kitchen games

So i have been playing this game called "let's see how long we can go without a trip to the grocery store." I have not been to safeway or trader joe's since right before Christmas. We did go up to visit d's great-grandma after Christmas, so were gone for 5 days and brought back a little food with us, and we have gotten pizza i think twice, and a friend asked once if i needed anything from the store and so i had her get me milk. We have used up staples bit by bit, until the high point (desperation point?) of the game was last week, when we were out of milk, juice, eggs, bread, nuts, cheese, canned beans, peanut butter, all fresh fruits and vegetables except a lemon and some brussel sprouts. No tofu, no instant food--like canned soup--and you know we don't generally have meat on hand. Every meal has been a challenge, but it has been fun to see if i can come up with something resembling a nutritous meal from so little "normal" eatery. For example, breakfast one morning the girls had herbal tea, great-grandma's home canned applesauce, and cornbread with butter. Lunch one day was popcorn, dried persimmons, black olives, pretzel sticks, and the last of the raw carrots. Dinner one night was carribean pumpkin and yellow split pea soup with the last not yet stale crackers. As i foraged deeper into the freezer and cupboards, every little surpise find was like a gift: oooh! a little bit of peanuts in a bag! oh wait--a few slices of bread lost on the way back bottom shelf of the fridge! yay! my friend brought bread and peanut butter and apples for me to feed all our children with during this homeschool playdate! We have started to use food we have had forever but which i never felt like using: great-grandma's canned fruits, which are good but have lots of sugar; the frozen left-over squash d's folks overblessed us with last fall; the dried beans i buy out of frugality but which i never make out of shortsightedness; the muffin mixes and other yummies we have received as gifts but which i tend to save for some more worthwhile occassion than just a regular meal.

So i finally broke down last thurs and went to costco, and got bread, milk, eggs, cheese, canned tomatoes and a box of fresh spinach. Which was good, because the next night i ended up needing to make a dinner for a family whose daughter had just come home from the hospital. I could delve back into the corners of the fridge and shelves and whip up an omelette with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and feta and send it with harvest muffins (from a box) and frozen peaches from doug's great-grandma's trees. not bad, under the circumstances.

so now i am curious to see how long this game can continue. i still have a little cheese and some of the fresh spinach, but no other fresh veggies, not even onions or potatoes. I have some frozen corn and peas. we have half a loaf of bread. After going a week without milk, the milk from my thurs costco was devoured, so d picked up some last night.

night before last i made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (from canned tomato sauce--an experiment that overall went well). Last night we had 15 bean soup with canned tomatoes, some bullion cubes (only one of those left), crushed fresh garlic sauteed in olive oil, snipped spinach added at the very end, pepper. Again, pretty good! tonight i think i will make baked macaroni shells and cheese. but tomorrow. . . ?