I was out of town for a time but have a renewed my enthusiasm for eating from what we have. My husband wanted to shop for dinner tonight but I renewed my enthusiasm to keep on track so here's what we had for dinner:
Bow Tie Pasta
Can of Okra that I'm sure I've had for over 10 years
Canned Tomatoes
Fresh Celery and Onions
Canned Tuna
I sauteed the onions and celery then added the drained okra and tuna and then the tin of tomatoes and tossed it with the bow tie pasta. Just a sprinkle of cheese. It was amazing!!! The okra had a nice tartness to it; sorta like a pickle, but more subdued. Add the celery, onions and tomatoes and it was just right.
Until next time!
Mavis
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
One last blog before bedtime
Hello again!
I just finished making my lunch for work tomorrow. This is one of my favourite all time meals and it's very portable, not expensive and very satisfying. We went shopping today for dairy and a few odds and ends. We love cottage cheese in our house so we stocked up today.
This dish is called Kibbutz Salad. It's what I ate for breakfast and dinner every day when I lived in Israel in 1984/85. The hot meal was always at lunch time.
And it couldn't be simpler to make:
1 cup cottage cheese (I use 1% or 2%)
1-2 chopped tomatoes
1/2 chopped cucumber (I use Engish cucumber)
2 hard boiled eggs
Salt & Pepper
Basically just chop the veggies and the eggs into the cottage cheese; season with salt and pepper and serve.
I told you it was easy!!
I didn't have any cucumber so I varied mine for tomorrow:
Voila! I thought it was worth sharing with you my wonderful readers because the ingredients are not something we would naturally put together in North America but it was definitely a staple in the diningroom on the Kibbutz in Israel. When I first arrived there for my year I was pining away for my granola from home but by the time it finally arrived in a care package from my sister, I had fallen in love with Kibbutz salad and never looked back.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do
So....I guess you can't really call it a 'pantry' meal because it comes from the fridge, but it's still helps me meet my goal of reducing unnecessary expenditures of restaurant lunches and it's so much healthier!
BTW, it doesn't keep very long as the tomatoes and cucumbers get mushy. It's advisable to make this just before serving. Rarely does it taste as good the day after. This is one reason I just placed my ingredients into my lunch container and didn't mix them up. You could also serve it in various containers buffet style for families and switch up the vegetables. I've seen onions added much like you would a greek salad...oh yes...olives also make it interesting but more expensive too.
Have fun with it!
Mavis
I just finished making my lunch for work tomorrow. This is one of my favourite all time meals and it's very portable, not expensive and very satisfying. We went shopping today for dairy and a few odds and ends. We love cottage cheese in our house so we stocked up today.
This dish is called Kibbutz Salad. It's what I ate for breakfast and dinner every day when I lived in Israel in 1984/85. The hot meal was always at lunch time.
And it couldn't be simpler to make:
1 cup cottage cheese (I use 1% or 2%)
1-2 chopped tomatoes
1/2 chopped cucumber (I use Engish cucumber)
2 hard boiled eggs
Salt & Pepper
Basically just chop the veggies and the eggs into the cottage cheese; season with salt and pepper and serve.
I told you it was easy!!
I didn't have any cucumber so I varied mine for tomorrow:
- cottage cheese
- chopped tomato
- chopped yellow pepper
- chopped celery
- hard boiled egg
- salt & pepper
Voila! I thought it was worth sharing with you my wonderful readers because the ingredients are not something we would naturally put together in North America but it was definitely a staple in the diningroom on the Kibbutz in Israel. When I first arrived there for my year I was pining away for my granola from home but by the time it finally arrived in a care package from my sister, I had fallen in love with Kibbutz salad and never looked back.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do
So....I guess you can't really call it a 'pantry' meal because it comes from the fridge, but it's still helps me meet my goal of reducing unnecessary expenditures of restaurant lunches and it's so much healthier!
BTW, it doesn't keep very long as the tomatoes and cucumbers get mushy. It's advisable to make this just before serving. Rarely does it taste as good the day after. This is one reason I just placed my ingredients into my lunch container and didn't mix them up. You could also serve it in various containers buffet style for families and switch up the vegetables. I've seen onions added much like you would a greek salad...oh yes...olives also make it interesting but more expensive too.
Have fun with it!
Mavis
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Blog about it...blog about it..blog about it .... dit dit da dooo
sung to the song . "talk about it, talk about it, talk about it..."
