Well, not really a snow day (I wish!), but an ice and wind day, the second in a row here. It’s a grey day with a few snowflakes fluttering around. It’s not so far been a productive day. I’ve been wandering from room to room, fighting the urge to take a lesson from the cat. Neither did he go with me to make morning coffee nor did he get out of bed when I started rattling around in the kitchen. He simply got under the duvet instead of on top.

So I’ve resisted the lure of book and duvet to try to accomplish something, even if not useful or productive, just something I can say that I did. The motif today seems to be opening, peering inside, and closing doors, figuratively and literally, including internet browsing–opening a site and then just passing on to another. I’ve peered into the cabinet where all the plastic storage containers live and close the door tightly and firmly, then opened the internet door (Google search) on organizational ideas for empty containers.

Peering into the refrigerator led to the conclusion that I didn’t want to eat anything that was already in there. The threat of power outage led me to follow a link on what foods were safe after a power outage, but that didn’t catch my interest either (no new information, and no power outage here yet). My list of blogs that I follow l did provide something that held my attention: posts on one taste at a time caught my interest–food waste and eating mindfully. After reading (and reblogging those) my meandering led me back to the kitchen with thoughts of something warm and cozy to eat this afternoon.

This recurring theme eventually led to the freezer compartment of the refrigerator which has been needing organization and sorting for a while. Gazing at a container of stock finally got my interest. What better way to start sorting and organizing that to make something from what I found in the freezer that was approaching its end-of-life-even-if-frozen state.  Thus: mostly freezer soup happened–with additions from the crisper drawer.

Ingredients

• pulled pork (from a large pork butt, slow-roasted in the Schlemmertopf)
• two packages of stock (one pork, one chicken)
• the last package of sofrito (a staple, but needing to be used and replaced)
• carrots (the last of a bag that had been vacuum packed for later use)
• 1/2 small rutabaga, diced
• two handsful of cabbage, in bite-size pieces (a crisper staple)
• about 1 cup yellow split peas
• about two teaspoons Hatch red chili powder
• a dash of dried oregano
• (a retained bay leaf from the pulled pork)

Preparation

• thaw and sauté the sofrito to brown lightly (frozen with olive oil)
• add chili powder and oregano to bloom in olive oil
• add frozen stock
• add pork
• add rutabaga, cabbage, and split peas
• simmer until rutabaga and split peas are tender (about 40 minutes)

Supper is on! 

As is typical of all soup making, there is more than I’m going to eat, but some will go back into the freezer for a quick meal on another grey day–carefully labeled, and dated.

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