has been eating it for lunches. If so, we won't have it for dinner. I'm always up for an omelet and toast, so perhaps that'll be it. Of course, as my sweet husband is wont to say, "There's always popcorn." See you tomorrow.
Now, what's for dinner tonight? Not sure, though it could possibly be barbecue, from our church's BBQ sale this weekend. We bought extra and froze it, but I suspect my husband has been eating it for lunches. If so, we won't have it for dinner. I'm always up for an omelet and toast, so perhaps that'll be it. Of course, as my sweet husband is wont to say, "There's always popcorn." See you tomorrow.
Monday, November 1, 2010
There has been a definite paring down of our pantry and fridge over the past few days. Friday night brought us the broiled stuffed mushrooms and spaghetti with Ken's sauce, with a salad on the side. What a yummy dinner! All of it was either freshly bought produce or already on hand. Sunday was one of those pickup dinners...baked potatoes and Halloween candy. Yep - it was good. Last night I prepped for tonight's dinner, and made a family favorite - Cuban Black Beans - from "New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant", a dog-eared friend. I didn't buy a thing - garlic, onions, diced tomatoes, black beans (I added a can of navy beans because I didn't have enough black beans), and spices...of course, now I have to buy more garlic and onion. That just needs to be heated tonight, some rice or quinoa added, and a little salad.
The best thing is - there is a TON of space on our pantry shelves! Well, maybe not tons - but much more than there was last week. I'm VERY excited - it was a great feeling to see so few cans of various beans and tomatoes. I also threw away a couple of things from the freezer over the weekend, having no idea what they were OR realizing they were freezer-burned. Actually, it's into the compost bin they go, so it's not a total loss.
This week we'll augment with some barbecue from our church's annual barbecue lunch over the weekend. I foresee some more baked potatoes too, and it looks as if I'll have to cave in and buy some meat and/or fish. If I do, I'll try to plan for each of the aforementioned items making do for 2 meals, to continue the quest to use up things on hand.
As you can tell, this is taking so much longer than I had thought it would...but it's working. My husband is even saying, "Hmmm...what do we already have in the fridge?" and "I know, I know, don't buy anything till we look on the shelves." Looks as if this is one habit we've been able to pick up pretty easily. I'll keep you posted - and let me know if you're trying anything too! See you tomorrow.
The best thing is - there is a TON of space on our pantry shelves! Well, maybe not tons - but much more than there was last week. I'm VERY excited - it was a great feeling to see so few cans of various beans and tomatoes. I also threw away a couple of things from the freezer over the weekend, having no idea what they were OR realizing they were freezer-burned. Actually, it's into the compost bin they go, so it's not a total loss.
This week we'll augment with some barbecue from our church's annual barbecue lunch over the weekend. I foresee some more baked potatoes too, and it looks as if I'll have to cave in and buy some meat and/or fish. If I do, I'll try to plan for each of the aforementioned items making do for 2 meals, to continue the quest to use up things on hand.
As you can tell, this is taking so much longer than I had thought it would...but it's working. My husband is even saying, "Hmmm...what do we already have in the fridge?" and "I know, I know, don't buy anything till we look on the shelves." Looks as if this is one habit we've been able to pick up pretty easily. I'll keep you posted - and let me know if you're trying anything too! See you tomorrow.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Not much going on...
This will be just a quick update for you. Last night we really enjoyed baked sweet potatoes and a salad. I cannot speak highly enough of sweet potatoes! They are really high on my list of favorite vegetables, and are SO good for you. They are versatile and delicious, as well as being nutritionally fantastic. A special dinner memory for me is Mom's creation of mashed sweet potatoes, orange juice, and a little brown sugar. This would be put into a baking dish and kept warm in the oven for celebratory dinners like Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's my very favorite way to eat them. Funny thing is, we'd never seen a fresh sweet potato when I was a young girl in Pennsylvania...Mom used the canned ones and that's all I knew until my sister introduced me to the fresh ones in our 20's. That was my first baked sweet potato, and a sweet memory it is too. Anyway, dinner was great.
Tonight was to be spaghetti with some of my husband's yummy sauce from the freezer, with the addition of 2 roasted red peppers I'd frozen. We were going to start off with broiled mushroom cap appetizers - yes, this was all on hand. Dinner plans have changed, though, and maybe we'll have the spaghetti tomorrow night. I'll let you know. Thanks for reading - let me know what you think!
Tonight was to be spaghetti with some of my husband's yummy sauce from the freezer, with the addition of 2 roasted red peppers I'd frozen. We were going to start off with broiled mushroom cap appetizers - yes, this was all on hand. Dinner plans have changed, though, and maybe we'll have the spaghetti tomorrow night. I'll let you know. Thanks for reading - let me know what you think!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Interesting conversation
Last night was to be some kind of surprise for dinner, as I hadn't even thought about it during the day. It was left up to my sweet husband, who always comes through! He did call me at the end of the day and ask me to pick up some evaporated milk so he could finish making dinner. Well, the only thing we make with evaporated milk is quiche, one of his favorite dinner items to make. Mom's 50-year-old recipe for Quiche Lorraine is quick and easy to put together, if you have all the ingredients. So I knew what we were having.
Our conversation when I got home went something like this, after I gave him the evaporated milk:
Me: So...Quiche Lorraine, eh?
Ken: I'm not telling.
Me: Huh. Okay, shall I make salad?
Ken: Nope, we're all set.
Me: (remembering what we have in the freezer) So, did you buy bacon?
Ken: No.
Me: (thinking that means we had bacon in the freezer, which I didn't remember) Oh, we had some in the freezer?
Ken: No.
Me: (My back hurt, so I wasn't paying attention) So you bought some?
Ken: (loudly) NO - IT'S A VEGETARIAN QUICHE.
Me: Oh...so did you buy anything for it?
Ken: (loudly) NO.
Me: So you found Swiss cheese and bacon in the fridge? (both of which Mom's recipe calls for)
Ken: (loudly, as if to someone of no wit) NO - IT'S A MIXTURE OF CHEESES AND NO BACON.
Me: Oh.
Well, maybe it was funnier the first time around, but it WAS funny. As I explained to him, I was just trying to ascertain the truth for my readers - what was from the freezer and what was purchased. As you can see from the above, the only purchase was the evaporated milk. :) That means we had eggs, cheese, onion and garlic (his additions) and a pie shell on hand. He meant to add a little leftover broccoli, but it ended up remaining on the breadboard instead of going into the quiche.
So ... what does this tell you? It tells me don't bother my husband with the details, just eat the darn dinner. What's he making for tonight? I don't know, but I'm not askin'. See you tomorrow.
Our conversation when I got home went something like this, after I gave him the evaporated milk:
Me: So...Quiche Lorraine, eh?
