Eating from our plenty, part II

I’m bound and determined to make it through the week—and possibly the long weekend—without hitting the grocery store. I’m just plain tired of it.

So, I’m cleaning out the pantry and the freezer again. I had some Cajun Sausage Stew in the freezer, and I decided to make rice to go with it. Thinking about the New Orleans roots of the stew, I remembered a dish from my Desperation Dinners! Cookbook (which had been a gift from my book group when I was expecting my third son—the meals are all ready in 30 minutes or less, gotta love that!). Taken from Blue Runners and Rice, which is red beans and rice (“Blue Runners” is a brand of canned beans for the family in which the recipe originated); these are spectacular! The original recipe includes one pound of turkey kielbasa for a main dish—add a salad and you have a meal; to make them a side dish, as below, I omit the kielbasa.

Red beans and rice

2 t olive oil
1 c onion, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
¾ c red or green bell pepper, chopped
2 t garlic, minced
½ t thyme, dried
½ t basil, dried
½ t oregano, dried
½ t black pepper
½ t salt
½ t Tabasco (more or less to taste, optional)
2 bay leaves
1 14½-oz can fat-free chicken broth
1 15½-oz can red kidney beans (I prefer Progresso dark red kidney beans)
1¾ c instant (5-minute) rice
½ c okra, fresh, chopped or frozen, not thawed, chopped
½ c water, if needed

Heat oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet that has a lid. As you chop them, add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Cook vegetables until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in thyme, basil, oregano, black pepper, Tabasco, and bay leaves.

Raise heat to high, add broth, cover skillet, and bring to a boil. (If using kielbasa, cut it into ¼– to ½-inch thick slices and set aside.) Drain and rinse the beans.

Once broth boils, add beans, okra, and rice (and kielbasa, if using). Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook until rice is tender, 5 to 10 minutes. If the broth is absorbed before the rice is tender, add additional ½ cup of water. Serve hot.

Eating from our plenty

OK, I can’t go grocery shopping anymore, because I have no where to put the food. Now, that doesn’t stop my boys (15, 13, 9, and 42;-) from saying, “There's nothing to eat in this house!” (Of course, 42 also says, “You went grocery shopping again?!” every time I walk into the house with food, so I can’t win that one anyway.)

Since I can’t go shopping anymore or fit food in my fridge, freezer, or pantry, we’re going to get creative (and by “we’re” I mean “I’m”). Now, my challenge will be two-fold, to make things exclusively out of what we have in, and to make them palatable enough that the boys aren't complaining. (And when I say I can't go shopping anymore, I’m not being unrealistic; of course I’ll have to replace the essentials, after all, we went through 7 gallons of milk last week when the boys were home from school!)

Day 1: We’re cleaning out the fridge for dinner. Everyone will likely have something different, the only rule will be they must have 1 protein and 1 vegetable, the rest will be a free-for-all. There’s 1/2 serving of Indian chicken, a nice salad, 2 servings of lubee (Lebanese beef stew with green beans over rice pilaf), 2 servings of pulled pork, a couple of grilled Italian sausages (I can already predict the squabble those will cause, maybe I’ll serve them as dessert for anyone who eats their dinner without complaining :-D)

Once I have all that food out of the fridge, I’ll be able to pull other things out of the freezer and start to get creative. Stay tuned.