Category: Food

Last night after a forearm splitting night of rock climbing, I sat at my dining room table and stared down at my lukewarm meal. There, in a misshapen tupperware, sat a half cup of re-fried beans topped with an unseasoned microwaved egg. This halfhearted pile of dinner was a result of two things:

– my complete lack of motivation
– my paltry excuse for a pantry

Actually, I think my pantry is pretty awesome. But my eldest sister who tried to motivate me on the phone insisted that I was clearly missing some key ingredients. For example, simply adding salsa would have changed this meal from a catfood stand-in to a delightfully fresh !Huevos Rancheros!

Alicia then sent me her suggestions for a dozen essentials for the ultimate pimped pantry. Let’s see how the Pantry of Rock performs.

The List:

1. coconut milk
2. salsa
3. frozen spinach
4. canned beets
5. quick indian and thai curry sauces
6. Annie’s macaroni and cheese
7. brown, red, and green lentils
8. lots of canned, diced tomatoes (no salt added)
9. canned beans – don’t forget about canned chickpeas!
10. canned fruits (Lite in water) – pears, peaches, pineapple, etc.
11. I am assuming you have lots of pasta on hand!!! Especially great is vacuum packed gnocchi.
12. And spices: chili powder, curry powder, etc etc.

The Pantry of Rock spot check performance:

1. coconut milk – Yay. though it’s old. we’re talking 2003 old.
2. salsa – Nay. For shame Mike D.
3. frozen spinach – Nay. Though I do have canned spinach, a fact to which my sister audibly vomited
4. canned beets – Yay. I have canned beets aplenty.
5. quick sauces – Nay. I have most of the ingredients needed to make a curry, but no quick sauces for those nights without motivation
6. annie’s – Nay. For shame Mike D.
7. colored lentils – Kinda. I have a wealth of green lentils, but no other colors
8. canned tomatoes – Yay. Diced, Crushed, Whole, Paste, the House of Rock lacks no tomato
9. canned beans – Yay. Me? not have beans ready for consumption? Impossible.
10. canned fruits – Yay. Especially Pineapple. I freakin’ love pineapple.
11. pasta – Yay. though probably not a sufficient supply
12. spices – Yay. including saffron! (thanks viv!)

End total 7.5/12 that would be a D. Actually, a D-
And if you didn’t count the old coconut milk then I would fail outright. I’m still quite proud of my kitchen’s stockedness but perhaps it does need a bit of a boost.

Do any of you have recommendations for the ultimate pimped pantry?

Driving through Meriden, CT, you might see this sign just off broad street.

However if you’re in a rush, you might not notice the bottom sign there… a sign advertising a place called “Tacos mi Nacho.” And in fact, for the past three years I didn’t notice it. I knew there was a mexican restaurant, but I never would have been able to identify the name. During a recent visit to the House of Rock, Shamus did notice and promptly pointed out the restaurant to me. For those non-Spanish speakers the name of the restaurant translates to: “Tacos my Nacho.” Awesome.

What do they serve at Tacos mi Nacho?

According to the sign: Tacos, Burritos, Quesadillas, Tortas, Tostadas, Pozole, Menudo.

Sarah and I hit up the restaurant this past Sunday and I must say, I was very very impressed. The atmosphere was nothing special, cheap looking booths and an average looking cooking area. But the quality was high and was immediately apparent when they started us off with chips and four varieties of salsa.

For the main course, both Sarah and I got burritos. Here’s a picture of Sarah with her meal.

Oh man! Talk about value for the dollar! This thing was 6$ and tasted super fresh and delicious.

Here I am having almost completed my chorizo burrito.

Overall, I rate Tacos mi Nacho with 5 out of 5 stars for value, 2 out of 5 stars for atmosphere, and 4 out of 5 stars for totally delicious. Also? 5 out of 5 stars for awesome restaurant name.