Eating from your pantry stores: Two weeks of meals

Ok so the other week was one of those ones where I felt like I was pretty much haemorrhaging money – you know the ones? Every time I turned my head I was opening my bloody purse. And while I never skimp when it comes to grocery shopping (years of being poor mean I eat whatever the hell I want to now, price be damned!), I knew there was more than enough food in my house already to see us through at least a week of dinners without having to shop. It turned out we had enough for two weeks (did I tell you I like to cook?), so I cracked down on that terrible urge I have to eat what I want rather than what is practical, and trawled through my cupboards for that week’s menu plan.

Quite shamefully, this is what I found:

PANTRY

12.5kg bakers flour
cornflour
cornmeal
breadcrumbs
quinoa
various nuts and seeds
millet
sushi rice
brown rice
risotto rice
coconut sugar
coconut flour
spelt flour
rye flour
white sugar
raw sugar
icing sugar
yellow and green split peas
brown rice and lentil mix
bread
burghul
chia
flaxseeds
flax meal
puffed rice
oats
cornflakes
dried cranberries
buckwheat
buckwheat flour
popcorn
barley
baking powder
yeast
chickpeas
baked beans
refried beans
lentils
red kidney beans
black beans
mung beads
cannellini beans
coconut milk
canned tomatoes
pineapple rings
homemade jam
homemade tomato sauce
homemade chutney
homemade enchilada sauce
homemade thai curry paste
homemade raspberry chia jam
sultanas
cocoa
honey
maple syrup
golden sryup
molasses
glucose syrup
lasagne sheets
sauces and packets of stuff I don’t even know
bagels
muffins
pizza bases
potatoes
sweet potato
onion
garlic
ALL OF THE HOT SAUCE

FRIDGE

butter
haloumi
cheese out the wazoo
sundried tomatoes
corn
spinach/greens
carrots
milk
cream
18 eggs
cream cheese
mozarella
black olives
ricotta
homemade thai curry paste
about eight jars of homemade jam, chutney, and sauce
various sauces and curry pastes
truckloads of Loving Earth chocolate
kimchi
pumpkin
1 eggplant
2 beets
4 x sweetcorn
3 red capsicums
2 zucchini
2 chillies
celery

FREEZER

corn chowder
cauliflower soup
curry leaves
kaffir lime leaves
stuff to make stock
cooked brown rice
cooked white rice
chipotle lentil taco filling (the picture above, which I made here)
mock mince (two bags)
pastry
various leftovers
peas
corn
tofu
ice cream

ON THE BENCH

4 avocadoes
rockmelon
countless apples
juicing oranges

I spent a few minutes putting my head in order and figuring out what I could make that would mean I didn’t have to buy anything extra (except for milk and bread and whatever that we get delivered). here’s what I came up with:

WEEK ONE

Macaroni and cheese (pasta, cheese, breadcrumbs)

Zucchini and sweet potato curry (rice, coconut milk, sweet potato, veg, kaffir lime, coconut milk, curry paste)

Zucchini slice (zucchini, corn, carrot, eggs, cheese, flour)

Pizza (flour, yeast, cheese, sundried tomatoes, pineapple, red capsicum, onion)

Crumbed eggplant steaks, mashed potato, carrots, peas

Saturday we were going out for dinner.

WEEK TWO

Lasagne (lasagne sheets, mock mince, canned tomatoes, herbs, flour, butter, milk)

Pizza (flour, yeast, spinach, milk, cream)

Quinoa veggie balls, mashed potato, carrot, corn

Corn chowder and homemade bread (flour, yeast, frozen chowder)

Roast pumpkin risotto (stock stuff, pumpkin, arborio rice, cheese)

Spinach and ricotta ravioli (spinach, ricotta, eggs, flour, cheese, cream, milk)

And as you can see, I’m still DROWNING in pantry staples. So I’ve been trying to at least add in one or two pantry meals in my plans each week. I don’t know what I’m all hoarding it for if it’s not getting eaten! It’s nice to have there, but those whole flaxseeds are basically laughing at me from the depths of the cupboard, where they’ve never, ever been used.

So tell me – when you plan, do you look at what’s already in the cupboard? or do you just plan to eat whatever looks good or that you’re craving?

The post Eating from your pantry stores: Two weeks of meals appeared first on veggiemama.