Lessons from my freezer: BKTT scavenger hunt

Last night, I had these grand ideas for dinner then I remembered that a) I can only use what I have and b) I'm poor so I didn't have a choice but use what I have. 

I needed to use up what I had in my kitchen before I leave for training so I've made it a mission to clean out my fridge and freezer of foods I've stored and saved over the past...year.  Fine, past two years is more likely. 

A quick survey of my supplies showed a package of dumpling wrappers, some frozen cheese, tofu, loads of butter (what priorities I have), Thai chilies, jalapenos for nachos, green salty olives, and my lone fresh produce: a yellow zucchini.  Oh and there was also a questionable carrot and a couple of beets purchased from two seasons ago.  I think.  My celery is dying a slow, painful death so I left it be.

So being the challenge lover that I am, I decided to make use of the dumpling wrappers finally before they expired on Sept. 5.  Grated cheese, zucchini, carrots, olives, jalapenos stuffed in pan fried dough?  Why not! 

As suspected, the carrot was wilty but I was too impatient to revive it in a bowl of water, so I just used the core that remained crisp.  Honestly, it looked like a very fat and wrinkly orange thumb.  I'm surprised I even touched it.

Then I grated the zucchini and cheese.  The pickled jalapenos, which were the one ingredient I was actually excited about, looked as if someone chewed them up and then stored them in vinegar.  I tried, but I couldn't get over the texture.  Note to self: never buy pickled jalapenos ever again.

I added olives, some fresh garlic, and Thai chilies for flavour.  Finally, I stuffed them in the wrappers and pan fried the heck out of them til the cheese melted to oblivion.

Verdict:  They were really good!!  Or so I thought until I woke up at 3 am nursing a lactose-intolerant stomach ache.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I uh, am not very good at digesting dairy. 

Clearly that doesn't stop me, though I should really make an effort.  I think after this episode, I'll have to pass on cheese during teacher training.  Baby steps.

Moral of this random story:  As my fellow teacher-trainee-to-be and Fab-Four member, Nicola Poppet from the UK, eating up the contents of your cupboards and freezer is not as fun as it sounds.

Lesson learned: Never freeze anything you find questionable now.  It won't be like find wine.  Time will not make it better.  Neither will a hint of freezer burn.

I'm SOOOO not looking forward to dealing with those frozen strawberries. I doubt my housemate would want to eat them...