The Game Ended...

So Karen and I were playing a game that involved not going to the store and only eating what we had here in the house--in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. It was adventurous and fun to start--grilled cheese sandwiches with organic tomato soup. We then had spaghetti with turkey tomato sauce. We ended up eating that for three nights straight without tiring of it. We seriously cleaned out the freezer and then last night I made the mistake of only cooking out of the fridge and mostly the pantry--and what a mistake that was.

It's amazing how a bad meal can ruin an evening and one's mood. I was excited when I got home to go into the kitchen to do some digging around and come up with a menu. It was slim pickings--I noticed I have far too many sauces/condiments and not enough items of substance. So here is what I came up with...(you can see how horrid it looks). I called it TRIO with a side of spuds:

Tofu-Egg Salad on toasted english muffins
Hummus on semi-stale rice cakes
Aged Gouda on not so fresh crackers
Trade Joe's Scalloped Potatoes.

Wow did that meal suck. Karen wouldn't even eat more than a bit of the tofu-egg salad, and I don't blame her. Somehow the silken tofu was just a bit too silken...She was a trooper though and didn't complain too much. Although I know she went to bed hungry. Poor thing. I love to cook because I love to feed Karen. I love to make her happy and she is always so appreciative. Even though I made this meal with love, it's clear that 90% of a meal's strength is in the ingredients. Although I'm sure that Mario or some other great chef would actually have pulled this off. Well, maybe I just need practice. There is indeed more crap clogging up my cupboard. There's always tomorrow...