Ken: I'm not telling.
Me: Huh. Okay, shall I make salad?
Ken: Nope, we're all set.
Me: (remembering what we have in the freezer) So, did you buy bacon?
Ken: No.
Me: (thinking that means we had bacon in the freezer, which I didn't remember) Oh, we had some in the freezer?
Ken: No.
Me: (My back hurt, so I wasn't paying attention) So you bought some?
Ken: (loudly) NO - IT'S A VEGETARIAN QUICHE.
Me: Oh...so did you buy anything for it?
Ken: (loudly) NO.
Me: So you found Swiss cheese and bacon in the fridge? (both of which Mom's recipe calls for)
Ken: (loudly, as if to someone of no wit) NO - IT'S A MIXTURE OF CHEESES AND NO BACON.
Me: Oh.
Well, maybe it was funnier the first time around, but it WAS funny. As I explained to him, I was just trying to ascertain the truth for my readers - what was from the freezer and what was purchased. As you can see from the above, the only purchase was the evaporated milk. :) That means we had eggs, cheese, onion and garlic (his additions) and a pie shell on hand. He meant to add a little leftover broccoli, but it ended up remaining on the breadboard instead of going into the quiche.
So ... what does this tell you? It tells me don't bother my husband with the details, just eat the darn dinner. What's he making for tonight? I don't know, but I'm not askin'. See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Keeping up
So sorry to have been away...acute back pain kept me out of commission yesterday, but am much better today. We did have some dinners I wanted to tell you about. Sunday night we returned from our housesitting gig - friends returned from their trip. It's good to be back home but we keep reaching for things in the wrong places! We'd planned a simple dinner, and I went to the store to buy a few things, including a splurge of cheese and Triscuits. What came about - due to sheer laziness, I guess - was cheese and crackers, followed by popcorn for dessert. Yum. So the simple dinner made an appearance last night. We had scrambled eggs with sauteed onion, garlic and mushrooms, inside corn tortillas, topped with salsa. Everything was in the fridge, including the fruit cocktail for dessert. It was a nice light supper. There was some snacking going on later, though - I justified it because I had to take ibuprofen. We also thought we had a little ice cream in the freezer, but that was in our friends' freezer!
For the most part I'm still only buying milk, oj, lettuce and other salad stuff, cheese, and occasionally some other item or two. I spent about $30 on the above to keep us going for this week. I think we can work out of the freezer for the rest of the week...I'm planning more pizza, spaghetti and homemade sauce, and something with that poor can of tuna I keep looking at. My crockpot is calling, which means there might be soup in the forecast too - so stay tuned! Not sure what's on for tonight. See you tomorrow.
For the most part I'm still only buying milk, oj, lettuce and other salad stuff, cheese, and occasionally some other item or two. I spent about $30 on the above to keep us going for this week. I think we can work out of the freezer for the rest of the week...I'm planning more pizza, spaghetti and homemade sauce, and something with that poor can of tuna I keep looking at. My crockpot is calling, which means there might be soup in the forecast too - so stay tuned! Not sure what's on for tonight. See you tomorrow.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Winding down the week and some leftovers
What a nice dinner we had last night, all leftovers. I made Quickie Chickie again (finished the chicken) - it is SO good, and the recipe is in a previous post. We split the remaining baked potato (if you cut really small bites it lasts awhile!), and enjoyed a big salad with ... ONE of the remaining carrots. Ice cream hit the spot later in the evening (there's still some left, E).
I plan to make bread and cookies this weekend, possibly with the help of some grandchildren. Once we're back home from our housesitting gig, our own pantry and freezer will be front and center once again. With great plans in mind, I had brought some items from our pantry to use while housesitting...they never happened. They'll be first up at our house, though - a can of tuna, quinoa, some pancake mix from Trader Joe's (it's really good). Oh - not toGETHER, of course!
Once again, I realize just how easy we have it, trying to figure out what to make from items already on the shelf or in the freezer. I'm well aware that many do not have anything on their shelves to choose from...be thankful for what you do have, and for organizations like Meals on Wheels and InterFaith Food Shuttle. Thanks for reading and commenting - keep them coming. See you on Monday.
I plan to make bread and cookies this weekend, possibly with the help of some grandchildren. Once we're back home from our housesitting gig, our own pantry and freezer will be front and center once again. With great plans in mind, I had brought some items from our pantry to use while housesitting...they never happened. They'll be first up at our house, though - a can of tuna, quinoa, some pancake mix from Trader Joe's (it's really good). Oh - not toGETHER, of course!
Once again, I realize just how easy we have it, trying to figure out what to make from items already on the shelf or in the freezer. I'm well aware that many do not have anything on their shelves to choose from...be thankful for what you do have, and for organizations like Meals on Wheels and InterFaith Food Shuttle. Thanks for reading and commenting - keep them coming. See you on Monday.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
I'm back...
Oh, thank goodness I'm back in the system...it's been too long. Well, after a few wonderfully relaxing days at the beach, we are back at our housesitting gig. It's been a week of shrimp and potatoes - oh, too bad! The potatoes are lovely Yukon golds, which we've had for a couple of weeks now - they needed to be used. Shrimp has faded into beach memories. To the freezer! Tonight it'll be the remaining chicken, salad, maybe a potato, and probably a veg. YES, hard to believe, but we still have a few carrots.
These last almost-3 weeks have been an odd time, with unexpected grandchild care, housesitting, and a few days at the beach in between all that. It's been a little unsettling, and until today I haven't been able to tell you about the past week. Work is providing its own stress, particularly since I couldn't get to my blog. Thankfully it's fine now.
We're looking forward to returning home and resuming eating down of our OWN pantry and freezer, though have been glad to help out our friends! Look for more updates as we transition our stuff back home, pick up the pace of 'eating down' and saving money!
These last almost-3 weeks have been an odd time, with unexpected grandchild care, housesitting, and a few days at the beach in between all that. It's been a little unsettling, and until today I haven't been able to tell you about the past week. Work is providing its own stress, particularly since I couldn't get to my blog. Thankfully it's fine now.
We're looking forward to returning home and resuming eating down of our OWN pantry and freezer, though have been glad to help out our friends! Look for more updates as we transition our stuff back home, pick up the pace of 'eating down' and saving money!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Winding down...
Well, I think we've recovered from the weekend (see my previous post). All is quiet on the housesitting front. We had a quick dinner last night of scrambled eggs, the rest of the beans from Sunday, and toast. I hosted my Scrabble group and, if you'll recall the events of the weekend, didn't really have time to create a special dessert for the ladies. I did, however, score a hit with Sara Lee pound cake, Breyers vanilla ice cream, topped with slightly warmed peaches.
