Eating Down The Cupboards and Fridge

[SiouzQ.]

Twelve days to go! For weeks I have been trying to use up all my food in the kitchen and only buy the items I need to make an actual meal out of all the parts. Consequently, I've been shopping like a European and not stocking up on anything so everything gets used within a couple of days. It also helps to pretend that I am still camping and using a Coleman Cooler and that have to use up everything before I buy a new batch of food. My freezer contains less than half a bag of frozen peas, three hamburger buns and one veggie burger!

So now I need to work on using up lentils, bulgar, a little quinoa, some brown and white rice. All the pasta is gone, and I only have two cans of beans left. Three various bottle of salad dressing, all more than half gone. There are bottles of olive and sesame oil, a variety of vinegars, of which I will pack and take with me, also my spices. I figure I have room for a small box of food stuffs that will be nice to have when I reach New Mexico. I am going to be taking my cooler in the trunk of the car and fill it with breakfast and lunch food for the road. I am not planning on camping during the three and a half day driving trip but will do my best to find cheap motels on the way. I will also take myself out to dinner - grocery store deli-type meals rather than fast food. Though some good BBQ when I get to Texas would be nice!

[nswef]

SiouzQ, I am so excited for you and cheering you on!!!

[pinkytoe]

We ended up taking two boxes of food to our temporary house. I will try to use it all up before next move. The fridge in this place is a small Italian one so having to shop every few days. Freezer is the size of two shoe boxes which is a challenge too. Everyday presents a new learning curve in being resourceful.

[SiouzQ.]

I plan to make good use of some of the Indian Fare food you can get at Trader Joe's while I figure out how to deal with not really have a kitchen where I am moving to. I plan to operate as if I was doing my camping thing, but with a small refrigerator instead of a cooler. I am going to set up an outdoor kitchen with my Coleman camp stove on my patio for the rest of the summer and sort of play it by ear until I get a sense of how to make a kitchen area in my one main room. There will be a kitchen cabinet/cupboard set up to do some food prep and also a little table. I won't have a kitchen sink however; I'll have to do my dishes in the tub but I am not at all worried about making it work. I see this as an extension of my camping forays, with much better shelter from storms than being in my little tent! I am nothing if not adaptable. I think this experiment is going to be great fun, and I think I will be eating just fine. No more big batch cooking and freezing portions, however!

[Tammy]

I see this a perfect chance to eat food that doesn't require cooking when at home - other than a microwave or toaster perhaps. Think fresh fruits and vegetables, salads, sandwiches, etc. This is basically how I live, with a kitchen. I've always wanted to live with a minifrig, microwave, and toaster. No dishwasher, oven, stove, or freezer. Permanently. Haven't had the chance yet but someday!

[SiouzQ.]

Tonight was a weird little concoction comprised of a tiny bit of beef I got using my Wholefoods Employee Discount Card (last day eligible), an languishing onion (sliced), two carrots (sliced), some peas from the garden (the pods were way overgrown, but the peas inside were de-lish), a bit of kale from the sad, dried out garden (horribly neglected these past few weeks), the last three tiny cloves of garlic, some pre-diced ginger in a bottle (left by the old housemate) and a handful of sun-dried tomatoes. All stir-fried in sesame oil, and placed on a bed of Basmati rice cooked in my lovely rice cooker (both left to me by the last house mate).

The only other things I bought on my last day at work using my discount card were two six packs of beer, a very welcome treat for these hot, incredibly humid days here in Michigan. It's not like I can stock up on stuff right now!