Pantry Food

When I came back from England (almost a month ago now... damn, I’m far behind) I had pretty much no food in the house. But I was fairly sick, suffering a lingering sinus infection that got a foothold as a result of cold weather, lack of sleep, being on an airplane and not eating as well as I should (and still hasn’t said goodbye, weeks later). And I was home alone, since Andy was finishing up a field work trip in PNG. And I was at uni during the days, and by the time I got home and had a shower I was ready to put sweatpants on and not leave the house again. All of these forces combined into a giant lack of motivation to go grocery shopping. I managed to survive for a week on meals put together solely from the pantry and the freezer.

One of the stand-out meals was this yummy chilli. Diced tomatoes, kidney beans, baked beans, TVP and spices from the pantry teamed up with a bit of frozen spinach and some veggie stock to make a delicious and hearty, slightly spicy stew that kept me warm against the chilly 22 degree weather (I’m only being a little bit ironic).

I was also impressed with my ability to piece together this yummy plate of spaghetti and tofu balls. Improvised following the model of chickpea cutlets, the tofu balls consisted of tofu (from the freezer) blended with garlic and herbs, balsamic vinegar, some oats, and gluten flour. After frying them for a little while I added a tin of tomato puree and some more herbs and then put the lot over some cooked pasta.

These were really good, but they were even better the next day, after the tofu balls had a chance to sit in the fridge and get all firm and stuff.

These meals are probably not the most nutritionally sound and I wouldn’t recommend them on a regular basis, but I reckon they’re healthy enough (especially compared with the SAD).