Although my intention is to blog daily, it just works out some days that the time and/or creative juices aren't there to place pen to paper (or in contemporary terms, fingertips to computer keys) to tell my tale of the day...
So, in real time it's day 18, but I'm relating days 15 and 16 here, what should be the midway point of my 31 day clean-up/clean-out venture. I'm beginning to consider that the 31 day self-challenge may not be enough, and that I must continue until the freezers are bare...or at least devoid of all real food. I cannot include the packages of varied nuts I've stored like a chipmunk (or is it a squirrel), or the unopened bags of chocolate chips (white, semi-sweet, milk), or the butterscotch chips, or toffee chips, or the 3 or is it 4 year old bottle of Limoncello. Since I am also in possession of a variety of flours and a fair amount of sugar, I could prepare a variety of cookies, bars, cakes, muffins, scones, sweet quick breads, etc. but one cannot live by sweets alone and there's no doubt that if I did that and then tested my resulting insulin levels I would immediately be plunged into a diabetic stupor. Having committed this thought to paper, so to speak, I now know....I will continue until the cupboard is, theoretically bare. However long it takes. It may cause the stock value of local grocery stores I frequent to drop, but I must do this.
Decision made.
Day 15 - on a whim, I check the butter compartment in the 2nd refrigerator...whoa! Not only do I find 2 more pounds of butter, but also two 8 oz. packages of cream cheese. And the bulb goes off! For a person who rarely partakes of toast and jelly, I also am the proud owner of a selection of preserves and jams: grape, cherry, fig, raspberry, quince, and a couple of others hidden in the back that I can't recall at the moment. Plus, of course, a jar of imported English orange marmalade. And does anyone know what to do with a jar of something called coffee curd?
But it's breakfast, and what comes to mind but that good ole' standby, cream cheese and jelly. Now I can't recreate my childhood cream cheese and grape jelly sandwich because I no longer have any plain white bread to defrost, but I do have part of a loaf of french bread, so I saw off a chunk, cut it horizontally into thirds since cutting it in half makes the bread portion too thick for my desired sandwich, slather all 3 "slices" with cream cheese and grape jelly, and partake.
Not only did I have leftover polenta and sausage, separately, from last night's meal, but I also have a good sized serving of my all-together Italian treat, so I take the polenta, sauce, sausage combo for lunch.
Dinner is an out-of-home experience, the second one this week, because it's Book Club night and we're having a retro dinner to accompany the discussion of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.
(by the way, we all, women 45-65 of varied life experiences, determine that we can still relate to parts of Holden Caulfield's life)
Day 16 - it's the end of my "good cereal", more frozen strawberries, and I've managed to save just enough milk. I realize I've been home 3 full days and haven't been to the store to replenish the dairy, eggs, lettuce, vegetables I'm allowing myself. This is actually a good thing.
Lunch - I choose homemade French onion soup from the freezer. I shave some parmesan and head off for the day. There's still a fair amount remaining when I finish lunch, so I return home with it, thinking I'll incorporate it into something within the next day or so.
And so, dinner. A review of my freezer(s) inspire me to defrost a rice pilaf I've saved. It's a lot, so I only defrost enough for my one meal, leaving at least two more servings in the freezer. Remembering that the rice was a bit dry, I open a can of diced tomatoes, add some to the rice, along with the leftover Italian sausage from the Italian night, and heat it all up. It's missing something though. Cheese is the answer, and realizing that the mozzarella is close to the end of its life, I cube some up and toss it in and wind up with a very flavorful stovetop casserole kind of dish, replete with stringy cheese.
Day 16 is over.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
I CANNOT TELL A LIE- Days 13 and 14
I succumbed to temptation on my trip and made a grocery purchase to bring home - but I ask you, have you ever seen LEFSA in south Florida? Easiest way to describe LEFSA is it looks like an ultra-thin sheet of Lahvash that tastes like a super-soft thick potato chip. According to what I was told by the counter lady at Jacob's in Okasis, Minnesota, a quick sidetrip off Interstate 35 which runs between Minneapolis and Fargo, LEFSA can be used like any sandwich wrap. We'll see what use I can make of it....
But I won't be using it for breakfast because I'm too tired to be creative after a 1AM arrival home from the great white North (well, we DID have snow mixed with rain in Fargo). Eggs are my go-to this morning, mixed with a small scoop of Boursin and scrambled to my version of perfection...soft and slightly runny with threads of the flavorful soft cheese winding through the soft yellow mound.
Truly, I can come up with nothing quick to grab for lunch - and there's no easy leftovers to convert since I've been gone, so I decide today will be my out to lunch day. And dinner is over at a friend's tonight, so I'm skating easy on this Monday back to work.
Tuesday morning, Day 14, and I head for oatmeal. Because I want to take it a step beyond the typical breakfast fare, I decide to stir in a hearty spoonful of cherry preserves which proves to be a great choice. Sweet, tart, cherries swirled through the oatmeal ... yum!
