Today: Pen pals and a well-stocked kitchen.
[tweetmeme source=”elizabethev” only_single=false]You know when you have a closet full of clothes, but nothing to wear? I felt like lately we’ve had a kitchen full of food, but nothing to eat. Short on fresh veggies, yogurt and other staples, Nick and I literally emptied our fridge and cabinets before hitting up Whole Foods this weekend. We tossed anything perishable (and therefore un-donate-able) that sat on our shelves, uneaten. I was surprised to find more than one expired item. Ew.
With our shelves wiped clean and everything reorganized, we sat down to make a shopping list with a much better sense of what we actually have on hand. Clearly (if the three jars of whole grain mustard are any indication), this is a habit that I could stand to make more… habitual.
One of my favorite treats from the market is fresh flowers, especially as the weather gets more dismal. This week, I picked up a bunch of snow white tulips, and a bunch of long-stemmed kale. Greens make lovely arrangements. Perhaps I will walk down the aisle with a bouquet of kale, carrots, and radishes. Perhaps not.
As I carefully unpacked our groceries, I made sure to add my goodies from Parita, my October foodie pen pal, to the shelves. In addition to some homemade chocolate chip blondies (which didn’t last long enough to be photographed… muhaha), Parita sent me a jar of nutritional yeast (something I have been looking forward to trying!), chocolate chip peanut butter Larabards (one of my favorite flavors– Parita recommends trying them frozen), and a jar of olive tapenade. Thank you so much for this perfect assortment of goodies, Parita! If you’d like to see what I sent my pen pal, Nicole, please visit her blog, Nicole on a Mission. 🙂
I used some of Parita’s tapenade when whipping up some quick and easy appetizers (Nick’s parents will be here any minute). If you invented filo shells, thank you. You, sir or madam, are a genius. For toppings, I use three combinations:
- Brie, hot pepper jelly and freshly ground peppper
- Granny Smith apple, crumbled brie and dried cranberries
- Olive tapenade and shaved pecorino romano
- Lunch at Local 149
- Fine-tuning Clark’s Halloween costume 🙂
- Countdown to the NYC Marathon: ONE WEEK!
Comments (8)
Kimberly
October 30, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Hot pepper jelly is soo good! 🙂
Sarah
October 30, 2011 at 5:09 pm
That olive spread looks amazing!!
Nicole2112
October 30, 2011 at 5:46 pm
I LOVED my box!! Thank you again! I hope you will be my foodie fairy again soon!!
Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean
October 30, 2011 at 8:42 pm
never thought of freezing larabars! sounds great!!
Bridget
October 30, 2011 at 9:01 pm
you’re on fire with those damn filo cups!! I still have my box in the pantry 🙂 We should do fridge “clean outs” more often, but tend to have a pretty full fridge with “nothing to eat” frequently 🙂 And yes we shop every week.
onefitfoodie
October 30, 2011 at 9:09 pm
sooo when can we meet up?!?! I was just in southie today at franklin cafe!! pls soon!!
Diana @ VeggieNextDoor
October 30, 2011 at 10:33 pm
I haven’t yet tried a frozen Larabar and totally need to! Thanks Elizabeth & Parita for the tip!
Parita
November 1, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Glad you liked everything! 🙂