Meal Planning and the Pantry for One

Unlike my mother, who usually plans meals for the whole week and mostly sticks to the plan, I tend to have only the vaguest ideas about what I will eat during the week. Often I'll make some kind of dish in the weekend that lasts me for multiple meals through the week. Too frequently, I end up with some forgotten vegetables and fresh herbs wilting their life away in the fridge. I hate throwing food out so some may end up in a soup pot, but too often some of it hits the trash.

I wouldn't feel so bad if we had a decent composting program here, but that went the way of the dodo. To be fair, I think a green waste collection program is pretty tough in a city where most people live in apartments. There is no garage or outside bin where you can store the stuff until it gets collected.

Anyway, that's a side issue. The real issue is that I want to do a better job of planning my eating so that I can reduce waste, make better use of the things I have, reduce the amount of food I need to store in fridge, freezer and cupboard, and ensure that I eat balanced meals throughout the week. Many of my Dutch friends manage with only one small cupboard as the pantry, a small half fridge, and no freezer. I assume the only way they can do it is to cook with a very limited variety of things (no jars of Thai curry paste, hoisin sauce, and harissa accumulating in the fridge). That would be difficult for me. My spice cabinet and pantry are ready for almost any cuisine.

Ah yes, the pantry. My pantry would be do for a family of 4! But a family of one still needs the same basic things on hand. Even when I plan a pasta dish, for example, I still have 2/3 of the pasta that needs to be stored and used up. And perhaps the next past dish I cook uses a different kind of pasta (whole grain instead of white, lasagna instead of penne).

This is of course, a luxury issue. We have so much choice in our supermarkets, and as an individual cooking for one, I can indulge almost any whim, trying out new products and brands, spontaneously deciding what I want to cook or eat, almost whenever I want. But sometimes it nags me that this behaviour seems to be lacking in respect to those who produce the food, and to those who can't afford what I can.

So this year, I want to make better use of my pantry and reduce its size. This should be an inspiration to creativity!

Pantry items to be used up

Beans	Pasta and Rice	Condiments
Aduki Navy Chickpeas, dry Chickpeas, canned Black beans, canned Yellow split peas Green split beas Brown lentils Le Puy lentils Urid dal Cappucijners, canned Black beans, canned	Canneloni Lasagna Penne Penne, whole wheat Macaroni, whole wheat Vermicelli Mihoen Soba Couscous Thai red rice Risotto rice Pandan rice Brown rice	Thai red curry paste Thai green curry paste Mango Chutney x 2 Tahini Sambal manis Sambal badjak Sambal brandal Red pepper paste Ajvar
Meat (Freezer) and Dairy	Vegetables	Other
Lamb kidneys (fresh) Entrecote (defrosted) Biefstuk Rosbief Stewing beef Ground beef Ground beef, lean Cottage cheese Old gouda Culinary cream Cream cheese	Potatoes Yellow onions Shallots Leeks Carrots Celery Celeriac Green pepper Red pepper Butternut squash Mushrooms Corn, canned Spinach, frozen Pumpkin soup	Falafel Puff pastry Rice wrappers Tortillas Wonton wrappers Dried apricots Dried figs Raisins Sultanas Currents Pecans Coconut

Meals for week of 31 January 2011

Morocaan Roasted Vegetables, for week-day lunches
Celeriac soup for lunches, freezer
Low-fat Falafels for pre-dinner nibblies
Sunday:   Lamb kidneys in mustard sauce with mashed potato-celeriac
Monday: Pepper steak, with stir-dried green pepper. tomato, onion, mashed potato-celeriac
Tuesday: Vegetable dal and rice
Wednesday: Beef stir-fry with red peppers, Pandan rice
Thursday: Steak and kidney pie, spinach, mashed potatoes
Friday: --Plan a mostly vegetarian week of meals for next week!