30 day pantry challenge:

David and I signed the lease for a new fancypants loft apartment at Shillito Lofts today. It's pretty kickass, to not mince words.

We'll be moving in 31 days.

What this means: higher rent, eating in more and focusing on doing our shopping at Findlay and Avril Bleh (and more cooking posts), downtown happy hour deals and reviews, having more space to live, being closer to the heart of downtown. Bugging the 5chw4r7z's.

It also means we have 30 days to empty our pantry/freezer.

We've set a new goal, and I'm looking for advice to help us reach it. We are not to go to the store for as long as possible for non-essentials. We'll be turning the contents of our pantry and freezer into (hopefully) delicious, or at least edible franken-meals, and documenting our progress. I'm also taking meal suggestions. Even if you don't have any, it's always interesting to peek inside someone's pantry or fridge. I think it tells you a lot about a person, like someone's bookshelf.

Here's what we have to work with:

Pantry:

Molasses

1 big container of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup

Cocoa Krispies

Banana nut muffin mix

cashews

Brownie mix

Cinnamon raisin bread mix

Chocolate frosting

Splenda

dried cranberries

Soy sauce

Slim jims (pepperoni and mild)

Sushi rice

chickpeas

water chestnuts (2 cans)

English Baked beans

Chili

Squash soup

Chicken gravy

Saltines

Bouillon cubes

vegetable and tomato soup

stove top

hamburger helper (used 9/30/09)

tomato paste

arborio rice

ketchup

vermicelli

spaghetti (used 10/6/09)

egg noodles

sunflower seeds

red beans and rice mix

cous cous

canned chicken

a shitload of teas, many varieties

instant coffee

marinara sauce (used 10/6/09)

flour

Freezer:

2 frozen pizzas ( 1 eaten 10/3/09)

boca “beef” crumbles (used 9/30/09)

trader joe's chicken fried rice

diced carrots and peas

string beans

laura's lean beef patties (used 10/6/09)

2 giant beef ribs from findlay market

Dojo Pistachio gelato (used 9/30/09)

frozen blueberries

buckeyes

I'm not going to list out the perishable contents of the fridge. Suffice to say, it contains a lot of beer varieties, cheeses and condiments. And bacon. (gone as of 10/2/09)

We're open to suggestions, give it your best shot!