Waste Not, Want Not… Utilizing What’s in Your Pantry, Fridge and Freezer
This Month’s Recipes: Red Lentil & Vegetable Rice Bowl - Grilled Steak or Chicken Rice Bowl - Turkey & Bean Chili Bowl
In the last edition of the Sous News, I talked about prepping our freezer for “Delivery-Day.” We are happy to have welcomed Maxwell Ryan Bonnah to our family on January 15th, at 10:30pm. We love him so very much and I feel fortunate to be able to stay home with him for the immediate future. Thank you to all of our clients, for your ongoing patience and adaptability during this time of transition.
Having had our baby boy almost 3 ago, and suddenly staying at home full-time, my ability to grocery shop often is limited by Max’s patience. I have the best intentions, but navigating a grocery store with a newborn is challenging to say the least. While it’s getting a bit easier, I still find myself facing dinnertime, wondering… “What am I going to make tonight?”
This has inspired me, more than usual, to get creative with the items we do have in our kitchen. Instead of thinking, “I want to make x, y, or z dish for dinner,” I find myself taking stock and inventory of what we have. Many of us have all sorts of things that we have purchased, and thrown into the pantry, refrigerator or freezer, only to forget about them later. Utilizing those items not only helps your grocery budget, but it also helps me feel like I am making the most of what I have.
So, how to begin? A format I’ve been using a lot lately is the rice bowl. On weekends, I cook up a large batch of brown rice using chicken broth, instead of water, to impart more flavor. I let it cook then cool it on a cookie sheet. Once cooled, I divide into containers and freeze. Rice freezes unbelievably well, and with brown rice, you get the health benefits and fiber, but with little to no cooking time on a busy weeknight.
On weekdays, I like to take inventory and see what I have. What types of protein do I have? What types of vegetables? Accompaniments, like cheese, salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, plain yogurt? What spices or flavoring agents do I have? And finally, which of these items tend to go together? I came up with a few different options, which I hope you try and enjoy!
Lastly, in order to reflect the ever increasing grocery costs associated with our service, we will be raising our rates in June of this year. Due to growth conditions for produce, we have seen an increase in our grocery expense and need to take steps to recover this cost. Most rates will increase 5-7%, a moderate amount since we have not increased our rates in almost 2 ½ years. Thank you for understanding!
Shana Larsen and the Chefs of Ready, Set, Eat!