Eat From the Larder 2016 -Week One Wrap-Up

So far, so many meals out.
Or things along those lines, anyway. I got gifted a couple of slices of super-fancy cake on Tuesday night, and both of us have had breakfast out at least twice this week. Yesterday’s Queering Power activities included a pot-luck lunch (I made mint-chocolate-cherry cupcakes based on the Wacky Cake recipe found in How It All Vegan, thus conserving eggs and milk, so go me) but also a dinner out with a bunch of out-of-town friends. I regret nothing. 🙂
 
Beyond that, I’ve been using up perishable (or more-perishable, at any rate) veggies this week, because: priorities. So there’s been a chickpea-cauliflower curry (we have left-overs for lunch tomorrow) and a lentil-quinoa stew inspired by ratatouille (pre-sliced mushrooms, frozen golden zucchini, frozen eggplant, green tomato chutney (half a cup – I still have so muchof this stuff lying around) a cup of jarred tomatoes, and a handleful crumbled tomato-chips, plus lots of parmasan cheese on top. I also did a (really delicious) sausage-potato-beets dish with pumpkin seeds and bacon[1] (two kinds of pork in one dish, and one of them wasn’t lard! I feel so decadent!) on Thursday and a pasta with tinned salmon, mushrooms, onions, and alfredo sauce for unexpected company on Wednesday.
 
I’m running low on (meaning running out of) mayonaise, which I hadn’t expected, so the tuna sandwiches I made the other day maybe the last I make until May. Or maybe I try my hand at making home-made mayo. We’ll see. I’m also (having used half a cup of it in the cupcakes this weekend) running low of cocoa powder and rotini. Not that I don’t have other options, but it’s something to be aware of, particularly the pasta since I tend to rely on that stuff for quick-and-easy dinners.
 
I have fancy cheese and paté in the fridge, but need to make some crackers before we can get on with enjoying those lovely items. Also to make: bread (for toast and for cheese sandwiches), muffins or similar (for breakfasts, snacks, and similar- thinking I’ll do pumpkin-apricot-chocolate-chip with a little bit of almond flour worked into the mix, but we’ll see what I come up with.
 
I’ve got a shoulder roast (or possibly an uncured ham) in the oven, roasting with potatoes, onions, butternut squash, and a little bit of white wine, which will do us for a spiffy dinner tonight (and probably several more times this week – it’s a huge roast, by my standards – done as a stir-fry with reconstituted dried mushrooms + frozen greens; dice and tossed with oregano, garlic and jarred, roasted tomatoes over (more) rice; sliced onto sandwiches (possibly with apple butter, possibly with green tomato chutney); or thrown into a stew with black beans, and either salsa or a mix of crushed tomatoes, diced onions, and dried apricots).
 
I’ve got family coming down from Toronto to visit this coming weekend (it’s C’s anniversary with Ghost – and would have been ours as well, but that’s life for you) and I’m hoping to send her home with a (raw, frozen) roast or two, plus some more preserves (I admit, I wonder if she’s getting sick of tomato sauce, but you give what you’ve got, so there we go). I fully expect us to go through both of those packages of paté this week – one with C, and the other (along with a lingering wedge of fancy cheese!) when a heart-sick friend comes by for tea/wine and a friendly ear later this week.
 
Going over old Eat From the Larder posts, it’s amazing how much I remember events by the food that we had. I remember who brought the ice cream and the super-spiffy balsamic vinegar (I ration that stuff like butter in WW2, you guys). I remember who brought the box of fancy cookies, and what went down during that less-than-fantastic visit.
In theory, this is the point where eating strictly (even for my not-very-strict version of “strictly”) from the larder starts getting hard. The fresh veggies dwindle, the eggs run out, you have to plan snack-food and make stuff from scratch that you’d usually buy pre-made (crackers and pasta come to mind for me). Let’s see how this goes. 🙂