My personal food challenge week

From vesperlight — Blog by Elizabeth Evans

February 17, 2009

I ran out of month before I ran out of money -- again. I’m reduced to eating nothing but my own cooking. Worse, until Friday, I am reduced to cooking without any of the following ingredients:

Milk
Butter (no margarine either)
Vegetable oil
Eggs
Fresh vegetables (and a very limited supply of canned)

I have about 2 T of olive oil left. I have a good supply of most of the other staples I use for most of my cooking--I tend to shop in terms of staying stocked up on staples, rather than planning for individual meals. A little cheese left.

Sunday, on my own, I had homemade pita bread and Minimalist Hummus (canned garbanzo beans and a garlic clove--no lemon or parsley), and oatmeal with diced apples and brown sugar. I discovered that it is not possible to have leftover home-made pita bread...not in my house. I also baked a loaf of Portuguese Broa from the “5-minute bread” cookbook, and had a wonderful bowl of zuchinni zappata soup out of my freezer, with a Parmesan “soup rind” for garnish.

Monday breakfast, oatmeal and raisins. Monday lunch, more pita and hummus.

Monday dinner, for myself and son, was enchiladas (store-bought tortillas, canned enchilada sauce, leftover Christmas turkey from freezer warmed up with a little salsa verde), white rice and some white beans cooked with an onion, a bayleaf, a few pepper corns and coriander seeds. I had 3 enchiladas. Son had 5.

Tonight will be a version of my mother’s “Washday Casserole.” The original version: layers of sliced potatoes, onions, browned ground beef, canned tomatoes, a little cheese and perhaps bread crumbs or crackers crumbs on top. Tonight’s version will use leftover beans from last night and a little more turkey instead of the ground beef.

Now on my shopping list: a baking stone for bread and pizzas. One of the big thick rectangular ones. The 5-minute bread book really does make it possible to bake more or less daily with very little effort...as long as you like slightly sour, crusty bread with big holes. I do.

I also like the light, fine-grained, even-crumbed wonderful loaves I get if I slavishly follow the directions in the Laurel’s Kitchen bread book.

What’s local in my food this week? The Tillamook cheese, potatoes, onions, apples, turkey...

I have a plan for tomorrow...stay tuned...