Empty the Storecupboard Challenge: Week 14

When I started the Empty the Storecupboard Challenge fourteen weeks ago, I didn’t quite realise how many meals it was going to translate into… Not that I’m complaining, of course, it’s all been edible and some of it’s turned out to be properly delicious.

There’s still about half a shelf of older food stocks to use up, and if you want to check the simple rules of the challenge or find out how much we have left to eat then please check the original storecupboard post.

This week we’ve had spaghetti in crab sauce, a chickpea and spinach curry, and a goat cheese and pasta salad. We’ve also made up some of the chocolate pudding mix with extra water and used it as a chocolate sauce over a couple of big batches of home grown raspberries. One of your five a day, plus chocolate – what’s not to love?

The spaghetti in crab sauce (top picture) used up some more of the wholewheat spaghetti, tinned sweetcorn, half a pot of crab pate, and fresh dill and tomato from the garden. It was very, very tasty, but it would have been nicer with linguine and fresh crab meat. I put too far too much sweetcorn in there too, but, hey, at least veggies are good for you.

Our chick pea and spinach curry (above) tasted just right, and gave us the chance to finish the Kashmiri curry paste and the last of the coconut milk powder. It just needed a can of chickpeas, an onion, some frozen chopped spinach and fresh home grown coriander adding to make it into a decent dish. We also had some naan bread (on offer at the corner shop, four for £1), lime pickle and a quick home made cucumber raita on the side.

Finally, we made use of another 100g of dried penne pasta in the goat cheese and pasta salad (picture below). It also had half a pot of goat cheese, some beetroot, tomato, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs and a home grown cucumber thrown in. Probably my favourite pasta salad so far.

This week’s three meals

1. Grilled veggies in Greek yogurt and breadcrumbs. A recipe to use up another packet of crispy crumbs, and whatever’s lurking in the veg patch. It just needs thick yogurt, garlic and herbs adding, plus some salad or greens on the side.

2. Nicoise-ish pasta. This should get rid of some more of the penne, and I’m also hoping to use up some of the french bean mountain I’ve somehow managed to grow. Throw in some tuna for a treat and a few random salad veggies, and hey presto.

3. Pasta with courgettes, lemon and chilli. A very quick and easy mid-week supper, using the last of the penne plus home grown courgettes, olive oil, fresh lemon and dried chilli flakes. Because sometimes the simple things are the best.

Over to you

Are you doing an Empty the Storecupboard Challenge of your own? Let us know what you’re cooking, and how much you have left to use up from your stored food stash.

I’m going to award a prize to the person who finds the craziest ingredient in their cupboard – the weirder the better! Tweet me a pic and remember to use the #EmptyTheSC hashtag.

Come on now, I wanna see some freaky foodstuffs…