An update on eating from the cupboards
Posted by kathryn in Blogging
This week I’ve set myself the challenge of eating from the cupboards. It’s easy to be constantly buying new ingredients and stocking up the fridge. However I wanted to find out how well I could last with what’s in the house. Without sacrificing the health value of what I’m eating.
A couple of days in and I’m going well. I did buy some fruit and a couple of tins of tomatoes. And I have had lunch out once. Apart from this want to know the number one thing I’ve learnt so far? When you set yourself a challenge it’s important to let your partner know.
Monday
Monday was no problem. For lunch I used leftovers from Sunday night and coupled that with a simple coleslaw made from cabbage, toasted pumpkin seeds and tahini dressing.
In the evening I used the bunch of beetroot for a curry and pulled some split mung beans out the cupboard and made a cabbage dal, similar to this.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning I had an early start, but struggled to get up in the cold weather. Running late meant breakfast had to be quick. I remembered we had some frozen berries, so I whizzed these up with yoghurt and a combination of leftover milks to make a smoothie.
Tuesday is the only day both Alexia and I are at the clinic and we always have lunch together at one of the local cafes.
In the afternoon, between clients I had a pear and a piece of orange marmalade slice I’d taken from the freezer.
Tuesday evening I was expecting to have leftover dal. However I’d forgotten to mention the challenge to Richard. So when I came home from a long day he was making home-made tomato sauce to go over pasta. While he had purchased some ingredients, there’s no way I’m turning down a home-made meal for any challenge.
Wednesday
Today I’ve had porridge for breakfast, made with soy milk and water. With a drizzle of maple syrup on top.
For lunch I continued making my way through the cabbage and I found a bulb of fennel. So I finely shredded some of these vegetables. I then cooked the remnants of a packet of wholegrain noodles and toasted a combination of pumpkin seeds, pine nuts & walnuts. I tossed all these together and made a dressing. Similar to my normal tahini dressing, but I added some sesame oil and rice wine vinegar, instead of the mustard. I also stirred through some silken tofu – to bump up the protein quota.
This afternoon I have fruit and an apple muffin. Then it’s dal and beetroot curry for dinner.
So we’re eating well!
Update
I lasted without buying anything else until Saturday. Which given I would normally go out on Monday and spend about A$60 on groceries, is quite interesting.
What I ate for the rest of the week
Wednesday evening I cooked some barley in my rice cooker and I made a batch of soup. The soup was made from:
- 2 onions
- 1 potato
- red & brown onions
- a chunk of cabbage
- a cup of frozen peas
- stock
- a tablespoon of my favourite spice mix
Thursday and Friday mornings I used the barley for breakfast. Topped with soy milk, frozen berries, LSA, walnuts and some maple syrup, it was a revelation. I loved it, and it kept me going until lunch-time each day. I’ll be having this again.
We ate the soup for lunch on Thursday and Friday. Thursday night we went out for dinner and then Friday night I made an odds-and-ends oven baked meal:
- brown rice
- rolled oats
- cabbage
- frozen edamame beans
- silverbeet
- the remnants of silken tofu
- stock
- soy sauce
I’m not sure I could even repeat this dish, as I made it on-the-fly adding cups and spoonfuls as I went through the pantry. But again it was delicious. Hearty, warming, with a rich, thick gravy.
However it was more grain-heavy than I like my meals to be. Usually in the evening I follow the 50/25/25 rule. I enjoy this way of eating and feel better for it. But we’ve run out of the majority of our regular protein foods (tofu, eggs, cheese) and also down to very few vegetables.
What I’ve learnt
The last few days have made me consider some of my cooking practices. And how easy it is to fall into a rut with what you’re eating. While I think I eat a wide variety of foods, I could do more. This week has expanded my cooking horizons and made me think laterally.
Plus we’ve eaten some delicious food and I’ve discovered a new breakfast.
The next month on Limes & Lycopene
Over the next month I’m going to be running a series of posts on Limes & Lycopene. This means there won’t be a Q & A Thursday during August and I won’t be posting any Quicklinks posts.
However I’m pretty excited about the series. And I’m hoping you enjoy it and get a lot of value from the posts and theme. More about this on Friday.
30 July, 2008
Comments
those noodles sound delicious!
Can’t wait for your August series!
Cool challenge! I have so much stuff in my cupboards I really ought to try to do the same.
Sue the noodles were good, although I think next time I’d skip the tahini. The combination was a bit gluggy. I think it would be better with a lighter dressing – maybe sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, silken tofu, shoyu type thing.
I´m surprised that you feel you´re out of food when you still have fruit and veggies in the fridge. I almost always have beans, lentils, grains, etc. but I really feel I´m out of food when I either don´t have any vegetables or have no oats for my breakfast porridge. Your week of eating from the cupboards sounds like a normal week for me!
Anon: While I did have some fruit and vegetables, I certainly didn’t have a lot of the normal foods I’d use during the week – hence the thought that I needed to some shopping.
LOL!
my mother thinks I am a master at making a meal out of nothing (learned when I first went flatting). Whilst I’m not forced to do it often these days every now and again it doesn’t hurt.
Today we are eating “poor man’s paella” I have dubbed it.
1 carrot and 1/3 white radish grated, 2-3 celery sticks diced, tuna, tin of tomatoes, handful of surprise peas paprika, saffron, rice, salsa verde, dollop of sour cream.
had to use the oil from the tuna for lubrication as i’ve run out of olive oil! I had my reservations (esp. white radish) but it’s delicious.
Poor man’s paella sounds wonderful Grocer.
I’m trying to think what to make this evening.
I’m sure there’s a meal in there somewhere, but can’t quite see it at the moment.
Interesting – I don’t buy many fruit and veg so don’t have many of these leftover but this post did remind me how easy it is to use and refill the same grains over and over while others sit neglected in my pantry!
oops hit submit before finishing – I also meant to add that it is interesting how you didn’t seem to be using recipes to use up what is in your house – makes me wonder if our adherence to recipes makes us less intuitive about using what is in our house!
Johanna – vegetables are foundation blocks of my diet. At least 50% of lunch and dinner. So when I’m running low, I really feel the absence.
During the week I cook through a combination of following recipes and intuition. Recipes are great for expanding the repertoire, by trying new dishes and new foods. But sometimes I just want to eat what we’ve got. And can’t always find a recipe to match the ingredients.
But to follow intuition you need a certain confidence in the kitchen. I’ve made some great meals this way, but also some pretty average ones. We eat both, learn from the mistakes and try again.
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