Obviously I am little behind on writing this… It was intended for the 15th. So sue me, I do this for fun! 🙂 You may have wondered if I managed to stay strong during my self-imposed shopping ban, and I am pleased to report I am sticking with it like a BOSS! That’s because I haven’t run out of Pepsi. Yet. We’ll see what tune I’m singing then… Probably a funeral dirge.
These first three weeks have been surprisingly easy. That just goes to show that I have really and truly had WAY too much food lying around the house. And not just food! I have been steadily drinking my way through the liquor cabinet as well! Now don’t go thinking I need an intervention scheduled… People don’t bat an eye when you say you’re going to eat your way through your pantry, but they get nervous when you plan to drink through your alcohol supply! Rest assured, I’m okay to drive (and cook, which is more important!) I have enjoyed a bloody Mary most weekend mornings, and a glass of wine while at my stove, but mostly I polished off the partial bottles by using them in sauces, marinades, taking them to parties, etc. It’s amazing how much space two bottles of Crown Royal, a bottle of vodka, three bottles of wine, amaretto, and frozen daiquiri mix (to name a few) take up! So on to the food…
You may recall the mission statement of this blog is to track and document my culinary journey through Ree Drummond’s Dinnertime cookbook initially, then move on to other projects. I confess I was mighty worried that I was not going to be able to make much progress throughout the month of February without going to the store. I feared a month of frozen and canned meals, guaranteed to exceed my daily limit for sodium intake. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was able to supply or swap out nearly every ingredient needed to make a LOT of headway over the past weeks! Starting with: Black Bean Soup! 
Hey guess what? It pretty much tastes just like chili! I will say I was put off watching this cook. It looked like scummy pond water (yes I know, not a lovely food-image, but the TRUTH!) and this was another one of those irritating recipes that kicked off with “Rinse your beans in cold water. Let stand overnight”. ARRGGGHHHH!!!! Other than the long wait, there was nothing to this besides boiling, adding seasoning and chicken broth. Done!
Next up was a FULL MEAL of brand new recipes! What could go wrong, eh? Worst case, I could pick up a pizza… Luckily that was unnecessary, as the whole meal was a smash hit. 
Oven BBQ Chicken was the main course, and it had the added bonus of requiring me to make my own barbecue sauce from scratch. “Bonus” because I’m trying to use up pantry stuff of course. I’d tell you to just buy a bottle of sauce like the recipe suggests! The Roasted Carrots were coated in a homemade vinaigrette I already had in the fridge plus a few extra ingredients, and were a nice departure from the old “frozen bagged carrots cooked in butter” routine. Polenta… Oh, polenta, where have you been all my life?? Italy you say? One more reason to go there and spend a month or two. (I had to look it up; I could have sworn polenta was from Mexico or Spain!) Either way, this was seriously delicious. As easy as Cream of Wheat, this was done in a matter of 30 seconds once I brought some chicken stock to a gentle boil. Evidently I had the “fine ground” cornmeal, because Ree told me it would take up to 10 minutes! Lies. Add some butter and pepper, and this starch side dish is now going to bump potatoes over for many a future meal. PS, it made a TON, so I am planning to use the leftovers to make a version of “shrimp and grits”. The key difference between grits and polenta is that grits are made from fine hominy, or white corn, and polenta is made from coarser, yellow corn. I think I’ll manage the swap without shedding a tear.
The next two were total throw-away recipes. As in, “big meh”. The Roasted Butternut Squash Salad was pretty much just greens with some roasted squash and pine nuts thrown in. Snore. I’ll eat my squash as a side dish, thanks. As for Recipe #115, Sugar Cookies, I just don’t like sugar cookies, period. They are boring and and could really benefit from… being chocolate chip cookies instead! However, they were quick and easy to take to poker night and a darn-sight better than store bought. I did try one and they were good, for what they were. If you LIKE sugar cookies, I’d say this is a great recipe!
Sunday brunch was a great time to knock out a potato recipe I have not been super excited about, aptly named, “Breakfast Potatoes”. I am a hash brown girl, through and through. I refuse to go to The Egg & I because they don’t even HAVE the best breakfast starch ever invented on their menu! Disgraceful. I had to make a lot of alterations to this recipe, partly due to my diminishing produce supply, and partially due to preference. Ree wanted a whole onion in here, plus a full teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Cayenne. Pepper. Is she insane?? I dropped it to 1/4 of an onion and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and my mouth is still burning a bit. Also, I made the ultimate sacrifice and used the last half-stick of vegan “butter” instead of delicious, from-a-cow butter. I just needed it gone… When melted, it is a highly unappetizing, watery, yellowish white liquid, but it did the job. The potatoes roasted and browned in the oven along with some peppers and the appropriate amount of onion. I can’t say they carried a buttery “flavor”, but at least they crisped up. As a quick aside, I ran out of brown sugar a while ago, but I was able to still enjoy my glazed pepper bacon by making my own with molasses and white sugar! I love knowing how to make stuff… But I’m still going to buy more when I am off restriction!
Last but not least, I made Supreme Pizza Burgers. On the one hand, the recipe is exactly what it purported to be, and the first bite of burger did indeed taste like a bite of Supreme pizza. On the other hand, I don’t care for Supreme pizza… I SWEAR, I am not a really picky eater!! It doesn’t sound like it, but I just really feel that pizza achieved perfection when some American (because I am pretty sure no real Italian started this!) slapped a pound of mozzarella and a pound of sliced pepperoni on flatbread and red sauce! This is chock full of vegetables, which have no place on my favorite pizza. Still, it’s one more recipe knocked out of the book!
The little sweet peppers in a bag have been a real lifesaver during this project. I can limit the amount of pepper instead of using a full bell pepper, and they keep FOREVER in their pouch. I also was able to get a mix of colors for $3. I had to make some concessions, as I did not have mushrooms, and I also didn’t have thawed pork sausage, so my meat was just beef with Italian seasoning, and the toppings were limited to provolone, pepperoni, onion, peppers, and marinara. Covering the pan with a lid melted the second layer of cheese beautifully and resulted in this:
So here I sit, 19 days into the no-shopping effort and going strong; 20 recipes to go and I will have successfully completed my second full cookbook. Finish line, here I come!
Have Book, Will Cook 