Eating Down the Fridge

Yesterday, I spent far too much money at Clemon's Produce. I spent my entire week's allowance on things like Indian Eggplants, tiny cucumbers, three boxes of strawberries (ripe for the ice cream maker, now that it's finally stable weather here in CenFlo), a massive basil plant, gargantuan beets, and too many more things to count.


It's time to eat down the fridge, my friends.

Cliff and I are still in school and desperately trying to get jobs at this point. We just blew our last Spring Break in glorious Key West (more on this later...Food Tour!), so now it's time to buckle down, break the camel's back, and spend less. At this point, we're good on rent money until June. After that - who knows?

Here's the game plan. The fridge, as you can see, is well stocked. Somehow we ended up with a jar of red caviar (don't freak, it's not the good stuff) and a plastic package of quail eggs in the same vicinity.




Yes, there are lots of fruits and vegetables. I collect food. It makes me happy and makes my life worth living. For some people it's stamps, some people collect cats, others collect religious convictions. Me? I collect food.

Other strange stuff in the fridge/freezer:

More corn tortillas I can never seem to use up
Edamame
Half a loaf of pre-made garlic bread (going to Chef Hell for that one...)
A pound of frozen fresh yeast
Tube of smoked salmon pate from IKEA (yes, I said "tube")

Here's the pantry cabinet:


Behind all that stuff, there's also a few cans of lychees, some coconut milk, and a jar of green curry paste that's just dying to get its little mitts on those eggplant. Other strange things in the cabinet:

Chicago-style Kelly Green Relish
Crystallized ginger
a pound of dried Shiitake mushrooms
a can of collard greens (no idea where that came from)

Yes, there is a jar of French chestnut paste in the cabinet. I seem to remember a recipe for a chestnut cream cake floating around in my recipe folder somewhere. That will happen soon, though I should have just gotten it done with in the Christmas season.

Too bad we were barely home during the Christmas season.

Also, check out the liquor cabinet (yes, that handle says, "Holly" on it. I'm protective of RonRico) and wine rack. Full. No reason to head to Total Wine. Sad.












Now for the challenge. For the next month, I will not grocery shop. I will save about $300 this month by not going to Publix, Clemons, Dong-A (local Viet market), Lombardi's, Whole Foods, or any other grocery store to which I have a growing the persistent addiction.

Grocery store = Holly's crack.

I can handle this. We might have some really creative foods over the next month (honey, brace yourself), but the money we'll save will be totally worth it. I'll blog about the adventure from time to time, especially if I end up making something either completely stellar or absolutely horrendous.

Shouldn't be too bad for the first week or two, but I bet that by April 1, things are going to get a little rough in the kitchen...