OK silly mood here but I have to, just have to blog about our pantry dinner tonight.
I was suggesting South American Pumpkin Soup but both my husband and son turned up their noses at my suggestion. We have 3 cans of pumpkin in the pantry. Next idea...
OK...I then remembered a fb friend had posted a recipe for an easy turkey dinner in a bowl recipe. I was already to send my husband to the store for ground turkey and a can of gravy when my son pipes in: "Mom, isn't the goal to eat everything from your pantry?" Conviction set in and we tried to think outside the hunger pangs and instant gratification.
First of all here's my friend's recipe:
ground turkey, sauteed with onions and garlic and diced carrots; add 1 can gravy
top with mashed parsnips
serve with boxed stuffing.
So I didn't have ground turkey, nor did I have canned gravy.
Here's what we did:
Thawed some frozen chicken breasts
Diced the chicken breasts and sauteed them with onions and garlic and diced carrots
From the pantry drawer I pulled a package of Hunter Style Gravy. Mixed up the gravy and added it to the chicken, onions, and carrots. Let it simmer.
Pulled a package of instant mashed potatoes but decided to save those and use fresh potatoes because they don't have a shelf life; packages do. Peeled some potatoes to make mashed potatoes instead of mashed parsnips.
Meanwhile, melted some butter in a saucepan and sauteed some celery and onions and then the directions for the stuffing - 1 cup water set to boil; add stuffing mix, take off the heat and put a lid on it.
Opened a can of cranberry sauce (have 3 in the pantry).
Result? The YUMMIEST comfort meal ever!!! And we ate it from the pantry and freezer. I'm trying to stay on my weight watchers program but could not help myself and went back for small seconds.
Mashed potatoes smothered in chicken, onions, carrots and gravy with a side of stuffing and cranberry sauce. O M G !!!
Take a look for yourself:
You must try this. And a big thank you to my friend, Mavelle.
Until next time,
Mavis
OK silly mood here but I have to, just have to blog about our pantry dinner tonight.
I was suggesting South American Pumpkin Soup but both my husband and son turned up their noses at my suggestion. We have 3 cans of pumpkin in the pantry. Next idea...
OK...I then remembered a fb friend had posted a recipe for an easy turkey dinner in a bowl recipe. I was already to send my husband to the store for ground turkey and a can of gravy when my son pipes in: "Mom, isn't the goal to eat everything from your pantry?" Conviction set in and we tried to think outside the hunger pangs and instant gratification.
First of all here's my friend's recipe:
ground turkey, sauteed with onions and garlic and diced carrots; add 1 can gravy
top with mashed parsnips
serve with boxed stuffing.
So I didn't have ground turkey, nor did I have canned gravy.
Here's what we did:
Thawed some frozen chicken breasts
Diced the chicken breasts and sauteed them with onions and garlic and diced carrots
From the pantry drawer I pulled a package of Hunter Style Gravy. Mixed up the gravy and added it to the chicken, onions, and carrots. Let it simmer.
Pulled a package of instant mashed potatoes but decided to save those and use fresh potatoes because they don't have a shelf life; packages do. Peeled some potatoes to make mashed potatoes instead of mashed parsnips.
Meanwhile, melted some butter in a saucepan and sauteed some celery and onions and then the directions for the stuffing - 1 cup water set to boil; add stuffing mix, take off the heat and put a lid on it.
Opened a can of cranberry sauce (have 3 in the pantry).
Result? The YUMMIEST comfort meal ever!!! And we ate it from the pantry and freezer. I'm trying to stay on my weight watchers program but could not help myself and went back for small seconds.
Mashed potatoes smothered in chicken, onions, carrots and gravy with a side of stuffing and cranberry sauce. O M G !!!
Take a look for yourself:
You must try this. And a big thank you to my friend, Mavelle.
Until next time,
Mavis
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Friday night ... and the meal plan is .....
Maui ribs from Red Barn Market (the absolute yummiest!) with baked potatoes (from the pantry) and a spinach concoction that was loved by all and used up frozen spinach from the freezer. We also had some leftover brie cheese that needed to be used soon or would end up in the garbage. So I created the yummiest spinach dish I think I've every had (with the exception of spanakopita which I'm sure why spinach was invented in the first place!)
Cheesy Spinach
1 pkg frozen chopped (or whole) spinach (I used chopped)
2 tbsp chopped up brie without the skin
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
Boil spinach until cooked. Drain carefully and return to pot. Add butter, chopped brie cheese, and sprinkle in flour slowly to thicken. Serve!
