Pantry Purge 2011

After ditching cable earlier this week, Brent and I discovered that the Show Hoarders was available to stream on Netflix. Who doesn't love a good train wreck to watch?? After watching a couple of episodes, including one that featured a woman that was a food hoarder, we were motivated for a challenge. How many times have you gone to the grocery store only to return and struggle to find a place to house your new 'necessary' goods. I came to the realization that I honestly don't know what is on the top two shelves of our pantry. Now we're not hoarders by an means, but we are certainly guilty of having far more than we need to. So here's the challenge: We are going to see how long we can eat at home without having to go grocery shopping. The only exceptions are for fresh vegetables and milk. I am sure that it is going to be difficult at times, but I am really excited about it. I love being creative in the kitchen.

Tonight was our first night of this experiment. It went really well. Here is what we whipped up:

Chicken and Soba Stir-fry:

16 oz chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tsp 5 spice seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 4-oz package soba noodles
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped,
10 radishes, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
1 cup vegetable broth
olive oil
1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water
2 tbsp soy sauce

Ok...mix the chopped onion and chicken in a bowl. Season with 5 spice, salt, and minced garlic. Set aside. cook noodles according to package. Add 2 Tbsp oil to wok and stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to wok. Add chicken mixture. Cook 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Mix in soba noodles and serve.

It was tasty and quick. Tomorrow could be more challenging considering we have the boys and 3 meals to prepare. I'm both glad and worried that we didn't grocery shop ahead of time to prepare for this. I'm pleased to say that today we used up several packages of things that were partially used. It feels really good!