Using Things Up

Yesterday was one of those days... Phew! My feet hurt, legs were screaming and was I pooped. Funny though, I didn't even leave the kitchen 80 percent of the day.  I found that after being away camping for four days I had so much fresh food between the camper and the house refrigerators that there was no avoiding it and I needed to get busy. With the weekend approaching I wasn't going to have time to mess with any of that stuff, so I rolled up my sleeves and got started.

The list of foodie items grew as I pushed my way past the first layer of condiments, bags of produce, veggies from our neighbors amazing garden, cabbages from last weeks farmers market, a bin full of kale, carrots "that needed to be used".. I always hesitated when my Mom used to say that when referring to meat growing up.. But there I was, scraping off the bad parts and making good use of what I was determined to make into a variety of dishes to carry me through the weekend. Here's what surfaced.


A huge pot of minestrone soup, littered with fresh kale, all of those carrots :) (we can keep that to ourselves..) halves of onions from a variety of past chop fests, chickpeas I had cooked just mid week/last week... and ground turkey as the "meat source".. fortunately, I had pulled that out of the freezer that morning so it doesn't fall into the carrot category.

Next...

A new batch of fermented kraut. Complements of my dear hubby who shredded and pummeled both of them into a beautiful bubbly concoction. That will be ready in a couple weeks. Love the red and green together.


Then...

Banana Bread! Four very, very ripe bananas laying sadly in the fruit basket. This one is "normal". My middle son Alex is always hesitant with my cooking because I experiment, often, and he is a straight shooter when it comes to food. So, in honor of his possible pop in visit this weekend there is a straight out of the 29 year old Betty Crocker waiting on the counter for him. ;)

And...

Vegan/Gluten Free Pumpkin mini muffins! Those are for a gathering tomorrow minus a few for me. Lots of food sensitivities in our next generation so these fit the bill for that and used up my applesauce that was in the frig along with the vanilla almond milk. Bam!

Along with...

Pizza! That ended up being for dinner.. Dough from Portland Pie that we didn't use camping, left over pizza sauce that was hiding under the deli drawer.. who even looks there anyway?? It was clean of any wild penicillin so on top it went. The pizza, like the soup was perfect for all the other bits of veggies, chicken sausage, ten rounds of pepperoni and two 1/4 full bags of mozzarella. I went even a little further with this one, Alex would not have approved, would have said I ruined it, but added chopped up grape tomatoes and the last of the garlic and herb goat cheese just begging to be on top. Bam! Again. It looked awesome! Unfortunately, so awesome that there is no "actual" photo documentation to share.

Lastly, I made fresh brewed iced tea and used up the last of my Hibiscus Tangerine & Oolong teas, boiled up two big red potatoes, then took a full box of arugula, the bin of kale along with three loose cloves of garlic and sautéed it all up in the final quarter cup of my bottle of olive oil! Now that felt good! I'll eat the greens in either some omelettes over the weekend or with the boiled potatoes and some of the newly marinated chicken that is patiently waiting it's turn.

Using things up like that brings me such satisfaction. It keeps me mindful of the bountiful options and choices that life gives me everyday. It keeps me humble and grateful for what I do have and creates space in my mind to think and process, all the while my hands are busy. I guess I could have tossed a lot of it in the compost bin, or just waited another week to throw it all out, but what's the fun in that?


Nourishment comes in many forms it seems and yesterday for me, it came in abundance!

Bon Appetite.