Under the Median: Menu Planning When Your Fridge Is Empty!

This is an actual photo of what my fridge looked like this morning! I thought about heading to the store, but, then an amazing (and slightly crazy) idea occurred to me. Why not challenge myself to make an entire week's worth of food, using only what I had on hand?! I proposed this concept to my 14 year old sous chef and he enthusiastically gave two thumbs up - which means either he has great faith in our ability to prepare meals out of practically nothing, or he has the same crazy notions as his mother!

Here are the steps I take when I really need to use what I already have in the house to make meals for the week:

Step 1: Take inventory.

I'll start by showing you what my cutting board looked like when I cleaned out the fridge and added the items that I had sitting out on the counter.

The basic ingredients:

2 large carrots
2 stalks celery
1 really big red pepper
1 fresh pineapple
red and white onions
9 - sweet potatoes
1/2 gallon of unsweetened plant based milk (not pictured)
1 medium plum tomato
Bottled lemon juice (not pictured)

That's it! I would need to add items from the pantry and freezer to combine with these basic items to create enough dishes to feed us for a week.

It is super helpful to be aware of what you already have in the pantry and freezers. Here are my tips and ideas on how to organize your pantry.

A couple of things you should know:

I have plenty of apples, oranges, and grapes on hand to last us all week .
I have frozen veggies to add for side dishes.
I have bagels and bread to make sandwiches for lunches.
I have a big bag of greens. As a whole food vegan, running out of greens is pretty much the only thing which will result in me running to the store as soon as humanly possible.

Step 2: Find Recipes.

I have a lot of cookbooks. I grab three or four of my favorites, plus a cup of coffee, a pen, and my bulk cooking forms. Click here for a free download of my bulk cooking organization template. My goal is always to find 3 soups, 3 main dishes, and 2 sides that I can make for the week.

I also have my computer on hand. If I find no inspiration in the cookbooks, I begin Googling recipes by main ingredients. I have never failed to find dishes that I can make, using what I already have in the house.

You may have to do a bit of ingredient substitution. For instance, I knew that I had brown rice in the pantry. So, I immediately made a triple batch in the rice cooker. I looked for a rice salad recipe, using some of the red onion, and red pepper. I found a perfect recipe, which used lime juice in the dressing. I didn't have limes. But, I did have some bottled lemon juice in the fridge. So, I substituted lemon for the lime. (Please, no "bottled lemon juice judging". I have a child who loves to add lemon juice to his water. I'd go broke letting him do it with actual lemons. Besides that, I like a little lemon in my water, too!)

Step 3: Arrange your ingredients in separate bowls.

Chop your base ingredients (carrots, celery, onion, and garlic) and place them in individual bowls, one bowl for each recipe. I have bulk cooked this way for many years. When you are low on the basics, like onion, garlic, celery, and carrots, you must "dole them out". I dice every item and then allocate a certain amount to each recipe. If you find that you have leftover carrot, you can always add more. If you don't have quite enough, you can gather a little from each individual recipe bowl. Do this before you add any of these basic ingredients to the pots and pans. If you don't, you may find that you are totally out of one of these ingredients when you get to the last two recipes and have to do a last-minute reconfigure of your menu plan.

Step 4: Cook!

I did a series of posts a couple of years ago on bulk cooking. Here are the reasons that bulk cooking saves you time and money, tips and techniques, and a photo gallery and recipes of a bulk cooking day.

So, what did I make today?

I made 3 soups, 3 main dishes, and 1 side dish!

Items I added from the pantry:

1. 1 large can of tomato paste

2. 2 pounds of dry black beans (I cooked them in the pressure cooker in 30 minutes!)

3. 3 cups of brown rice (9 cups cooked)

4. 1 pound dry pinto beans

5. spices

6. soy sauce

7. liquid smoke

8. 1 can of corn

9. real maple syrup

10. Raisins

11. Walnuts

12. Vinegar
13. 1 can of kidney beans

Items I added from the freezer:

1. 4 cups Cubed roasted butternut squash (from last year's CSA share)

2. 1 large Poblano pepper

What I made:

Soups:

Poblano-Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

I used this recipe for the basic idea for my soup. I added some unsweetened coconut-almond milk after I pureed the soup. Oh, my goodness! It tasted amazing!

Black Bean Chili in the pressure cooker

I cooked 2 full pounds of black beans in the pressure cooker for 23 minutes and then released the steam. This filled my six quart pressure cooker to capacity. I removed 4 cups of the beans and then made this fantastic soup with the broth and beans, which were left in the pot. (The beans which I removed, became spicy black beans and rice.)

Black bean soup is a family favorite, which I make about three times a month. Being a person who views a recipe as a "suggestion", I often use whatever items I have on hand to add to the beans in the soup pot.

It cooks beautifully in the pressure cooker and freezes well. If you don't have a pressure cooker, a crock pot on "high" for 4 hours or "low" for 6-8 works fantastically.

Smoky white bean soup

This is my own, original soup recipe and it's undoubtedly the more requested on the blog. You can download a free PDF of the recipe. Here's a link to the blog post, containing the PDF. Enjoy!

Main Dishes

Sweet potato stir fry

I used this recipe from Tasty, but added some fresh pineapple and kidney beans instead of black beans. I also added two cups of cooked brown rice to make it go a little further. It was, indeed, what the website said it was, "Tasty".

Moroccan Sweet Potatoes

These were glorious baked bits of heaven! Seriously! The flavor! We tend to think of sweet potatoes as something bathed in sugar and marshmallows. Yuck! This recipe pairs interesting Middle-eastern flavors with the simple goodness of sweet potato. I served with with rice salad for supper and it was very filling. Do give them a try!

Spicy black beans with rice

Here are the 4 cups of black beans, which I removed from the pressure cooker earlier in the day. This recipe be two meals, the first served over salad greens and topped with some salsa and homemade dressing, the second rolled up in tortillas and toasted in the oven.

Side Dish

Rice Salad with lemon dressing

We made this recipe up as we went along. I added some red onion, red pepper, raisins, walnuts, a tomato, and a little celery. Then, my 14 year old sous chef whisked together a simple lemon dressing. Here's a very similar salad.

What else am I making?

tuno salad for lunchtime sandwiches

baked apples for a dessert one night

homemade hummus to spoon on top of the spicy black beans and rice salad

Your turn!

What are your "go to" dishes when there's not much in the fridge and you really want to use items you already have in the house, rather than trek to the store? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. I'd love to know your tips and tricks!