Monday, May 18, 2009

Pantry Food

When I came back from England (almost a month ago now... damn, I’m far behind) I had pretty much no food in the house. But I was fairly sick, suffering a lingering sinus infection that got a foothold as a result of cold weather, lack of sleep, being on an airplane and not eating as well as I should (and still hasn’t said goodbye, weeks later). And I was home alone, since Andy was finishing up a field work trip in PNG. And I was at uni during the days, and by the time I got home and had a shower I was ready to put sweatpants on and not leave the house again. All of these forces combined into a giant lack of motivation to go grocery shopping. I managed to survive for a week on meals put together solely from the pantry and the freezer.

One of the stand-out meals was this yummy chilli. Diced tomatoes, kidney beans, baked beans, TVP and spices from the pantry teamed up with a bit of frozen spinach and some veggie stock to make a delicious and hearty, slightly spicy stew that kept me warm against the chilly 22 degree weather (I’m only being a little bit ironic).

I was also impressed with my ability to piece together this yummy plate of spaghetti and tofu balls. Improvised following the model of chickpea cutlets, the tofu balls consisted of tofu (from the freezer) blended with garlic and herbs, balsamic vinegar, some oats, and gluten flour. After frying them for a little while I added a tin of tomato puree and some more herbs and then put the lot over some cooked pasta.

These were really good, but they were even better the next day, after the tofu balls had a chance to sit in the fridge and get all firm and stuff.

These meals are probably not the most nutritionally sound and I wouldn’t recommend them on a regular basis, but I reckon they’re healthy enough (especially compared with the SAD).

9 comments:

Amy said...

Mmmm I love your balls (mwahahaha). I also love the tags Italian-ish and Mexican-ish. Best tags ever...
(And you're cold? We had a 10 degree morning the other day - I was wearing GLOVES!!!!)

x said...

Your pantry meals look great and they're the sort of comforting food I'd want to eat when sick, too!

I think I am having sinus headaches at the moment, my face aches :(

Gina said...

I've been trying to keep at least one meal every week a pantry meal..the food piles up so quickly for me. Everything looks super yummy!!

Vegan_Noodle said...

It's amazing what people come up with to eat from their pantry! Those tofu balls look delish.

Hope you're feeling better!

Bianca said...

Oh my, those tofu balls look mighty tasty! I love spaghetti with "meat"balls. And the chili looks amazing!!! Glad you're feeling better.

Vaala ◪ said...

That food is super impressive for pantry food. Mine normally ends up being cereal or baked beans on toast!

Amy said...

You make wonderful pantry food! My pantry food tends to be frozen reheated meals or canned soup or something equally terrible!

Those tofu balls look especially good!

Hope you feel all better soon!

urban vegan said...

Kudos to you for making something from the contents of your pantry. Gotta' get into that habit.

Hope you're feeling better, too.

Amy said...

That reminds me of an activity called "Eating down the fridge" on one of the blogs I read:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/eating_down_the_fridge/

You should enter the next time she does it!