Pantry Adventures

Pantry, Freezers and Fridge, o my…

Last night decided to peruse the mysteries. Armed with my handy Moleskine, I started in the basement with the freezer and wrote down everything. Fortunately I had cleaned the beastie out recently. Then I trotted upstairs and similarly inventoried freezer, fridge and pantry, and now I have a good idea of what food stores I have which is handy in case Nathan and I have to do a housebound quarantine (waiting on Nathan’s Covid test). There’s a lot there. I think we can get by with little shopping for two to three weeks, with forays for eggs or whatever when necessary. As I was inventorying I kept going. Eureka! If I put THAT with THAT that could be… interesting! Maybe, dare I hope, tasty and healthy, too!

So here is my first foray into pantry cookery: I call it

Whatchagot Cheapo Weeknight Skillet.

I browned off a pound of (Sunflower Hill Farm) ground beef and drained the fat. I tossed, into the skillet (and without spilling) a bin of brown rice from a meal a couple of nights ago. Into this I put a packet of Onion Soup Mix, half a bag of frozen corn and a can of diced tomatoes. I gently put the beef back and cooked it till all was hot, mixed and fragrant. Ta-da as they say in the business. You won’t see it on the menu at The Ritz, but it’s hot, tasty, and nourishing, and if it can tempt sick-o Nathan to eat, all the better. This would feed a family of 4, so it will give us leftovers, unless Nathan has thirds. I’ll serve it with toasted (store bought, are you kidding?) naan.

As Julia said, Bon Apetit!

**update**

Nathan LOVED it. He had 2 helpings, and I had, must be admitted, 2 helpings and we still had 1 helping left over. So I guess it could feed a reasonable family of five, if they’re not as chow houndy as we are. I’m pleased, as I hate leftovers. I never really have had a knack for cooking for less than 20 people (ok, maybe 4) so figuring out how to cook for two is another skill I’m going to work on.