The End

And with the purchase of a loaf of bread (that has been discontinued for 5 months and then they brought it back, so it was really a no brainer) the pantry experiment has come to a close. I do believe that I was able to last a little under a month. I ate some good things, I ate some not so good things and I learned quite a bit about myself. Thanks for all that chimed in and gave me some great advice :)

And remember: always peel your bananas before you freeze them :)

5 Tips and The Master List

What have I learned from this experience:

1. If you don't have it in the house already, you probably can make do with something as a substitute to get by.

2. If it looks interesting in the grocery store and you want to be adventurous, put it back and go out for dinner. That way you don't wind up with boxes of "create-your-own-pad-thai", rice wine vinegar, teriyaki pork glaze and almond butter that you really don't know what to do with.

3. Rachel Ray, Ina Garten, Paula Dean and Bobby Flay make it look easy. It's their job. Chances are, if you are trying to recreate something that they did that "doesn't look that hard", it probably is and you should just go out.

4. That being said, who cares what Rachel Ray, Ina Garten, Paula Dean and Bobby Flay are doing? Do you're own thing! Chances are it will come out better if you put what YOU like in your own food.

5. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever.....EVER eat something that expired almost three years ago. Unless you have pepto-bismal, mylanta and are willing to pull an all-nighter.

Here is the master list although I am pretty sure that I am going grocery shopping this week. I need variety!

What I have left:
Freezer
- chicken breast
-chicken wings
-3 racks of ribs
-frozen tomatoes
-3 loaves of whole grain bread
-1 loaf of french bread
-frozen mango and strawberries,
-liqueur (yeah, me)
-Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower
- frozen wontons (where did that come from?)
- frozen scallions
- cheese
- pie crust

Pantry
flour
sugar
brown sugar
raisans
cashews
walnuts
oatmeal
pancake mix
cocoa powder
cheerios (2 boxes)
Kashi
Cornflakes
mushroom soup
chicken soup
canned tomatoes
a crap load of canned beans (ew)
balsamic glaze
rice wine vinegar
bbq sauce
ketchup
rice
rice noodles
create-your-own-pad-thai
onions
flax seed
pizza dough
bread crumbs
couscous
olive oil
honey
tea
17 cans of tuna
soy sauce
cornbread
canned corn
almond paste??
dried apricots
every spice under the sun

Fridge 
More tuna
eggs
milk
cole slaw
cranberry sauce
garlic
mylanta
ketchup
butter
italian dressing
orange, plum, peach
maple syrup
beer
salsa
pickles mayo

Attack of the 2008

So I guess I just keep stuff?

I unearthed this box of drinking chocolate from the back of the pantry yesterday and I got really excited because, hello, it's drinking chocolate and that's always tasty.

So I dropped some into a cup and just sort of mixed it will milk and nuked it in the microwave. I drank it all up...and it was really tasty with the exception of a little bit of chocolate clumping where it didn't melt. So I finish it and go over to the trash just to see what the directions say about how to actually make it

And right below the instructions was this little gem of a statement:

"Best if use by August 2008"

I...am SUCH a loser hahaha

But I am not dead yet...so that's always good.

(Upon closer thought I recalled that I actually got that box at Christmas...2008)

Guinea Pigs

No, I didn't eat them. I did have one over for dinner. His name was Antuan and he gave me two thumbs up on my slow cooked pulled pork made from pantry items.

Last night, I decided that I was going to make this pork shoulder, slow cooked, so that it could be a low maintenance dish. Previously, I have slow cooked chicken and beef and I know how to make bbq sauce for a beef recipe. I had to improvise with pork.

I used: salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, garlic, cumin, chili powder, vegetable broth, cinnamon and brown sugar. Basically everything and the kitchen sink.

I marinated this overnight and threw it in the pot this morning on the way out the door at 7:00. Fast forward 10 hours...delicious, fall-off-the-bone pork.

The real improvisation? I made the berry cake thing out of crap that I threw together in the pantry. Including applesauce, which I found is a nice solution to oil, which I have been out of since before this challenge started. I added the requisite flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla, whatever and I baked it. I did forget to measure some ingredients and the cake kind of came out uncake-like. More like a breakfast bread, which works well because I am almost out of smoothies and patience for that blender.

All in all, a good night, although now I have depleted a major meat component from the freezer. I am sensing the beginning of the end....

I...am not a Crook

So I was standing there today in Wal-Mart holding the package of mushrooms and I was fighting and fighting to put them back. And I thought to myself, "Just put them back. Do the stupid experiment the right way no matter how much tastier fresh mushrooms would be".

And?

I put them back.

Why?

Because I...am not a crook.....or a liar, or a cheater, or a false blog maker-upper...that would be lying :( (Boo liars)

Fast forward 30 minutes. I am standing over a crock pot about to dump in canned corn and canned mushrooms.  And I almost didn't do it because the mushrooms were sort of slimy and the corn was swimming in corn juice and all that. But I dumped them in because I needed a vegetable.

