I've been catching up on this thread after a long absence, and I must say that there have been some very nice sounding meals made with some very odd ingredients! And people talking about having spare space in their cupboards and freezers ...
I got inspired.
I have concluded that I should probably do a proper inventory. But right now there's enough stuff in the freezer and one cupboard in particular that it would be a real pain in the neck! I did take a look through most of my stocks, and made some mental notes about things I should try to make/use up. One really obvious observation - I do not need to buy rice anytime soon!
Using up stuff can go slowly, as I work some different hours, and it's not unusual to be fed at work or sent home with leftovers from events. A good chunk of my freezer stuff is individual portions of leftovers that I've brought home. All mixed up with other stuff, and jam-packed in there, with mini-avalanches when you try to take something out. But at least I have quite a few quick reheat meals to help keep me from stopping for fast food on the way home.
For tonight, to make some kind of forward progress, I took a jar of some unknown substance out of the freezer and defrosted it. I have no idea exactly what it was meant to be - tomato sauce (too thin?), some kind of broth (but then why would it have rice in it?), or soup (but then why doesn't it seem to have anything BUT rice in it?) Anyway, I added some chopped veggies from the freezer, and frozen spinach, and some dehydrated "soya chunks" and let it boil for a while. Then threw in a little couscous. There's still more - I tend to buy couscous, use one portion, then forget about it in the cupboard. So now all those items have turned into a pretty healthy looking soup/stew. If it tastes good - well, there's another jar in the freezer that looks like it's the same thing!
I also cooked up some quick oats tonight. I am way overstocked, and have two unopened bags that are about to hit their best before dates. I'm not eating hot cereal much these days, but I supplement the dog's food with some odds and ends of healthy people food, so she can have a blob of oatmeal on her evening kibble this week. And I have a little more tidying to do of the fridge, then I'll move the rest of the oatmeal in there to keep it more safely.
Finally, my evening snack was a little Minigo (yoghurt/soft cheese type thing) that expired a leeettle while ago. I was so sick over the holidays that some stuff just didn't get touched. It tasted fine, and so far so good on the stomach front. Still, there were 6 of them and I'm not going to want to keep them around much longer. So the dog had some yoghurt tonight too. She proceeded to lick her bowl so thoroughly that it slid all the way across the kitchen floor and down the hall! LOL! Guess she liked it!