The pantry challenge

Our pantries (all four of them) are full of food. Food we haven’t looked at or touched in months, maybe in years. I’m ashamed to admit that we’ve been carrying some of this food with us since we left the US. Lots of the food also found its way onboard in Mexico (Mexico has the best canned veggies and meat). I am 100% certain that this phenomena is not specific to life on a boat. In fact, I thought I would somehow cure this affliction by living on a boat since storage space is at a premium. Well, it turns out that I get excited about canned goods and good deals and good deals on canned goods. When you’re traveling by boat you never know when you’re going to come across something you crave or something you haven’t seen in over 1000 miles. Like sundried tomatoes. When I encountered sundried tomatoes I had to buy out the store (don’t worry, it was only two jars).

It’s nice to consistently have a pantry full of stuff because it provides the reassurance that you won’t starve to death on the ocean. Over time, however, things get buried and you come to discover that you have eight cans of corn…and four jars of mayonnaise…and enough rice to feed a small village. In addition to a surplus of provisions, there are so many good intentions stashed away in those cupboards.

I was going to stop relying so heavily on pasta and eat more whole grains – more couscous and quinoa.

I was going to make hot cereal for breakfast with steel cut oats (heck, I was actually going to start eating breakfast period).

I was going to make my own beans.

I was going to make and eat hummus like there was no tomorrow. I was going to make pita bread to accompany it.

Yup, you read that right. A WHOLE chicken in a can…minus the giblets (thank goodness).

I was going to bake a lot (biscuits, cake other baked things!) and fill my breakfast breads with dried fruits and nuts!

I was going to make my own granola!

I was going to hand blend smoothies with my wheatgrass magic hippie powder!

I was going to add hemp seed to fresh salads!

I was going to make fresh juice with chia seeds!

I swear I was going to use this Whole Chicken in a Can for something…

And why have I been carrying around this gigantic tub of lard and child-sized can of Corn Starch? What was I planning to do with those?

So nearly two years into this trip and it’s all still sitting there…mocking me. I’m drowning in good intentions and lentils…so many lentils…and being taunted by this Whole Chicken in a Can (which I haven’t used yet because it scares the crap out of me, honestly). Is all of this talk of hemp seeds and chia seeds and wheatgrass and lentils making you uncomfortable? I’m sorry…I truly am. My good intentions have that effect on people.

The time has come…for the pantry challenge. It was a tradition in my land-based life as well – every year or two I would vow not to buy any more non-perishable food until the non-perishable food, in our overly stocked pantry, had been eaten. You start off with the easy stuff…the top ramen and the mac ‘n’ cheese and tuna fish and peanut butter…and as the pantry challenge progresses things start to get a little bit more interesting as you incorporate the canned beets and canned red peppers and canned spinach into strange other worldly concoctions that still manage to taste halfway decent (as long as there is enough butter and garlic involved).

We’re only four days in so far…and we have many days ahead. So far it’s been mostly the easy stuff. Wish us luck. You’ll hear back from me when I finally figure out what to do with that chicken.