rechelle's lifelyrics

And Use What You Have.

Many years ago, I went grocery shopping with a very close friend. I was amazed at how different our grocery lists were. It was then I realized most of us have very different shopping habits, based on a number of things including the kinds of meals we prepare on a regular basis. Even our list of staples differed. We knew a lot about each other, but I found out our families had completely different food lifestyles.

I remember being a young homemaker trying to figure out what our family needed, would use, and wanted for our basic eating habits. At some point, I recall going out to purchase a special item for a particular recipe, and then being really disappointed with myself because I didn’t use all of it for the recipe. The item I spent extra money on ended up going bad in the back of my refrigerator. It was after one of those experiences that I made up my mind to try to substitute specialty items for things I kept on hand regularly. Either that, or I was going to find a way to utilize the specialty item and maybe even integrate it into our family diet. So the first part of the title: “Have What You Use” is simply deciding what foods are appealing and work well for your everyday life. Cut out things that might go bad because you rarely use the ingredients, and stick to a routine your family enjoys.

Now for the “Use What You Have” part: It’s perfectly reasonable to want special things once in a while, but just make sure you come up with a plan to use all of it! A great example is a scene in “The Big Short” movie where a world-famous chef is talking to the camera. He’s explaining CDL’s (but that is another story), and demonstrates how yesterday’s first-class seafood becomes today’s fisherman’s stew – instead of wasting what was left over. When I made the rice pilaf and zucchini-tomato bake so I could create recipe cards, I knew it was going to be way too much side-dish for just the two of us. Today was the day to turn it into something new and fabulous! I have bits of Mexican-flare ingredients left over from our “Taco Tuesday” this week, and I decided to transform those two recipes into Spanish rice to go along with homemade tortillas for tomorrow night’s “Mexican fiesta” dinner. It will be a treat for Ray, because he loves Spanish rice, and I don’t make it very often. I simply chopped the zucchini into smaller bits, mixed the two leftover dishes together, and then added cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika. Now I’m just one step closer to having an evening where dinner prep is nearly complete!