Shelftober - Week 1

I was able to keep to the "eating mostly from the pantry and freezer with purchases of bread, dairy, and fresh produce" concept during the first week in October. 

Sunday, 10/1:  Brunch: Milk rice and fish curry:

Milk Rice and Fish Curry

The milk rice (rice cooked with coconut milk) was made using partially polished red rice:

 

Red Rice

The package I have is actually pink in color, because the rice has been partially polished to remove some of the red husk:

 

Raw Red Rice

The  fish is from the freezer and I used up the last bag of sliced tomatoes that I had in the freezer.  I used some of an onion I had in the fridge and froze the rest of the sliced onion. 

I also used some of what we call "goraka" which is a type of fruit that has been segmented and dried (the fruit turns black when dried).  It is a spice we use especially for fish and imparts an acidity.  It is available for sale at the Sri Lankan store, but what I used is fruit I picked from my mother's aunt's tree on a visit to Sri Lanka and dried, myself.

Goraka (Garcinia gummi-gutta)

For tea, I had some cheese toast.  The cheese is what one of my cousins brought me from Australia.

Kraft Cheese

This is the cheese we used to eat during my childhood - it used to come in a blue can, back then.  This cheese or Gouda or Edam used to be served with crackers and/or with the special Dutch bread called breudher (sometimes also spelled broeder) that was made by some Sri Lankans at Christmas (my recipe calls for 20 egg yolks for 2 lbs. bread dough; definitely not something one would make for regular afternoon tea!)  

For dinner, I had some chicken biriyani rice that my cousin sent over:

Chicken Biriyani

October 2:
More of the chicken biriyani for brunch, along with a banana for dessert.

I had a meal replacement drink at tea time.

Dinner was leftover milk rice with fish curry.

October 3:
Breakfast was a banana (and a cup of coffee).

Lunch was the last of the chicken biriyani rice, with some of the chicken stir fry.  The rest of the raspberries for dessert.

Bread with peanut butter at tea time.

Dinner was a scrambled egg and a slice of toast.  Followed by a stewed apple:

Stewed Apple Slices

October 4:

Breakfast was a banana and a doughnut (someone had brought doughnuts to the office); lunch was rice with some of the leftover chicken stir fry;  dinner was a pita bread with fish curry and blackberries for dessert.

October 5:
Lunch: pizza and pumpkin pie (supervisor's retirement lunch and a colleague's birthday)
dinner: tuna sandwich and a banana; snacks included fried breadfruit chips

A favorite snack

October 6:

Banana for breakfast; rice and chicken stir fry for lunch; roasted cashews and a powdered sugar coated cookie leftover from the previous day's office lunch (they are small and shaped like a ball - sometimes called wedding cookies, sometimes called tea cookies; I didn't take a picture, though) for snacks; pita bread and fish curry for dinner.

Pita and Fish Curry

October 7
Coffee and a banana for breakfast.
Slice of buttered toast for lunch (wasn't hungry)
Dinner - Bagel with peanut butter, the last of the blackberries
Snack: part of a meal replacement drink

I end the week with leftover rice and fish curry, as I wasn't able to eat it all.  I generally don't do a specific meal plan, but, next week, I plan to cook the package of marinated beef I have in the freezer.

Did you do a version of Shelftober?  What did you have for meals in the first week of October?