We have a package of frozen Italian sausage, so I'll toss those in the cooler. I found a cake mix hiding in the pantry I that didn't know was there the other day, and found 1/2 bag of chocolate chips. Not having any oil, I made a modified chocolate chip bar/cake with the mix, chips, two eggs, and last stick of margarine I had on hand. I made a pasta salad with a remaining 8 ounce of rotini pasta, a rinsed can of garbanzo beans, a can of dices tomatoes, a handful of baby carrots dice up, and the last few florets of broccoli lingering in the crisper. I generously added pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes, and just a touch of salt. I mixed up a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil and tossed that on top. It still tasted a bit bland, so on top went a few squirts of Italian dressing-now it had flavor. I have an extra sour cream and onion chip dip from last weeks shop, so on route, we'll pick up a bag of potato chips and hot dog buns for the sausage. Added with the assorted meat for the grill and other salads and sides families will bring, we will have an ample Father's Day barbecue.
Menu+ others
Italian Sausage on buns
Pasta Salad
Chips and dip
Chocolate chip desert
DD2 is now home for lunch every day, though she will be volunteering a couple days a week with the Loaves and Fishes program so having lunch at church. I think I can stretch the cupboards at least to Monday night as I don't want to shop tonight. It sounds like she ate very well and very heartily, so some lighter fare and cleaning up the leftovers should be just fine with my kid.I'm reading a lot of posts of folks cleaning out and eating down their pantries. What creative meals have you come up with so far? Has anyone else brought food along or hosted with entirely scrounged food? Was anyone the wiser?
Scrounged meals tend to be my most well received! One of my favorites is to make bread dough, roll it out it individual circles, and place grated cheese, and whatever leftover meat we have on hand--ham, salami or turkey, roll it up like a turnover and bake--I call them calzones, but they aren't, really. That's on the menu for one night this week, as I am trying to get the refrigerator emptied before we head out for a bit of time in our east coast place--I hate for our house sitter to find stuff in the refrigerator that's gone to the other side!
ReplyDeleteOur other favorites are shepherd's pie--basically any leftover meat, with sautéed onions and a bit of sauce, (red or a roux based) topped with mashed potatoes, and baked. I'll add leftover vegetables if they are lurking, but it generally gets better reviews when I leave the vegetables out, and serve them as sides.
You sure are a tolerant woman to head back to extended family! I don't think I would be able to do that. In fact, I KNOW I wouldn't. After one particularly disastrous, expensive, physically and emotionally exhausting trip to MIL's when my oldest two were babies, I informed DH that he was welcome to go whenever he wanted, taking whomever he wanted, but I was staying put. Oddly enough, he didn't find it so appealing under those conditions.
Not that tolerant-I ended up not going. I've never made a shepherds pie, but think my family woudl really like it.
DeleteYou are amazingly resourceful!!! I would have panicked and probably spent a fortune at the grocery store. Dinner sounds fantastic & perfect for father's day!
ReplyDeleteI'm a terrible cook and I absolutely hate it - I would rather scrub toilets any day. The one good thing about dd being back home is she is now the chief cook during the week and we are eating much healthier and much tastier food than when I was throwing things together :)
It helps when you have a not fussy family, and unless it is a special event, food just needs to be nourishing and taste reasonably good for me. I don't need Haute Cuisine.
DeleteI refuse to shop for groceries on the weekend so I had to come with something for dinner last night with a fairly empty fridge. There was almost half a package of turkey bacon, lots of onions still and scrounging around in the freezer I found a half package of pierogies. Thankfully there was some sour cream left as Kazi likes to put a dollop on each and every pierogie! I love it - a meal out of nothing :)
ReplyDeleteIt is just me, but I can usually find enough for a meal or ten without going to the store. Right now, I am out of cheese and it is making me crazy. I have a feeling that if I dig enough, there is cheese in there!
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