The Food Pantry Chronicles

The movers are coming in a little over a month and I've been working my way through the pantry for what seems like forever. It was more of a goal to tap into the pantry reserves than it was a necessity to empty everything. Now we are getting down to the line and I'm really trying to use up the pantry contents. I'd really just like to take spices and staples and buy new food when I get there. 

While Hubs is gone I should be cooking for one. I've found that cooking up a soup or a casserole to share with the neighbors gives me something to look forward to and I'm using up more ingredients that way. It's also nice to have that social interaction. 

I have made some fun meals with ingredients mostly from the pantry. I've also embraced my inner 13 year old and tried combining ingredients that I normally don't use. My two favorites from this week were Chili-Ghetti and Tuna Melts. 

My Chili-Ghetti was much better than the stuff my mom (or was it my dad?) used to toss together when I was a kid. I used the last of the lentil chili (lentils, chili powder, cumin, garlic, Rotel, Boca beef crumbles) I made on Sunday along with bow tie and corkscrew pasta bits. I topped it with bagged taco cheese shreds and half a can of chopped green chilis. (I used the rest of the can chilis in omelets.) I had a few boxes of 1/2c or so of pasta left in the box so I combined them to empty the boxes and just followed the instructions for the pasta with the longest cook time. I'll post the recipes for everything along with pictures as soon as I can.

For my tuna melts I used the usual tuna salad ingredients but I substituted hot Chow Chow for the relish. I didn't want to buy another container of relish just to eat up the canned tuna and I had a jar of hot Chow Chow that I bought at the farmer's market over the summer. It was amazing on a Tuna Melt and the Chow Chow flavor did very well with a sharper cheese. 

I've also set a few guidelines that seem to help the pantry emptying process.

1. No random canned goods or boxes of foods for future use. If I can't cook it tonight, don't buy it. (Exception: Max of two cans of soup for use this week, broth and coffee.)

2. Stick to buying produce, dairy and small portions of meat that can be combined with pantry contents to make meals.

3. Try to use something from the pantry at every meal.

4. You can throw a lot of stuff into soup! The same goes for casseroles and pot pies. Make it on Saturdays and let the neighbors know that a container will be coming their way. Don't freeze more than you know you'll eat between now and move day. 

5. No more condiments. Look up recipes for ketchup, mayo etc. or use up salad dressing as substitute. 

6. Save sour cream containers, mayo jars, etc. to give soup to neighbors. Avoid tracking down the good Tupperware on move day.

MEPS, Papers, Wonder Files and Trapper Keepers

Hubs found out today that he has his MEPS physical scheduled this week. Things are getting really exciting around here. He's so pleased it wasn't scheduled for next week. You aren't supposed to do any running or exercise for 48 hours before the physical to reduce any chance of injury. Had they scheduled it for next week he wouldn't have been able to run in the Peachtree Road Race. Who doesn't want to run in 100 degree Atlanta heat? 

I read that Air Force JAG had about a 5-7% acceptance rate. I also read that in December they had something like seven hundred applicants and only 25 were selected. To make things even more tense, one of his law school classmates was accepted for JAG and was later disqualified following the MEPS evaluation. Nope, no nail biting here. 

A few weeks ago there was some scrambling to get copies of medical records. Let me say it now: Even if you are just thinking about going into JAG, get a hold of your medical records as soon as the thought runs through your brain. It turns out that most doctors and hospitals only hold records for ten years. Crazy, right?

I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get copies of immunization records. It took a phone call and four days later they arrived in the mail. Booyah!  While he won't need them for MEPS he will need them for COT. If you don't have your immunization records they will re-vaccinate you within the first four days of class. Feeling like he's been hit by a truck the first week of COT doesn't seem like a wise use of time so I'm sure he'll take his records.

I found these on an end cap at Target and bought one. It seems to work  for our paperwork gathering needs.

We started researching what he would need for MEPS, COT and other situations and started gathering those records (birth and marriage certificates, etc.) and putting them into a central location. I read on other blogs and forums that a lot of people had tried the Wonder File as an alternative to the accordion filing systems. So far it works but we're just getting started. While I can always open it up and spread it across the kitchen table the accordion may be easier to manage on long travels. I'm also going to look at school notebooks. I'm beginning to think a Trapper Keeper may be easier to organize, wouldn't scream "steal me" in case of a break in and be sturdier in transit. 

Doesn't this just scream "I'm ORGANIZED"? 

Mead has never let me down. If they can keep a 9 year old organized, I'm sold.

The current Trapper Keeper design.