Hey y’all!
Ok, we are two weeks into the month, so how is everyone coming with their pantry meals? We’re doing great so far, and we had several meals from our pantry this week. I still have lots of menu ideas outlined, using items from my pantry and freezer. In fact, I still think that I won’t get all of these meals worked into the month of January, so I’m hoping to keep going on into February 🙂
I knew it was going to be a bit hard to balance our healthy eating recipe collab (New Year, Healthy New You 2019) with cooking items from my pantry and freezer. I think it’s easier to make fattening and quick meals from the pantry than it is healthy meals, LOL! This week was the perfect example of that 🙂
We had a lot more Pantry Meals in week 2 (Jan 6-12) than we did healthy meals, LOL! We tried a new-to-us recipe on Sunday night for a crockpot chicken and dressing. I used stuffing mix, broth and cream of mushroom from the pantry, as well as a package of frozen chicken breasts from my freezer. We served it with cornbread muffins (from a mix from the pantry) and a can of cranberry sauce, so that made a big dent in our pantry 🙂 Unfortunately, while we liked the dish, we didn’t love it enough to repeat it. The leftovers did not heat up that well, so it wasn’t deemed a keeper.
On Monday, I made a potato soup in my Instant Pot. I was busy filming it for the Youtube channel and cut up the potatoes too small, so it was not very chunky, LOL! I go back and forth on making potato soup on the stovetop or in the IP. I like it both ways. I have entered my favorite potato soup guideline recipe on our website, you can find it here.
Tuesday, I made roast with potatoes and carrots. I consider this a pantry meal since I used the last chuck roast in my freezer. I got my crockpot out Tuesday morning, but ended up doing it on the stovetop in my Dutch Oven. I used my mom’s favorite method that she taught me (using lots of seasonings, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a packet of dry onion soup mix, and her secret ingredient, some Coca-Cola to help tenderize the meat and flavor the gravy). We loved this one and it was a great pantry meal!
Wednesday, I tried a new recipe in my Instant Pot for “Peachy Chicken”. This one was good, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than Tim did. He was not a fan, but probably because I served it over whole wheat couscous. The recipe suggested rice (which he’s not fond of either) or pasta (and he is not a pasta fan), so I was not going to win with this one 🙂 However, I consider this one a win, as it was a pantry meal (I used chicken from the freezer, balsamic vinegar and spices from the cabinet, a can of peaches from my pantry, whole wheat couscous from the pantry, and served it with steamed broccoli and roasted carrots on the side). I also consider this one to be my one Healthy meal for the week. So at least I got one in on our #NewYearHealthyNewYou2019 challenge 🙂
Thursday night, we were able to go out to dinner with one of Tim’s oldest friends, who was in town for the night. It was a great night of good food and good fellowship. We went to a new seafood place that just opened up. We got fried crab claws for an appetizer, and I got a grilled redfish sandwich. Tim got a huge shrimp po-boy and his buddy got the Seafood Pasta.
Friday night, we worked on leftovers from the fridge. Saturday, I fixed one of my favorite comfort meals, especially in the winter. Tomato soup and grilled cheese, and I did use a can of tomato soup from the pantry, so I count this one as a Pantry Meal. I would have preferred to make my own Crockpot Tomato Soup, but I got busy preparing food for another function and ran out of time.
All in all, a great week! Tim has requested we go back to some “normal” food as he calls it, so next week will not have so many new recipes.
How did you do this week with cooking from your Pantry, Fridge and Freezer? Leave us a comment and let us know!
Have a wonderful and blessed day, y’all!
Stacy
I did pretty good this past week, had a couple of pantry meals that I didn’t have to buy anything extra for! One was turkey burgers from the freezer along with corn on the cob. Don doesn’t like the turkey ones as much as those chicken burgers but I cooked them slightly different in the skillet, adding some water and I think it helped keep them moist and plump. He commented how good they were! Also had shredded chicken one night with leftover veggies and deer steaks from the freezer with rice from the pantry. (I did add fresh broccoli I had to buy!) I have to get some fresh fruits and veggies! Also did the IP goulash one night using mostly what I had on hand but had to have some tomatoes that I had run out of. And I did smoked salmon chowder one night using mostly stuff I had on hand except I bought a couple of small potatoes to add to it. We had some grilled sandwiches with the soup and it was a good winter meal. David brings me the cans of smoked salmon back from Alaska! Leftovers were another night and we ate lunch at the club today 🙂