The semester is coming to an end and one sure sign is the odds and ends I have in my pantry and refrigerator.
I will be moving to a new place soon and I’m sure many of you will be moving back home for the summer or to a new city to start the next chapter of your life.
In the midst of all the stress of finals week, cleaning our dorms and packing, we still need to eat. Here are some tips of how to make some meals out of the few, weird, and seemingly non-related ingredients you have left.
Leftover Veggies
Whatever veggies you have left, chop them up, sauté them with a little bit of olive oil or use cooking spray on medium heat until tender.
You can add them to your eggs for a veggie omelet. If you have any leftover deli meat or cheese, add those too. I like to add ham, turkey, provolone or Swiss cheese. Sautéed vegetables are also a great base for a stir fry; just add rice and some protein.
Sautéed vegetables can be added to pasta and viola; you have a healthier pasta bowl. Top with marinara or Alfredo sauce. This also works will well with macaroni and cheese.
If you’re feeling fancy you can upgrade your Ramen by adding spinach in the last minute of heating or add sautéed vegetables.
If you have leftover eggs, you can top off your Ramen with a soft-boiled egg or a sunny-side up egg. I’ve seen this recommendation in BuzzFeed articles, so it must be tasty.
If you just need a snack, leftover beans added to salsa makes for a filling snack, and if you don’t have any tortilla chips, most crackers are a good substitute.
Fruit
Make a smoothie. This could be risky because you won’t know if it’s a good fruit combination until you try it, but it’s worth a shot. Add 1 cup of water, fruit juice or milk with one cup of fruit.
You can also add yogurt, honey or avocado to kick it up a notch. I like to make my smoothies with frozen bananas, espresso, protein powder and milk.
Fruit such as pineapple, melon, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, lemon and lime can also be used to dress up boring water.
You can add fresh or frozen fruit. Make sure to switch the fruit out after a day.
Grains
Sometimes you have cereal and no milk and that’s tragic. In a no-milk situation add cereal or granola to some yogurt and top with fruit for a parfait or add some nuts and dried fruit to your cereal and you have your own homemade trail mix.
Sometimes you have everything you need to make pizza, except dough. A good use of pizza fixings like sauce and cheese is to make a pizza sandwich, very similar to making a grilled cheese.
Sometimes it takes some creativity to put a meal together. If you still aren’t sure what to do with your unopened nonperishables, place your unopened nonperishables in donation barrels for Spring Gleaning to be donated to Second Harvest.
Barrels will be placed around campus from May 2-6. You can also donate gently used clothes, bedding, home goods and school supplies.
LEANN KRYSIAK
