The fridge game

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but panic is the backbone of creativity.

The goal for the last two weeks in the Dale is to clean out as much junk as possible so I have less to move back to the Shire – and this includes my kitchen cupboards, stocked as they are ready to whip up a quick dinner for fifty people, or perhaps to sustain me through a small nuclear winter.

At the same time, if I only lived on what was in my cupboards I’d be having noodle soup and pasta for two weeks, which would render me depressed and too fat to move from the Dale after all.

A little ingenuity and some fresh vegetables are in order. Tonight’s meal is brought to you by:

one box of falafel mix

one box of couscous

one can of chickpeas

one can of lentils

punnet of tomatoes (rapidly approaching intelligent life-form status)

one bulb of garlic (also reaching the point at which Bear Grylls would ask for his money back)

spices

Honestly, the only thing I bought was eggplant, which I cut up and roasted with the garlic and tomatoes. The spices went in with the chickpeas and lentils, falafel was made (Did you know you can bake falafel, instead of frying? So good) and couscous was steamed. Which, by the way, didn’t work (I have no idea why – Jamie always makes it sound so easy) so I added the boiling water as instructed on the box.

A little salt, and there’s lunch for the next three days! Plus, my cupboard is looking ever so clean. Well, maybe not clean. There’s a little work to be done - I’ve still got noodles, jalapenos, pumpkin soup, pasta sauce, anchovies and canned vegetables. Who’s up for the next round of the fridge-and-cupboard game?