Mid Week Cook Whatcha Got update

Personal Chefs cook from the pantry challenge continues

I was inspired today by the challenge to actually go through the freezer and see what was in there. Not much really. Lesson revisited: My vacuum sealer isn’t just for my personal chef clients. Duh, I really should be using it often. I had to throw away a package of lamb shanks ( deciding to donate that $20 to Haiti, so it won’t be an entire waste of money) and a package of freezer burned turkey parts, as well as some soup that was just plain too old.  I did find a little package of frozen strawberries that is also very old but it is vacuum sealed ( thanks Nancy) and will taste yummy this week with some of the bag of mango that is in there. ( note to self – vacuum seal it after you open it!) There is liver – some beef liver from the farmers’ market and a container of chicken livers. I had the first container of them yesterday, so I think that is enough liver for me for the week. There is a large container of beans, undated. I have so many beans in the pantry, I may throw these beans away. Peas! we have already discussed these. 1/2 a package of corn, still ok. a mostly there container of parmesan crisps, that I threw in the freezer because I am not sure I like them ? a few bags of various nuts and seeds, quite a few ice packs, a couple of small containers of chicken broth and that is it.

I also worked on the pantry and took a bag of unusable or way too old items to the trash. I have a bag of very strange items to go to the food bank. I hope someone will want organic pudding mixes, a bran muffin mix, and a couple of bags of non wheat noodles. Here is one of my pantry shelves. This photo makes me proud!

Cooking today involved making some yummy soup for lunch. It is blustery, rainy, and wild weather here in Santa Cruz this week. The perfect day for soup. I used a container of stock made from this recipe that was in the refrigerator. ( oh, and there is another container of it in the freezer, I forgot to mention). I used shrimp from the freezer and I still have more in the fridge now for another meal. I have so many packages of seaweed in my pantry, it is silly, so I used some seaweed from there , some dried daikon radish that was unearthed, and some dried miso, also from the pantry. With fresh spinach added for some color and freshness, it was delicious.

Pantry Miso Soup

maybe 3 cups of pork stock

2 packages of dried miso ( was a bit too much)

large handful dulse

large handful dried daikon ( sliced fresh would be good)

2 minced garlic cloves

1/4c. mirin

1/2 bag fresh spinach

1/2 lb (?) shrimp, peeled and deveined.

I just put it all except the shrimp in a large saucepan and let it simmer for about 10 mins. I added the shrimp and cooked a few more minutes until the shrimp was nice and pink.

A successful reducing the supplies day for sure ! Tomorrow I tackle the other pantry shelves and re organize the grains, beans, and flours. eek.

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