Sunday, April 19, 2009

Your Help Needed

OK, this is a desperate situation folks. After weeks of spending a lot of money eating out and eating the same 3 things at home, I NEED to start cooking more and becoming more creative with my cooking. I just can't seem to get going though. The first couple weeks I found myself just buying the essentials at the grocery store and I find my meals are odd combination and often repetitive. I like to cook, and I think this is a great time to experiment. So here is what I have to work with so far(note: I know I will need to do some shopping in the near future!):

Currently in my kitchen fridge:
*Kimchi(obviously)
*Yogurt
*Milk
*Kiwis
*Sliced Ham
*Chicken tender pieces(I have a lot of this frozen-from Costco)
*Tofu

Currently in my cabinet:
*Canned Kidney Beans(again I have a lot of these from Costco)
*Rice
*Cereal
*1 can of tomato sauce
*1 can of corn
*Peanut Butter
*Cereal

Spices/Condiments I currently have:
*Soy Sauce
*Garlic-Sesame sauce/marinade(pretty good with chicken, but I'm sick of it)
*Korean chili paste
*Garlic
*salt & pepper
*Sesame seeds
*Sesame Oil
*Olive Oil

What I have to work with in my kitchen:
*a stove top
*no microwave
*no oven
*a small frying pan and a small sauce pan(I think I might invest in bigger ones)
*a washing machine(hmmm...)

What I have to work with in Korea:
*Limited cheese availability
*Limited spice and herb availability(haven't really investigated this fully, but the spice section at the store is minuscule, all I know is that I haven't found cilantro yet)
*abundance of vegetables, mostly sold in bulk
*abundance of seafood and meat


So, help me out. Give me your ideas as to what I can cook. It would preferably be as healthy and protein rich as possible, and be able to be stored for leftovers. So far I have made a lot of grilled sesame-garlic chicken and rice, cabbage soup, grilled ham and cheese, tofu and sauteed veggies. I'm planning on trying to make Chili this week with some of the kidney beans. So, have at it! Help out a single lady trying to survive in a different country!

4 comments:

Things I think. said...

Um...A margarita and a quesadilla? I bet if you put everything you have in your washing machine both of these will come out. Just put it on the gentle cold cycle setting of course.

scang111 said...

I'll send you an email - I'm the queen of skillet cooking.

Bethany said...

bean soup?

Emily said...

hmm...good suggestion Rikki, may turn out a little messy.

I'll have to figure out a bean soup recipe, good call.