A few weeks ago during peach season, friend Sandy's neighbor's peach tree was bearing prolifically. Sandy kindly gave me a grocery bagful of the sweet fruit, and after making jam and eating a few of them, I had frozen some of the peaches. I thawed them yesterday and added a few drops of vanilla, no sugar, and they were marvelous.
Tonight is spaghetti night with some leftover sauce - always a good choice in my book! This week we're going to take a break from 'eating down' for a couple of days for a little time out. My intention, though, is always to consider pantry and freezer options, no matter where you're cooking.
Sometimes a forgotten spice or seasoning packet on the shelf can lead to a creative and yummy approach to dinner. I plan to make friend Alicia's terrific Taco Soup over the next couple of days. I remembered some taco seasoning (my favorite is Wick Fowler's) on hand, and that led to thoughts of her yummy soup. It feeds a crowd, and one grandchild of ours can't get enough of it! With beans and canned tomatoes in the pantry, I think I can justify the purchase of some nice lean ground beef to make a pot of the soup.
Look HARD at your pantry shelves and freezer - I know you can do it! Think of alternatives to the usual breakfast, lunch and dinner items. What's wrong with cereal, milk and a banana for dinner?? I'll be back on Monday - let me know how YOUR pantry project goes!
A few weeks ago during peach season, friend Sandy's neighbor's peach tree was bearing prolifically. Sandy kindly gave me a grocery bagful of the sweet fruit, and after making jam and eating a few of them, I had frozen some of the peaches. I thawed them yesterday and added a few drops of vanilla, no sugar, and they were marvelous.
Tonight is spaghetti night with some leftover sauce - always a good choice in my book! This week we're going to take a break from 'eating down' for a couple of days for a little time out. My intention, though, is always to consider pantry and freezer options, no matter where you're cooking.
Sometimes a forgotten spice or seasoning packet on the shelf can lead to a creative and yummy approach to dinner. I plan to make friend Alicia's terrific Taco Soup over the next couple of days. I remembered some taco seasoning (my favorite is Wick Fowler's) on hand, and that led to thoughts of her yummy soup. It feeds a crowd, and one grandchild of ours can't get enough of it! With beans and canned tomatoes in the pantry, I think I can justify the purchase of some nice lean ground beef to make a pot of the soup.
Look HARD at your pantry shelves and freezer - I know you can do it! Think of alternatives to the usual breakfast, lunch and dinner items. What's wrong with cereal, milk and a banana for dinner?? I'll be back on Monday - let me know how YOUR pantry project goes!
Monday, October 11, 2010
really needs beach time...
What. a. weekend. You remember we're housesitting for friends and that's going just great. Lovely home, two cats, very peaceful. We had our grandchildren visiting us this weekend, which made it a bit more tricky to continue 'eating down' anyone's pantry and freezer. We did manage to use up some items, though. Friday night's supper was Quickie Chickie, which the children adored! Salad, broccoli and nice sauteed yellow squash were the accompaniments. Very well received - whew.
Due to some unplanned excitement on Saturday morning, we all needed nice hot soup for lunch, with crackers on the side. After an uneventful afternoon, dinner was also very successful - grilled brats on rolls, sauteed onions and green peppers, and the remaining macaroni and cheese. Andy really enjoyed the sauteed onions! We were going to have an ice cream snack later with a movie, but the evening's activities were cancelled due to other unplanned excitement.
After church on Sunday, we headed straight for brunch at Golden Corral. My frazzle factor had increased a bit after Saturday's unplanned excitements, so the 'easy' route was our choice. After a rather more calm afternoon, a little more excitement built up - but not too high - and a plain easy dinner of bean and cheese quesadillas with lots of salsa hit the spot for everyone. A trip to the airport to meet Dad rounded out the evening. My sweet husband and I came back to our "home away from home", dished out some ice cream (helping someone else eat down her freezer), and collapsed.
Oh...the unplanned excitement? How's this: a walkie talkie slipped into the pond (can't be retrieved); the canoe tipped over dumping my husband and grandson and gear (all were retrieved); I bonked my sweet husband on the head with the tailgate door of my car (no outward damage done); one cat who shall remain nameless stayed out all night, to be retrieved from the roof Sunday morning; some much-too-energetic and potentially dangerous horseplay sent two little people to bed at 7:30 on Saturday; and a miscalculation while backing up sent my car into a stone driveway pillar (I say it was due to distraction by little people in the back seat, but they don't agree). I think one of two old standbys are on tap for dinner tonight: spaghetti with leftover sauce, or some lovely organic eggs from our CSA and toast. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Due to some unplanned excitement on Saturday morning, we all needed nice hot soup for lunch, with crackers on the side. After an uneventful afternoon, dinner was also very successful - grilled brats on rolls, sauteed onions and green peppers, and the remaining macaroni and cheese. Andy really enjoyed the sauteed onions! We were going to have an ice cream snack later with a movie, but the evening's activities were cancelled due to other unplanned excitement.
After church on Sunday, we headed straight for brunch at Golden Corral. My frazzle factor had increased a bit after Saturday's unplanned excitements, so the 'easy' route was our choice. After a rather more calm afternoon, a little more excitement built up - but not too high - and a plain easy dinner of bean and cheese quesadillas with lots of salsa hit the spot for everyone. A trip to the airport to meet Dad rounded out the evening. My sweet husband and I came back to our "home away from home", dished out some ice cream (helping someone else eat down her freezer), and collapsed.
Oh...the unplanned excitement? How's this: a walkie talkie slipped into the pond (can't be retrieved); the canoe tipped over dumping my husband and grandson and gear (all were retrieved); I bonked my sweet husband on the head with the tailgate door of my car (no outward damage done); one cat who shall remain nameless stayed out all night, to be retrieved from the roof Sunday morning; some much-too-energetic and potentially dangerous horseplay sent two little people to bed at 7:30 on Saturday; and a miscalculation while backing up sent my car into a stone driveway pillar (I say it was due to distraction by little people in the back seat, but they don't agree). I think one of two old standbys are on tap for dinner tonight: spaghetti with leftover sauce, or some lovely organic eggs from our CSA and toast. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Confession time...
Going out for Mexican food is the best! We did NOT eat from the fridge or freezer last night...oh, wait...we had ice cream...but decided to head out and do some shopping in anticipation of grandchildren coming to visit this weekend. It wouldn't have made sense to eat at home when a nice Mexican restaurant is practically next door to the grocery store...does rationalization work for you too?
Our shopping did include chicken so we can make Quickie Chickie for dinner tonight. It's one of our favorite recipes and I think everyone likes these flavors. It's simple - broil boneless chicken breasts (or tenders) for about 6 minutes per side. Top each with a spoonful of salsa (any strength) and a nice slice of your choice of cheese (we like mozzarella the best for this). Pop back under the broiler for maybe 30 seconds - just till the cheese melts, but make sure it melts. This is delicious!
