Sunday in the Kitchen- Homemade Bread and Cleaning out the Fridge

When we first started combing households, I knew we'd have a lot of cleaning out to do in the kitchen. Turns out we had at least 2 of nearly every kitchen appliance and utensil possible. In one case though, Hunk had me beat. He had a bread maker- something I have wanted for such a long time. Given how much I love bread- I always thought it best not to have the temptation of fresh baked bread whenever I want it. Until now. I read a blog post the other day about herbed rolls made in a crockpot, and it tempted me to pull out the bread machine and whip something up. I found a dairy free recipe here, and just added some fresh chopped rosemary (and maybe a little freshly grated parmesan) into the ingredients. The result was nothing short of amazing. So amazing, that I didn't even bother taking pictures. I pulled that warm loaf out and immediately started slicing so I could enjoy it right away. However, I did toast a few slices to use for our "kitchen sink" dinner that evening, and I do have pictures of that!

I usually do grocery shopping on Sundays and clean out the fridge in preparation for the next week. Lately I feel like I've been throwing out more than I should, so we tried to use up a few things for dinner that otherwise would have gone to waste. The result? A veggie potato hash. Leftover hash browns from the freezer, and broccoli and an onion that were getting close to their last days. I also made some Chickpea Spread using up a can from the pantry and greek yogurt that was about to get tossed. I already had everything needed to make it, and we'll use what's left for lunches during the week.

The veggie potato hash was so easy, and a really great way to use up anything you have in the fridge. You could easily add meat and cheese if you want to make it a complete meal. I grated some parmesan on top before putting in on the broiler to give it a little bit of a crust. But the possibilities are endless and I'll definitely revisit this dish again soon.

Ingredients:

Potatoes (finely grated), or grocery store hash browns from freezer section (thawed)
veggies
olive or vegetable oil
chopped garlic
seasonings (I used salt, pepper and red pepper flakes- but herbs would be nice too)

Directions:

Drop the broccoli in salted boiling water for just about a minute- you want it to be bright green and just a little bit soft when you take it out. Immediately put the broccoli in an ice bath.

While the broccoli is cooking, get a skillet heated with about 2 T of oil in it. I try not to cook with that much oil, but it's nearly impossible to get browned hash browns without it. When oil is hot, add onions- stirring often. Once they're slightly softened, add in the garlic. I used 1 teaspoon (adjust to your tastes).

Add in the potatoes and seasoning, and let the potatoes start to brown. Then add in the broccoli, check the seasoning, and brown just a little bit longer. At this point, you can also put it under the broiler to brown the top.

When all was said and done, this is what our final meal looked like. I can't stand to have food that is all the same color (in this case- green and white), so I added a few carrots to the plate. Overall, a healthy meal that allowed us to keep from wasting food.