Who, What, When, Where, Why

Hearkening back to my first course in journalism many decades ago…
Who: A regular person who loves to cook, loves to eat, loves grocery shopping
What: A tale of a self-directed food experiment/experience
When: Starting right now
Where: My refrigerator, my pantry, my life
Why: The ultimate reason may or may not ever be known
This is how it started.
For myriad reasons which may or may not be revealed as this experiment unfolds, I have decided to take this moment in time to use up the food in my refrigerators (yes, refrigerators- single woman 2 refrigerators, with good sized freezers)and pantry. No grocery shopping for one month. How could I handle that emotionally? I’m a grocery shopaholic. Buy one/get one free…I’m there!
This would be a true personal challenge. Some women look in their crammed closets and moan “I have nothing to wear!” I look in my refrigerators/freezers/pantry and sob “there’s nothing decent to eat.”
No last minute trip to the store to stock up on anything. I had what I had. Admittedly, I had Chinese take-out the night before I decided I’d start this project, which always leaves me with enough choices for another several meals (since I always order way more than I need) . This is going to be interesting.
But I knew there had to be a few exceptions to the no-grocery imperative – no fresh vegetables in particular was a concern of mine, so I thought long and hard and set up the following rules for myself:
One package of fresh vegetables per week (i.e. standard size package of asparagus, head of broccoli, 8 – 12 oz. mushrooms, etc.)
I dozen eggs every other week
1 quart of milk/dairy product every week
Lettuce/salad greens every week
Coffee as needed
One dinner out per week
You’ll notice there’s no bread allowance. I knew I had dry yeast and plenty of flour – if I wanted bread, I’d make some. I tried to decide- should I make an inventory of what I had on hand? But I decided no – that would take some of the fun out of it and the adventure. Who knew what was hidden in the back of the shelf? OK – so I’m ready – are you? I’m getting started.



Day 1
I’m realizing this is a glimpse into my person, my very being. I’m unraveling myself to the world – or at least to those who might read this.
Breakfast – simple choice and one of my favorites –leftover pork egg foo young!
Lunch - spring greens with fresh mozzarella and prosciutto rolls – dressing was leftover pesto mixed with buttermilk. Really tasty and satisfying.
Dinner – late evening at work so a simple grilled ham and cheese sandwich with pickles is my choice. Quick, flavorful, using up ham before it has a chance to go bad. I am being both wise and thoughtful.
Day 2 –
Breakfast – leftover fried rice with egg on top. (see what I mean about Chinese take-out?)
Lunch – Spring greens with blue cheese crumbles, apple, pecans, oil and rice vinegar-squeeze of honey. Using up the fruit before it gets all wrinkly and the blue cheese turns green. This is a good thing.
Day 2 and already I’m thinking of what I should start freezing so I don’t lose it – I have some leftover strawberries- so I decide to hull and freeze them whole. This way as the month progresses I can add some to cereal (when I have milk available) or maybe to a smoothie for breakfast – or maybe even to a sweet bread or muffin! I’m excited.
Dinner – like most nights, I don’t arrive home from work until after 7:30. It was on the drive home that I begin to realize that I will have to seriously change some habits. Under normal circumstances, if I haven’t defrosted something in the morning, I’ll mentally go through what I know is in the freezer and most often will determine that “nothing sounds good” so I’ll stop at the store to pick up something to cook. But not tonight.
So when I arrive home, I rustle through the (mostly) marked and dated plastic containers and freezer bags and choose ground pork. Now I’ve seen that I have a half-used jar of pasta sauce in the refrigerator but I’m not feeling the Italian mode. A bit more investigation brings me to a container of yucca – and it hits me… yum! I’ll sauté the pork with some chopped onion, add some chimichurri sauce from a jar, and put that over the yucca which I decide to defrost and mash. Brilliant! While the pork and onions are cooking I’m realizing there’s an awful lot there – in fact, enough for two meals….another thought hits me….I know I’ve got plenty of pasta and rice and canned beans and vegetables(hurricane food) but I will run out of meat. And the only fish I know I have is about a half dozen flash frozen shrimp from the market.
