Waste Not Want Not

Yesterday was a very typical Seattle winter day. It rained buckets all day. Not a drizzle, but a pretty heavy rain. I needed to get some bulk beans so I decided to go to Whole Foods. Not sure what I was thinking. I have to take two buses to get there, and it's only the second time I've made the trek by bus. Anyway, it wasn't the most pleasant day for a bus adventure. I was drenched and feeling trampled on when I got home, and I wanted something warm and comforting. I also had some odds and ends around that needed to be used. I had half a can of white beans some celery that was begging to be used, and in my freezer I had two halves of some puff pastry, and also peas. I also of course had potatoes, so I decided to make a pot pie! I didn't follow a recipe, and I also unfortunately didn't write anything down because I was a little flustered. I basically just simmered celery, potato and onion in some water with a not chicken bouillon cube and some S&P, poultry seasoning and a little cumin until the potato was almost done. I turned down the heat and whisked some flour and almond milk and stirred that in. I let that simmer until it thickened, and then poured it in a dish, popped the pastry on top and baked until the pastry was nice and brown.  It turned out really tasty, and you would never guess that it came from stuff that needed to be used.

Since I know puff pastry gets it's puffiness and flakiness from some type of vegan fat, I went no fat with the filling. I didn't sautee the onions and celery first, which is what I would normally do. Nothing was missed. I've said it before, and I know I'll say it again, but some of my best meals have come from just throwing things together. Unfortunately that way of cooking is usually spontaneous and nothing gets written down.
I'm trying to be better about using everything, and trying to reduce my waste. Sometimes I forget about that half can of beans, or a half of an onion and I always feel bad. Instead of just blindly thinking about what I want to eat, I'm first taking a mental inventory of what I have floating around that needs to be used. I've been reading about a lot of people doing pantry challenge things, and I watched a few videos on YouTube of people living a zero waste lifestyle, which is A LOT of work. I would love to be there someday, but for now I'm very inspired to at least lessen my waste.
I know that the rain here in Seattle is nothing compared to the winter some places are having. It was just last winter that I was dealing with weather conditions that I hope I never see again. I hope everyone has a warm and safe Friday!