Stawberry & broccoli salad

My temporary fridge contained strawberries, so I added them to my broccoli slaw. Broccoli slaw is one of my absolute favorite salads. Broccoli is so nutritious, and renders a yummier slaw than regular cabbage slaw (at least, in my book).



Usually, I just add sunflower seeds, raisins, and either almonds or walnuts with rice vinegar (I eat it a lot). However, I think I'm going to have to make a habit of including berries & pomegranate seeds, and cheese for variety.



Yes, those are cheese sticks! I know - not healthy, but I figure the salad balances the meal enough:). I must confess that they were neither in my temporary fridge, nor in my fridge. So, yes, I failed my challenge this week, but they did only cost me $0.50!

Decorate with canned tomato labels

Do you eat a lot of canned tomatoes? Canned tomato labels are brightly-colored and contain some great graphics for thrifty DIY decorating in the kitchen. 



Fortunately, my kitchen colors are red, yellow, blue & green, so finding labels to match was very easy. I used them to make a utensil holder.



(1)For my utensil holder, I needed a large coffee can, but I don't drink coffee (I know, crazy). Thankfully, a kind freecycler had one for me. Of course, if you have fewer utensils, you can get away with a smaller can.
(2) After washing & drying your can, paint it with an acrylic paint color of your choice.
(3) Then, choose your labels, and affix them with a glue of your choice. I'm a big fan of ModgePodge. Not only is it a great glue, but it's a sealant & perfect for decoupage. 
(4) For sealing, I added 3 coats of ModgePodge. 



My utensils are very happy in their new home.

Soup from a freezer mystery

Soup sounded really good for dinner. Perhaps, your freezer is like mine & filled with mystery plastic containers, but could they become soup? Most people probably just dispose of these items, but not me; I think they add some interest to my meals. Frozen creamy liquids are my favorite, especially when I think it is one thing, and find out I'm wrong. This time, it actually took 3 tries, as the first 2 were just frozen milk (not sure why I froze milk). If you are curious, thawed old frozen milk is pretty gross - creamy water with random chunks - ewww! 

Okay, the third one was definitely a sauce (yay!), but that's all I could tell. Knowing I often freeze white sauce, I assumed it was white sauce, but heating it pretty much made it melted butter. Of course, white sauce contains butter, but not THAT much. I have no idea what it was, but soup is what I wanted.

So, I sauteed broccoli & red pepper just using Pam (clearly, no need to add much fat). Then, I added the veggies to my mystery sauce. Of course, the consistency was basically veggies floating in butter, so I added flour to thicken it. Normally, when thickening things, I gradually add the flour, but not this time - just threw in 1/4 C+, or so (too much for soup, for sure). After draining off some fat, it looked better, but it needed water, and some serious emulsification. Thankfully, the kitchen (house-sitting again) has a hand-held blender (love these things). For spice, I added some salt & pepper.

And, here is that SUPER THICK, but tasty soup,...



and companion for my last piece of cornbread...

Bean salad for lunch

In an attempt to be healthier, I finally got around to making a bean salad. The recipe has actually been on my refrigerator to remind me for over a year; it even moved with me to the new fridge!



It's not like bean salad is the least bit challenging to make, so I have no excuse for its long wait. 

To make: 

1.  Saute 2 gloves of garlic & 1/2 an onion (clearly, I chose  peppers over an onion), or like me, use frozen pepper slices.
2.  2 cans of beans, drained & rinsed.
3.  Your choice of spices (I went with a little rosemary, pepper, & some Old Bay).
4.  1/2 C of your choice of salad dressing (I went with red wine vinegar, and a little white truffle oil).
5.  Mix well. 

In my mind, nothing goes better with bean salad than cornbread, and I just followed the directions on the back of the Martha White Cornmeal. It not only hit the spot just right, but used up my cornmeal & a bag of frozen peppers in the salad. 

The bean salad lasted for several days, but, alas, I will have to make something new to go with my last piece of cornbread.

