Pantry Reduction Month, Week 2

So the quest to reduce the food in the pantry and freezer continues! As I mentioned in my previous post, it isn't about baring my cupboards so much as just cleaning things out a bit. I'm also finding it's going a bit slow...but that could be because of my odd work schedule right now. Still, it's been fun to find a recipe to use up a very particular ingredient rather than just choosing a completely new recipe.

This past week we pulled out and ate (see, I'm even squeezing in a couple of new recipes!):

1/4 box rotini became - Bob Barkers Summertime Salad (Rachel Ray Every Day, June pg 131) This made a lot and would be great for a summer potluck for people with non-adventurous taste buds. I found it lacking a bit in the seasoning department. It could have used just a bit of...something. Feta cheese perhaps? Provolone? Pepperoni? The visual appeal of this salad was delightful: red, orange and yellow peppers, red cherry tomatoes, bright green basil, dark purple kalmata olives. I did make one substitution: the recipe called for tri-color rotini, but I used whole wheat.

1 tub Marinara sauce - which will go on the linguine or my homemade ravioli or both.

1 tub Corn and Salmon Chowder

2 frozen bananas became - Tropical Banana Cream Muffins (Culinary in the Desert Blog) I haven't tried one of these yet because they are for book group tonight. A banana muffin is transformed from ordinary into tropical with the addition of cinnamon, ginger, lime, sour cream and coconut. I didn't have lime zest so I obviously skipped that bit, and I omitted the coconut because people are just funny about it. Instead, I added some lemon zest to some sugar and sprinkled it over the top of half the muffins. Oops, forgot to snap a picture, I'll have to add one later.

I have just been reminded to come back and review the muffins! They were just okay. The lime juice didn't really come through and they turned out a bit on the dry side. Perhaps if I had added the lime zest and some toasted coconut they would have been more "tropical", but I wasn't overly impressed as it was. They also weren't as enthusiastically recieved at book group as other treats I have brought, if I am to judge from thier eager taste buds. I think my group prefers chocolate, carrot cake and cheesecake...

I also used up some: walnuts, sunflower seeds, and honey while making granola, and some packets of yogurt culture while making yogurt. Bit by bit I am making progress!