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.

Minimalist Holiday

Here I am again, back in the same place I was last year, and the year before, and the year before that. Back in the "Oh, crud, it is the holidays and society says we are supposed to buy each other gifts." Usually, I make something for friends and family. Nothing big but definitely heartfelt. Generally it is something edible (or drinkable). Unfortunately, this year I have not had either the mental energy or the time to even think about gifts. Gifts are starting to roll in for me and my family and I am left with a sense of guilt that I am not doing more. I swear it is not that I am a miser!!! I just struggle so much with "stuff" that I don't want to foist "stuff" on other people. Now, I have bought gifts for my immediate family - but they are things that were requested or things I know are needed. When I find a gift that seems perfect, I will buy it. It is just that that rarely ever happens.

I have been getting a daily email from a website called, "Ideal Bite". Today's "bite" was about giving gifts to people who don't need anything. Here is the link: http://idealbite.com/tiplibrary/tip.php?tip=20061215&title=For_the_. I am not posting this to give ideas for me (really - I don't need anything!) but to give ideas for other people.

Any idea how I can label my link instead of just posting the link???