Pantry Purge

Today was the first day I went to the grocery store this year to shop for anything more than just milk and bananas. For the last 13 days, I challenged my family to a pantry purge. What is a pantry purge you ask? I define it as not buying anything until we clean out our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.

I'm a firm believer in having a well-stocked kitchen, but it got out of hand (at least according to my standards). Even though I always went to the store with a list in hand, I'd still buy a little extra - just in case. Well, my "just in cases" started piling up and I couldn't see the back of my pantry any longer, so I told J and Peanut that we're going to have our first pantry purge. [Please note that none of us were prepared for this pantry purge so we didn't go out and stockpile our favorite treats ahead of time.]

So for 13 days x (3 meals + 2 snacks a day for me and Peanut) + (2 meals a day for J), totaling over 150 meals, we ate what we currently had in our house.

It was really easy in the beginning, but the last few days required some creativity. I was down to the scraps. What do you do with a head of napa cabbage, 4 carrots, 2 red potatoes, 2 frozen hamburger patties, 1/3 lb frozen ground turkey, 1/2 lb frozen cooked brisket, 2 tablespoons of Pam's Pimento, 2 lbs of cherry tomatoes, and a bunch of chopped up red onions?

Here's what:
-- Say hello to the frittata. In it were the red potatoes, red onions, Pam's Pimento, and most of the tomatoes.
-- Let me introduce you to the stoup (stew/soup hybrid) inspired by Rachael Ray's Stuffed Cabbage Stoup. I used up the carrots, napa cabbage, hamburger patties, ground turkey, and of course, red onions.
-- Finally as we round home plate, whole wheat pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and brisket.

I cleaned out my kitchen and managed to produce some edible, nutritious meals too. (Nutritious was important, especially with Peanut.) I think this is the start of a new semi-annual tradition.