Cleaning Out The Pantry

W always tries to get me to cook from the pantry. I always respond that there is nothing in the pantry to eat. W challenged me to only purchase essentials from the grocery store but I kept saying we had nothing to eat. So this morning, I suggested we clean the pantry out and take an inventory.

HOLY SMOKES! We have a lot of food in there!!!

I filled an entire 8.5"x11" sheet of paper with the inventory. Then, we challenged each other to come up with 8 meals. The more things we used, the better. Here are our lists (which will also give you an idea of what is in our pantry):

W's list:

1. Lentils, onions, tomato sauce and spices over rice.
2. Steak with veggies in green simmer sauce over brown rice. *
3. Scones with scrambled eggs. *
4. Meat/rice loaf (like meatloaf but with rice). *
5. Salmon rolls w/sushi rice and seaweed. (We eat this a lot).
6. Tofu with veggies in green simmer sauce over rice.
7. Pasta with tomato sauce.
8. Lasagna w/tomato sauce and faux cheese. **
9. Tacos w/refried beans and / or burritos with scrambled eggs and beans.

My list:

1. Pasta Puttanesca. **
2. Rice and mung bean casserole. **
3. Cuban style black beans (from dried beans) and rice.
4. Linguine w/ pesto. *
5. Risotto with some frozen veggie.
6. Spring rolls (like the ones we get at our favorite Thai food restaurant) with water chestnuts. *
7. Three course meal: butternut squash soup, smoked oysters w/faux cream cheese on crackers, pasta with mushroom & truffle pate.
8. Miso soup with rice, seaweed and tofu.

Notes: Not everything on our lists is in the pantry but every meal on our lists uses at least one thing from the pantry. One star (*) was for using more than one thing in the pantry. Two stars (**) was for using a few things in the pantry and for creating something that sounded really good at that moment.

It was a really fun exercise and now we are challenged to eat out of the pantry. There is nothing wrong with having a pantry full of food unless you don't eat any of it because you don't know what is in there. That mystery is solved. For now.