Give Your Leftovers New Life

I have a lot going on this summer. A lot! I am getting married in 5 weeks, I have attended 2 Bridal showers already, I have a Bachelorette party, 2 more showers, and a girls trip to Vegas comiong up. With all of this going on, we have not gone to the grocery store in quite a while. I hate buying fodd just to let it go bad, so we have just been trying to eat up what we have, or get stuff just to make dinner for that evening if we are home, or we have gotten VERY creative.

I have a lot of Mustard and Salad Dressing in the fridge right now, not a lot of actaul food though. Or so I thought. The actual contents of my fridge right now are:

• 3 Eggs
• 1 slice of low-carb bread
• Jar of homemade marinara sauce
• Black Grapes
• Iced Tea
• 1 small whole wheat Tortilla
• 2 Pita Pockets
• Handful of butter lettuce
• 1 Onion Bun
• Parmesan Cheese
• about 1/4 cup Mango Salsa
• about 1/4 cup Hummus
• 1/2 of a Pink Grapefruit
• about 1/4 cup Greek Style 0% Fat Yogurt
• Bloody Mary Mix
• Bean Sprouts
• a TON of condiments, like pickle relish, ketchup, sauces, dressings, olives, pickes, sun dried tomatoes, sugar free jam, jalapenos, curry sauce, etc.

And in the freezer:

• 3 extra large prawns
• Edamame
• 1 1/2 package Trader Joes Vegetable Egg Rolls
• Blueberry Vodka
• Raspberry Vodka
• Regular Vodka
• Garden Burgers
• Trader Joe's Frozen Vegetable Lasagna
• Bananas (if I ever get ambitious and make banana bread)
• Container of Vegetable Leek Soup that I made about 6 months ago
• 2 Healthy Choice Panini's
• 1 package frozen mango

In the Pantry:

• A few cans of Tuna
• 8 cans of organic stewed tomatoes
• nuts, dried cranberries, figs, etc.
• Whole Wheat Spaghetti
• Brown Rice
• Mac N Cheese (for when we babysit my neice and nephew)
• Refills of condiments, like ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, etc.
• Nutella
• Tea
• 1 package Trader Joe's Pad Thai
• Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
• Emergen-C packets
• Onion Soup Mix
• Assorted homemade jars of preserves given to us by friends
• Crackers (for if we have to bring an appetizer to a party)
• 1 can of Progresso Lite Soup
• Tomato Sauce
• Assorted baking and cooking items, like bread crumbs, taco seasoning, Miso Soup mix, etc.

So, not a lot of things, aside from the lasagna and the egg rolls, that can constitute an entire meal. Like I said, we have not been to the grocery store in a long time. But, the other day, I also had about 1/2 cup left over Brown Rice, and left over sauteed zucchini, red peppers and onions from dinner the night before, and I had 6 of the Jumbo Prawns, about 4 oz. for 3 of them. So, I got creative and made what I called "Jambalaya". I took the Prawns and sauteed them in a few sprays of Olive Oil, then I added the homemade marinara, and for good measure I added a can of stewed tomates. I tossed in the left over sauteed red peppers, onions and zucchini, the brown rice, and red pepper flakes. Simmered it for a few minutes, and it was a pretty decent Shrimp Jambalaya. Like, so good that I'd make it again, even if I didn't have leftovers and had to cook rice, peppers, onions, zucchini, and make more marinara.

Looking at this list of what I have right now, I am painfully aware that we need to go to not only the grocery store, but also Costco. We don't even have any frozen chicken breasts that can be grilled, no other protiens, just those lonely 3 Jumbo Prawns. So, what to do? Tonight I am going to make the Veggie Lasagna, and probably pick up stuff to make a salad on the way home. Saturday morning breakfast is taken care of with the half a grapefruit, and the bit of left over yogurt. Or I could scramble one egg and wrap it in my one tortilla, add the rest of the mango salsa and call it a breakfast burrito. That leaves lunch on Saturday, and I could make a can of tuna, and use some of the crackers that we have on hand for parties to eat it with, or I can use my one slice of bread and have an open-faced tuna sandwich. Or I could have the can of Soup, but it's like 99 degrees right now, so I doubt that. We could make the Pad Thai, because I did have some left over bean sprouts, and I can use the last 3 Jumbo Prawns for the protein. I could make half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, since my bread, jelly and peanut butter are all reduced calorie. I could get out one of the frozen Panini's, but I only buy those to take with me when I am working on a jobsite, since they're easy to deal with. I will be out Saturday night at my Bachelorette party, so dinner won't be necessary, I will eat at the bar. Sunday morning might be challenging, especially because I will have been drinking the night before, so half a grapefruit or some yogurt will probably not do the trick. So, I guess Sunday will be the day that we go out to breakfast and then hit Costco, Trader Joe's and the Farmer's Market.

Then I can eat all kinds of things. But, when you get low on supplies, you'd be surprised at how many things you can make out of what looks like "nothing". I looked at the fridge, freezer and pantry and said "We have nothing to eat!" but after listing it all on this blog, I realized that I do have a few options.

Be eXcellent! Ms. X

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