Friends have long joked that there is a supermarket in my kitchen. While I generally used up perishables before each trip out of town, the first grocery run after every return home has fed my inner food hoarding monster more and more as time passed. Coming home this week after being out of town, I realized that the fridge, even after a conscientious pre-trip mini-purge, was still some 2/3 full with citrus, nuts, seeds, pickles, charcuterie, condiments, beverages…and a bunch of other crap, not to mention a loaded pantry and freezer…and backup (!) freezer. The ugly truth was that I needed an intervention, badly.

So, here it is: For the next 2 weeks, I’m going to try to make balanced meals out of what’s already in the house. No takeout, no grocery runs. Any bets on what will be created, or will it be variations of fried SPAM over instant ramen?

The inaugural dish of this challenge is the signature item by “The Butter Chicken Lady”  since Instant Pot recipes are all the rage.  Somehow, elementary school math didn’t quite apply here: 10 minutes of prep + 10 minutes of pressure build + 10 minutes of cooking > 30 minutes of happy eating.

Seriously. One batch was good for well over a week’s worth of meals. Pop on over to follow the recipe if you’d like!