It’s Been 8 Weeks Since I Bought Groceries
And I’m getting creative in the kitchen
The last time I bought groceries, eight weeks ago, I knew it might be a while before I did so again. I wanted to be the unmoving blue dot.
My original goal was to put off shopping for a month. It was a practical goal, but it also game-ified my life a bit. How long could I make this work, really? With some creativity, I was able to stretch it an extra four weeks.
On my last shopping trip, I bought my usual items — fresh vegetables, ground beef, chicken. I also bought potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and carrots — some of the longest-lasting fresh vegetables that I use regularly.
Earlier, I had stocked up on a haphazard assortment of canned goods (vegetables, meat, fruit, milk), so I knew I had those to work with, too.
The first two weeks of my personal grocery challenge, I mostly stuck to my regular habits, eating lots of fresh produce that I knew I’d be missing out on as the weeks waned.
When my leafy greens, asparagus, cucumbers, and other less hardy fresh vegetables ran out, I turned my attention to frozen ones, and eventually to canned goods.
I’m not, generally speaking, a big canned food eater. I’m not opposed to canned vegetables, fruit, and meat, but I wasn’t used to keeping them in the house.
So I had to do some experimentation. And you know what? I’m glad I did.
Here are five cozy pantry meals I discovered (that — bonus! — you can make for under $2 a serving)!
Homemade pasta and sauce (vegetarian)
Okay, so you can definitely boil a box of storebought pasta and top it with a jar of spaghetti sauce, and that’s totally cool.
But.
Pasta and pasta sauce are both so easy to make with ingredients you might already have in your pantry.
I had never made either from scratch before, so I followed these instructions for my pasta and took a just-wing-it approach to my sauce, based on what I had on hand.
The hardest part of the pasta was getting it rolled thin. Mine was quite thick (it just kept bouncing back!) and felt a little like dumplings when it was boiled. But still good!
For the sauce, I sautéed a diced onion in olive oil with a spoonful of minced garlic, some salt, Italian seasoning, and a bay leaf. In my food processor, I pureed two cans of carrots and a can of northern beans.
When the onions were soft, I poured in two 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes and the carrot-bean puree. The puree gives the sauce a nice, hearty thickness that (I think) makes the meal feel “luxurious.”
The last thing, I added a can of sliced mushrooms. Because in my mind, you can’t have too many mushrooms. You might disagree.
Pantry pot pie
My sister made a pot pie from canned goods a few weeks ago, and when she mentioned it to me, I immediately added it to my list of pantry meals to experiment with. I love pot pies.
There are a few ways to approach your pie. I love homemade all-butter pie crusts, and I usually use this recipe to make them.
But if you want to truly only use pantry items for this recipe, you can make an oil-based crust like this one.
And if you want to go the frozen pie crust route, that’s even easier!
For the filling, use a can of cream of chicken soup, a can or two of peas and carrots, and, if you’d like, a can of chicken.
Bake your pie at 425° for about 35 minutes, or until it’s nice and golden. You might want to cover the edges with aluminum foil partway through (the edges tend to brown faster than the middle of the pie will).
Tuna patties
You could put these patties on a bun, but I enjoyed them on a plate with sweet potato fries as a side.
This is a one-bowl recipe! Combine two drained cans of tuna, an 8-oz can of peas, ⅓ cup bread crumbs, a spoonful of mustard, a couple of spoonfuls of sriracha or other hot sauce, and an egg. To make it a truly pantry-only meal, you can replace the egg with a different binder, like oil, water, and baking powder combination.
Sprinkle some lemon pepper, salt, and dried minced onions, if you’ve got them (I use these in all sorts of things for a bit of crunch — I highly recommend them!). If you don’t have dried minced onions, shake in some onion powder. Then mix it all up!
Using your hands, create 16 mini-patties (about two inches in diameter) or 4 burger-sized patties, then coat each side in breadcrumbs.
Heat a bit of oil in a skillet and grill each patty, about two minutes per side, or until the breadcrumbs get crispy and browned and the patty is heated through so that the egg gets cooked.
For my sweet potato fries, I sliced a sweet potato into thick wedges, tossed them in coconut oil, and laid them out on a sheet pan. I sprinkled them with coarse salt and baked them at 425° until they were tender. It’s so simple, but if you like sweet potatoes, it’s such a delicious sweet-and-salty way to eat them.
Pineapple-and-broccoli coconut rice (vegetarian)
Cook your rice according to the package instructions, except replacing half the water with canned coconut milk.
Top with cashew pieces, pineapple tidbits or chunks, and broccoli florets. I use frozen broccoli, but you can omit this if you’re going for a 100% pantry meal. You could also add canned peas for some pantry “green food.”
Drizzle with a bit of leftover pineapple juice.
Spam fried rice
I had never cooked spam before. I wasn’t sure about it, honestly. (It’s definitely not the healthiest choice).
But, guys.
This is such an easy, freezable, warm-and-delicious comfort food. It’s definitely one of my new favorites. You can leave out the spam, too, to make it vegetarian (or if you just don’t like spam).
Older rice works best for fried rice, so whenever you make a batch of plain rice for another meal, set some aside in the freezer to make fried rice later! Just remember to stick it in the fridge to thaw a day or two before you make your fried rice.
I cubed my spam in little pieces and fried it in a large skillet. If you have a wok, this is a great opportunity to use it. When the spam is crispy on a couple of sides, set it aside in a bowl. Then scramble two eggs in the leftover grease and set them aside, too.
From there, add a tablespoon or two of butter and sauté a diced onion with a spoonful of minced garlic.
Once the onions are tender, turn the heat up to medium-high and add your rice. Stir the garlic-and-onion mix into your rice. Pour some soy sauce over the top and mix it in. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes. (That allows the bottom layer to get a little crispy.)
Toss the mixture, then let it sit again.
Repeat this as many times as you want, until there is a good balance of browned-and-crispy rice versus soft rice.
Add your vegetables. I used a bag of frozen peas and carrots, but if you’re working entirely from your pantry, you can use canned and drained vegetables instead!
When the vegetables are warmed through, season your fried rice with salt, pepper, and anything else. I like to add chili oil for heat and sesame oil for a nice savory flavor.
I’m glad that I pushed myself to work from my pantry over the last month. It’s been an adventure and now I feel confident to use up the canned and dry goods I’ve got in stock — although I’m excited for fresh new groceries, too.
And no matter what, I’m ready to keep exploring.
What pantry cooking tricks do you have up your sleeve?
