Using What I Have Journal Entry #6

There's only one meal to show you in this journal entry, but I think it is a good example of what this series is about: My own reflections on focusing on what I have. Plus I want to say more about this than just what it is and how I liked this specific meal, so I made it a full journal entry.

As I have noted, I've narrowed my using-what-I-have focus to themes, which helps me avoid getting bored. The current theme is to focus on the freezer. But that doesn't mean I'm not also trying to use the things I have otherwise, just that I'm trying hard to use things from the freezer.

So I had some leftover mashed potatoes, and a craving for boxty. None of that is a freezer focus. I could have had them with non-dairy sour cream, or a mushroom gravy, and either would have stayed true to the use-what-I-have effort, but I wanted to up the ante and involve the freezer. And I still had some veggie sausage crumbles in the freezer, so...

A boxty and sausage gravy breakfast it is! Sausage gravy made with soy milk was weirdly perfect for these traditional Irish potato pancakes, though I'm pretty sure nobody would do this in Ireland. It's Southern United States meets traditional Irish food, and as I have ancestry from both places, I think I have a right to be this strange.

This finished off the sausage crumbles. Sadly, I know of no such product in existence or production right now. The Don't Be Piggy line seems to be gone from Wegmans, for whatever reason, replaced by breaded Don't Be Chicken  nuggets and patties and plant based burger patties and ground "beef". So this is the end of my easy sausage crumble era, perhaps, and that's sad to me, but at least I got a good meal out of it!

Focusing on one area, meanwhile, helps me see that stocks are diminishing, which was my goal. I know things are frightening out there. I know we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility of hardships and shortages. But I can't keep the kitchen stocked to 100% capacity all the time. So I have eaten the sausage. There may never be more sausage like it. But I will find ways to make things I enjoy, and we will somehow make it through.

So anyway: Potatoes, a bit of flour, soy milk, and some veggie sausage crumbles, all well seasoned, makes for a great meal. I wouldn't have even thought to do any of this without my 2025 focus on using what I have. It can be hard to stick to one's winter goals as the weather warms, but I think I've found ways to accomplish it. So here's to rounding the corner!