I think what we're actually doing is more conscientious planning from the pantry and freezer without the rote purchases. It's clear that we can't ONLY eat what's on hand. Well, we could, but it wouldn't be very healthy...our pantry is loaded with carbs. So we WILL want to augment what's there with occasional purchases of salad fixings, some pork or chicken perhaps. I find I'm craving fish. Once we go through our lone can of tuna, fish is probably going to make an appearance on our table.
It'll be an interesting weekend with the children. They're somewhat picky eaters, but they know when they're at Grandma's they must try everything. They don't have to like it, but they do have to try it. This usually refers to the dreaded VEGETABLES. However, we won't make a fuss and we'll see how it goes. We've got lots of activities planned for them, both inside and out, and a couple of dinners we think they'll like. Should be fun all round. I'll let you know how it goes when I see you on Monday. Have a great weekend!
Our shopping did include chicken so we can make Quickie Chickie for dinner tonight. It's one of our favorite recipes and I think everyone likes these flavors. It's simple - broil boneless chicken breasts (or tenders) for about 6 minutes per side. Top each with a spoonful of salsa (any strength) and a nice slice of your choice of cheese (we like mozzarella the best for this). Pop back under the broiler for maybe 30 seconds - just till the cheese melts, but make sure it melts. This is delicious!
I think what we're actually doing is more conscientious planning from the pantry and freezer without the rote purchases. It's clear that we can't ONLY eat what's on hand. Well, we could, but it wouldn't be very healthy...our pantry is loaded with carbs. So we WILL want to augment what's there with occasional purchases of salad fixings, some pork or chicken perhaps. I find I'm craving fish. Once we go through our lone can of tuna, fish is probably going to make an appearance on our table.
It'll be an interesting weekend with the children. They're somewhat picky eaters, but they know when they're at Grandma's they must try everything. They don't have to like it, but they do have to try it. This usually refers to the dreaded VEGETABLES. However, we won't make a fuss and we'll see how it goes. We've got lots of activities planned for them, both inside and out, and a couple of dinners we think they'll like. Should be fun all round. I'll let you know how it goes when I see you on Monday. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Calm before the storm...
What a crazy day we had yesterday...well, kind of low-key crazy, but crazy for us anyway. First off, we're house-sitting for friends and getting used to their place, which can be disconcerting in itself. So yesterday morning, after our first night, I realized I'd forgotten some laundry at home that was meant to come with us. No problem - I'd stop on my way to work. One of us forgot to do the morning routine for one of the family cats, so the other of us took care of her, making one of us a bit late. The southbound route between their house and ours was jampacked with nonmoving traffic, so a detour was in order. Taking the detour meant not stopping at our house. So...onward to work, about 6 miles out of the way. No problem.
The evening schedule had me at handbell rehearsal and not home till 8 pm, and my husband at church, helping to pack medications for the Honduras mission trip. Knowing we'd be late, I just planned on spaghetti with sauce from a jar - one of my favorite quick dinners. Hah. Getting used to someone else's kitchen and stove can be a challenge, and I wasn't sure I'd get that spaghetti cooked before bedtime. But at 8:30 I sat down with my dinner and enjoyed it very much. Ken got home just after 9 and had the remainder of the spaghetti. An hour of TV, and I was ready for bed, but wait...the TV remote has once again stymied us. Somehow we lost the "Guide" screen, so we're guessing about what's on. I am proud to say that I discovered that a second remote has a guide that works, but doesn't control the volume on that TV. So - one remote for the guide, and one for the volume...we can live with that.
Oh - the title of the post? Well, our grandchildren will be staying with us this weekend, so we expect it to be a bit busier than usual. Lots for them to discover - they've never visited this home before. We'll be showing them around and playing games, exploring the woods, and probably making popcorn on a chilly evening or two. I guess it might not be a storm - just kind of an increased activity level!
And what's for dinner tonight? I have no idea. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
We're coming along...
Not TOO much to report, except that our potato soup last night was spectacular. It's a very simple recipe, with lovely flavor. I pureed some of it to thicken before I added the milk, then threw in the remaining shrimp to 'kick it up a notch' - delicious. Just this moment I remembered we didn't sprinkle with parsley before serving...ah, well.
I'm realizing this project is going to last awhile. I'm certainly not looking at a specific date or a specific timeframe to finish eating down the pantry and the freezer. It's just taking longer than I imagined. Our usual food bill is only about $60 a week. Since we started this project, we have spent maybe $50 or so on food.
And so it goes...we keep working on it, and it's working. I'm still enjoying the challenge, and I hope you are too. Keep me posted via your comments, and I'll see you tomorrow.
I'm realizing this project is going to last awhile. I'm certainly not looking at a specific date or a specific timeframe to finish eating down the pantry and the freezer. It's just taking longer than I imagined. Our usual food bill is only about $60 a week. Since we started this project, we have spent maybe $50 or so on food.
And so it goes...we keep working on it, and it's working. I'm still enjoying the challenge, and I hope you are too. Keep me posted via your comments, and I'll see you tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Mmmm...macaroni and cheese...
Oh, that macaroni and cheese was SO good - probably since I'd been eagerly awaiting its consumption since Saturday! We had green pepper slices, thanks to neighbor Shearin's late-yielding garden, and the ubiquitous carrot sticks. This morning I started the potato soup for tonight, from that huge bag of potatoes Ken bought the other day. We'll reheat it and add the milk for supper tonight, throw in what's left of the frozen shrimp, accompanied by the rest of the homemade bread and remaining salad fixings. Yum.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, plans include pizza once again, maybe with some onions and what's left of the fresh mozzarella cheese. Surely spaghetti or rigatoni will also make an appearance, either with Ken's frozen sauce or from the can that's on the shelf. Usually I doctor it up, maybe with some of those nice dried mushrooms and - SOME GRATED CARROTS!! Maybe that will use them up!!
Once again I'm rethinking how long this project will last. I looked at the pantry again this morning, and there's a TON of food there. It is a bountiful pantry, though I didn't fully realize that at first. We will be eating down for some time...that in itself is a humbling thought.
Some of you have commented that you've been inspired to do your own 'eating down' project, or at least try and be more conscientious about planning your shopping trips. Whatever you do, I'd love to hear about it. I think we're all better for learning from each other, and it's amazing what you have to teach me. See you tomorrow.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, plans include pizza once again, maybe with some onions and what's left of the fresh mozzarella cheese. Surely spaghetti or rigatoni will also make an appearance, either with Ken's frozen sauce or from the can that's on the shelf. Usually I doctor it up, maybe with some of those nice dried mushrooms and - SOME GRATED CARROTS!! Maybe that will use them up!!
