So far, so good on the pantry leftover war.

I tried applesauce with honey instead of sugar this morning. It came out thicker than I prefer, so next time I won’t cut the water as much. Otherwise, a happy experiment.

I disposed of all the tomatoes. The big ones I peeled and cooked down, then added a few strips of green pepper, three cloves of garlic, the last three onions from the garden and the handful of leftover portabellas, plus Italian seasonings. The can of tomato paste and the leftover jar spaghetti sauce and meat from the other night joined the pot. By the time I was done, I had a very thick paste that my daughter loved the smell of. Considering she usually insists on naked pasta, I might be onto something.

Finally I produced banana, coconut and tapioca pearl soup. I found the recipe online yesterday as I was trying to combine tapioca and coconut, meaning the flaked kind. But this called for coconut milk, a pantry stray I had overlooked, so I jumped on it. I found the recipe elsewhere but it looks like it originated with Saveur, so here’s their copy.

“This creamy, sweet dessert is a favorite Vietnamese street snack,” it says. The version I saw didn’t mention 3/4-inch slices for the bananas and so I mashed them, making a smoother consistency. I like the flavor, but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to make it very often. It’s like a runny pudding and I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it yet.