And it was damned tasty.

This meal was the pinnacle (epitome?) of this challenge. Canned corn, canned mushrooms, canned cream of mushroom soup, chicken and....guess what? Remember that nasty rice from the pouch from at least over a week ago that was horrid? That went in there too and you know what? It wasn't actually as horrid as I thought.

Score one for the crock pot and the pantry experiment. AND leftover lunch and dinner tomorrow :)

Let's Play "What's wrong with this picture?"

Okay, so this looks like a seemingly harmless bag of individual, serving size popcorn, yes? It is still in the packaging, the branding on it looks inviting, it's 94% fat free (please refer to buy only healthy crap phase in previous posts).

The problems here is more along the lines of timing...brace yourself.

When viewed up close, the writing on this package notes that this product has expired. Not one year ago, not even two years ago, but two and a half years ago. The sad and sickest part about this? I have only lived in Oklahoma for a year or so. Which means that I packed this up and moved if from Orlando.

I would say "Come on, you all have done it too" but in this case, I am about 99.8% positive that I am the only one. (See what I was saying about the whole hoarding thing from before?) Who saves 2 1/2 year old popcorn?!

Me, apparently.

I am going to be home now for a good stretch. So this makes Day 11 of meals from the pantry. I think on the menu tonight will be some sort of chicken with canned corn covered in cream of mushroom soup. I am  told by relatives that this is something that they make fairly often. I feel like it could be good. I am going to try to see if that nasty rice from the pouch that I attempted last week can be doctored up to fit the bill here.

Additionally, I am running out of smoothie stuff. I am going to have to go to the grocery store at some point because I really am running low (as in completely out of) all fresh fruit. I was thinking about bending some of my rules too to add some fresh vegetables to the mix as well (especially because that bag of fresh broccoli that I had been counting on is now brown and slimy) but I have frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower, canned corn, and mushrooms and both canned and frozen green beans (did I mention that I don't even LIKE green beans?) I also have about 6 cans of bean beans (again, I will mention that I don't like bean beans) so I will hold off on the rule bending until I am really out of veggies.

I unearthed these frozen vitatop muffin things from the freezer this morning for "breakfast". It wasn't horrid. I mean, if you cover anything with enough butter you can "fix" it. I think I may start making muffins or pancakes or something ahead of time for breakfast so that I can a) use up all the pantry stuff and b) have something quick and easy to grab for breakfast on the way out the door.

Either way, I hope to meet some sort of goal...

R.I.P. Old Friend

It is with deepest regret that we inform you that Crispix, 25, is no longer with us. Former pantry resident, Kellogg Crispix, called it a day at his home in Norman, Oklahoma. At his request, no service will be held.


Mr. Crispix was born May. 30, 1983, in the corn belt states of the Midwest, to Mr. Will Keith Kellogg.Crispix started out as a small kernal  who felt he could accomplish anything he set his mind to do. At a very early age, he developed the motto of "Crispy rice on one side, crunchy corn on the other." His drive to succeed was due in part to his competitive nature with similar, yet distant cousin, Chex Mix. 


At one point, Crispix served in the in some pantries as Cinnamon Crunch Crispix, and briefly brought a cinnamon sweet smile to the faces of cereal eaters across the nation. More comfortable with his true corn/rice identity, he left cinnamon in his youth and traveled to aisle 8 in a distant Oklahoma Wal-mart. He was taken in as a companion to a young graduate student who gave him a good home for 3 months on the second pantry shelf (also known as the cereal and breakfast shelf). He made many friends--among them: Apple Oatmeal, Cornflakes and Kashi. 


In his later years, he could be found at many (trail)mixers, hob-nobbing and rubbing elbows with the likes of golden raisins, chocolate chip and slivered almonds. His friend would say he was an impeccable dresser, always preferring to show up in his lattice-pattern suit. Although he was not high in dietary fiber, friends would also describe him as "full of energy and low in cholesterol...a real treat".


Crispix would have wanted you to know that his last days were spent with nutritional value in mind, contributing to the delightful dining experience of Liz.
He is survived by his friends of extended shelf-life, Cheerios; and Kashi Go-Lean.


Friends, I am sorry to report that Crispix will no longer be gracing the pages of this blog...the writer requests no condolences but offers up this advice: don't take your favorite breakfast nosh for granted. Amen.

Down! Goes! Pasta!

Laaaadies and Geeeentleman!!!! Introducing, the first ever Pasta Boxing Battle

About to enter the ring ....... at 16 oz is...... Whole Wheat Pasta!

And in the other corner....hailing all the way from the couch.....We Have Liiiiiiiiiz!!!

