Pantry Cooking

This week, to save money, as well as clear out the shelves and freezer of foods that have been sitting for quite some time, I'm doing "pantry cooking". Basically it's trying to use foods that you already have on hand. I'll have to substitute with some food from the grocery store and Farmer's Market but I hope to keep our meals under $50 this week.

We picked up our first CSA order of the season. We received green onions, kale, radishes, cherry tomatoes, rhubarb, and asparagus. We've eaten it all already except for a bag of radishes and a few green onions.

I'm not a big fan of "greens" cooked so decided to use the kale to make Kale Chips. Just wash, dry, rip the leaves off the stems, pour some olive oil on and toss, spread on cookie sheets, then sprinkle with your favorite seasoning (we did have just salt and half salt and garlic powder).  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-12 minutes until crisp (check often to make sure they aren't burning). They were a hit in this house and gone by that evening.

For supper I pulled some natural "pizza pockets" from the freezer that my mom had given to me, made a big salad with organic lettuce and green onions, and have rhubarb crisp cooling on the counter. 

Whether you are trying to save money or not it's good to do some pantry cooking every now and then. It makes you take stock of what you have on hand and use up items before they go to waste.