Here's a picture of my plate last night:
I know the spinach looks like a green blob...you'll just have to believe me that it was superb! The brie flavour was delicate and made the consistency just right. Not too creamy. In a word ~ wonderful!
And I used veggies from the freezer that were getting freezer burnt. The ribs were a splurge. My husband was 'window shopping' while waiting for my son's doctor's appointment to end so he wandered in to the Red Barn and found the ribs. Temptation overtook him but we were all thankful for the treat!
Until next time...Bon Appetit!
Mavis
Cheesy Spinach
1 pkg frozen chopped (or whole) spinach (I used chopped)
2 tbsp chopped up brie without the skin
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
Boil spinach until cooked. Drain carefully and return to pot. Add butter, chopped brie cheese, and sprinkle in flour slowly to thicken. Serve!
Here's a picture of my plate last night:
I know the spinach looks like a green blob...you'll just have to believe me that it was superb! The brie flavour was delicate and made the consistency just right. Not too creamy. In a word ~ wonderful!
And I used veggies from the freezer that were getting freezer burnt. The ribs were a splurge. My husband was 'window shopping' while waiting for my son's doctor's appointment to end so he wandered in to the Red Barn and found the ribs. Temptation overtook him but we were all thankful for the treat!
Until next time...Bon Appetit!
Mavis
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Make Do Casserole!
I used to make a casserole called "Six Layer Dish". It consisted of a big casserole dish with ground beef in the bottom followed by layers of rice, potatoes, onions, carrots and tomatoes. I found some extra lean ground beef at Walmart (I don't usually shop there but it was just $4.00 so I couldn't pass it up ~ I was waiting for a prescription to be filled).
Anyway, we had some taco seasoning in the pantry which needed to be used up so here's what I have in the oven right now:
Ground beef on the bottom (cooked in a frying pan first with taco seasoning and 1 cup water as per the package directions)
Sprinkle of remaining Uncle Ben's Converted Rice in the bag in the pantry
Sliced Onions (followed by wiping of teary eyes!)
Carrots sliced
Canned corn (figured taco seasoning and corn would work well together!)
Sliced potatoes (peeled and sliced like you would for scalloped potatoes)
Large can of diced tomatoes on top of everything.
Remember to season each layer with salt and pepper to taste but remember that taco seasoning is very salty.
I also added some V8 juice which I found in the fridge. Since the rice is raw when it goes into the oven, it needs liquid or it doesn't cook properly. I tend to add about 1/2 cup in total and let it seep down between the layers.
I put it in a covered casserole dish and it's now in a 400 degree oven. I figure it will take about 60 minutes to cook ~ a perfect length of time to blog about it and catch up on the blogs I'm following. The smell of tomatoes and onions together baking in the oven has always driven me nuts! (in a good way).
We'll see how it turns out. Hopefully it will be more successful than my recent bread attempts. If I have time I'll post a picture later. I have my "War on Debt " meeting tonight so it may have to wait.
Until next time,
Mavis
Anyway, we had some taco seasoning in the pantry which needed to be used up so here's what I have in the oven right now:
Ground beef on the bottom (cooked in a frying pan first with taco seasoning and 1 cup water as per the package directions)
Sprinkle of remaining Uncle Ben's Converted Rice in the bag in the pantry
Sliced Onions (followed by wiping of teary eyes!)
Carrots sliced
Canned corn (figured taco seasoning and corn would work well together!)
Sliced potatoes (peeled and sliced like you would for scalloped potatoes)
Large can of diced tomatoes on top of everything.
Remember to season each layer with salt and pepper to taste but remember that taco seasoning is very salty.
I also added some V8 juice which I found in the fridge. Since the rice is raw when it goes into the oven, it needs liquid or it doesn't cook properly. I tend to add about 1/2 cup in total and let it seep down between the layers.
I put it in a covered casserole dish and it's now in a 400 degree oven. I figure it will take about 60 minutes to cook ~ a perfect length of time to blog about it and catch up on the blogs I'm following. The smell of tomatoes and onions together baking in the oven has always driven me nuts! (in a good way).
We'll see how it turns out. Hopefully it will be more successful than my recent bread attempts. If I have time I'll post a picture later. I have my "War on Debt " meeting tonight so it may have to wait.
Until next time,
Mavis
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