I know I must bring lunch. I grab a container with no label from the freezer, peel back the top and take a look. I'm thinking it's some kind of vegetable soup maybe? Sniffing the contents doesn't help much, but now I'm leaning in the direction of a meat-based stew. What the hey - it's going to be today's mid-day repast whatever it is. Happily, it turns out to be beef stew and its time in the freezer made it none the worse for the wear.
Driving home I'm overcome with the desire for polenta. Rich, creamy polenta, redolent with parmesan cheese (which I know I have several chunks of in the cheese drawer). But do I have the corn meal? I try to envision my pantry and all I can see is that bag of yellow self-rising cornmeal which I know won't work. Before my ETR days I would have made a stop at the store to purchase the correct cornmeal product, and probably added several other items to my cart. But not today. Today, I must forego the stop and learn to live with the possibility that I may not be able to fulfill my polenta desire.
As I walk into the house I'm already thinking, perhaps a skillet of cornbread will do the trick and can be my fallback. And then....eureka! A container of stone-ground yellow corn meal....perfect! Only not so fast. Should I want polenta again some time in the next couple of weeks I'll be completely out of luck. But I also have some white corn meal and, according to one of my Italian cookbooks (I don't think I've mentioned that I have a collection of a hundred plus cookbooks), in the Veneto region of Italy white cornmeal is used for polenta. So, I compromise the northern and southern Italian versions and use half yellow, half white, leaving myself enough for another time around. Since I have a splash of milk that's still OK, I cook the polenta in a combination of milk and water, along with some fresh, well not so fresh anymore, they've kind of dried on the branch, thyme leaves. Adding a chunk of butter and a good handful of threads of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano results in the creamy, flavorful dish I was seeking.
I decide to top the polenta with some pasta sauce I've saved, and saute some frozen Italian sausage I've found to present myself with a full-blown Italian treat. And it is. A tasty Italian treat.
The leftover polenta I level smoothly into a container and that, along with the remaining sausage find happy homes on a refrigerator shelf .
But I won't be using it for breakfast because I'm too tired to be creative after a 1AM arrival home from the great white North (well, we DID have snow mixed with rain in Fargo). Eggs are my go-to this morning, mixed with a small scoop of Boursin and scrambled to my version of perfection...soft and slightly runny with threads of the flavorful soft cheese winding through the soft yellow mound.
Truly, I can come up with nothing quick to grab for lunch - and there's no easy leftovers to convert since I've been gone, so I decide today will be my out to lunch day. And dinner is over at a friend's tonight, so I'm skating easy on this Monday back to work.
Tuesday morning, Day 14, and I head for oatmeal. Because I want to take it a step beyond the typical breakfast fare, I decide to stir in a hearty spoonful of cherry preserves which proves to be a great choice. Sweet, tart, cherries swirled through the oatmeal ... yum!
I know I must bring lunch. I grab a container with no label from the freezer, peel back the top and take a look. I'm thinking it's some kind of vegetable soup maybe? Sniffing the contents doesn't help much, but now I'm leaning in the direction of a meat-based stew. What the hey - it's going to be today's mid-day repast whatever it is. Happily, it turns out to be beef stew and its time in the freezer made it none the worse for the wear.
Driving home I'm overcome with the desire for polenta. Rich, creamy polenta, redolent with parmesan cheese (which I know I have several chunks of in the cheese drawer). But do I have the corn meal? I try to envision my pantry and all I can see is that bag of yellow self-rising cornmeal which I know won't work. Before my ETR days I would have made a stop at the store to purchase the correct cornmeal product, and probably added several other items to my cart. But not today. Today, I must forego the stop and learn to live with the possibility that I may not be able to fulfill my polenta desire.
As I walk into the house I'm already thinking, perhaps a skillet of cornbread will do the trick and can be my fallback. And then....eureka! A container of stone-ground yellow corn meal....perfect! Only not so fast. Should I want polenta again some time in the next couple of weeks I'll be completely out of luck. But I also have some white corn meal and, according to one of my Italian cookbooks (I don't think I've mentioned that I have a collection of a hundred plus cookbooks), in the Veneto region of Italy white cornmeal is used for polenta. So, I compromise the northern and southern Italian versions and use half yellow, half white, leaving myself enough for another time around. Since I have a splash of milk that's still OK, I cook the polenta in a combination of milk and water, along with some fresh, well not so fresh anymore, they've kind of dried on the branch, thyme leaves. Adding a chunk of butter and a good handful of threads of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano results in the creamy, flavorful dish I was seeking.
I decide to top the polenta with some pasta sauce I've saved, and saute some frozen Italian sausage I've found to present myself with a full-blown Italian treat. And it is. A tasty Italian treat.
The leftover polenta I level smoothly into a container and that, along with the remaining sausage find happy homes on a refrigerator shelf .
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
AND THE ROMAINE....
