A week ago I took on a new
challenge: I would be limited to the contents of my fridge and pantry for the span of seven days. Not so hard or challenging you might argue? Well, I like to bake and cook on the fly and as my mood or finding of a new
recipe calls for. How could I limit myself to what was left in my paltry pantry? Drama queen I know I am because my pantry and fridge are full of vegetables (frozen and fresh from the local farmer's market), nuts (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, almonds), coconut, milk, eggs, butter, turkey meat (also via the local farmer's market). There is a wealth and world of possibility within my pantry and fridge so of course I could limit myself. But, of course, this would also be the week I craved the blueberry pomegranate tea I spotted at Trader Joe's and this would be the one week I would not be able to cave in to the self-induced pressure to purchase. Besides, I have a jar full of jasmine, peach, green, and lemon teas--do I really need more? (I could argue yes but I won't).
Opting to make it easy of a Saturday morning I slept in somewhat later than usual (not setting the alarm and allowing my body to naturally wake up at 7am is sleeping in and later than usual, trust me). I woke up, turned on WNYC, and got to work making pecan pancakes (my mornings are usually rushed with taking just enough time to pour the milk into the cereal or the granola over the yogurt). I also relished my last cup of coffee until April 1 (what is it with me and all of these self-imposed
challenges).
The pancakes turned out wonderfully and I resisted the urge to make the cook the entire batter (figuring I could play around with it tomorrow morning and bake waffles for another easy Sunday morning). On to the next challenge: making something healthy, tasty, and that made use of my most recent farmer's market purchases for at least 2-4 meals this week. In comes the idea of lasagna. I had the cheese (I think I had another week before some fungal guests would move in and make a meal of them) and pasta, the tomatoes (not fresh, sadly, but canned and perfectly decent with all of the spices I threw in), the spinach (also not fresh but frozen and sitting in my freezer long enough to contribute rent), turkey (purchased at the farmer's market; delectable in smell); onions (also via the farmer's market), some garlic (I wish from the farmer's market). I went about destroying my kitchen: tomato sauce everywhere, more grated cheese on my floor than the pan, remnants of garlic and onion stuck to the cutting board and knife, about 5 pans dirty and laying about the sink, the stovetop, the counter space (teeny tiny), and my dining table (also teeny tiny but a gal makes do in this city). A mess yes. But a deliciously smelling one. The lasagna is in the oven. I popped open the door to take a look and my stomach made little happy flips knowing it would be ingesting and digesting all of it shortly.
The next project today: to make use of the can of pumpkin puree I have left over. I think there is enough distance between a Thanksgiving season of pumpkin cake, muffins, and cookies to make the pumpkin walnut loaf I plan to bake quite welcome.
Until then ....
