We have all heard it said too many times to remember, “there’s nothing to eat in this house”. And more often than not we agree with that exclamation- I know I have. But on a day when I was convinced no decent meal existed within the walls of my kitchen, I decided to take a closer look and a more creative approach.
Where only bits and pieces remain
One weekend morning I began dismantling the inside of our fridge at a fever pace determined to find something I could make for breakfast. Every wrapping and container had minuscule amounts of food remaining from a previous feast. The following is what I located:
- 3 seasoned potato wedges (previously air-fried)
- 1 heel of ham (about a 1/4 cup)
- 1 extremely small nub of onion
- 1 small container of sauteed peppers (about 1/2 cup)
- scant 1/4 cup of shredded cheese
- 2 eggs
At face value the above list isn’t very impressive, but the must-go skillet with cheese and eggs turned out absolutely delicious.
A little zhuzh is all it needs
I decided that crisping up those potato wedges was key to making this really tasty. I mean, who doesn’t love a little crunchy goodness-right? I diced up the three wedges, heel of ham, nub of onion, and the peppers. I grabbed my favorite non-stick skillet and added just a touch of olive oil and cranked up the heat to med-high. Once I could see rippling in the oil I knew it was hot enough and added the potatoes. Tossing until they began to deepen in color, I then added the veggies and ham. Now, at this point I needed to amp up the flavor so it would wake up my taste buds! I grabbed some cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper and waved them all lightly over the skillet contents- season…not overpower. I sprinkled on the shredded cheese and turned off the burner. As I cooked the two eggs (over-medium is my fave), I plated the skillet contents and topped with the eggs, which incidentally finished melting the cheese into ooey-gooey goodness.
A little goes a long way
I am guilty of overlooking the obvious, and sometimes not so obvious items I have at my disposal. None of those items above were in pristine condition or at any major level of quantity. But combined in a simple way, adding a little something-something for flair and voila’! I had an amazing hearty flavorful breakfast and bonus…no items went into the trash or compost.
I’ve actually started making this a regular game I play each week so I can rid the fridge of anything that would otherwise grow fungus and end up in the trash. And I end up with some interesting and tasty concoctions that would never have entered my cooking world otherwise.
The Gilded Loon 