No Pity, Please

Well, it finally happened. A couple days after my last post, the folks with the Wi-Fi we’ve been snagging in our neighborhood, locked their Wi-Fi. And since I live about 25 minutes from the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot, I haven’t been too eager to make the trek just to write about my cooking, knitting or gardening. The garden is pretty much closed for the winter, so no news there anyway.

On the other hand, my cooking adventures have become more like an episode of “Iron Chef’ with loads of unexpected ingredients all the time. Seems even the very capable Hubby can’t sell much when there aren’t many customers. No pity, please. I’ve always bragged that I could whip up practically anything from just the ingredients in my fridge and pantry. So with the checkbook being squeezed for life’s other expenses I told my hubby I wasn’t going grocery shopping for a whole month! I had a couple containers of milk and a couple pounds of butter in the fridge as well as two 5 lb bags of apples my mother-in-law had given us a week before. I was set. Well, as you might suspect, I didn’t quite last a month before we needed more milk, some eggs, a block of cheese, a head of lettuce, two onions and some apples (I’m a firm believer in the ‘an apple a day..." mantra). But honestly, I haven’t purchase anything else. I think if I wouldn’t have told Hubby about the “no shopping thing” he might not have noticed (besides that weird pasta dish I made from canned salmon, tomatoes, zucchini and red peppers - it was gross). We’ve had spaghetti with meatballs, halibut with rice pilaf, chicken fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli, home made apple turnovers and an apple tart, homemade tortillas, raisin muffins, homemade hot chocolate (see recipe below), really delicious chocolate banana bars,

apple pancakes, soups (of course lonies), chile verde, Spanish rice, lots of beans, a pot roast, mashed potatoes, warm potato salad, potato pancakes, several different kinds of cheesey and artisan breads

and even some freebies - Baskin Robbins ice cream (thanks to my dad for the “pint for a pint” coupon) and a free medium fries from the coupon for McDonalds thanks to Monopoly last month!

When I started this blog, my BFF mentioned I should inventory my pantry as a testament to the variety of foods I constantly stock. But who wants to read about ingredients, when you can read about the yummy food which they create?! Needless to say my pantry and fridge are gradually getting emptied (BFF said she’d come clean the fridge when it’s even emptier – woohoo!). But the month isn’t over yet. I’m already making my grocery shopping list (and checking it twice). And, man, am I eager to get to Winco for some real grocery shopping. I know the economy isn’t going to turn around just yet, so don’t worry I won’t be going wild or anything. However, I’ve gotten a little wiser about what I really need – no canned salmon!

Homemade Hot Cocoa

1 mug milk

1 small handful of chocolate chips

Gently heat a mugs worth of milk on the stove. As it heats up, add a small handful of chocolate chips (maybe 10-20, depending how chocolaty you like it).  Stir rapidly with a whisk until the chips are melted. Pour into a mug and enjoy! It's even better if you can find the new "gourmet" chocolate chips.