This week's menu is special because I didn't have to go to the grocery store to buy anything! This sounds too good to be true, right? It is and isn't. You'd be surprised how much you can cook from things that save well in the freezer, pantry, and even your refrigerator! Here's how I did it.
Ingredient List:
- Chinese broccoli: I bought these last week and didn't end up cooking them. Yes, they wilted a bit throughout the week, but I cut the ends off, rehydrate in water for about a half hour, and they plump back up like fresh greens. Toss out any leaves that turned yellow or started to spot.
- Vermicelli: These are dried mung bean noodles from the Asian grocery store. I try to stock 3-4 packs of these in my pantry at all times. The link just shows you what it is. I don't advise buying from Amazon if you can avoid it.
- Ground Pork: I buy this from the Asian grocery store or Wild Fork. Not sponsored. But their price is great! I keep these in the freezer and thaw overnight before I use.
- Edamame: I buy the bags of shelled edamame from the Asian grocery and keep in my freezer.
- Carrots: Bought these a week ago. Still good in my fridge. Storage tip: Peel and wash your carrots and then wrap in aluminum foil. Put back in your crisper bin. They will stay fresh for longer. I've done this before when I already have older carrots and we're about to go out of town. That way I'm not forced to use them super quickly.
- Canned bamboo and baby corn: These are another pantry staple for me. I'm sad Walmart stopped selling baby corn or I didn't find it the last time I looked. I'll try to keep 1-2 cans of each in our pantry on hand for random dishes like this week!
- Tofu: I always have at least 1-2 packs of tofu in our refrigerator.
- Chicken Tenders: We don't formally have a grocery budget. When I see meat on sale, I will typically buy it regardless if we are eating that meat during the week. When we don't eat it, I vacuum seal it and store in our freezer. I always make sure to label and date things so I can find them easily later. The chicken I used this week was from October 2024. Not too long ago, but definitely not recent.
Takeout Breakdown:
- Chinese Broccoli: $12.99
- Vermicelli Stir Fry: $25.99
- Edamame, Baby Corn, Bamboo: $12.99
- Teriyaki Tofu: $15.99
- Panko Chicken Tenders (23 tenders): $38.99
Take Out Total: $106.95
Tax: $8.82
Grand Total: $115.77
Chinese Broccoli (bottom right):
I've made this a few times now so I won't elaborate too much. This week's was blanched in salt water. I add about 1TB of salt to ~2qt water and blanch in small batches. That's my estimate but America's Test Kitchen did a whole study on cooking
green beans in salt water and why you need the salt! I think their findings can be extrapolated in part to other green vegetables as well. Really delicious by itself!
Vermicelli Stir Fry (top left):
This dish is inspired by the Asian recipe
Ants Climbing Up a Tree. Yes, that is the literal translation of the dish. I don't follow this recipe but the overall cooking method and flavoring runs along the same lines. My true inspiration was actually my friend's dad. I'd tasted some of his food and he makes a rendition of this dish. His is definitely better, and now I know why mine will never taste as good as his. 😂
Edamame, Baby Corn, Bamboo (top right):
If you're familiar with Asian restaurants, you'll know they name their dishes by the ingredients in the dish. Hence, the name of this dish. This is definitely a dish that was put together specifically because I knew I was cooking with ingredients I already had. As explained earlier, all of these are frozen or canned and easily available at any given moment as long as I've purchased it. I add chicken bouillon seasoning with water and then thicken it with a corn starch slurry to make a sauce. It turned out great.
Teriyaki Tofu (bottom left):
This is another repeat dish that appeared in
week 1. I think this one turned out more delicious than the previous time, but you'll see this dish pop up pretty frequently.
Panko Chicken Tenders
I've been making chicken like this for years and years. Originally, it started out as my chicken for chicken and waffles. Recently, I've changed up the marinade to be more Asian as a stand-alone protein to match the other Asian dishes I tend to cook. In this batch, I used soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, cornstarch, and battered them with panko. I shallow fry these in about a half inch of oil between 330-350F. Approximately 3 minutes on each side, 5-6 minutes total. I originally thought I went heavy on the salt, but after cooking, I realized I could have used some more. They're still delicious and I've been dipping them in Kewpie. My kids love this chicken and when they see me cooking it, they tell me they want to eat it. Words can't describe how much it warms my heart to know my children love my cooking.
I don't think frying food is unhealthy if you follow the following guidelines:
- fry at the correct temperature to minimize oil absorption
- fry in fresh oil for best results
- drain excess oil - I've set my chicken in a strainer so the oil can run down and out
- have fried food as a rotation with other cooking methods (I cook fried food probably < 1-2x/month)
I hope this week's menu inspires you to try to cook a week's menu without going grocery shopping for anything specific! It can be done. 😃
Total time elapsed: ~3.5 hours
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