The match is off...we have pasta straight from the box, Liz weaves and into the water goes pasta. Down Goes Pasta!! Pasta bobs twice and the match is over...

Or is it?

Contrary to popular belief, pasta is indeed victorious because...if you have ever eaten whole wheat pasta you will know that no amount or anything short of Alfredo sauce and bacon will "fix" it. And I am short on both.

Whole wheat pasta tastes, looks, smells like wet cardboard. Who eats wet cardboard?! I covered it in mayo and tuna and called it a night. Pasta 1, Liz 0.

Its kind of like this:

Once there was a girl named Liz. She went through A LOT of phases. There was the time that she wanted to learn French. That phase lasted 4 days. (Merci). There was the "buy cool shoe phase." (That phase has yet to end but she's not complaining). She went through a "Let's be culturally diverse" phase and stocked up on rice wine vinegar, sesame seeds and cumin. And then she went through the "Buy only healthy sounding foods" phase. She ended up with a pantry full of items like flaxseed, soy flour, whole wheat pasta, and almond butter. (She also has no idea what to actually do with almond butter...is it almond or is it butter?) Anyway, Liz had a pantry full of crap that sounded like a good idea but wasn't and now she is forcing herself to eat it all while blogging about it. The end.  

Good story right? totally true.

Separate Note:  I stopped by Wal-mart tonight and the place looked like a mecca. I haven't been there in a while and as hard as it was, I walked out with ONLY a peach, strawberries and milk. I stayed within the challenge. (ew). I have one more weekend out of town and then I am going to start attacking the stuff in the freezer. So I think this should be the last tuna night for a while...which is a good thing because I might start getting some sort of mercury condition....

God Bless Good Friends and Tuna

As day 8 draws to a close I am left with some much needed bolstering of confidence from some good friends (Ms. Devore and Mrs. Darrah, I am talking to you) :) I am determined to finish this project. Otherwise it will be just another week where I didn't go shopping.

Meals for the day:

- Apple for breakfast. (I want to go back to smoothies but an extra 20 minutes of sleep this morning was more appealing than fighting with the blender)

- Tuna and mayo over pasta for lunch (I am now down to 25 cans)

- Crispex as a snack...I have one bowl left :(

- Dinner with Antuan at Outback....I actually did something good here.

Instead of eating my whole meal at dinner I decided I would take half of it home and eat it for a lunch tomorrow. I am starting to run out of things to take for lunch (It was SO much easier when I have a pot full of ready made stuff).  Thanks to the support of some good friends, I am going to have some thyme chicken tomorrow for dinner over that rice pouch (we'll give it another go and maybe doctor it up a bit). 

As some of you know, I was out of town for 5 days and will be going back out for 3 more. After I get home, I am planning on making another stock-staple meal that can last me a few days. Here is a short list of the stuff I know I have on hand:

-25 cans of tuna fish (they make those mercury warning levels for people like me) 

-10 lbs of frozen chicken wings (I think I bought this in some sort of party-planning mood...little did I know that it would be a party of 1 haha...but hey, that way you like everybody at the party and there is no awkward small talk)

-3 racks (again with the Sam's Club) of pork spare ribs that I am thinking of marinating in some sort of duck sauce, peach preserve concoction and finishing with BBQ sauce (thank mom!)

- A 7 lb Boston Butt pork thing (because apparently I cannot leave the store without a side of pig)

-Around 9 or so chicken breasts (various marinades to come...or I may just grill 'em all and freeze for future use, thank you Mrs. Darrah)

-Some fresh broccoli, frozen green beans, and various pantry items that I am sure I will put to good use...

A more detailed list to follow shortly :)

And so it continues...Plans A,B,C and D

I get home tonight after a long weekend in Georgia and some habits die hard. After 5 days away, I would have loved to have driven to the grocery store to get something tasty for dinner. But, I didn't. I was saddened to find out that even with my vigilant efforts to try to do better with throwing stuff away, there were still some products that I had to toss :( In fact, I had to go through a few plans to figure out a meal on the go...

Plan A: I had to throw away an entire 1/2 block of really delicious cheese (and seriously, no amount of cheese-love was going to rationalize the greenish color growing on the side or the sour vomity smell radiating from the container). So I couldn't make a quesadilla tonight. 

Plan B: I unearthed this "gourmet" Archer Farms microwaveable packet of basmati rice and nuked it. Lemme tell you a little something about packing peanuts. I have never actually eaten a packing peanut but I am pretty sure that this rice resembled those plastic-y, sort of crunchy, foamy things. The only difference is that rice is not shaped like an "S". I couldn't eat packing peanuts.

