The Purge

So far so good on the Gluten free deal. I can't believe I'm actually doing it. Especially since we just gave up sweets until January 30. We both agreed we'd had too much  sugar over the holidays.

While Brian was the instigator of and willing participant in giving up sweets (to the exclusion of Ovaltine and honey) he is not joining me on my gluten free venture. I'm sure he would, but we have too many gluten-laden products that I would hate to go to waste.

And even though my stomach is doing better, I might have to give up my food projects for a GREATER project. Project Purge. 

Brian and I are moving at the end of the month. We don't know where yet. The details are contingent on the job search. And one thing I want to do as we prepare to transition is to purge our pantry. I'm taking inventory of all our existing grocery items and planning our remaining meals here according to what I already have.  I'll still be buying groceries but I would love to use as many on hand ingredients in each meal as I can. 

I'm beginning the fun challenge today by making spinach chicken tortellini for our friends who are coming to dinner. 

I already had all the ingredients for the entree (Cheese tortellini, fresh spinach, chicken breast, sun-dried tomatoes, milk/half and half, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic and onion) and the salad, so all I bought was the bread (for the guests and Brian of course). 

Tomorrow I'm making IGE's Santa Fe Chicken. I have both dried and canned black beans, so this recipe is going to help me use those up. 

Emily posted a perfect recipe for my purge today. Even if you're not purging, it's still a great quick-fix recipe, so pay her a visit and check it out. 

Before moving day, I'll post a picture of our cabinets so you can see how well the purge went.