Once again I'm rethinking how long this project will last. I looked at the pantry again this morning, and there's a TON of food there. It is a bountiful pantry, though I didn't fully realize that at first. We will be eating down for some time...that in itself is a humbling thought.
Some of you have commented that you've been inspired to do your own 'eating down' project, or at least try and be more conscientious about planning your shopping trips. Whatever you do, I'd love to hear about it. I think we're all better for learning from each other, and it's amazing what you have to teach me. See you tomorrow.
Monday, October 4, 2010
After a glorious weekend...
It's a beautiful Monday after a glorious weekend - love those open windows and wearing a jacket! When last we met, I was thinking about potatoes. I'm still thinking. With this cooler weather, I'm leaning toward a nice potato soup with a few remaining frozen shrimp thrown in. That would be for tomorrow night, if I get it started tonight after Scrabble. Tonight we're having the elusive baked macaroni and cheese. I call it elusive because I prepared it Saturday morning - using up the rest of the elbow macaroni, milk, and some of the sharp cheddar cheese, for Saturday night's dinner. Then friend Peggy switched the time we were meeting her, and we'd go out to dinner instead. Okay with me - I LOVE going out to dinner! So the mac and cheese would be for Sunday. Friend Emilie suggested a later time on Sunday for a planned get-together, so we went out to dinner on Sunday night too! With family obligations a little up in the air this afternoon, I decided to bake it this morning before work, and we'll nuke it for dinner tonight. I think carrots on the side would be good. Sigh...yes, we're still working on those carrots. If there's any homemade oatmeal bread left, we'll have that too. Speaking of homemade bread, the two loaves I made on Saturday turned out beautifully - and used up some flour, oats, wheat germ, yeast, and the other usual ingredients for bread.
Between hanging clothes on the line outside, finding a wooden drying rack at a yard sale for $3 just like we had when I was growing up, and baking the aforementioned bread, Saturday proved to be one of those feel-good memory days for me. It was a pleasant, happy day that, once again, underscored how very fortunate I am in what I have. Planning for the next dinner is a part of my thanks-giving. See you tomorrow.
Between hanging clothes on the line outside, finding a wooden drying rack at a yard sale for $3 just like we had when I was growing up, and baking the aforementioned bread, Saturday proved to be one of those feel-good memory days for me. It was a pleasant, happy day that, once again, underscored how very fortunate I am in what I have. Planning for the next dinner is a part of my thanks-giving. See you tomorrow.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Stir-fry and good weather
Oh, how I LOVE stir-fry dinners! With a bit of substitution, this is what we had last night. It's called Pork with Fish Flavor, named thus because it is made with the same ingredients often used by Szechuan cooks to cook fish. Here goes:
1 lb pork, sliced as you like - strips, matchstick, etc
2 T rice wine vinegar or dry sherry
1 T soy sauce
6 wood ears and 5 green onions (didn't use these)
2 cloves garlic fresh gingerroot
1/4 c water
3 T soy sauce
2 t sugar
2 t cornstarch
1 t rice wine vinegar
1/4 t whole black peppers, crushed (didn't use this)
1 T oil
1 t Oriental chili paste - this stuff is hot - 1 t is the right amount - no more!
Cut up the pork as desired and marinate in 1 T of the rice wine or sherry and 1 T soy sauce at room temp for 30 min. Mince garlic and grate 2 tsp ginger, set aside. Whisk together remaining rice wine or sherry, water, 3 T soy, sugar, cornstarch, add'l rice wine, and pepper - set aside. In wok or large skillet, heat oil on high and stirfry garlic, ginger and chili paste for about 30 seconds. Add sliced green onions if using. Remove all from pan. Add half of the pork to the wok and stirfy till no pink shows. Remove from pan and stirfry remaining pork. Add other pork back in and push from the center of the pan. Stir sauce and add to center of pan. Put everything back in (including the matchstick carrots that you forgot like I did)...stir for a few seconds till all is coated with sauce. Serve over rice.
The proportions of the ingredients seemed just right to us - this was DELICIOUS and we'll definitely make it again. We will make twice the sauce next time.
So we used up the pork chop, almost half our remaining rice, some more carrots, and threw in the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts that I found in the pantry. Funny thing is that I skipped over some recipes that called for black bean paste, hoisin sauce and plum sauce. Guess what 3 items I found on the refrigerator shelf??? You guessed it. I'll check them out for the next stirfry.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to think of creative ways to use all those potatoes. Will also enjoy the gorgeous weather we're having after all that wonderful rain. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.
1 lb pork, sliced as you like - strips, matchstick, etc
2 T rice wine vinegar or dry sherry
1 T soy sauce
6 wood ears and 5 green onions (didn't use these)
2 cloves garlic fresh gingerroot
1/4 c water
3 T soy sauce
2 t sugar
2 t cornstarch
1 t rice wine vinegar
1/4 t whole black peppers, crushed (didn't use this)
1 T oil
1 t Oriental chili paste - this stuff is hot - 1 t is the right amount - no more!
Cut up the pork as desired and marinate in 1 T of the rice wine or sherry and 1 T soy sauce at room temp for 30 min. Mince garlic and grate 2 tsp ginger, set aside. Whisk together remaining rice wine or sherry, water, 3 T soy, sugar, cornstarch, add'l rice wine, and pepper - set aside. In wok or large skillet, heat oil on high and stirfry garlic, ginger and chili paste for about 30 seconds. Add sliced green onions if using. Remove all from pan. Add half of the pork to the wok and stirfy till no pink shows. Remove from pan and stirfry remaining pork. Add other pork back in and push from the center of the pan. Stir sauce and add to center of pan. Put everything back in (including the matchstick carrots that you forgot like I did)...stir for a few seconds till all is coated with sauce. Serve over rice.
The proportions of the ingredients seemed just right to us - this was DELICIOUS and we'll definitely make it again. We will make twice the sauce next time.
So we used up the pork chop, almost half our remaining rice, some more carrots, and threw in the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts that I found in the pantry. Funny thing is that I skipped over some recipes that called for black bean paste, hoisin sauce and plum sauce. Guess what 3 items I found on the refrigerator shelf??? You guessed it. I'll check them out for the next stirfry.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to think of creative ways to use all those potatoes. Will also enjoy the gorgeous weather we're having after all that wonderful rain. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Welcome rain and pasta
It was a dark and stormy night...oh, wrong lead-in - sorry. Well, the rain WAS welcome last night - we enjoyed the sounds. We also enjoyed a nice dinner of spaghetti with Ken's homemade sauce from the freezer, and a salad. Ken is having his fall cravings - potatoes and beans are high on this list, so we now have 10 pounds of potatoes to add to the mix. I love potatoes too, but my heart did sink just a little when I saw them. Oh well - creativity is the name of the game, isn't it?! Stay tuned for potato action.