Second week of challenge

Well, this week of my pantry & fridge challenge was more complicated than last week. I did not break my grocery store rules (well, not really), but then again, I haven't been able to go to the store thanks to the below...




Thank you Snowmagedon for making me miss going out for the Superbowl. However, I still ate proper Superbowl food - pizza & artichoke dip with chips. Though, I must confess these were not already in my freezer, but...it was the Superbowl - cooking would have made me miss the game (& the commercials). Thus, as I had legitimate reason to go out to dinner, I broke my grocery rules (sigh)(oh, I went before the snow arrived); it was worth it, but no more.

Thus far, my meals have not been great culinary endeavors - mainly, just opening bags from the freezer. One would think with all the free time I have had this week, I'd be a cooking maniac, but instead, it's made me lazy in the kitchen.

Today, I craved pancakes, but I cheated & used a Krusteaz oat bran mix (this was already in my pantry, I promise). I did, however, add blueberries - yum!




Now, I'm definitely a homemade pancake type of girl, but I think I would actually buy this again, if on sale (of course, after my challenge). The oat bran provides a nice & not too sweet flavor, along with soluble fiber (heart healthy). I also get calcium & iron.



The blueberries, of course, add antioxidants, phytochemicals, manganese, vitamins K,C, & B6, and even some dietary fiber. As a child, I always requested my pancakes without blueberries - clearly, I was crazy. My mother never let us use the real maple syrup (we got Log Cabin) on our pancakes (well, sometimes, she gave us small rations); now, I use nothing else (at the moment, it's by L.L. Bean). Ahh..., the joys of adulthood - 100% maple syrup, oat bran & blueberry pancakes for lunch!

And, the clock goes tick, tock

It's 3:30 a.m., and all is quiet, but for the tick, tock of my clock. I should be asleep by now, but instead, I am enjoying listening to the beat of my kitchen clock. It isn't for keeping time, but for a little serenity, and a nostalgic reminder of my grandmother's house. When all else was quiet in Mommer's house, there was always the tick, tock of her clocks.



The clock was very simple to make. The base is a piece of craft wood, and a clock set makes it tick & tock (both from Michael's for maybe $7). Then, you decorate the base however you like, and then drill a hole for the clock set (even includes place for battery & a hanger) & then hang. TIP: be sure to keep track of all the clock set pieces. I failed this part; my hour hand never ventures beyond the bottom-right quarter, but the minute & second hands make the rounds.




Now, Mommer's kitchen clock was neither lime green, nor a nod to the abstract, but simple. I'm pretty sure she would not have chosen my clock, though she did once choose the yellow canister in the photo; however, she would enjoy the tick, tock of my kitchen clock.

First week of challenge

So, the first week of my challenge was pretty easy. From Friday to Tuesday, I was house-sitting, so I had another fridge to raid. I did bring my sweet potatoes & some yogurt, but otherwise, I shopped in another fridge & pantry:). I discovered Townhouse Flipsides (1/2 townhouse cracker & 1/2 pretzel); I ate the whole box (fortunately, one person in the house does not like them & the other is on a no-carb diet). Here's a photo from the house(in case you doubt me)...



The art is by Rob Vander Zee.

I did make (as in I did not just open a box/jar & pour) one meal at home this week. You can actually find something similar in the freezer section, sans the eggs. It's so easy to make, and so much cheaper than buying the freezer product (though I'm sure super busy people appreciate only having to add the egg). Anyway, you just need an egg, some frozen peppers, some frozen potato cubes (the o'brien potatoes), to make your own. I also throw in a cube of cheese, some Old Bay seasoning, and top it off with some sunflower seeds.



My first grocery trip was, for the most part, successful in sticking to the list. I bought milk, juice, plain yogurt, broccoli, and 2 avocados, but I also got some cocoa cheerios on sale. The challenge allows for sale cereal, but I forgot I still have 2 boxes of cereal at home - oops! In my defense, cheerios are very healthy, and you can't go wrong with cocoa:).