What meals can you see in this?

[peanut]

With all the extra food costs associated with canning and preserving for winter, I'd like to make this fall as cheap as possible. Some ideas on what I can make?

I am aware I have a full larder compared to most of you. But I often have very simple and quick meals consisting of starch, protein and veggies.

It's not quite soup weather here. Still too hot, but it's supposed to get colder this week...maybe by Thursday I could do a soup. I'm open to something other than my usual, but I am allergic to soy, dairy and lentils/chickpeas. Everything has to be low fat, low sugar too.

Freezer contents...

Upstairs Freezer

9 whole grain pancakes
1 apple juice concentrate
Tim Horton's coffee (for company...we don't drink it)
beef gravy
4 500 ml. containers of beef stock
stock fixings (this would be vegetable matter)
celery tops
canned tomatoes
tomatoes, fresh frozen
yeast
ground curry
ground ginger
dill
parsley
corn
lemons
grapes (for snack)
2 c. sliced strawberries
2 c. cranberries
saskatoons
tomato paste
wheat bran
wheat germ
oat bran
2 containers of sesame seed (about 2 c)
almonds - whole
almonds - sliced
walnuts
peanuts
Korean hot pepper spice (left by boarder)
hot chili paste (left by boarder)
4 c. Korean black beans (2 sizes - left by our boarder)

Btw, I'm not averse to cooking Asian! But my experience here has been that it is expensive, and usually includes soy. I think we still have a five grain mix we could cook up for a starch, and some sticky rice (which I'm not supposed to have) in the cupboards.

Bsmt. freezer

lots of peach cubes for smoothies
4 mini apple crisps (individual servings)
5 c. apple butter
6 chx. carcasses
3 bags grated cheese
2 lbs. beef crumbles
2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 pork tenderloin (serves 2)
3 4 c. containers raspberries
6 gall. rhubarb + 2 4 c. bags
1 750 ml. pumpkin puree
3 750 ml. chicken stock
1 750 ml. black beans
1 gall. brown rice
1 pkg. bagels
9 2 c. grated zucchini
8 4 c. grapes
13 lbs. frozen tomatoes
3 bags cranberries
3 bags string beans
1 whole chicken
5 sliced green peppers
2 chopped green peppers

We are loaded for spices generally, and baking supplies for sugar free and sugar baking. My cold room includes...

crabapple sauce
crabapples (canned)
peach jam
peach syrup
canned peaches
mild salsa
medium salsa
cherries (canned)
apple chutney
Bread and Butter Pickles
Blackberry Wine Jelly
Tomato sauce
molasses
brown sugar
nutmeg
sage
celery salt
cloves
old fashioned oats
canned pears
dilled beans and carrots
green relish
apple juice
applesauce
plum jam
apple jelly
dandelion jelly
black turtle beans (dry)
kidney beans (dry)
no yolk fine egg noodles
tuna
boxes of cheerios (on sale)
lemon juice

Okay everyone, please tell me how many frugal meals I can get from all this, and help me figure out what they might be. Ideally I'd like it to last through the fall and winter, but that is probably pipe dreaming. I'd have to buy some meat and fruit at the least!

[krbshappy71]

RecipeMatcher - Find Delicious Recipes Based on Ingredients/Groceries You Have at Home!

that might help you. You plug in ingredients you already have and it tries to find matching recipes.

My thought was runzas for something different. Can make a variety, can make large batches if you like for freezing. My coworker makes them all the time, loves them.

[zakity]

Oooo... I love doing this!! Give me some time to look at it and ponder. I will be back!!


A long time ago, I ran across a stir fry recipe where it was mainly veggies. It had like a quarter cup of rice in it. It was one of those "diet" recipes that was supposed to be low carb/low fat/etc. You put in the veggies and stir fried them in a little oil. You added in your cooked meat, some spices, and a little water (teaspoonish). It seems like you added in the cooked rice about the same time as you did the meat. You let it steam for a second (basically letting the meat and the rice heat up and the spices mix in). The spices were "Asian-y". One of them started with an "a" (allspice?). It seems like it had tumeric and cumin in it also.

This is the recipe that helped me to figure out how to make stir fries. I never could make them and have them come out yummy. They were always half over-cooked and half under-cooked. It told what order to put in the veggies and what order to put them in if they were frozen instead of fresh.

