Dwindling Pantry - Day 2

Sorry there is no pic today. Posts without pics aren't as fun but I just didn't feel like dealing with the camera.

We started out day yesterday with oatmeal once again. Then a friend and her baby girl came over for lunch. Landon ate leftover Pasta Primavera (a note about Landon: if I give him the veggies from the pasta first, and don't let him see the pasta noodles, he'll eat the veggies. But, if he sees the noodles than there is no way to get the vegetables in his mouth!). I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for the adults.

The lack of milk, eggs, and vegetables made dinner a challenge. I had just enough stuff to make a small salad, and tons of rice pasta but nothing to put on top of it. Except cheese.

There were remnants of three types of cheese in the fridge: parmesan, cheddar and gouda. Plus a bunch of butter and some half-and-half. Sounds like Mac n' Cheese to me. Looking up a few recipes in my cookbooks I figured out how to make it myself.

First I cooked 1 pound of brown rice pasta spirals.

Then I made the cheese sauce:

I melted a 1/4 c. butter in a sauce pan (way too much! - next time I'll use half of that)

Once the butter was melted I slowly whisked in a generous 1/4 c. of flour.

You should then have a thick mixture know as roux.

Since I needed about 4 c. of milk but only had 2 c. half-and-half I watered down the half-and-half with 2 c. water (one of the reasons I used so much butter).

Then I slowly added the "milk" to the roux. Let it boil until thick and then added salt, pepper, dry mustard, a dash of nutmeg and Worcestershire sauce. About 1/2 tsp of each except a bit more salt and I should have added more Worcestershire. Finally I added 4 c. of shredded cheese - a mixture of all three types.

I mixed the cheese sauce and noodles together. Put them in a casserole dish and baked at 350 degrees of 20 minutes. YUM!

Japanese Italian

The first day of "Eat Out the Pantry Week" is usually pretty decent. Yesterday we dined on oatmeal for breakfast, leftover party food for lunch, and an Italian/Japanese combo for dinner. Soyaki marinated London Broil and Pasta Primavera.

I pulled the London Broil out of the freezer two days ago and started marinated it yesterday morning. We're down to all the inexpensive/unusual cuts of meat from RJ's dad's supply of grass-fed beef and lamb. Hopefully we'll be getting another shipment soon.

I didn't know what to do for our sides. There was tons of pasta in the pantry and a hodge-podge of vegetables in crisper. I hit up my favorite cooking site Simply Recipes and after a thorough recipe search settled on Pasta Primavera.

The recipe calls for pasta sauce and since I didn't have any I dug around the pantry and was thrilled to come up with a jar of tomato paste. Adding some water to the paste I created a thick sauce. Since my sauce was devoid of seasoning I added 4 cloves of garlic and a shallot to my vegetable mixture (saute in the olive oil 1 minute before the adding veggies). And to increase the seasoning even further I doubled the amount of Italian Seasoning and was very generous with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. (My vegetable mixture included: broccoli, red onion, crook neck squash, carrot, celery, and zucchini.)

Finally, I added much more tomato paste sauce than called for. We like alot of flavor, and since we don't like cherry tomatoes I thought I would make up for them with extra sauce.

I'm curious to see what today will bring....

Eat Out the Cabinet Week

It is Eat Out the Cabinet week!

I'll only be going to the store/farmer's market for a few fruits and veggies and limited dairy.

Stay tuned for some interesting meals!

Junk Mail

I would be lost without my little black notebook. It's divided into four sections:

1) RJ & Ann

2) Landon

3) Household

4) Miscellaneous

There is a pocket in the front where I keep coupons, stamps, important receipts, etc. And inside each section are random lists of important information - thank you cards I need to write, date night ideas that come to me at random moments, my Costco shopping list, etc.

In the household section I keep one of my most important lists. Its a list of stuff we need/want around the house. Things that aren't pressing but we need to get it at some point. For example:

another set of sheets for our bed

new storage box for cleaning supplies

new oven mitt and pot holders

a card table

silver polish

glass punch bowl

It's convenient to keep the list on me at all times, that way if I'm out shopping and I see a good sale I can browse the list to see if anything applies. Without it, I'll forget about these random items and end up buying something I don't need/want at all.

Yesterday I was so excited because I was not only able to knock something off the list but I did it for free (well, I had to spend $1 but close enough). Since being home with Landon I regularly browse our junk mail. I used to just grab it and toss, but I've found that taking five minutes to sort through the junk is worth it. I often find unexpected coupons. For example, two days ago I found a $10 off your purchase coupon for Kohls. I almost never shop at Kohls (I just don't think of it), but $10 off of anything was enough to get me in - I'm a sucker for good marketing!

Armed with our list and a snack cup full of Pirates Booty Landon and I went in with our coupon and came out with a new Food Network oven mitt and Sesame Street sippy cup - and only $1 loss!

I love the thrift store. 

It's a newfound love, but strong none-the-less. When you have an extremely limited budget but love shopping and getting out the thrift store is the place to go. There is so much to see, the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of finding the most perfect thing for just a few dollars. Love it. But the key element to thrifting is time and patience. If you need something immediately go elsewhere, but if you aren't in any hurry I think thrifting is the way to go. Currently I am looking for a punch bowl. I see them all the time but I have something every specific in mind and until I find it I'll just keep happily scouring the crowded, cluttered second-hand selves. 

