payday fridge

I normally don't let our fridge get this low.

To be fair, the freezer has a bag of frozen peas and one piece of fish, and the bottom drawer has some radishes.

AND I was in the middle of cooking our final, AMAZING dinner without food-- to feed a family of six: one whole roast chicken, one cup of rice, one bowl of pesto pasta I found in the back of the fridge, and a delicious salad with lettuce, radishes, one tomato, one apple, and carrots.

I thought I'd hold out until payday and see if we could make it through.  I often come home from the grocery store with bags full of food, put them away, and have the kids come open the refrigerator minutes later and say, "Mom, there's nothing to eat!"

This is pretty close to nothing to eat.  But I realized there was still enough for breakfast:  eggs wrapped in tortillas, oatmeal made with water, and JP's old standby, leftover dinner.

We've had some unusual lunches and dinners in trying to eat down the fridge and pantry.  

The kids know me as the miracle cooker since I can make a table full of food out of nothing.

Even Isabela made an amazing lunch the other day: potato soup from two small potatoes and homemade bread bowls with our last packet of yeast.  They turned out amazing. Here's the recipe link.

We had grilled catfish with sautéed mushrooms and green onions on a bed of spinach one day for lunch.  I don't think I'd ever eaten catfish before, and definitely not like that.

We tried cornmeal mush with syrup.  Not a favorite, but something to head for if we're starving.

Along with the empty fridge, our microwave is somewhat broken because of the magnet idea...I've unplugged it so it won't smoke anymore.  (Others believe it is still usable, but I believe it will burn our house down.)

So we had homemade kettle corn for a snack one day.  (1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup popcorn kernels)...heat oil on medium until 3 kernels pop by themselves, then add sugar and popcorn all at once and cover.  Shake for 5 seconds, set on the burner for 5 seconds, alternating until pops start slowing down.  It's a great workout before eating your snack.

Another day I melted some chocolate chips I found in the back of the pantry and let the kids dip saltine crackers in the chocolate.  It's like homemade Nutella!

We cooked a box of JellO that had been in there for who knows how long and everyone ate it, too.

That's the thing about eating down the fridge...there's no other options so people are actually eating what's in front of them.

It's been challenging, too.  We are now officially out of fruit (nope, there's still some frozen blueberries!), milk, butter, rice, noodles, potatoes, meat, and just about everything else except condiments....plenty of mayo, ketchup and mustard to go around.

Well, payday is finally here.  The kids are asking when I'm going to the store.  

Today.  It's today.

I don't think I can make one more miracle.