[peanut]

Thanks you two.

We went grocery shopping this morning and found canned seafood/fish on sale, so bought clams, crab meat, tuna and salmon. Six cans of everything but the salmon. Salmon was the most expensive one, so we only bought 2 large cans (because a large can is cheaper than 2 small ones that are the same size). Also added 3 pork tenderloin, 5 chicken breasts, and 14 turkey sausages. So I figure I'm fixed for protein for the next month.

Fruit is fixed I think. We picked up bananas, dried fruit for DH's cereal in the morning (mostly bulk cuz it was cheaper), some peaches (for DH to snack on), and some cantaloupe to freeze and eat. It was under $2 each, which is unusual here.

I'm feeling like a grocery store now! But I am also feeling overwhelmed.

I decided to start with tonight...something with the thawed out hamburger in the fridge...maybe Mexican Skillet. (aka hm hamburger helper).

[Hamada]

I would make up a large batch of curry sauce. You can divide it up and freeze. Then add veggies, meat or beans and put over rice. With the fruit and jams you can make glazes for chicken, fish, or pork. I have made patches of granola using olive oil instead of butter and honey instead of sugar then storing in a mason jar. You can heat up fruit and top with the granola for a snack or dessert. It also goes well on applesauce. The fruit can also be put on the waffles.

With the canned fish you can make patties with them. Fish goes well with fruit.

Try making a relish with the corn. Serve with some refried beans made from the black beans. You can even make tacos or burritos out of them.

You can easily make some fruit smoothies out of some of the fruit.

[zakity]

Here are my ideas:

baked potatoes topped with beef gravy and a little leftover hamburger (or roast or whatever), veggie

tuna salad

tuna and noodles (using the egg noodles), veggie

chili (using kidney beans)

chili (using black beans)

chili rice casserole (leftover chili, rice, cheese, sliced black olives), veggie

rice and beans (using black beans, veggie

baked chicken (using whole chicken), baked potato, veggie

taco soup (leftover chicken, broth, salsa, corn, rice), served with sprinkling of cheese over top

pork fajitas (pork tenderloin, green peppers, onions), rice, veggie

string beans, bacon, and potatoes (it is like a soup)

tacos/burritos - hamburger, canned tomatoes (in the hamburger), salsa, black beans, rice, grated cheese

casserole - rice, tomatoes, leftover meat (whatever you have on hand), stock/bullion/broth, spices - cook all together until the rice is cooked, veggie

pumpkin soup (with the puree)

chicken soup

chicken and dumplings

chicken and noodles

chicken pot pie

stir fry (the one that I posted with all the veggies, bet that would be good with broth/stock instead of water)

sloppy joes - beef crumbles, tomato paste or sauce, spices, slices of cheese (or you could use the grated), bread or buns (or bagels)

tomato soup

shepard's pie (with the beef crumbles)

[peanut]

Thanks shoiji. Good ideas! Especially the curry sauce. I hadn't even thought of that! And I love spicy stuff.

On thinking this over I think the best thing for me to do is to take it by mealtime and see what I can come up with. So I'm going to just think about breakfast and see what options I can come up with. We do have eggs, milk, butter and cheese in the house. As well as olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, and sesame oil (leftover from the boarder).

Plus I have every sweetener known to man just about! Agave syrup, honey, stevia, Splenda, sugar Twin, and real sugar, brown sugar, organic cane sugar. OH, and molasses and golden and white corn syrup. No wonder the dietitian is taking me off sugar. Think there's a hope? I really should get rid of the real sugar products. Stevia is my sweetener of choice at the moment.

Anyways...let me think on this and get back too. There's actually a lot here. It's just a case of breaking it down into something that is doable for the long term.

[peanut]

Ohhh, thank-you Zakity! Lots of ideas there. Could you expand on the 'beans, bacon and potatoes - like a soup' item? I was thinking they'd be good together as a hash myself! But I can't have bacon. However, I could sub in some beef crumbles no problem.

[peanut]

Okay, this is what I see for breakfast. If you can add to it, please do!

~ Pancakes, egg, orange, and applesauce on the pancakes (or peach syrup or the jams).

~ Peach or cantaloupe smoothie with a bagel and almond butter.

