After almost 14 years of big family meals, things will soon be changing. I have 9 months worth of bachelor meals in front of me. I’ll be a full-time student, so won’t have a ton of time to mess with complicated dishes. In addition, I’ll be flat broke so need some recipes that do more with less.
I’ve acquired a 25lb bag of pinto beans and a 15lb bag of brown rice. I have a dutch oven and a 3qt. crock pot, along with the usual kitchen pots and pans.
I’m looking for ideas that are easy and don’t require a ton of ingredients to make. I’ll have the aforementioned beans and rice, plus sugar, flour, corn meal, baking powder and soda, yeast, etc. What I won’t have is lots of spices or fresh veggies. Whatever I can store canned or dried is basically what I’ll have. I’ll be able to get a few fresh veggies every week, but I’ll likely be getting broccoli, carrots, romaine, and other healthy veggies. An onion here and there or a tomato should be ok, but I can’t afford to do that daily.
I’ll have the weekends to bake bread or cook up soups, chili, etc. I’ll also have freezer space so should be able to make big pots of whatever and freeze leftovers.
Any dopes have any ideas what I can do with basically a pantry of dry goods and nothing else?
Can you give us some idea of what you like? I ask because, if I was in a similar position, maintaining a reasonable supply of onions, garlic, spices, and canned tomatoes would be the key to keeping myself sane.
Do you have any fridge space at all? Eggs are good for at least a month in there, just about the cheapest and most versatile protein you can get and borderline mandatory for me.
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1 onion
1 can of black beans
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic power\1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups chicken broth
Put chopped onion in pan with oilve oil. Saute 3 minutes, add dry rice and garlic powder. Saute 3 more minutes. Add broth, bring to boil, then simmer 20 minutes. Add black beans, simmer another 5 minutes. Add cumin, salt and pepper.
Except for the sugar, you’re not gonna need any of that.
I would at least pick up a thing of seasoning salt.
Crock pots are great. Just throw some beans in there, some water and a can of Rotel in there and you’re good to go. And if you can afford it, a ham hock and a bottle of beer would make it even better.
Occasionally. While I don’t eschew meat a strictly vegetarian diet is fine.
I’ll have a fridge and a feeezer, but a very small one. A carton of eggs and a quart of milk shoukd be fine
I love grits and cornbread, and plan on baking my own baguettes. Also, pancakes, waffles etc. are things I plan on making with some regularity so baking staples are things I plan on having on hand.
I’ll have a few (garlic, oregano, onion powder, maybe some Mrs. Dash) but I won’t have room for a whole cupboard worth of spices. This is a dorm and cupboard space is limited.
Some of the dried mac & cheese mixes are quite good (I like Annie’s Organics brand but any will do) - make as directed and add anything you fancy: dried tomatoes, broccoli or other veggies, sausage or cooked meat, can of tuna.
Put the roast in the crockpot, cover with the packet mixes, place stick of butter on top, and surround with a few pepperoncini peppers. Do not add any liquid. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
Except for the meat and butter the ingredients are shelf stable. I refrigerate the peppers after I open them, and a small jar lasts for about 3 recipes worth.
I also like to add chunks of new or red potatoes about an hour to an hour and a half before dinner. Add your baguette and you’ve got a nice hearty meal with fantastic leftovers. I keep my potatoes in the pantry too.
I keep ramen noodles on hand to make a new meal out of leftover meats.
My chili recipe uses all canned items except for the meat.
Cream of something soups are great for cooking things in the crockpot or making casseroles.
Quinoa and barley can give you some variety from regular rice.
If you have freezer space, look into making up a few Crockpot Freezer meals. These are things that you make ahead of time but don’t cook. You put all the ingredients in a freezer bag, throw in the freezer and then thaw and toss it all in the crockpot on days when you won’t have a ton of time. You can also make several different meals at once using some of the same ingredients to save on more prep time.
Flip through A Man, A Can, A Plan at the library or bookstore and see if it is worth buying:
Black bean burritos:
If you have them, brown an onion and garlic in a little oil until the onion is soft. Fresh is best, but garlic and onion powder (dollar store or Big Lots) is better than nothing. If you are using powders, heat them in the oil just a few minutes until you can smell them. Chili powder is good in this, too. You can go without the spices if you don’t have any.
Add a jar of salsa and a drained can of black beans. Heat it all over low heat and let it simmer (gently bubble around the edges) for 10-15 minutes. Leave as it or mash it up a bit for a more refried beans texture. Wrap it in tortillas. Add salsa, cheese, peppers, sour cream etc. to taste if you like.
Variations: Add a microwaved or baked and mashed sweet potato or two to the black bean mixture and heat it all through. Add rotisserie chicken, leftover barbecue, etc.
We eat a ton of burritos (I’ve had three in the past three days): they’re cheap and relatively easy and tasty. The bare minimum is flour tortillas, cooked beans (we do dried black beans, but you got 25 lbs of pintos to work through), and grated cheese (can you keep a block of cheese in the fridge?). We generally add other stuff depending on what looks good: chopped onions, cilantro, salsa, avocado, etc. We cook the beans with a chopped onion in the pot, but usually no meat, again depending on what we have around.
Full-time student? Look into partial meal plans at your school. Even a minimal one will get you some variation in meals and access to a lot of condiments.