Another eureka moment – maybe by doing this I’ll also be able to drop some weight! I’m a meat lover but if I add small amounts of meat to meals instead of making it the focus as I should have been doing for many years, this could be a win-win-win. So, I remove about half of the pork and onion mixture and set it aside to freeze for later use. I add the chimichurri to the skillet, stir it around, heat the yucca in the microwave and mash it …. But the pork seems a bit dry so I search the refrigerator and realize I have a bit of chicken broth left – add that to the skillet, heat it through, pour it over the mashed yucca and enjoy an incredibly tasty meal. This is turning out great.
Day 3 – well, first hurdle – I allowed myself one dinner out in my rules, but I forgot that I also have breakfast meetings some days. So I decide that since the breakfast meetings are work related, they have to come under the okay banner as well. And since it’s tough to bring leftovers home from breakfast… well, we’ll see what happens.
Since I’m in a rush this morning to make the meeting, I take the easy way out for lunch and grab a can of soup from the pantry and head out.
Dinner – another late office night, so walking in the door at 8:15 with nothing planned has again made me realize how often I stop at the grocery store for last minute meals. Within 45 seconds of entering the house I’m in my comfy night-time clothes and make my way to the freezer. WOW! Great surprise! I discover a small piece of already cooked salmon that I froze last month (probably thinking I’d flake it and add it to eggs for a great weekend breakfast). Further digging uncovers a container of frozen applesauce and I’m immediately transported back to childhood’s oft-repeated Friday night meals: salmon patties with frozen (or was it canned?) corn with applesauce…yum. But, this is fresh salmon, not the canned variety which my contemporaries and I grew up with, and it’s already 8:30 by now so why bother with the patty process. Yes, I have frozen corn so dinner is on its way…and it’s great! Reheat the salmon in the microwave, defrost the applesauce in the microwave, heat the corn on the stove and by 8:45 I’m sitting down to what is a more than satisfying meal. For my ingenuity I decide to reward myself with a scoop of Breyer’s Heath Chunk Light Ice Cream. Another yum. And I’m feeling pretty good about the fact that what I probably would have used for an overkill breakfast, has now become a full dinner meal.
Oh! And about this morning’s breakfast – a vegetable omelette with hash browns – I opted for no toast. Truly, I had a good sized pile of the hash browns left, along with some of the omelette, but reheating leftover omelettes in the microwave usually result in hard, rubbery eggs, so a big no to take home on those. I briefly consider bringing home the hash browns but decide no. Frankly, I’m almost embarrassed to do so, especially because my breakfast partner has opted for tea only at this meeting. Well, in all honesty she’s a vegan and there was probably nothing appetizing on the menu. Note to restaurant owners/managers – you should start carrying soy milk. Poor thing couldn’t even have the coffee she wanted because of the lack of soy milk. Aside: I may regret not bringing home those hash browns.


Ahhh, it’s Day 4 –
Breakfast is easy today – still have egg foo young left from Sunday’s dinner (yes, even after 3 full days it’s safe to eat- Chinese food DOES contain lots of sodium which helps keep the food from spoiling) so I know that’s today’s choice.
But I have to think about lunch -no lettuce in the house to put together a salad but I do have some broccoli stalks I’d been saving for broccoli slaw, if I just trim the brown parts….but no. Completely tough and pretty tasteless I quickly discover. Rather than toss it in the garbage which is my usual solution, I decide I’ll put together a vegetable bag in the freezer and make some vegetable stock when I have enough in there to make it work.