In the meantime I found this awesome vintage bag:

And I this fantastic blue chair (listed for $70 but I talked them down to $40!):

While I love how my living room was decorated I've been feeling the need for some change. And the challenge of a new project. So, with my bright-eyed sister-in-law in tow we hit up a bunch of thrift stores and salvation armies last weekend. She was the one that spotted the "english reading chair" as we call it. She also pulled the above cabinet out of our barn and convinced me that it has cute potential Particularly when topped with this random ceramic bird we found: 

Anthro style or grandma? You tell me....

And this awesome print. (That she was supposed to take home for herself but she left here for me because it does look fabulous. Thanks Jess!).

I am loving the transformation of the living room corner. We still need some new end tables, another sofa, and some fun prints or mirrors for the wall, but operation Living Room Makeover is coming together. And the beauty of the situation is I am only out $110 at this point. (Remember the couch I bough a few weeks ago for $60?). However, once I sell my old chair and couch set I will actually be in the positive! 

Green Goodness

One of my favorite seasons as arrived:

AVOCADO SEASON!

I can never get enough of these fruits of green goodness. On BLTs, guac, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, salads, alone with salt, alone with crackers, etc., etc. 

Carpinteria is just up the road brining us loads of fresh avo's and the always fun Avocado Festival - complete with avocado ice cream. 

I just LOVE them. And our generous neighbor has a huge avo tree, so this time of year he brings them to us by the basketful. The only problem is they ripen all at the same time, and even eating nearly half of one or more a day we can't get through them quick enough. (I know I should give more away, but in my defense, around here nearly everyone has a tree or a neighbor with a tree so it's okay if I hoard them.) 

At nearly a dollar each at the grocery store I can't stand watching any of them go to waste, so I've been looking up some recipes (besides guacamole) that include avocado. My search has turned up spectacular results. Plus, my friend Stacey gave me a few good tips.

Did you know you can freeze an entire avocado? You seriously can. And all you have to do is throw the entire fruit (whole!) in the freezer. Then you pull it out when ready, defrost, and use! However, it probably should only be used in guacamole or mixes rather than fresh on a salad.

Also, Stacey told me about a chocolate frosting using only dates, avocados, agave syrup and cocoa power. Trying to find the correct quantities I did an internet search and came across this. I think I'm going to go Raw Food/Vegan on you all and try it. 

Apparently vegans use avocados quite often because I also found this delectable looking dessert. It's a bit odd but I have to see if it what it tastes like. 

Last night I made Paula Dean's Avocado Dressing. There is nothing I like more than a good fatty dressing and this one delivered. Sometimes I'm not super excited about eating my salad, but a little of this stuff and I was gobbling it down. 

(Side Note: If you're like me and sometimes have a difficult time getting thrilled about rabbit food, but know you need to eat it that night, skip the cheese, croutons, and nuts on your salad and use your favorite dressing - fatty or not - eating veggies with a bit of fat is so much better for you than not eating your veg at all.)

How do you like to eat your avocados?

Or are you like Landon and all you think an avo is worth is spitting it on the floor?

When There Is Nothing To Eat

On Tuesday we had absolutely nothing to eat. Or so it seemed. 

I didn't want to go to the grocery store and breakfast-for-dinner is not RJ's favorite so I was stuck. Staring despondently into the pantry I wondered if plain old grilled cheese would suffice for my flavor-loving husband. And then I spotted a can of GARBANZO BEANS.

That may not seem like much but I remembered seeing an Indian dish in my Tastes of Home magazine that was centered around garbanzo beans - the under appreciated bean hiding in its can collecting dust. Sure enough I had nearly all the ingredients (thanks to Pantry Staples) to make Minted Rice with Garbanzo Curry. 

Honestly it could have used a bit more flavor (up the curry) but I think my fatal mistake was serving the curry on top of the rice rather than side-by-side. The two dishes each had their own unique flavor that would have been better appreciated eaten alone. 

Here's the recipe; complete with substitutions: 

Minted Rice

1 cinnamon stick

2 whole cloves

1/8 tsp. cumin seeds (I used cumin powder)

2 tsp. canola oil

2 c. water

1 c. uncooked long grain rice

1/2 c. minced fresh mint (from our garden)

Garbanzo Curry

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cinnamon stick

1 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. curry powder

1 garlic clove, minced (I just used the jarred stuff for ease sometimes)

1/4 tsp. minced fresh ginger root (again, I used the jarred stuff)

1 can garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce (I didn't have any so I blended up a cups worth of canned tomatoes) 

2 tbsp. lemon juice (There were no ripe lemons on the tree so I used a green one!)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c. fresh minced cilantro (I had none so I had to skipped it. Would have been nice but doesn't break the recipe) 

Rice

Saute cinnamon  stick, cloves, cumin and oil over medium heat in a saucepan; about 1-2 minutes. Add rice and stir until lightly browned. Add water and mint. Boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Curry

Saute onion and cinnamon in oil until onion is tender. Add curry, garlic, and ginger. Cook 1 minute. Add garbanzo beans, tomato sauce, lemon juice and salt. Boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 4-6 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard cinnamon and add cilantro. 

Serve it up! 

There are a few different topics I would discussed based on this experience. But, I think I'll concentrate on The Need To Have a Spicy Rack (heehee) which I'll touch on next post.

In the meantime stock up on Curry Power and Cumin - two of my favorite panty staples!