Every once in a while, I get to go out of town. Even though I can’t do the full Lavaman Triathlon (just the swim for me this year), I still get to go to Hawaii (YAY!).

This, of course, means that the fridge needs to be cleaned out before I leave (because I do NOT need to come home to fridge funk).

Everything that looks like it will be funky before I get back has been used in one of two ways.

First, a soup, made from carrots, parsnips, cabbage, potatoes. acorn squash and spinach along with chicken broth, canned tomatoes and some sausage and bacon that I happened to have in the deli drawer. I seasoned the soup with smoked salt, smoked paprika and a few cubes of mixed-herb pesto from the freezer (which really pushed the soup from pretty good to YUM).

Second, mushrooms, cucumber and bell pepper formed a crudite plate to tide us over while the soup cooks.

The leftover soup has been stashed in the freezer for easy meals once while I recuperate from my upcoming surgery (because I can not depend on the husband for tasty dinners every night for six weeks, although he will do his best).

Only thing left in the fridge that might get funky now? A few apples. Hmmm, perhaps an apple crumble for dessert…