A week of eating from the cupboard
Posted by kathryn in Shopping Basket
On my list of things to do today is some grocery shopping. In my head “we’re out of food”. But if I stand in my kitchen and look in the fridge, freezer and pantry, this is plainly a ridiculous statement.
There is actually plenty of food in the house.
I have dried beans, rice, quinoa, noodles and pasta in the cupboard. My spice rack is full, plus there’s olive oil, soy sauce and a number of spice pastes in the fridge. The freezer contains apple muffins, orange marmalade slices, frozen peas and at least one tub of dhal.
Fruit and vegetable wise I have virtually a whole cabbage, a bunch of beetroot, onions, potatoes, silverbeet, oranges and two avocadoes.
And that’s just the stuff I can see.
So this week I’m in the mood for a little experiment, partly inpired by two other bloggers who’ve set themselves challenges. I’m not going to the shops today. Instead I’m going to see how little I can buy this week and still eat well.
My question for myself each day will be, what can I make from what we have? It’s an extension to my lunch last week and thoughts on frugality.
There are two definite gaps to what’s available that I will plug. The only fruit we have is oranges, so I will buy some more varieties. Plus I’ll be getting some tinned tomatoes, as I find these invaluable. Normally on Tuesdays I have lunch with my clinic partner. While Thursday Richard and I always have dinner out.
However, apart from these two I’m going to try and eat from what we have.
28 July, 2008
Comments
What a great challenge :) Good luck.
That cabbage screams coleslaw (made with a low fat yoghurt and balsamic vinegar dressing) and/or oven braised with chicken stock, root ginger, garlic and chilli! Pretty posh for a lil old cabbage ;)
Lunch was leftover eggplant stuffed crepes – our Sunday night meal – with a quickie coleslaw. The coleslaw was cabbage, pumpkin seeds and tahini dressing. For dinner I’m making split mung bean & cabbage dhal and beetroot curry which should give us at least enough for two nights.
Kathryn, I really relate to this post! It’s almost exactly what goes through my mind on a weekly basis. Like you, my storecupboard is heaving with goodies, but the one or two ingredients I fancy or need for a recipe always turn into a full-blown shopping trip where I end up stocking up on more ‘immediate’ ingredients and the chick peas, lentils, quinoa, etc, gets left in the cupboard til next week. I’m looking forward to seeing what you cook!
You put this so beautifully! I’ve been playing with exactly this idea and creating terrific meals from the seeming nothingness of the fridge and cupboards. I love the abundance that reveals itself with a bit of ingenuity and creativity.
Sue I hear you. That’s exactly what I do. Whenever I pop out for a couple of items I always end up buying lots more. Remembering that we also “need” yoghurt, tins of tomatoes. And then I see beautiful strawberries and, and, and.
But a little more thought and it’s amazing what you can produce.
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