Whilst staying home and complying to social distancing, I had time to rearrange foodstuff and found quite a few ‘treasures’ which are either expired or expiring in the pantry.

Without any idea on what to make for lunch, decided that it’s Treasures of the Kitchen dish using the recently expired loot from a Japan trip last year which was good in a way, I did not have to waste food and could make a meal from them.

All I did was add all the mini packages into a pot, add water, then add 1/2 a pack of the pasta stars. No additional seasoning was needed as the instant foods were tasty. As I also have tofu expiring, added an extra portion of soft silken tofu for some protein.

So to spruce up the dish, used some ox tongue which was also expiring to line a tray filled with the ‘porridge’ and then topped it with mozarella slices and a mix of other shredded cheeses (cheddar, colby & montery jack). Then, bake it…

The dish was baked at 200degc for approximately 10min till the cheeses melt and become toasted. Serve immediately with some coriander and chillies if any, to complete it. Otherwise the dish by itself tasted good too… a nice surprise of Treasures of the Kitchen pasta!

Though it’s best having fresh foods, sometimes we forget about some. Expired or soon to expire food items can taste great with some creativity too… Food is precious and we should treasure them. Hope you’ll have some fun at some point exploring cooking with expired foods too… Enjoy the rest of the weekend!