We have completed 2 weeks of shelter in place here in California. We have 4 more weeks to go. Food turns out to be the biggest challenge (after setting up 4 workstations so everyone could have class online and work from home) of late. I finally unboxed the Yedi air fryer that my mom gave me. I have air fried sweet potato fries, hot dogs, and SPAM. Yes, SPAM.
Air Fried Spam with Sushi Rice
As you preppers know, SPAM lasts for quite a while in the pantry. What I was delighted to discovery was that one can of spam can be cut into 8 equal slices, which fits exactly into the air fryer mesh tray. Preheat the air fryer for 5 min, air fry at 350 for 10 min, turn over at the 5 min. mark.
The kids love it. I serve it with short grain rice (sushi rice) and topped with furikake (seaweed and sesame seed) sprinkles. Tomorrow I will be frying frozen tater tots in the air fryer. I do not have a waffle iron, but if I did, I would be all in on the #totwaffle. I know it sounds obscene but it is basically stuffing your waffle iron full of tater tots. It sounds amazing topped with a runny egg and served with sausage. Hilarious Twitter thread teaching one how to Waffle Your Tater Tots by Ada Powers here.
Yesterday’s pantry bingo was unearthing a giant can of hominy that had expired in 2018. I read the thread on hominy on a prepper bulletin board, which was a treasure trove of advice. One poster was like, “so what if it’s expired, it’s just mushy corn.” I determined it was worth a shot, opened it, sniffed it, and made meatball pozole soup. It was delicious. Recipe here, which I only followed loosely but subbed in frozen meatballs for the meat and used leftover random veggies in the fridge.
Meatball Pozole Soup
I would definitely make this again but maybe use more tomato paste to get that red color. Of course, to be honest I’m not sure how that can of hominy ever even made it in my pantry in the first place. Pretty sure my brother-from-another-mother just randomly left it there one day. I asked him and he didn’t remember either!
Mystery Expired Hominy
In addition to mystery hominy and SPAM, it turns out I have a lot of granola, seaweed, and a lot of tuna. We also have the staples of rice and beans.
The food left in the pantry will end up making some strange meals. I consider myself very creative but this pantry situation, even when factoring in frozen veggies will likely yield some rather bizarre meals. It may still be a protein, a carb, and a veggie, but perhaps not in the most traditional of flavor profiles. Hang in there everyone and thanks for reading about this week’s pantry bingo.
