Sunday, January 17, 2016

Pantry Challenge Week 2 Jan 10-16

okay so I am still getting meals out of the pantry/fridge.... and probably can for a long time - though I will have to buy staples like sweetener & coffee.  Last week, I had to replenish our fruit bowl.... and next week I will have to replenish the cut veggie and salad supply.  But NO stocking up!

But... onward...

finished up the pasta fagioli one night and a can of buttermilk biscuits that have been hanging around in the fridge (there were 3 cans from the holidays and now I have one left)

made lazy lasagna one night - bag of frozen ravioli, half bag frozen crumbles (ground beef wannabes :-), one can marinara & shredded mozzarella.  Served with cut veggies.

so.. using the red beans and the rice I cooked up last week...
***  I wanted to make a Cajun red beans and rice.  I keep a turkey version of polish sausage in the freezer (one of my flavoring staples!  I usually slice and cut in quarters to add to millions of things... we don't eat a lot of meat but love the flavor bites!  And I'm thinking that a couple of polish sausages per month between the two of us won't hurt!)
   I didn't have Cajun seasoning but was fairly confident that all the ingredients were in my pantry and, after consulting my search engine... I found I was right!  Using the recipe I found here, I made up a small container of Cajun seasoning :-)

Soo.....seasoning made..... beans ready... cooked the rice.... and ended up freezing the ingredients!   My daughter has had a few bouts with contractions that has played havoc with my dinner menu!  I thought it the part of better judgment to use up what is in the fridge  and not create something with leftover potential!

Made up some nacho dip with a can of refried beans, a jar of my oldest homemade salsa and velveeta... and also pulled out some very ripe avocadoes and mashed them up with salsa too.  [salsa-wise, I ended up using the half jar in the fridge and starting a new one... so there is a NEW half jar... yikes!]

AND... last night we went out for pizza!  The resto accidentally made a large instead of a medium so dinner is covered for tonight too!

I am beginning to get through the 'usual' things we purchase and eat and locating those items that get buried.  It's a little more challenging and I look at some things and wonder... WHY did I buy them?  I like that it makes me think!  I think NOW trying to use what I spent money on - and I think AGAIN the next time I see something random on sale!

Still not sure when we will be going to my daughter's home... so current plans are:
 * a ready-to-eat thawed white beans and ham with the last can of biscuits and the end of the cut veggies
 * morningstar burgers with oven fries (unearthed from freezer and using potatoes & English muffins I have)

We'll see how the rest of the week goes..... we will be keeping my grandson so I'm not sure what I will prepare (or not!) while I am there!

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