Lunch is looming though – so I do have some preshredded coleslaw mix which is still crunchy and white- mix that with some of the still leftover pesto/buttermilk dressing from Monday’s lunch and a little mayonnaise and I’ve got a pretty tasty slaw. Defrost a French hamburger bun from one of two packages I see I have frozen (why do I have 2, I wonder?), and I put together a lovely little sandwich with a couple of slices of prosciutto and the last slice of muenster cheese in the package. Again, instead of putting all the prosciutto I have left on the sandwich, I reserve 2 pieces thinking that perhaps I can frizzle it up and add it to something or other for a flavor boost. I think this will be pretty tasty. As an aside – I do have fresh mozzarella which is what I would prefer to use on the sandwich, however last night as I was thumbing through the April issue of Vegetarian Times, I saw a recipe for a vegetarian white pizza and decide I’ll put that together for dinner in the next couple of days because I have a tube of pizza dough that hasn’t expired yet. Perfect. I love that I’m planning ahead, even if it’s only Day 4.

Dinner – night 4 brings me to a:
NEW RULE - somehow I never thought about the fact that there may be lunches out at the office to consider. Henceforth: new/additional rule:
I will limit myself to one lunch out at the office per week. Which also brings me to an overall addendum to all rules:
When eating out, it is allowed to bring home leftovers from the meals HOWEVER, I may not purposely order more than I know I will eat at the meal so that I will PURPOSELY have leftovers to add to my home food stock. I think that covers everything in a fair fashion.
One more thing- it has also occurred to me that I have out of town trips scheduled during this “experiment.” Simple solution: I will merely add to the number of days I’ve committed to this- 31 being the total number – the number of days that I’m out of the house. Since I’ll be gone 5 – 8 days – this may extend an additional week or more. I’ll keep you updated.
OK – so today at the office was a lunch out. Solution: the lunch I made for today I am now having for dinner- had a haircut scheduled so this works out fine – no need to come up with a dinner meal post-haircut. No leftovers from office lunch out. I’m back to ground zero. Enjoyed my prosciutto sandwich with cheese and the coleslaw at 9PM.
And good morning to Day 5!
A pint of milk is nearing expiration and I have maybe a ¼ cup left of vanilla soy milk. But I fear that mixing the two may turn into a nasty tasting liquid, so I opt to use the regular milk, thinking I’ll buy a quart of soy milk when I make my one trip to the grocery store so I’ll have milk for cereal next week.
Yes, cereal is this morning’s breakfast choice- along with a few of the strawberries I froze earlier in the week. A quick review tells me I’ve still got a dozen good sized berries left, so I will parcel those out sparingly.
Lunch – one of my favorites – tuna salad. There were several cans of tuna in the pantry so I’m using one today, chopping up some leftover celery sticks for that crunch, add the mayonnaise and I’m done. I also grab a sleeve of “entertainment” crackers from the pantry.
I know I’m joining some friends for dinner tonight – love those Friday nights out – so I have no pressure for the remainder of the day.
And here it is Day 6 – first day of the weekend.
First a note about last night’s dinner: yes, there were leftovers. Yes, I brought them home. Probably to be recycled for Sunday morning’s breakfast.
But it’s Saturday and I have numerous tasks to accomplish today – first of which is breakfast. This is still easy. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and defrosted, toasted multigrain, multiseeded rolls. No deep thinking on this one.
As I traverse Dade County on my errands I determine that instead of doing a fast food drive-through for lunch, I’ll rearrange my stops so I can swing by my house for a mid-day meal. Frustrated by lack of parking on Miracle Mile, I forego that stop until one morning on the way to work and head back home.
Hmmm…perusing my choices I decide on a simple grilled cheese sandwich with a glass of vegetable juice. I know if I want a Bloody Mary in the next month or so I have some cans of tomato juice in the pantry. I watch a taped episode of America’s Test Kitchen while I enjoy my sandwich and catch my inspiration for dinner. Skillet roasted chicken! I take a package of chicken pieces out of the freezer…I think it’s a breast and a thigh, but I’m not really sure.
Several hours later I’m ready to begin preparing dinner. The recipe also incorporates a quick pan sauce which I decide will be perfect with some of the frozen white rice from that soon to be infamous Chinese take-out. Since I don’t have the exact herbs called for in Chris Kimball’s recipe I decide that bright parsley, fresh thyme, and my almost dead chives will work just fine. But I have an important decision to make, a hurdle to overcome: the only chicken stock I have in the pantry is quart-sized and I really don’t think I’ll be able to use it all up in the coming week before I leave town. Further digging brings me to a can of condensed chicken noodle soup – and the light bulb goes off! I’ll drain off the liquid from the soup, and a little water and substitute that for the chicken stock. The leftover noodles and vegetables? Well, I’ll figure out something to do with that in the next couple of days.
