Make it Work!

So, honestly, I feel like I’m just getting back into the swing of life after Christmas and my Birthday and New Years and going to Sacramento and then to Arizona and then getting the flu and then, well I guess that’s it. But it took me forever to get settled into normalcy again.

I finally purged my closet and room of all that was unnecessary and re-organized and slowly I’m moving to other areas of the apartment. My next step was to clean out my food cabinet and the freezer. In the process I realized that I had so much food that I had bought, with the best of intentions of course but just never used. So this week I challenged  myself to not do my usual Sunday afternoon grocery trip and make myself make do with what I have. Or as Tim Gun would say “Make it Work!” So I took on the challenge with all the gusto and passion as a Project Runway contestant. How is that? You may be asking. Well, that starts with Pinterest of course.

First I made these delicious no bake cookies:

 

They were so good and super easy. Awesomely enough I had all the ingredients: Agave, fast cooking oats, cocoa powder, coconut oil, peanut butter, almond milk and vanilla. They sit in the fridge to set and they are sooo good all cold and cocoa-ie like that.

Next I decided to have my Brother and sis-in-law over to watch the Oscars on Sunday so we had Kielbasa and Italian sausage dogs with grilled onion. The fun part was the baked pickles.

 

 

 

Again, super easy: pickles, shredded cheddar, flour, eggs and bread crumbs then bake!

 

Last night I free-styled it and made orange chicken and cabbage. I had made the orange chicken before so I kinda knew what I was wanting. Sorry I don’t have a picture of it for you because, well, I thought it would flop but alas I surprised myself again. Success!

That dish consisted of boneless skinless chicken breast and a mix of cabbage and kale. I fried up the greens in a little bit of olive oil and then I browned the chicken as well. I then coated the chicken in a little cornstarch and made my sauce. My sauce was ketchup, white vinegar a tiny bit of sugar and some garlic powder. I poured the sauce over the chicken and cabbage and mixed it all together. It was pretty awesome.

The doozy was tonight’s concoction. I was thinking of what I had left and knew I had some Quinoa and kielbasa. My first thought was jambalaya of course. Isn’t that what you think of when you think quinoa? Not sure what’s wrong with me but it actually worked!

One cup of quinoa, one cup of tomato sauce and a cup of chicken broth. I browned up some kielbasa in my dutch oven and then added the quinoa mix. I looked in the freezer and found some frozen peas so I thought why not?! And I added those guys in too. I cooked it for about 40 minutes and it was pretty awesome!

I mean, maybe it’s not really jambalaya but it was pretty good. Good enough to add this to my regulars.

This little practice taught me a couple of things. First was that I have some really odd leftovers in my cupboard and second it has taught me to actually learn to cook by taste and not stuck to a step by step recipe. I’m a baker not a cook and through my little “clean out the cupboards” game I think I learned a few things! I think you guys should try it and tell me what you come up with! Take on the challenge!