Plan C: So last week, because I had made that huge pot of chicken and dumplings, I didn't really have "time" to eat anything else. And that is okay, promise...but I made the mistake of taking out this chicken to defrost and never got around to eating it last week. What I did instead, the night before I left, was slow poach it in spices and broth and chuck it in the fridge. I opened it and it was kind of slimy and weird and greenish (the thyme). Can you eat poached chicken 5 days later? Make it 6 for tomorrow? 

Plan D: The winner! Crispex and Milk! Yay! Except I am almost out of Crispix which is going to be a sad, sad day...

So this Day 8 tomorrow...I am losing my pep and motivation here :(

Few Days Hiatus

Hello all. I am writing to let you know that I have not gone all extremest- fasting, rather, I am on vacation for the holiday weekend in Georgia with my family. I would like to report that there are some of the same principles working here that have been in place all week. I have not been to the grocery store and there have been a few times when somebody has said "We have no toast" or "We don't have the right amount of ingredients for that recipe" and we have just made do. Its even better to do that here since the nearest grocery store is about 12 miles away. So if you forget something, it is kind of a big deal to go back for it.

But I had made it through the week successfully and will continue on upon my return home. The 5 or so days here, I will not count as part of the experiment.

Waste Not= Not a lot of Waste

Today is trash day and I noticed that I have a surprisingly sparse amount of trash. Normally, (and this is terrible to admit), I will heave a good three to four bags of crap into the pail and drag it out to the street. Because I have spent the week eating from the same pot of food (made Sunday), I have had very little trash to speak of. There are no egg shells, no fruit rinds, no discarded chicken bits, no burned messed, no packaging, no wrappers and best of all? NO FOOD THAT WENT BAD BEFORE I COULD EAT IT!!! Which means that somewhere along the way I have managed to save some money.

I have also noticed a considerable lack of dishes. It stands to reason that this would occur seeing as I am not doing any cooking at all. I have been, instead, dragging the same pot out of the fridge, scooping some into a bowl and putting the pot back. I then wash the bowl and put it away. (Do I qualify for minimalist status yet?). I also eat this for lunch, so I take out a container, fill it and at the end of the day, wash and refill for the next day. Planning ahead is a beautiful thing...especially when the tempting "what do I have to eat at my desk" blues kick in and you resort to Chipotle (delicious, but at almost $7 bucks a pop, not all that wallet friendly)

My only thought? I wonder if the Wal-Mart employees have noticed I am missing. I mean, I am on a first name basis with a few of them. (This can happen when you are there everyday, multiple times a day...sad). And it has successfully been 7 days of no Wal-Mart and no new groceries.

So the good news? I am saving some money, saving some piece of the planet somewhere (less of a footprint or some such thing) and I am kind of happy to be doing so.

Pepto-Bismal Turns Your Tongue Black

You think I kid? Take a chew-able tablet at 3:00 a.m. and call me in the morning. Your tongue will be black.

Promise.

I should back it up a second. For those that may just be tuning in, I am on Day 6 of the Pantry Experiment and here is a basic summation of what I have ingested over the course of roughly 18 meals.

-Nasty smoothie with honey, flaxseed, Greek yogurt (aka- sweat sock drippings) and frozen banana peel (times 2)
-A mini-run in with 9 month old chili (Congrats! It's a boy!)
-And for the past 6 (yes, 6) meals, I have had chicken and dumplings

Which is the reason why I woke up this morning at about 3:00 a.m. feeling....ill (I'll be family friendly here description-wise). So I stumble, half stupefied and sans contacts into the bathroom, fumble around for those pepto- bismal tablet things and ate one. It was gross. But I was too tired to get water to wash that pink taste out of my mouth.

Fast forward to this morning, approximately 6:00 a.m. I stumble into the bathroom again, but this time to get ready for work and literally startle myself with a black (ohmygod) tongue!!!

Did I freak out? Yes
Did I almost cry? Maybe
Did I Google immediately? You bet your ass I did....my tongue was black!!!!!

This is a section taken from the frequently asked section of Pepto Bismals official Q&A page on their website: (I am a non-plagiarizer, I cite my sources)
I noticed that Pepto-Bismol sometimes darkens the tongue/stool. Why does this happen and how long does it last?
The active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol contains bismuth. When a small amount of bismuth combines with trace amounts of sulfur in your saliva and gastrointestinal tract, a black-colored substance (bismuth sulfide) is formed. This discoloration is temporary and harmless. It can last several days after you stop taking Pepto-Bismol. Individual bowel habits, your age (the intestinal tract slows down with age), and the amount of the product taken all help to determine how long Pepto-Bismol is in your system.

So, for future reference, if you take a pepto tablet and go to bed without washing out your mouth, you can expect to wake up in the morning looking like a giraffe.

(Taken from Cyberkid website)
They have 45-50 cm long blue-black tongues that wrap around leaves and pick them from the branch. The long tongue helps them get leaves just out of reach.The dark colour of the tongue means it does not get sunburnt when it is out of the mouth.