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
COngrats and Hooray for making it through this experiment - even i have learned quite a bit from all this and have been trying to work my way through things we have had lying around. Here is my last suggestion all the things you still have hanging around in the pantry, the excess cans of beans and tuna and pad thai and almond paste - box them up and get them ready for the many upcoming food drives for the holidays or just drop them off at a local food bank. Clearly if you made it all this time with out diving into them, you never will - so give them away before you have to throw them away. Even if it stuff you will eventually use (like said tuna or cheerios) it will make you feel great to see a clearer pantry and know you helped those who can't afford exotic items like flax seed ;-) Well done!! I am very impressed with all your drive and creativity!!
ReplyDeleteLauren
now THAT is an excellent idea. And I think that is exactly what I am going to do. Thanks for the advice and for following along with the blog :)
ReplyDeleteIt also sounds like you have plenty of ingredients to make some tasty cookies, too. I feel like this experiment was severely lacking in sweets :)
ReplyDeleteI like how much food you still have left, as if preparing for the apocalypse haha
ReplyDelete