Cleaning out my pantry

Wow! Tomorrow is the last day of April meaning May is just around the corner. For me, that means roughly thirty-five days to go before I set sail on my round-the-world adventure. I have finished my running list and the first major task complete: fly my cooking books and few sentimental goods like my tortilla press back to my hometown, Sydney. My remaining possessions fit into one medium-sized travel bag so that’s all I have to lug around for thirty-two days between nine or so cities.

Another item on my to do list is cleaning out my pantry. Whilst not the highest of priority, it’s still something that will need attention over the coming weeks. I’ve hoarded so many ingredients which I’d hope to experiment with or learn about, and others quite frankly I just bought too much of.

So what have I found deep in the abyss of my pantry? Polenta, semolina, agar, fungi, cracked wheat, vegetarian mushroom fluff, barley, several cans of coconut milk, hemp seeds and smoke dried chillies. Somehow, some way I will need to use up all these ingredients as I simply can’t throw food away. Any ideas?

Tonight to combat what seems like the start of an irritating cough and scratchy throat, I decided to go for my usual home soup remedy. No it’s not nice, not very tasty nor is the recipe worth sharing and it’s super hot. It’s a concoction of ginger, garlic, fresh chillies, an entire bag of black fungi (one item down) and a few vegetables.

After I’d finished scraping all the bugs off my throat with hot soup, I needed something sweet to soothe it. Honey was a must but I felt like I needed more ingredients with sustenance to maximise my chance of fighting off any remaining bugs. To a teaspoon of Manuka honey I added 1 Tbs Tahini, 1 Tbs hemp seeds, 1 Tbs pumpkin seed protein powder, 1 tsp coconut oil and 1 tsp sesame seeds. That’s it! Oh and a squeeze of lemon. Mix it up in a bowl, roll into a ball then coat with more sesame seeds. That was enough to make two bliss balls.

How were they? Blissful! Don’t believe me? Make them. If you don’t have pumpkin seed protein, use cacao perhaps. If they turn out too soft, put them in the fridge for a little while or add more cacao. Other variations? Sure, just use your creativity. Next time I’ll be adding crushed pistachios or walnuts.

And by the way, I managed to find my cooking mojo since my last post and delivered a Lebanese feast with several dishes plus Baklava and Mafroukeh which I’ll post soon 😉