Pantry Challenge

I practically do this for a living, because we live off food stamps and the occassional trip to the food bank. I came up with an excellent, delicious and easy recipe the other day!!! I call it stovetop casserole.

Meat (optional - I had ground beef)
cheese (any kind, but cheddar or mozzarella works best)
rice or pasta (I had rice)
various veggies (I happened to have a can of peas, a can of corn, an onion, and some garlic)
1 can of tomatoes or tomato sauce(I had diced tomatoes with onions and garlic)
salt to taste (I also added basil)

Cook the rice or pasta. Brown the meat in a skillet, and add veggies. Cook until everything is done and tender. Add tomatoes or sauce. Add the meat and veggie mixture to the rice or pasta. Add cheese. So yummy, the kids will ask for seconds and thirds!

We're definitely in the midst of this right now.
Someone gave us a giant bag of rice so we've been making rice and beans and fried rice alot. When my partner makes the fried rice he puts egg, rice vinegar, and frozen mango in it.
I make a really cheap enchilada casserole. Just layer corn tortillas on the bottom of a casserole dish and then put canned refried beans, corn, tomato and chilis on top, then another layer of tortillas and cheese on top and bake it at 450 for fifteen minutes or until the cheese is melted. I pour salsa in between each layer and I love to eat it.
Day old bread makes great bowls for soup and it feels fancy to eat it like that.
You can use Ramen noodles but spruce it with your own veggies and garlic and stuff instead of the sauce it comes with. Crack an egg over it for extra yum.
I need to get better at using my crockpot. Now that winter has hit it'll feel nice to have a pot full of hot lentils or stew going.

I have a fun idea, we can post what we have and other people can post ideas of stuff to make using only what is in the list if possible. Anyone wanna do that?

Ohh those are great recipes guys, thanks for sharing, I'm going to try them out.

I love the idea of posting what we have and asking for suggestions. And we can also post recipes we've used with ordinary stuff most people have lying around.

This should be fun!

Sounds good to me!

I have:

Rice
Kale
canned beans
canned tomatoes
chicken
a packet of gravy mix
carrots.

Any ideas?

this sounds good:
http://www.portuguese-recipes.com/Kale%20And%20Bean%20Soup%20Recipe.htm

mmm looks good!

I'm going to assume that you also have some spices and things, yes?

Use the canned beans and canned tomatoes for vegetarian chile. Serve it over rice.

Saute kale, carrots, and chicken, possibly serve over rice as well.

Gravy mix I can't help you with .

Alright, I'm so proud of myself!

Last night I did an easy stir-fry just with rice, eggs, and frozen mixed veggies.

Tonight I made up a stove-top mac and cheese, which basically just involved some evaporated milk, eggs, and cheese, and obvs. macaroni, and toward the end I microwaved some frozen peas and drained a can of tuna and mixed them in. So yummy, and DD loved it!
I used this recipe here.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/stove-top-mac-n-cheese-recipe/index.html

OK seriously I think if I keep this up I might actually learn how to cook. LMAO Scary.

Questions:

What do you guys do with coucous? I think I've only made it once before and I forgot about it on the stove burned it horribly. Do you make a sauce for it, mix it with veggies or something? Or just treat it like any old pasta?

Also, how do you know how long sauces and things are good for? I have some opened containers of like BBQ sauce, teryaki (sp?) sauce, etc, and I can't think how long they've been in there for. Is there some kind of rule about this stuff?

Couscous I serve on the side as if it's rice. It goes well with stir fry. I don't like to use it as a pasta with sauces because it absorbs too much and the texture just isn't right. It turns into saucy mush.

The sauces should have an expiration date, and unless they are "preservative free" or something you can use them until they reach the expiration date. They last quite a while.

Ohh nice thanks!

I use cous cous like rice but I cook it in veggie broth, it is super yummy. I cook veggies on the side and then mix them in.

OK so I have a lifetime supply of beans. Both canned and dried, and a bunch of different kinds. Other than veggie chili, I have no idea what to do with these things! What do you guys do with beans? DD's not really into them, think there's a way to get her to eat them?

I've found black beans make great soups. Once the beans are cooked, chop up some carrots and kale, add a can of tomatoes, some salt, oregano, bay leaves, and other spices, and simmer until the carrots are nice and soft. Kidney beans are a good addition to pasta salads and other salad. When I had a lot of beans, I used to make a bean salad, which consisted of black beans, kidney beans, chick peas, green beans, tomatoes, vinegar, and olive oil. I also had a rosemary plant right outside my door at the time, and that with a little crushed garlic made it extra tasty. I would cook the beans, cool them, and mix it all together cold. It was a good summer protein that went well on "salad nights" which we have often in the summer, ussually including a vegetable salad, a bean, pasta, or potato salad, and a fruit salad. My kids are also huge fans of bean and cheese burritos. If I have corn tortillas and not flour tortillas, I'll make bean tostadas or bean tacos (basically the same thing as bean and cheese burritos, but with corn tortillas instead of flour). If you add a little sour cream, it's a big hit with the little ones! Oh, I also do bean and cheese quesadillas. The recipe is no different, but I grill it flat and slice it into triangles with a little extra cheese, and they love to dip it in mild salsa.

I dont know if you eat meat but i mix hamburger with beans and put it over rice and my kids adore it.

refried beans. make tostadas with tortillas and cheese! mmmm!

Thanks guys, these suggestions are great!