Thursday, October 11, 2007

An Odd Dinner Inspiration

A while back (in 2005 to be precise) I posted about discovering discount grocery stores. Darrylvkjust just let me know about a directory of discount and salvage stores. It doesn't include stores like Aldis, Price Rite or Save-a-Lot.

Speaking of food, our dinner time has been in a state of flux since school started mainly due to 5:15 - 6:00 swim team practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Rob. This past week he got moved up to the next level which means 6:00 - 7:30 swim team practice Monday, Wednesday and Saturday practice from 1:00 - 2:30. This is good news for us. If dinner is ready at 5:00, we'll have time to eat before we head to practice. It also gives Jim the opportunity to exercise while Rob swims rather than going to the Y at 5:30am. I just have to get into a rhythm of having dinner ready by 5:00.

On Tuesday evening, due to more veggies than my fridge could hold, I put a huge bunch of chopped celery, a pound of chopped tomatoes and 3 eggplants (I salted and rinsed these first) into the slow cooker on low. The cover wouldn't close all the way so I added a bit of water and told Jim, with a lot of false confidence, that it all would cook down and fit easily. Imagine my surprise and delightwhen I woke up in the morning and it actually had!

I added some red lentils to the mix, along with some nutritional yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, a half teaspoon of seasoned salt, some onion and garlic powder. To serve, I made some pasta and toasted a handful of chopped walnuts in a cast iron pan. I mixed the walnuts into the eggplant mixture and served it like a sauce over the pasta. It wasn't bad for a meal built totally out of a lack of storage space!

4 comments:

Ruthie said...

That actually sounds delicious. :) I think I'd be SCARED to DEATH to try anything like it though. I have been burned by the slow cooker in the past. :-)

Katie ~

I am reading your archives from the very beginning. It's so inspiring, it's better than a library book!

Ruthie

Katie said...

I know what you mean. I had a panic attack when it was a little bitter at first. Then I calmed down enough to realize that a tablespoon of sugar would likely solve the problem. Sometimes I wonder if I'm cooking or running a salvage operation.

I'm glad you're enjoying the archives. Speaking of library books, the knitting book you recommended just came in today. I only gave it a brief peek but it looks really interesting. I can't wait to give it a more thorough look.

Meredith said...

Can I tell you how much I really, really, really appreciated finding this link?

We like to stop at salvage groceries for snacks and fun foods whenever we travel.

I agree with Ruthie--your archives are great. Does it amaze you that we've been blogging since 2005, though?

Katie said...

Thanks Meredith! It does amaze me that we've been blogging so long. It doesn't seem possible. Then again, I have two kids in high school and that doesn't seem possible either!