Making a meal out of nothing

Being unemployed and extra frugal is making me rethink my eating habits. Particularly, I feel like I absolutely need to not waste a single edible thing in my house (I've been pretty good at not being wasteful before but now it's been taken to a whole new level) and be more clever with food I already have in the fridge or in the cupboards. And, quite honestly, I'm not actually sure what I have in the house; I feel like there are things in the cupboards and freezer that have been there for years.

Today, after coming back from coffee with Karen and Andy (Karen kindly bought me a deliciously rich and caramel-y latte from the Blue Bottle kiosk), I was hungry and I thought I had nothing to eat at the house. So, I rummaged. There was an almost empty box of macaroni noodles, half a can of sardines from a leftover salad earlier in the week, a tomato that should've been eaten a days ago, a jar of Kalamata olives in the back of the refrigerator, a red onion, some garlic. Totally enough to make lunch.

I got some water boiling for the noodles. As that boiled away, I diced half the red onion and tomato, sliced the garlic thin, and chopped a small handful of olives. I sauteed the onion over low heat in olive oil, then added the garlic, threw in the tomato, and smushed the sardines in the pan. I added some water from the pot to give it more of a saucey consistency. Then, I tossed in the olives and stirred. When the noodles were cooked, I dumped them into the pan, gave it all a quick toss with some salt and pepper, and scooped it into my waiting bowl. After drizzling some olive oil over the top, I took my fork to it and ate. It wasn't bad, kinda good actually. It smelled of fish though, but I suppose that's what I get for cooking sardines. It might have been better with some fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon, or maybe some capers. But, overall, it was totally more than edible.