Surprise Me Sunday

I dubbed this month Clean Out the Pantry Month. In that vein, every Sunday I've cooked a meal, entirely unplanned, from whatever I find in the pantry and/or fridge. Thus Surprise Me Sunday. I think it may survive past October because it's turned out fairly well so far.

Earlier in the month I made a falafel and hummus and the following week it was chicken soup with leftover Ethiopian vegetables. Last week it was a spicy lentil soup (I added berbere) with toasted tortilla wedges and quark, which is sort of a cross between cream cheese and sour cream. Tonight's meal was basil stir fry over rice. Had basil, 1/2 an onion, orange pepper and green beans that needed to be used up. Rice in the pantry. Voila. Very simple but quite tasty.

There are several benefits to Surprise Me Sunday dinners. Most obvious, of course, is that the pantry and fridge are slowly becoming less cluttered. Random food stuffs don't get lost in the back of the pantry for years on end and fewer veggies mold in the fridge.


Less tangible is the boost to my confidence in the kitchen. I am not afraid to admit that I am not a great cook. I don't feel confident in my ability to experiment or deviate from recipes. And while I haven't tackled anything overly ambitious (yet!), just winging it with easy menus helps immensely. Eventually I'd like to make Surprise Me Sunday into a bit of a challenge ala Chopped. Take truly random ingredients and find a way to make them into something delicious. Or at least edible.

So stay tuned to see what surprise meal each Sunday brings!

Gonna do it Glee-style

Here's what happened last time.....

Isa turned 3! It was hot, hot, hot (note everyone trying to stay in the shade). There was a sprinkler and butterfly cupcakes handmade by yours truly.

Isa decided she was finally ready to be potty-trained! One morning I changed her into big girl underpants and she never looked back. Sorry, no photos of that milestone. :)

On a weekend when the grandparents took Isa, I changed her room into a "Big Girl Room" complete with canopy over the bed and a chandelier. It was very well received!

We went to several baseball games with Grandma and Papaw. Isa can sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" all by herself. Now if she'd just do it on camera....

And we went to the Puyallup Fair. There were fake cows to milk and real bunnies to pet.



We attended an event with our adoption agency down in Portland. It was fun to see so many other adorable habesha darlings, as well as our attorney who was visiting from Ethiopia. Isa had a blast at the Portland Children's Museum.

And that's what you missed.....