Rationing but relishing

We still haven’t been to the store and Kyle and V comment on a daily basis that I’m somehow making the absolute 100% most awesome meals (to quote them). So that’s a nice little thing to hear considering my limitations. This should be a Top Chef challenge.

And speaking of challenges…I am still riding the endorphins of “rise to the challenge” mode with regard to parenting and home-schooling and keeping the kids happy and occupied and engaged with enough structure that they feel safe but not too much that our house turns into a classroom. Thank goodness the rain stopped this week so we could spend several hours outdoors each day. I think that’s super critical in not going crazy, even if it’s just playing with the rice table in the backyard, or basketball in the cul-de-sac, or biking around the neighborhood streets. Fresh air and Vitamin D are key in this unique situation.

But eventually the adrenaline of this will phase wear off…you can’t sustain the fight-flight level of energy for this length of time! But rather than wonder how long my stamina will last before it starts to wane, I’m focusing on the present. There’s honestly NO TIME FOR MY ANXIETY. And I never thought that would be the case! I feel like to a certain extent this is where my ICU nursing skills come in handy. It’s like my “manage mode”. I stay calm (for the people around me), I don’t freak out, I just put my head down and take care of business.

SO. I bought this organic chickpea & red lentil risoni from TJ’s a while ago (because it was new and I was intrigued), but it’s been in the pantry ever since.

No time like the present to bust out the random pantry ingredients!

I figured this legume based pasta would be a good choice because I wasn’t using any other protein in the meal (ie meat or beans).

To cook it I followed the directions on the box using water but added a glug of olive oil. It ended up needing double the amount of time to cook (maybe because I made the entire box at once?) but once the last bit of water evaporated it was cooked perfectly.

I also roasted cauliflower (another hearty veggie that I bought two weeks ago because I knew it would last a long time). Cruciferous veggies are clutch for long term storage.

To serve, I combined them and tossed in the rest of the bitchin pesto sauce, plus some parm on top.

This was awesome. I loved the texture of the risoni and could see it being a great stand in for various grains or orzo pasta salads.

The box made the perfect amount for the four of us, although I think maybe adding another ingredient would have helped (I’ll try that next time when we aren’t rationing our food).

That said, here’s a gallery of dessert pics to show you we are not starving in the least. My freezer dessert stash is dwindling, but there is still PLENTY. Who in the world has multiple servings of cake and cookie dough? Me. Who has two tupperwares of frozen holiday cookies from this year’s exchange? Me. This is not a crisis. It’s a chocolate-fest for our faces.

More photos of my favorite salads…to prove that my lunches aren’t deteriorating due to the grocery shortage. The two foods I won’t sacrifice on – even in the most crazy scenario – are kale and coffee. If I am in danger of running out of either of those (which I am!) I will order them online before I even come close to running out. Or maybe venture to a store!?!

Have any of you gone to physically grocery shop in the last two weeks? I’m so curious about what is left and what the scene is like?

This salad used the sweet potatoes from my imperfect produce order. If you haven’t looked into imperfect foods I highly recommend it. Food waste is hardly a concern with the current shortages, but in case you were nervous about buying “ugly” food, it’s hardly 10% defective. Much of the time it’s over supply. And for the non-produce items, it’s on the site due to random reasons like packaging changes. Anyway, here’s a referral code for $10 off.

Look how gorgeously these roasted up!

I was heavy handed with the olive oil because I knew I was going to use the remainder in the salad anyway. So as soon as it was out of the oven I poured it all from the pan straight into the bowl.

Next I added wild rice, frozen kale (getting low on supplies!!), and balsamic vinegar.

Once it was all mixed up, I tossed in more olive oil and then sprinkled in some herb flavored chevre.

Finally, I toasted some hazelnuts.

And then served it up, with extra feta on top.

Oh man was this ever deeeeeelish.

We had NADA leftover because everyone went back for seconds.

Wild Rice and Sweet Potato Bowls

Ingredients:

  • 4 sweet potatoes, cubed and roasted
  • 2-4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen kale
  • 1 1/2 cups wild rice, cooked per instructions
  • 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup crumbled chevre/feta
  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 and roast potatoes tossed in olive oil and salt for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the wild rice. It should yield 3-4 cups once cooked.

After the sweet potatoes are done, add them to a big serving bowl along with all the extra olive oil and then add the hazelnuts to the baking sheet. Put it back in the oven to broil for up to 5 minutes (keep and eye on them so they don’t burn!).

Toss the sweet potatoes with the rice and frozen kale, then add in the balsamic vinegar and any extra olive oil you want.

Before serving, top with nuts and cheese.

Be ready to fight over leftovers, if there are any!

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Comments (6)

  1. Amy

    I am in upstate NY, about 2 hrs NW of NYC. Small town. I have been to the grocery store more than I would like but have found it to be well stocked. There was roughly a week when this began that meat was hard to find and the paper products aisle is still bare but everything else is in good supply. And everyone has been very good about keeping their distance.

  2. Hillary

    I’m up in Portland, OR, so I don’t know what the stores are like in California, but things have settled down a bit here. If I go to the store first thing in the morning (ie after they’ve restocked overnight) it’s busy and there’s a line to get into the store. Otherwise, it’s not so bad. The canned goods are still going super quick, as well as toilet paper and soap. However, the fresh food is plentiful which is what I’m always desperate for! The grocery stores here are doing a great job of managing the number of people in the store at one time and making the checkout lines as socially distanced as possible. I’m trying to only go out when needed, but my experience last week made me feel much calmer about the whole thing.

  3. Elise (Post author)

    Isn’t it crazy!? We are still doing alright, but I still haven’t been able to find toilet paper online ANYWHERE…we are going to run out in a week so hopefully things settle soon!
    And I agree, fresh produce is really the only thing I care about restocking at this point.

  4. Elise (Post author)

    That’s interesting. I don’t think meat was ever an issue here but the frozen foods aisle and toilet paper situation is a little insane.

  5. Lynn

    Being an ICU nurse myself I can totally understand caring for others before ourselves. Your Instagram and blog post are encouraging to all of us. We all know when we need the break and those around us will be their for us.

  6. Kat

    I’m in Nyc suburbs.

    I had one bad experience 2 weeks ago in a store that was packed and chaotic.
    Since then I’ve only done grocery delivery and not been shopping myself.
    I haven’t been able to get tofu, flour, cabbage, toilet paper.

    I hear that toilet paper is in our stores in the morning but I’m not going out again until our stock runs out and there are no online option.

    My husband gets anxious about running out of meat cheese toilet paper and I’m terrified of not having fresh veggies

Comments are closed.