I Am Not Grocery Shopping Right Now

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• I’ve been doing a “Waste Less January” for years and years.  I come back from vacation and attempt to shop my kitchen and buy only fresh produce and animal protein as needed.  I am especially committed to using foods from the freezer and I am not afraid to make swaps in recipes.  If the pandemic taught us nothing, we did learn that we don’t have to follow recipes exactly.

  

• As much as I do not like to waste food (it in fact gives me anxiety to throw food away), we may have things in our freezer/fridge that are past their prime, even inedible.  Deal with it.  You know this is a metaphor for life. The way you do anything is the way you do everything.  Holding onto things that don’t serve you takes space away for things that do serve you.  Holding onto things that are broken and unusable do the opposite of creating joy.  Remember last week’s newsletter? If you need to throw out food because it’s not fit for consumption, re-evaluate the purchase.  Did you dislike it?  Don’t buy it again.  Did you forget about it in the freezer?  You need a better system for freezer organization.  Etc.

• My system for freezing is that I really like to label everything with painters tape and a sharpie. This is NOT my freezer LOL, but it is close to my system.

  

• I have talked about Souper Cubes before, but it’s worth mentioning the product again.  They are silicone molds for freezing anything, but they are particularly genius for freezing stock and soup.  There are other products like Souper Cubes, so buy whatever you like. But I have moved on from freezing stock in glass. I freeze the soup and if I need the mold again, I pop the soup block out and transfer it to a reusable bag.

  

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• I also love the Zwilling Fresh & Save system. I use the reusable and resealable bags and the storage containers

  

• If you have food that is still edible but that you do not want, consider giving to a friend or better yet a food pantry.  Here is a link for LA County, but you can search for your area.

• Ways I use odds and ends are generally in soups and stir-fries. If I have good stock, I can make a good soup. One of new favorites is chicken stock, frozen dumplings, random vegetables (frozen works great) and each bowl seasoned (eyeball it) with chili crisp, sesame oil, soy sauce, seaweed flakes, whatever! Taste and enjoy.

• I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have leftover hamburger or hot dog buns in the freezer. Look for recipes for stratas, French toast casseroles, or make croutons. Otherwise, toss and move on with your life.

  

Upgrade to Paid to access a new pasta with creamy vegan butternut squash sauce. I have cracked the code on this one! Also, I link all the cookware and products I used in this recipe. I have maybe one alcoholic beverage a month.  I’ll tell you what my go-to custom order is when I go out or make a drink at home.

xxPamela