Of Rice and Men

Gosh this blog has turned into such domestic drivel.  I really need to get out more.  Or else I could just start pontificating about political ads or my supposed liberal religious agenda or some such nonsense.  But for now?  This entry is about rice.

A few months ago I cleaned out my pantry and it's always a little shocking to discover things in the pantry that I don't remember buying.  It's kind of fun to find that bonus box of rotini you had no idea was there or that extra jar of mayonnaise - but it also signals to me that I have probably overdone it in the grocery buying department.  First world over-consumption and all.

So I decided to put the brakes on the grocery buying for a while and try to use up the things in my pantry.  This requires an entirely different type of supper-time strategy.  It's like trying to eat more seasonally.  You have to craft a meal around ingredients you're staring at rather than deciding what sounds good to you and then pulling the items together.  (You are saying to yourselves, "duh Lisa, it doesn't take a master chef to figure that gem of kitchen wisdom out.")  But it's such an opposite creative process in my mind.  It's like pulling a McGuyver every meal.  Here is one wilted carrot, a piece of string, a can of cream of celery soup, a handful of Swiss cheese, and some peanut butter.  Now - CREATE! 

Frankly, I'm amazed at the variety of meals I've created with what I have on hand because when I first looked in that pantry I was all, "there is nothing in here to eat!"  And I'm surprised at how much food I clearly had all along, considering how long it's been since I actually went "grocery shopping."  

Now to be fair, I have a freezer full of beef and chicken thanks to my parents.  And I have had a lot of fresh garden produce up to this point along with everything my mother and I canned.  So I know that's a huge advantage right there. (And I really have tried to eat more seasonally this summer along with using things in my pantry - which has been fun.)  I have another huge advantage right now in that I'm not working outside the home.  So I have a lot of extra time and energy to think about how to put my suppers together, although I don't think my suppers are actually taking any more time to prepare than before.  

Here is the list of staples I have been purchasing:
Coffee (for obvious reasons)
Milk (to go with my coffee)
Butter (because life's not worth living without it)
Onions (because nothing's worth eating without them)

I ran out of pasta and potatoes ages ago.  But what I do have is a large bag of rice.  And dear sweet mother Mary, that rice WILL NOT END.  We have had nothing but rice for weeks it seems.  Chicken and rice, curry and rice, hamburger gravy over rice, rice pudding, rice soup, etc... And I feel like I have only put the tiniest dent in that jar of rice.  Every day when Brian gets home for lunch I ask, "well guess what we'll be having for supper tonight?"  I'm trying really hard to be thankful for this rice and its apparent longevity.  But frankly, I am riced out.  

*Update.  I started writing this entry on Saturday and Monday I broke down.  I was laying in bed watching the Today show to wake up when an Olive Garden commercial came on - and I found myself completely overcome with desire for what I saw.  I didn't have any lessons because of fall break and I had received a little money for a funeral I helped at on Sunday and I knew where that time and money was headed.  I went to the grocery store, loaded up on supplies and made an Italian feast for supper.  And maybe it was because of all the rice we have been eating, but Brian and I declared it the best meal I have ever prepared.  I wish I could tell you that the meal did not involve using 2.5 sticks of butter.  But it did.  And it was delicious.  So if the rice has accomplished giving Brian and I a better appreciation for food again, then it has been well worth it.  And if you'd like a super tasty chicken piccata recipe, click on this link.  Bon Appetit!