Cupboard Clean Out
July 27th, 2007 at 06:30 amThe way that my husband and I have divvied up the bills has meant that for the past four years, he was responsible for all food purchases (meals out, groceries), which is a pretty good spot for him considering some weeks I spend next to nothing and am really careful about wielding his debit card. Plus, he likes to be the one to pay in a restaurant. Overall, this system works out really well for us (and we based our expense load on what percentage of the family’s monthly income- mine being 60% and his 40%- then averaged out our bills and assigned him what would be roughly 40% of our total expenses and me 60%, he pays the electric too to round this out).
Anyway, the pay check he got yesterday was pretty pitiful. We figured out that after he made his car payment (he’s always bought cars outright, and this one is the first he’s ever financed and he is insanely meticulous about the loan) and paid for daycare on Monday, he would have about $60 left in his checking account. Instead of looking at this like a problem (and really, it’s not a big deal), we’re going about this like a clean-cupboard challenge. Now, let me also point out, that we only have 2 cupboards to hold food in anyway, so it’s not like ours get crazy-out-of-control-call-the-health-department kind of full. No, when ours are full, it’s maybe 2 weeks worth of meals in backlog. We had to install a lazy susan in the cupboard for our spices because otherwise they took up an entire shelf which we desperately needed.
So, while we already have a good stockpile going, a few handy dandy surprises showed up. One was a gift of some fresh picked onions from my grandmother-in-law’s garden. Another was some banana peppers from a girl at work in exchange for some of my cucumbers. My garden is overflowing with sweet peas, cucumbers, jalapenos, and bell peppers so I find that when I share my excess, other veggies magically appear at my house. This has to be the greatest unexplained gardening phenomena that there is.
Without further ado, here is a list of things I can make with stuff I have on hand. I only plan to buy milk and pop this week (damn you, vices!)
Pizza Night:
Homemade pizza dough (yay for bread machines!), tomato sauce, oregano & basil from garden, bell peppers from garden, banana peppers from coworker, jarred artichokes from cupboard, marinated mushrooms from cupboard, pepperonis from fridge, shredded mozzarella from fridge. I have enough to make two pizzas, but I could make one pizza and one calzone…hmmm
Mexican Night:
Braised pork loin stockpiled during excellent meat sale and frozen- topped with jalapenos from garden & enchilada sauce, canned black beans with onions & canned diced tomatoes, corn muffins from jiffy mix in cupboard (the just add water kind!)- this will feed us for dinner and lunches the next day
Asian Night:
Sushi Rice, sliced rib-eye in a ginger marinade(from the side of beef we purchased with our tax returns and froze), pea pods from garden, wasabi & soy sauce, broccoli from freezer (this will also be a tasty in my lunch the next day)
Mediterranean/Veggie Night:
Some pickled Mediterranean veggies from the cupboard (I should explain this, a few months ago my husband was cleaning out the stock room at work and found a case of gourmet antipasto stuff, covered in dust, but unopened and not expired. He asked the manager on duty and she said to go ahead and take them home because they would just get left there and go bad at work- there’s tons of roasted peppers, artichokes, mushrooms, veggie salads, it’s all really delicious. There’s also a severely out of place jar of orange marmalade, and I swear I’m going to use it some day). Rice, Cucumbers from the garden, more onions, garlic, yogurt (I need to use that up anyway!), and curried chickpeas or possibly falafels, depending on how daring/lazy I feel. This stuff always seems to multiply, and would make a good lunch too. I could make some whole wheat pitas with stuff on hand and pop those in the oven, but I don’t think I even need to.
Cornish Game Hens:
Cornish game hens (from the freezer, bought on sale with a coupon), stuffed with garlic croutons (I’ve been saving up some stale bread for this) rosemary, and thyme (both herbs from the garden), served with broccoli & cauliflower, could possibly use leftover meat & bones to make a chicken soup, but probably won’t.
Spaghetti & Meatballs:
Garlic bread from bread machine, whole wheat spaghetti, jar of pasta sauce from sale/coupon sitting in the cupboard, meatballs from freezer stockpile, add basil & oregano to sauce (from garden)- Have enough to make lunch & dinner
Breakfast for Dinner:
Eggs (need to use up), turkey bacon (frozen, in the freezer meat stockpile), fried potatoes with onions & rosemary (from garden), and if the potatoes aren’t looking so fresh, I can make pancakes with syrup & butter instead.
Apple Tarts:
Homemade pie crust (for some reason I have 2 lbs of butter that desperately need used up), apples that I bought on sale a while back and are getting close to their prime, and the rest of ingredients are sitting around
Banana Bread:
Frozen bananas, and the rest of the ingredients are sitting around
Cream of Wheat Muffins:
The recipe is on the box and is embarrassingly simple. They taste like corn muffins. I have dried cranberries and white chocolate chips to add to them- YUM! Great lunch time snack or breakfast addition…maybe I’ll throw in some of that orange marmalade!
Chocolate Chip Cookies:
I never, ever have ingredients to make these from scratch, and for whatever reason, I do right now. This will be fun for watching movies tonight- pizza & cookies!
It's beginning to look like I might have enough food for two weeks...wow!