...when I checked the vegtable bin on my return...edible romaine!! Surprised, but pleased at its longevity, I know it will be part of my first dinner back. But first, breakfast: and my fallback meal is cereal - still some flakes remaining-defrosted strawberries and the milk that has still not reached its expiration.
As my day of errands and laundry progresses, I whip up some scrambled eggs to which I add the leftover anchovy stuffed olives and cubed mozzarella still lurking in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Along with some toast, it makes a surprisingly tasty lunch. Those olives are turning out to be a lot more versatile than I thought - I'm learning to think beyond martinis.
The dinner hour approaches and I paw through the freezer(s) seeking inspiration. A chicken breast calls my name and when I find a frozen rosemary and sea salt dinner roll, I know I've got my meal. I chop that remaining romaine, sprinkle on some chopped toasted walnuts for added crunch, and toss it all with olive oil and pomegranate vinegar. I make a quick pan sauce for my sauteed chicken breast with some water, chicken bouillion (Better than Bouillion is the ONLY way to go when you need some added taste- Beef, Chicken, Ham, Vegetable, Mushroom - they're all terrific!) and fresh, albeit somewhat dried out, thyme. I have to admit that I'm pleased with myself for making use of all these items in a tasty way.
A pre-dawn departure the following morning to Minneapolis for business and Fargo to satisfy my curiousity equates with a respite from leftovers. What will survive my absence? Milk? Some carrots? Yogurt I've been hoarding secretly?
As my day of errands and laundry progresses, I whip up some scrambled eggs to which I add the leftover anchovy stuffed olives and cubed mozzarella still lurking in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Along with some toast, it makes a surprisingly tasty lunch. Those olives are turning out to be a lot more versatile than I thought - I'm learning to think beyond martinis.
The dinner hour approaches and I paw through the freezer(s) seeking inspiration. A chicken breast calls my name and when I find a frozen rosemary and sea salt dinner roll, I know I've got my meal. I chop that remaining romaine, sprinkle on some chopped toasted walnuts for added crunch, and toss it all with olive oil and pomegranate vinegar. I make a quick pan sauce for my sauteed chicken breast with some water, chicken bouillion (Better than Bouillion is the ONLY way to go when you need some added taste- Beef, Chicken, Ham, Vegetable, Mushroom - they're all terrific!) and fresh, albeit somewhat dried out, thyme. I have to admit that I'm pleased with myself for making use of all these items in a tasty way.
A pre-dawn departure the following morning to Minneapolis for business and Fargo to satisfy my curiousity equates with a respite from leftovers. What will survive my absence? Milk? Some carrots? Yogurt I've been hoarding secretly?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
BACK TO THE FUTURE- Day 12
That old enemy, time, caught up with me and I had no time for updates prior to leaving on the first leg of my trip: Dallas and Austin. So, to review...day 12, the last day before departure, breakfast was quick scrambled eggs and whole wheat English muffin.
Still facing half of a triple pack of romaine, I searched through the refrigerator shelves and cheese drawer for inspirational salad additions and decided on cubes of mozzarella and anchovy stuffed olives - the BEST for martinis- especially dirty martinis! Olive oil and balsamic vinegar on hand at the office, and I was set.
My new enemy - broccoli - was awaiting me at the dinner hour. No question that ingesting all that was remaining would create a most uncomfortable situation, so I slice and chop a few of the stalks and freeze the rest, not certain how it will fare, but I'm thinking I can always make a broccoli soup. I boil up some linguine, add the broccoli for the last couple of minutes, then toss it all with leftover alfredo sauce, a splash of milk, and some grated parmesan. It was fabulous, reminiscent of one of my favorite meals from the old Pasta Factory. And I was satisfied I would leave in the morning having made good use of my fresh produce. But uh-oh - I still have some romaine lurking in the vegetable drawer. Rather than toss it, I let it sit, hoping that when I return in 5 days, there'll be enough life left in the lettuce for it to be edible.
Still facing half of a triple pack of romaine, I searched through the refrigerator shelves and cheese drawer for inspirational salad additions and decided on cubes of mozzarella and anchovy stuffed olives - the BEST for martinis- especially dirty martinis! Olive oil and balsamic vinegar on hand at the office, and I was set.
My new enemy - broccoli - was awaiting me at the dinner hour. No question that ingesting all that was remaining would create a most uncomfortable situation, so I slice and chop a few of the stalks and freeze the rest, not certain how it will fare, but I'm thinking I can always make a broccoli soup. I boil up some linguine, add the broccoli for the last couple of minutes, then toss it all with leftover alfredo sauce, a splash of milk, and some grated parmesan. It was fabulous, reminiscent of one of my favorite meals from the old Pasta Factory. And I was satisfied I would leave in the morning having made good use of my fresh produce. But uh-oh - I still have some romaine lurking in the vegetable drawer. Rather than toss it, I let it sit, hoping that when I return in 5 days, there'll be enough life left in the lettuce for it to be edible.
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