Not only was dinner a success, it turns out there were three chicken thighs in the freezer bag – enough for dinner AND leftovers for a lunch or another dinner – I even managed to bestow a couple of chicken morsels upon Wiley, my beloved 70 pound loud and loving mutt companion.
The day ends and I’m feeling incredibly positive about this whole experience.
Day 7 and it’s Sunday, sweet Sunday! Relaxing in my breezy, tree-filled backyard enjoying the outdoors before the hellish heat of Florida’s summer hits, leisurely enjoying a great cup of Peet’s French Roast coffee out of my favorite Sunday mug, browsing through the Sunday papers – yes, I’m one of those dinosaurs whose embrace of technology does NOT include skimming the headlines of a newspaper off my laptop, smart phone, or Kindle. And yes, I own and use all three regularly.
Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals and Sunday is no exception. I have completely forgotten about the Friday night dinner leftovers that I thought I’d use for Sunday breakfast. Instead, I opt to make a hash with leftover pork – this is not the ground pork I made earlier in the week, but a piece of leftover pork loin I’ve had frozen. Date unknown. But there’s no frost or freezer burn on the meat so I figure it’s good. I cut it in small chunks, and add it to a potato I’ve cubed and steamed, along with some chopped onion and celery. I steam/fry 2 eggs (spray some Pam in a non-stick skillet, heat it up, crack in the eggs, add a couple of ice cubes and cover it for 2 -3 minutes. Easier than poaching and you think you’re eating a fried egg). Wiley is the recipient of the second egg and a hearty very large spoonful of the hash. Once again I’m out of his canned food. Breakfast is great. For both of us.
Mid-afternoon and I decide before I go visit a friend in a hospital I’ll fix a quick lunch. I slice up the leftover steak from Friday night’s dinner and make a fabulous sandwich. Again I have to say, this experiment is really working out!
Today is my first trip to the grocery store in a week. This, for someone who basically makes daily donations to the local Publix. It’s with a fair amount of trepidation that I approach the entrance to my neighborhood store. I’ve determined I can’t chance shopping at the mega-Publix. I’m fearful the choices will be overwhelming and I won’t be able to resist. Gritting my teeth, I make it through the shopping trip buying only the items I’m allowed: a large head of broccoli, a quart of milk – I decide to go with the regular milk instead of the soy figuring it’s more versatile, a 3 pack of romaine lettuce, a dozen eggs. That’s it for my groceries. I don’ t believe I have ever bought so little. I am so proud.
MMM…Sunday night dinner. I decide tonight’s the night for the vegetarian pizza. Definitely a white pizza, in spite of the fact I had that half-used jar of pasta sauce (which I’ve already transferred to a container and frozen). That fresh mozzarella I held on to will add a great flavor, but I’ll need more than that for a cheesy, gooey base. A trip through the cheese drawer reveals not one, but TWO packages of regular mozzarella…whoa. But in addition to that, I’ve also uncovered a plastic bag with grated parmesan and chopped parsley! This is looking better and better. So I mince some garlic into some olive oil and brush that on my refrigerated crust that I’ve stretched to fit my perforated pizza pan (perforated so the heat hits both sides and insures a great crust- I’ve forgotten to preheat my pizza stone and this is my fallback). I lay some of the mozzarella on top (I’ve still got one entire package left), cover that with the fresh mozzarella, lay some of the thinly sliced broccoli crowns that I’ve steamed over that, sprinkle the entire thing with the parmesan parsley mixture and bake. Twelve minutes later I’ve got incredible smells wafting through the house and a few minutes later I’m enjoying one of the best pizzas I’ve ever tasted! With more than enough left for at least two more meals! This is definitely not a dish that can be frozen, but I figure I have at least two days to use this up.