Day 23: make a list

Remember Day 1, when I enthusiastically said I would inventory everything? The goal was to make a list of meals that I could concoct from what was hiding in the pantry and freezer. The failure of Day 1 has been clearly documented. Instead of "Do it all!", I have opted for baby steps: clean out this shelf, look through this basket in the freezer, etc.

But what about my idea to organize things into meals? On Produce Acquisition days, I make two lists: one that is simply what food there is, and one that is ideas of what to do with it. Sometimes I write days next to the idea list; sometimes I rewrite it as if I know exactly what I'll make Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I seem to fail consistently after three days. Usually I overestimate what we'll eat, somehow overlooking leftovers in my planning.

Instead of a list of meals, I made a list of things I could make with food from the freezer/pantry. What's the difference, you ask? Well, "couscous fritters" is on the list. That's not a meal. "Leftover tacos" is on the list. That is a meal. "Queso fresco" is just an ingredient...I'm not sure how that ended up in this column.

The point is: on Sunday, I gave myself about 9 ideas for using up food that I have on hand. I like to cook, so the list isn't dictatorial. I can use my creativity; I can be impulsive. I was going to make kale pesto and serve it with fettuccini, but I opted to make kale & chicken enchiladas. The kale is marked off the list (it's gone!), but the fettccini remains. Since pasta keeps, I can ignore it in favor of something more fragile, like queso fresca.

I did use most of the queso fresca on the enchiladas, and now there is just a tiny amount left over. I should throw it on a grilled cheese. Or sneak it into a quesadilla for my daughter. And the enchiladas used up tomatoes from the garden. In fact, I might make that enchilada topping out of abundant tomatoes and freeze it. Very good discovery.