"Use What You Have" Cooking

One of my favorite books on interior design, when that was my main hobby, was titled "Use What You Have Decorating", it's pretty self explanatory, the idea was to not have to go and buy new and/or more, just use the things you already own, except in different ways. This also describes the way I love to cook! I love using up ingredients that I already have, sometimes in different ways, like the pot of chili I made this morning (4:30am!).



red onion (I didn't have yellow)
carrot
2 red bells
3 jalapeno, 1 pablano
beet stems
diced tomato
red and black beans
chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin, oregano


I pureed 1/2 roasted buttenut squash (I had in the fridge) in the blender with 1/2 cooked chili before mixing it back with the rest. I had a ton of cooked chicken thigh and leg meat from a batch of chicken stock I made in the pressure cooker yesterday (a different blog post!), so that was the protein I used.



All Day "get rid of muffin top" Lunch

coffee/cream 80 cal
chicken/veg soup 350 cal.

Use What You Have Chili w/

beet greens and chicken 500 cal.

fruit salad 300 cal.

ginger tea w/honey 25 cal.

Total 1255

Use what I had Fruit Salad!

Fuji apple
3 sm kiwi
grapefruit (sectioned)
drizzle of honey