recipe help (using up the food i have)

[slv_squared]

Hi guys...looking for some good (cheap) recipes that are also healthy to use up the food i have and make it last for awhile.
I have:

lots of tuna
a little chicken
fish
one pound of ground turkey
a roll of sausage
loads of pasta -- pasta recipes would be great
some veggies that are a little wilted -- anyone have a vegetable soup recipe?
more rice than I EVER want to eat as just rice...rice recipes, anyone?
10-12 apples that i would like to use up before they go bad


I have all the staple stuff as well, plus some canned goods (veggies, tomato sauce, soups --but i can figure out how to use those on my own)

Trying to live out of the pantry for as long as possible....use up some of the excess and buy fewer groceries next time around. I'm going to do a menu before our next shopping trip, so even if you have a recipe that is cheap but doesn't use these ingrediants, feel free to contribute. We save sooo much money when i do a menu and send DH to the store for groceries...he's much better about sticking to a list than i am

sandi

[matt&roxy]

Sandi......

I have several recipes, but I will need to get them off of my microsoft works......I will post them later for you......

[StarvingStudent]

Do you have cream of mushroom soup?

We "updated" my grandma's meatloaf recipe recently to make a turkey loaf. We chopped up onions and garlic and added them to a pound of ground turkey (plus salt and pepper). Then we shaped it and poured a can of cream of mushroom over the top -- put it in the oven and cooked till browned. It's the only reason we buy cream of mushroom soup!

My grandma also used to serve "sweet rice," which was just cooked rice mixed with sugar and butter to taste. (If you can tell, my grandparents were very frugal with 6 kids). I don't like rice much but I like that

[halo475]

You can make a white sauce, so you don't have to have a can of cream of ...soup if money is tight.

Somewhere there is a recipe for cream of whatever soup mix on the boards that I use all the time. I don;t buy cream of soups anymore. If you want it, I will see if I can dig it up for you.

[AmyMCGS]

I'd chop up all the veggies you have, dump them in the crockpot with some tomato sauce (or ketchup), spices (parsley, onion salt, etc), fill with water, and simmer on low all day for an easy vegetable soup.  I usually do this with all the leftover (cooked) veggies from our meals-- I just pour the leftovers into a freezer bag until the bag is full, then it's time to make soup!  The finished soup freezes well, too, if you get tired of eating it.

As for the rice & turkey, you could probably adapt my 6-can Tortilla Soup recipe:  Combine 1 can cream of chicken soup (I actually use the cream soup mix described above), 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes/chili peppers, 1 can chicken rice soup, 1 can cooked chicken, and 1 can chicken broth, and 1 can corn.   You combine all of those in a stockpot and simmer until hot.   I think you could use a small amount of the cooked, chopped chicken, some chicken boullion cubes, and your rice instead to make a similar soup.

Other ideas as I look at your list:

• tuna casserole
• stir-fry the veggies with a little chicken, and serve over lots of rice
• chicken and dumplings, assuming you have Bisquick or something similar
• I have this sausage/rice casserole recipe bookmarked, but I haven't tried it yet: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=60905

That's all I've got off the top of my head... HTH! 

[slv_squared]

You guys rock. That's like my whole week's menu (dinners, at least) all planned out

If someone has a link for the cream of ___ soup recipe, that would be great. My husband loves soup, but I hate all the sodium that comes with the canned kind. Plus $$ is tight.

thanks for all the help.

[halo475]

Here is the recipe I use:
http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/...+Whatever+soup

cream soup substitutes
Cream Soup Mix

2 cups powdered nonfat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup vegetable OR chicken instant bouillion (powdered kind)
2 tbsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp basil leaves
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Store in airtight container until ready to use.

To substitute for one can of soup, combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1-1/4 cups cold water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened . Add to your cassereole as you would canned products and the same thing for sauces and soups. Makes equivalent to 9 cans of soup.

Variations: mushroom - add 1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms
celery - add 1/2 cup minced celery
potato - add 1 cup diced, cooked potatoes
vegetable - add 3/4 cup cooked mixed vegetables
broccoli - add 1 cup chopped, cooked broccoli
asparagus - add 1 cup chopped, cooked asparagus
chicken - add 1/2 cup finely diced cooked chicken
roasted garlic - add 1-2 roasted garlic cloves
onion - add 1/2 cup sauteed chopped onions

[slv_squared]

Great. Thanks!

[forestdale]

creamed rice with apple sauce

add one cup of rice to three cups of milk - it can be powdered milk.
two tablespoons of white sugar
slurp vanilla extract

Put all the above in a saucepan and stir until it's simmering nicely and leave it for about 15 minutes to simmer VERY slowly. Stir occasionally.

Peal and core your apples and chop them into even sized pieces. Add enough sugar to sweeten them to your liking.
Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Add 1/4 cup water.
Stir until simmering and then let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the apples have collapsed.

Serve both the above together. (this is one of my dh's favourite german dessert).

[sunshine]

We used to serve this at a day care where I worked while in college:

1 can tuna (drained)
1 can peas or mixed veggies (drainied)
1 large package noodles, cooked and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Mix well and heat through.

[sunshine]

I'd use the chicken with the rice for fried rice. . . .

apples? make an apple crisp or fried apples. . . or baked apples stuffed with brown sugar (raisins if you have them) or make a pie type filling with them, and make "turnovers".

[Lori Biever-Launder]

I know I am late with this, but here's a few ideas!

Apple oatmeal. I have this at least twice a week. For one person, cut up an apple and add it to 1/2 C oats and 1 C water. Microwave on 80% power for three minutes. Add, sweetner and milk. YUM! This is a great way to use of slightly soft apples or ones that have bad spots that need to be cut out.

You can make apple crisp out of the apples as well. You could also add them to jello or to a muffin recipe.

Rice can be used as a hot cereal as well as in "regular" dishes. Just cook it as usual and add sugar, butter and milk to it.

The chicken could be made into chicken gravy and served over pasta or rice or potatos or toast. You could also use it for fried rice as mentioned above.

Tuna makes great...tacos, believe it or not! Mix tuna with mayo and salad and fill the shells. Top with cheese.

Also, don't forget tuna melts. Mix up tuna with mayo, put it on toast, top with a bit of cheese and zap for a few seconds in the microwave to melt the cheese.

You could add part of the ground turkey to the veggie soup. If you want to season it and use it as sausage, just add a bit of sage, salt and pepper to it. You can also add a packet of onion soup mix to it and use it as burgers. Make tacos with it too--just add some Mexican seasonings.

The sausage can be cooked with some of the veggies and served over the rice. You can also use it with canned tomatoes and serve it over pasta, spaghetti style. Use it as pizza topping!

Bake the fish with some seasonings and serve rice on the side. You can also flake up the cooked fish and use it in fried rice as well. If you have any alfredo sauce, you can add the fish to it for a yummy seafood pasta dish!

Don't forget that you can add rice to your soup recipe as well.

Hope this helps even if it IS late!