Why do you keep so much food on hand? Are you far from the store?
My mother’s recipe for “sludge”–Open can of soup. Add one-half can of water. Heat to boiling. Stir while adding instant mashed potato flakes until it looks sludgy. Eat.
Chunky Soup & a four serving package of potato flakes work fine.
We almost always have dried pasta, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, etc…) and parmesan cheese in the pantry or fridge. So in a pinch we could make a pretty passable red sauce without having to do anything special.
We typically have eggs and bacon, and sometimes guanciale and/or pancetta, so spaghetti carbonara is another meal that we usually have the makings for on-hand.
We usually also have Thai red curry paste in the fridge along with fish sauce, coconut milk and rice in the pantry, so if we have things like bell peppers and chicken, we can make a bastardized red curry.
And probably strangest of all, pizza is something that has been a pantry meal for a while now. We have flour, oil yeast and salt in the pantry, we have canned tomatoes and dried herbs and garlic, and my wife froze a Costco package of shredded part-skim mozzarella. We usually have something like pepperoni or salami in the fridge (one of the few things the 3 year old will consistently eat), and often have hamburger meat, prosciutto and things like olives and onions.
Three bean salad. Three cans of beans, feta, olive oil, red wine vinegar and a bit of oregano. Add in rice sometimes.
Pasta with tomato sauce and cheddar in the microwave until the cheddar melts.
Mac and cheese made with whatever leftover cheese I have on hand.
Scrambled eggs and ketchup.
Potatoes cut in quarters and left in the oven with olive oil for 45 minutes.
Salami sandwich with good mustard.
Foreman grill grilled cheese on whole wheat.
Chinese sesame noodles with peanut butter and any leftover sauces I had on hand.
Extra tomatoes from the garden get turned into a quick soup with oil, basil and a bit of parmesan.
Baked pasta casserole with leftovers – I buy ricotta so that helps.
No, but I grew up in the country, so I’m used to thinking that it’s normal to keep the pantry stocked, since the next trip to town/grocery store might be a long while. Plus, I have four kids at home - two of them teenagers. Have you seen those things eat?! And I don’t particularly like to shop, plus I’m cheap, so I stock up on sale items and try to limit the number of trips I have to make…
Also, I have some terrible recollections of times when I wondered whether I’d be able to scrounge up anything at all to feed my family, much less anything nutritious and satisfying. It’s comforting to me to know that I don’t have to worry about them being hungry in the near term.
Parmesan cheese keeps for a good while, especially if it hasn’t been opened. Cream, not so much, but still:
Fettuccine Alfredo
[ol]
[li]Cook fettuccine as it please you[/li][li]While fettuccine is cooking, melt 1/4 stick of butter in a sauce pan under med-low heat[/li][li]When butter is melted, add 1-2 cups of light cream (heavy also works) to the sauce pan and stir, allow it to warm up in the pan*[/li][li]When pasta is done and butter/cream mixture is warm, drain the pasta and pour the butter/cream over it, toss[/li]li Toss in a clove or two of pressed garlic, peas, cooked chicken, etc. Anything you want to add for flavor and substance.[/li][li]Add a handful of grated parmesan, toss[/li][li]Repeat previous step until the pasta achieves the desired consistency (the noodles should be partially held together by a matrix of melted parmesan)[/li][/ol]
It’s not health food, but damn is it good, and easy, and fast. And aside from the cream, the ingredients can stay in the pantry & fridge for a while. Even the cream can be purchased a few weeks in advance.
*I eyeball these quantities. You basically need enough to coat the noodles well.
Chickpea Salad
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[li]Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas[/li][li]Combine with veggies and herbs as desired. I use edamame, corn, peas, tomatoes, and basil or cilantro, depending on the flavor I want.[/li][/ol]
Much healthier, though I’m still working on ways to improve the flavor. Everything except the tomatoes and tomatillos can either be frozen or is already canned, and in a pinch, those can be left out.
If there’s eggs in the pantry then I’m set. I used to live on a farm, 30 minutes from the closest store, but we did have plenty of chickens. When I was lazy, I started with eggs. Egg salad, fried egg sandwich, quiche, souffle, french toast, scrambled eggs, huevos rancheros and so many more. Whatever else was in the pantry, I could make it into something with eggs.