I spent a few minutes this morning looking in my Oriental cookbooks for a nice recipe for our stir-fry tonight. I pulled out the can of water chestnuts and the jar of bamboo shoots from the pantry shelf, and made a mental note of the pork chop, 2 scallions, and carrots in the fridge. I've got fish sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, ginger in the freezer - I think we're set.
Does everyone have a zillion bottles of various liquors and liqueurs on their shelf, like we do? We don't even DRINK hard liquor or liqueurs, really. I use some for cooking - dry or cream sherry, coffee liqueur, rum and brandy. But we also have Scotch and Becherovka (a Czech liqueur I only drink in the summer mixed with grapefruit juice). The other night I discovered we still had some Pimm's, that quintessentially British stuff that makes a dandy summer drink mixed with lemonade and garnished with a cucumber spear and some mint. There are at least 6 more bottles of stuff with suspect origins that we will NEVER use. Maybe I'll organize a liquor swap, like the spice swap I mentioned in an earlier post. We'll see where that goes.
I'm all about using up or giving away what we don't use. The recipient's reward is something new on hand - MY reward is empty shelves. Looking forward to that day! See you tomorrow.
I spent a few minutes this morning looking in my Oriental cookbooks for a nice recipe for our stir-fry tonight. I pulled out the can of water chestnuts and the jar of bamboo shoots from the pantry shelf, and made a mental note of the pork chop, 2 scallions, and carrots in the fridge. I've got fish sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, ginger in the freezer - I think we're set.
Does everyone have a zillion bottles of various liquors and liqueurs on their shelf, like we do? We don't even DRINK hard liquor or liqueurs, really. I use some for cooking - dry or cream sherry, coffee liqueur, rum and brandy. But we also have Scotch and Becherovka (a Czech liqueur I only drink in the summer mixed with grapefruit juice). The other night I discovered we still had some Pimm's, that quintessentially British stuff that makes a dandy summer drink mixed with lemonade and garnished with a cucumber spear and some mint. There are at least 6 more bottles of stuff with suspect origins that we will NEVER use. Maybe I'll organize a liquor swap, like the spice swap I mentioned in an earlier post. We'll see where that goes.
I'm all about using up or giving away what we don't use. The recipient's reward is something new on hand - MY reward is empty shelves. Looking forward to that day! See you tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
We love leftovers!
Just as I'd planned, Ken prepared the leftover curried lentils and sweet potato dish and rice, the remaining frozen corn, and made a salad. Okay, so he had a cucumber craving...he couldn't help himself, he said! Later in the evening we did our duty and polished off the remaining Luigi's ice (love those things!) and scrapings of coffee ice cream. So THAT'S out of the way. Not sure yet if finishing all the ice cream is good or bad.
We're still really enjoying this project. My husband loves meat so it remains to be seen how long he can go without it, once we finish up that lone pork chop in the freezer. There's so much more we can do with the non-meat things on the shelves, though - and my own challenge will be convincing him we don't need the meat. Neither of us wants to be vegetarian, though I tend more in that direction and am happier with non-meat dinners than Ken is. Heck, I'm happy with a bowl of cereal with raisins for dinner, but that doesn't wash most nights.
NPR reported alarming statistics this morning. About 1.5 million people in North Carolina live in poverty (I didn't catch what is considered the income level). These are people who may have to choose between purchasing vital medications and feeding their families, and the thought of children not having enough food distresses me greatly. I'll bring something to the food drive underway now at the Museum where I work, which is the very very least I can do. My pantry overflows with riches, and I can spare much for those in need. Maybe you could do the same. See you tomorrow.
We're still really enjoying this project. My husband loves meat so it remains to be seen how long he can go without it, once we finish up that lone pork chop in the freezer. There's so much more we can do with the non-meat things on the shelves, though - and my own challenge will be convincing him we don't need the meat. Neither of us wants to be vegetarian, though I tend more in that direction and am happier with non-meat dinners than Ken is. Heck, I'm happy with a bowl of cereal with raisins for dinner, but that doesn't wash most nights.
NPR reported alarming statistics this morning. About 1.5 million people in North Carolina live in poverty (I didn't catch what is considered the income level). These are people who may have to choose between purchasing vital medications and feeding their families, and the thought of children not having enough food distresses me greatly. I'll bring something to the food drive underway now at the Museum where I work, which is the very very least I can do. My pantry overflows with riches, and I can spare much for those in need. Maybe you could do the same. See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
A week later...
It was rather a quiet dinner last night, nothing extravagant or particularly creative on the Tessier table. We did, however, enjoy pork chops from the grill, 3 remaining Yukon gold potatoes, and salad with homemade vinaigrette. Remember, these are all items that we already had on hand.
When we began this adventure, I thought maybe we'd last two weeks and most everything would be gone. That was a gross miscalculation - I'm not sure WHAT I was thinking. We have enough in the pantry and in the freezer, and could really manage, for about a month - maybe even longer. It's been a week now and time has flown - but the food on hand isn't disappearing as fast as I thought it would. I have only bought milk, orange juice, and salad stuff in the past week, and that's a nice change.
October will see us housesitting for our friends for almost 3 weeks, and that might derail a lesser woman's plans - but not mine! I'm determined we will continue to feast from our pantry and freezer items - we'll bring food from our stores to use during that time. Tonight we'll enjoy leftover curried lentils and sweet potatoes over leftover rice, and salad. Tomorrow I'm thinking some form of pasta with some of Ken's yummy spaghetti sauce from the freezer, and some carrot sticks.
I've had some nice comments about what we're doing. It's fun - why not try it yourself and let me know how it goes!
When we began this adventure, I thought maybe we'd last two weeks and most everything would be gone. That was a gross miscalculation - I'm not sure WHAT I was thinking. We have enough in the pantry and in the freezer, and could really manage, for about a month - maybe even longer. It's been a week now and time has flown - but the food on hand isn't disappearing as fast as I thought it would. I have only bought milk, orange juice, and salad stuff in the past week, and that's a nice change.
October will see us housesitting for our friends for almost 3 weeks, and that might derail a lesser woman's plans - but not mine! I'm determined we will continue to feast from our pantry and freezer items - we'll bring food from our stores to use during that time. Tonight we'll enjoy leftover curried lentils and sweet potatoes over leftover rice, and salad. Tomorrow I'm thinking some form of pasta with some of Ken's yummy spaghetti sauce from the freezer, and some carrot sticks.
I've had some nice comments about what we're doing. It's fun - why not try it yourself and let me know how it goes!
