Cats, and Clean Out the Fridge Burritos

What kind of lottery did I win in life that I get to witness and live with such cuteness? I don't care if  I sound like a crazy cat lady or not, living with animals is far superior to humans.
Yesterday I did the very unpleasant job of cleaning out my refrigerator. I'm good about keeping it clean from old food, but what I have the worst habit of is allowing almost empty condiments to begin to take over. It was getting to the point where I would go to the store and buy three things, put them in my fridge, and it looked like I bought the store out. I will be down to two pickles, and buy more, and instead of using those last two I open the new jar. I love condiments, and yesterday reminded me of just how much. For whatever reason, I hate cleaning the fridge. Anything that involves organizing is just not my favorite. But man do I love the results! My fridge looks so open and uncluttered now. And most important, I have room for more condiments! It was getting dangerous, like stuff was falling out when you open the door! It was one of those tasks I have been wanting to do, needing to do for awhile, but I allow every thing ever to get in the way of doing it. So it feels like even more of an accomplishment. The one thing I've learned about dealing with such an unbelievably small kitchen is you don't have the luxury of letting things pile up. It just makes life so much more difficult! So, I feel like a weight has been lifted, and like I really accomplished something!
Believe it or not cleaning the fridge inspired my dinner choice last night. One of my favorite things to do with that last bit of salsa in a jar is to blend it with some soaked cashews and a little nutritional yeast and make a super easy vegan queso sauce/dip. You can make it thicker and dip chips in, or make it a little thinner, and use it for spicy mac and cheese, or pour it over burritos and bake for a little bit. The smothered burrito idea is one of my favorite winter comfort foods. It's a great dish to use up odds and ends too. It's also really inexpensive to make, but feels a lot fancier. I only used about 1/4 cup of cashew pieces, and those are the priciest item in the whole dish.

This dish is delicious with or without vegan cheese. The cashew queso is creamy enough. But, if you have scraps of leftover vegan cheese, this is a great place to use it because it doesn't take much. I just filled the burritos with brown rice and pinto beans. Could not be simpler. And it doesn't dirty every pan you have. Of course, I only own two pans so it doesn't take much for me to dirty everything! Ha!!
All in all with the cuteness, the cleaning and the food yesterday was a pretty great day!
Happy Friday!