Using up all that random food in the fridge

You know what I hate? That awkward time period between buying groceries when you know you really should head out to the store, but really can't justify doing so because of all of the random bits and pieces of things you have left. At my house, my mom likes to dub days like these "Every Man For Himself". AKA, "hustle yourself on over to that fridge and find something to be your dinner, because I sure as heck ain't cooking tonight". Now, as the (hopefully) temporarily unemployed recent college grad living back home, I find myself faced with the task of producing dinners and other meals from the odd ends. With nothing real to do all day, (waiting for mom and dad to get home from work and my siblings to get home from school) I cannot claim that every day is "Every Man For Himself" day, so I've come up with some creative methods to cope.

My go-to method is making a soup out of whatever carrots, onions, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, squash, mushrooms, zucchini, are lying around. However, after many an attempt, I have learned that I am just no good at making soup. It's because I don't thicken the broth with anything (whether that be pasta, rice, flour) and I have a chronic problem of underseasoning anything cooked on the stove. (Hey, when you're cooking for eight grown people, you begin thinking 'quantity', not 'quality'!)

After I officially threw the ladle in, and gave up on my soup-stirring dreams, I began making 'bakes'. Throw a   little seasoning onto those cooked chicken pieces, boca burger bits, tofu chunks, stir in some veggies, and bake/rewarm. And hope no one dies. Just kidding, my cooking isn't THAT awful, I promise. You can also make it into an open-bottom pot pie by just throwing a crust over it, and serving it hot.

My favorite type of thing to use up are fruits. Black bananas, almost drooping with overripeness, become banana bread, bruised apples become pies or crisps, soft strawberries become muffins, mushy kiwis become upside down cakes, pears become popovers, cherries become cobblers, peaches become tarts, berries become compotes, and the list goes on and on. As long as you have flour and oil/butter you can at least make SOMETHING. So the next time you find yourself in grocery purgatory, in the words of Ms. Frizzle "take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" and experiment in the kitchen.

The Upside Down Cake

The Upside Down Cake is the perfect way to make a dessert out of that slightly overripe citrusy or acidic fruit you've got sitting in the fridge. Most often made with pineapple, I've found that kiwis, oranges, lemons, and other such fruits work beautifully.

This particular cake was made with kiwis. The recipe follows the photos.

 Sliced kiwis resting on top of butter and brown sugar in the base of a 9-inch nonstick pan.

 Pouring cake batter over the butter/sugar and kiwi layer.

After baking and inverting.

Kiwi Upside Down Cakes.

The tangy acidity of the kiwi is both muted and enhanced after simmering in the buttery sugar. It also sort of looks like a leopard cake, but whatever. :)

1/4 C butter

2/3 C firmly packed brown sugar

Enough sliced fruit to cover the bottom of your chosen pan

1 1/3 C flour

1 C white granulated sugar

1/3 C shortening [I used 1/4 C of canola oil instead]

3/4 C milk [I used almond milk instead]

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

Melt the butter, and pour into the pan you plan to bake in. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter, and layer the fruit over the sugar. Mix well all remaining ingredients, and pour over the fruit, and spread evenly without disrupting the bottom layers. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. IMMEDIATELY turn upside down on a heat proof plate and remove pan.