Monday, September 27, 2010
More success with the pantry project
We had a great time this weekend whittling down yet more items, mostly from the freezer and fridge. Saturday's dinner was the curried lentils and sweet potatoes dish niece Jenna told me about. I used all the remaining lentils, the two sweet potatoes on hand, onion, and of course spices and olive oil always available. It was wonderful, served over rice, garnished as suggested. Here's the recipe from Smitten Kitchen in case you're interested http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/curried-lentils-and-sweet-potatoes. I used spinach instead of Swiss chard. It also makes A LOT...we'll be seeing these leftovers during lunches this week!
On Sunday I finally made PIZZA!! It was a shrimp, artichoke heart and fresh mozzarella creation - delicious! My dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, so there's half of the dough for another pizza another time - it freezes nicely. Made enough sauce for at least three more pizzas, and that's in the freezer too. Tonight we'll have pork chops, three potatoes that need to be eaten, and some veg. The third pork chop will become a stir-fry later on, with some other items from the pantry.
It really was chance that made us decide to do this at exactly this moment...what a bounty of foods we have to choose from. It really does humble us that we have so many choices, even when we think "the cupboard is bare." My cupboard overflows even in slim times, and I am very thankful. See you tomorrow.
On Sunday I finally made PIZZA!! It was a shrimp, artichoke heart and fresh mozzarella creation - delicious! My dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, so there's half of the dough for another pizza another time - it freezes nicely. Made enough sauce for at least three more pizzas, and that's in the freezer too. Tonight we'll have pork chops, three potatoes that need to be eaten, and some veg. The third pork chop will become a stir-fry later on, with some other items from the pantry.
It really was chance that made us decide to do this at exactly this moment...what a bounty of foods we have to choose from. It really does humble us that we have so many choices, even when we think "the cupboard is bare." My cupboard overflows even in slim times, and I am very thankful. See you tomorrow.
Friday, September 24, 2010
More pantry musings
So...when last we talked, plans had been made for dinner last night - no pizza. We found a few dribs and drabs of things in the fridge, and a nice light dinner ensued. I cut up the leftover pasta, about a cupful, and added it to the last of our gorgeous organic free-range eggs from Meadowbright Farm friend Sheryl. Ken discovered a little leftover salad, the last pitiful tomato from the garden, and about 1/2 cup of leftover refried beans. With the last slices of Irish soda bread on the side, this really was a delicious meal.
On a PBS special last night I heard about a farmer living above the Arctic Circle, who talked about his REALLY short growing season - from end of May to beginning of August. His garden was spectacular! He grows lots of greens, onions, beets, cabbage, and the like. During the winter, he says, "I dream about greens." Well, I'm beginning to long for salads too. Given that we now have no "salad makings" in the fridge, I may have to capitulate and buy a little lettuce or peppers or cukes or something. That wasn't in the plan, but as you know - I always have a Plan B. So we'll see. I think the 'heavy on the carbs' makeup of our pantry shelves will work better, and last longer, and we'll be healthier, if I plan on buying some greens throughout our journey.
Have you read any of Dean Ornish's books? He's the NO FAT guy. I have one of his cookbooks from which I've made several dishes in the past. My notations in the margins all say "this is great!" or "fabulous!" Since his ingredients are few, and we seem to have many of them on our shelves, I think I'll give Dean a try while we're "eating down."
Again, this is forcing us to be creative, and that's a good thing. Plans for the weekend include pizza (if Ken buys yeast today) and that curried lentil and sweet potato dish I mentioned. Close inspection of the pantry last night revealed bamboo shoots and water chestnuts - that says stir-fry to me!
I'll report back on Monday, after a nice dinner out tonight with family, and some fun cooking over the weekend. I'd love to hear from you too on this adventure of ours.
On a PBS special last night I heard about a farmer living above the Arctic Circle, who talked about his REALLY short growing season - from end of May to beginning of August. His garden was spectacular! He grows lots of greens, onions, beets, cabbage, and the like. During the winter, he says, "I dream about greens." Well, I'm beginning to long for salads too. Given that we now have no "salad makings" in the fridge, I may have to capitulate and buy a little lettuce or peppers or cukes or something. That wasn't in the plan, but as you know - I always have a Plan B. So we'll see. I think the 'heavy on the carbs' makeup of our pantry shelves will work better, and last longer, and we'll be healthier, if I plan on buying some greens throughout our journey.
Have you read any of Dean Ornish's books? He's the NO FAT guy. I have one of his cookbooks from which I've made several dishes in the past. My notations in the margins all say "this is great!" or "fabulous!" Since his ingredients are few, and we seem to have many of them on our shelves, I think I'll give Dean a try while we're "eating down."
Again, this is forcing us to be creative, and that's a good thing. Plans for the weekend include pizza (if Ken buys yeast today) and that curried lentil and sweet potato dish I mentioned. Close inspection of the pantry last night revealed bamboo shoots and water chestnuts - that says stir-fry to me!
I'll report back on Monday, after a nice dinner out tonight with family, and some fun cooking over the weekend. I'd love to hear from you too on this adventure of ours.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Well...once again...the best-laid plans have gone awry. Oh, not seriously awry, just a slight wobble from the original. It occurred to me that the recipes for what we have on hand seemed to call for items I don't usually buy unless FOR a recipe - like parsley, cilantro and scallions. So I decided to stop at the store and get those to augment what's on the shelves, for a couple of specific recipes. Took a little time off work yesterday to run some errands and pick up a few things. At the top of my list was YEAST - remember the pizza dough I was making last night for tonight? I KNOW you can relate to this - I got all 6 items on the list - EXCEPT YEAST. Don't know what I was thinking when I walked right past it, but I wasn't thinking of picking up yeast, obviously!
So home I go - without the yeast. No pizza dough last night. We did, however, really enjoy the dried mushroom soup and Irish soda bread - it was delicious. Some leftover soup will probably make another appearance for lunch tomorrow. I think tonight we'll have egg pancakes, which we haven't had in a long time. There's a little leftover pasta from the other night, which I'll cut roughly into smaller pieces, then scramble it in with a few eggs. More of the Irish soda bread on the side and some carrot sticks will make a nice supper. We have LOTS of carrots. I'm working those in to something over the weekend.
