From Out Of The Ashes

I created a dramatic image to go with my title

My fridge died this week, so I decided to write a blog post with a really dramatic title.

Our fridge has been acting funny for a while.  I'd noticed that it didn't feel as cold as it used to, and I noticed increased rates of food spoilage.  Yes, that is something I notice because I'm the coolest person out there!  Anyway, I chalked it up to the warmer weather outside, and bumped up the temperature in the fridge, which promptly made some things freeze, while others stayed warm.

A couple days ago, BF announced, proudly, that he had fixed the fridge.  "The fridge is broken?" I asked.  Apparently, it had seemed that the fridge was shutting itself off, and he had somehow figured out how to fix that.  But, naturally, the problem was bigger than that, and the fridge continued to not be cold and started to make alarming 'I'm working too hard!' noises.

Thankfully, my landlord is in Sweden and his subletters haven't moved in yet, so we stuck our food in his fridge and didn't lose much, but we're in an odd predicament right now.  The fridge will not be replaced until next week because we're going to be out of town all weekend, and the subletters move in on Saturday, so we need to get the food out of his fridge.  This spurred me into frantic eating to reduce food waste mode, and it's been a little fun.

For example:  Our milk and half and half spoiled right away.  I found this out after pouring some half & half into a cup, filling it with coffee, walking away briefly and coming back to find that all the half & half had separated into this gross looking film.  No thank you.   So I've been drinking my coffee black, which I haven't done in years, and I don't hate it!

Last night, I was sitting at work thinking about what I'd like to have for dinner, and I tried to recall what we have left that needs eating.  Conclusion: Polenta, pea greens and eggs.  Enter the wonderful world of Pinterest and boom--

Mine was not this pretty, but you get the idea

Delicious, healthy dinner!  I would really never have thought to put egg with polenta, mainly because I'm still learning what to do with polenta, but now I have one less egg to worry about, much less polenta and I may make this again for dinner.

To that end, I am reminded how much fun shopping the pantry is.  I've mentioned before that our grocery bills have been astronomical and that that makes me quite sad, but being forced to make meals out of odds and ends is an awesome adventure!  Sometimes you just need a little inconvenience to spark your imagination.

My plan for the rest of the month is to buy minimal groceries.  Instead, I'm going to pair my pantry items with my farm share items and hopefully come up with some fun new treats and save some damn money.