This plan of 'eating down the pantry and the freezer' is really for our benefit, but might turn out to be a wakeup call. In future, instead of buying, say, a big bottle of ROSEWATER in order to have that 1/2 teaspoonful for a new recipe, I think I'll ask some friends what they have on hand. Then I can hope to offer something in return for a future experimental recipe of theirs. A few of us have talked about doing a spice swap - friend Becky said she has tarragon, but NEVER uses tarragon. I think I have 3 jars of ground cumin...you get the picture. Friend Bea asks what the goal of this experiment is...it's really just being tired of the same old stuff that doesn't change, and trying something new. If you try this yourself, set your own rules and post a comment about how it goes. I think I feel some new synapses forming...what about you?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
I couldn't WAIT to get back to you this morning with an update on day 2 of the pantry project. We had spaghetti with some frozen leftover sauce, the last shavings of some nice Parmesan I'd bought awhile back, and carrot and celery sticks. Yum.
My plan was to make enough pizza dough last night for tonight's dinner, with a portion to freeze for another night. Proofing the yeast revealed that there would be no pizza dough last night. With an expiration date of October 27, 2010, my yeast had bit the dust early. Putting the ingredients aside, plan B went into effect. (Whether it's cooking or travel, I ALWAYS have a plan B.) In the back of my mind were some lovely dried mushrooms from Slovakia that had been on the shelf for years - since about 2002. We had visited my dad's cousin Alzbeta in Kosice, Slovakia, with my niece Jenna, and this was Alzbeta's gift to us. Seeing those mushrooms in the empty instant Nestle's coffee jar brought back the memory of my dad receiving a package in the mail when I was a young girl - Alzbeta's gift to him, her American cousin. I marveled that any mushrooms remained in the torn and tattered box. But I digress.
With a recipe for dried mushroom soup from one of my tried and true soup books, I made a yummy-smelling, simple soup with onions, milk, evaporated milk in place of light cream, and the mushrooms. Since buttermilk is one of my staples, we'll have homemade Irish soda bread with it - how international. Looking forward to tonight.
You know, this is proving even more interesting than I thought it would be. It appeared at first that I'd just making boring old stuff with what's on the shelves. But I'm finding that it's spurring creativity, and that's a lot of fun.
There's another side to this experiment. It is keeping me mindful of those who don't have the luxury of being creative with interesting things on hand, but are forced to create the bare subsistence minimum with not much at all on hand, and no extra anything. My heartfelt thanks and admiration go to organizations like the Interfaith Food Shuttle and Meals on Wheels, who care about food getting to those in need.
Picking up yeast today - pizza dough tonight - more on how it's going, when I see you tomorrow.
My plan was to make enough pizza dough last night for tonight's dinner, with a portion to freeze for another night. Proofing the yeast revealed that there would be no pizza dough last night. With an expiration date of October 27, 2010, my yeast had bit the dust early. Putting the ingredients aside, plan B went into effect. (Whether it's cooking or travel, I ALWAYS have a plan B.) In the back of my mind were some lovely dried mushrooms from Slovakia that had been on the shelf for years - since about 2002. We had visited my dad's cousin Alzbeta in Kosice, Slovakia, with my niece Jenna, and this was Alzbeta's gift to us. Seeing those mushrooms in the empty instant Nestle's coffee jar brought back the memory of my dad receiving a package in the mail when I was a young girl - Alzbeta's gift to him, her American cousin. I marveled that any mushrooms remained in the torn and tattered box. But I digress.
With a recipe for dried mushroom soup from one of my tried and true soup books, I made a yummy-smelling, simple soup with onions, milk, evaporated milk in place of light cream, and the mushrooms. Since buttermilk is one of my staples, we'll have homemade Irish soda bread with it - how international. Looking forward to tonight.
You know, this is proving even more interesting than I thought it would be. It appeared at first that I'd just making boring old stuff with what's on the shelves. But I'm finding that it's spurring creativity, and that's a lot of fun.
There's another side to this experiment. It is keeping me mindful of those who don't have the luxury of being creative with interesting things on hand, but are forced to create the bare subsistence minimum with not much at all on hand, and no extra anything. My heartfelt thanks and admiration go to organizations like the Interfaith Food Shuttle and Meals on Wheels, who care about food getting to those in need.
Picking up yeast today - pizza dough tonight - more on how it's going, when I see you tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Pantry Project
Last night my husband and I began an experiment. We have vowed to "eat down" the existing food and staples in our pantry and freezer, until we're forced to do a major grocery shop.
It occurred to me that our shelves don't change much, and some things stay on the shelf for long periods of time. Witness the bottle of rose water I bought some years ago for some long-forgotten recipe. How often can you possibly use rose water???
We usually keep 5-6 boxes of different types of pasta in the pantry. When we go through all the vermicelli, say, I buy another box or two - ignoring the 4-5 boxes of ziti, rigatoni, and shells.
Surely everyone has partial bags of veg in the freezer? We're no exception, but you know how they migrate to the back and underneath the bigger stuff. They get freezer burn or become unrecognizable, and out they go. They DO end up in the compost bin, so I can pat myself on the back for that, at least.
We're determined to do this and will keep you posted on our eat down journey. Last night we had a delicious dinner of corn tortilla quesadillas with fat-free refried beans and cheese. Adding a tomato chopped up to some of them before cooking, and a salad of the last of the lettuce, a cuke and a couple of chopped olives rounded out the meal. It was yummy!
I'll certainly be buying what are staples in our house: milk, orange juice, olive oil, cheese - that sort of thing. I am envisioning some dinners coming up this week, all made with what we have on hand: carrot soup, a curried lentil and sweet potato dish my niece told me about, homemade pizza with a few shrimp and homemade pizza sauce - that's what's in store for us this week.
Maybe you'd like to try this too - let me know how you do, and I'll fill you in on how we do.
It occurred to me that our shelves don't change much, and some things stay on the shelf for long periods of time. Witness the bottle of rose water I bought some years ago for some long-forgotten recipe. How often can you possibly use rose water???
We usually keep 5-6 boxes of different types of pasta in the pantry. When we go through all the vermicelli, say, I buy another box or two - ignoring the 4-5 boxes of ziti, rigatoni, and shells.
Surely everyone has partial bags of veg in the freezer? We're no exception, but you know how they migrate to the back and underneath the bigger stuff. They get freezer burn or become unrecognizable, and out they go. They DO end up in the compost bin, so I can pat myself on the back for that, at least.
We're determined to do this and will keep you posted on our eat down journey. Last night we had a delicious dinner of corn tortilla quesadillas with fat-free refried beans and cheese. Adding a tomato chopped up to some of them before cooking, and a salad of the last of the lettuce, a cuke and a couple of chopped olives rounded out the meal. It was yummy!
I'll certainly be buying what are staples in our house: milk, orange juice, olive oil, cheese - that sort of thing. I am envisioning some dinners coming up this week, all made with what we have on hand: carrot soup, a curried lentil and sweet potato dish my niece told me about, homemade pizza with a few shrimp and homemade pizza sauce - that's what's in store for us this week.
Maybe you'd like to try this too - let me know how you do, and I'll fill you in on how we do.
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