~ Granola, yogurt, raspberries (or other fruit)

~ Muffins (bran/carrot/zucchini/oatmeal), cheese/almond butter, fruit

~ Toast, almond butter, jam and fruit. I think I'll add decaf coffee with sugar twin and rice milk to this one.

~ Oatmeal, dried fruit. I could add some almonds too.

~ French toast, applesauce, peach syrup, and fruit.

~ Tortilla (I'd have to make), omelet, salsa, and fruit.

~ Bagel, egg & turkey sausage, fruit.

~ Multigrain Cheerios, raspberries/peaches, rice milk.

~ Eggs, turkey sausage, toast, hm fruit cocktail.

[zakity]

You put broth or water in a pot, add in the bacon, green beans, and chunks of potato. Cook and serve it in a bowl. You know, I bet that would be good with garlic bread.


I also have a tortilla recipe floating around the board somewhere.

[peanut]

Zakity: would love your tortilla recipe. Where should I go looking for it?

For all my problems with dairy my dietitian insists I have fruit and dairy for afternoon snack. Something about needing calcium. Fruit only for morning and evening snacks. So I guess we know what that will be!

~ canned peaches
~ canned pears
~ applesauce
~ canned cherries to mix with peaches and pears to make fruit cocktail. Yum!
~ canned crabapples
~ fresh apples
~ fresh oranges
~ peach smoothie
~ frozen cantaloupe
~ frozen grapes

I think that's about it. I might have to learn to make cheese. It's quite expensive here. $7 for a pound. I can also have a small amount of hm yogurt every few days.

[peanut]

Never mind Zakity. I looked on the recipe forum and found a couple of tortilla recipes.

I think lunches will probably be leftovers, soup & sandwich, or meal salads. I see...

~ pumpkin soup
~ onion soup
~ beef barley soup of some sort
~ tomato soup
~ cream of celery soup
~ tuna waldorf salad (or just tuna salad on its own)
~ and...

I bet, with the contents of my kitchen drawers and fridge, I could also do a lentil soup for DH's lunches, and a fruit soup for breakfast.

You know, I've acquired some weird food over the years, due to kids, renters, experimenting, etc. I have mung beans in dry form. What do you use those for? They won't sprout here. Can I cook them up like regular beans and use them in something?

[Contrary Housewife]

Upstairs Freezer

beef gravy
4 500 ml. containers of beef stock
stock fixings (this would be vegetable matter)
celery tops
canned tomatoes

This can be the basis of a pot roast (just add roast) or a nice beef stew (again, add stew meat) or even a beef barley soup. Not sure if you have barley somewhere down the list.

1 apple juice concentrate
ground ginger
2 c. cranberries
wheat bran
wheat germ
oat bran
almonds - whole
almonds - sliced
walnuts

This looks like the beginnings of cranberry nut bread. Or maybe muffins.

6 chx. carcasses

Pull as much meat off these as you can, then boil them down to make stock. Use the meat and stock for soup, or pot pies, or tacos...

1 750 ml. pumpkin puree
3 750 ml. chicken stock
1 750 ml. black beans

You can use the pumpkin in breads (would go great with those cranberries) but it also mixes well with black beans. Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup Recipe : Rachael Ray : Food Network

9 2 c. grated zucchini
13 lbs. frozen tomatoes
1 whole chicken
5 sliced green peppers
2 chopped green peppers

Chicken tortilla soup. Chicken tacos. Chicken enchiladas.


Most of what I see that you have is seasonings and accompaniments. Spices, noodles, jams, pickles, fruit, nuts...

Your apple and plum jellies will make nice sauces/marinades for the pork tenderloins. Serve over brown rice with a vegetable. I would use the dill, parsley and lemon with the chicken, serve with green beans.

[peanut]

Thanks CH! I never thought of combining black beans and pumpkin. Both of them need to be used as they've been in my freezer quite some time now. I also have some buttermilk I need to use. I could probably replace the cream in the recipe with that. Great recipe idea! Thanks again

Yes, I do have barley. Beef barley soup it is then.

I can do a Cranberry Nut Bread too. And substitute for the sugar in it. Thanks.

Yeah, chicken stock was in the plans already. Maybe tomorrow when it cools down a bit here and DH is back at work.

Thanks for the ideas for glaze on the pork tenderloin. Would they work if they are sugar free jams/jellies? I'm guessing yes, it would just be fruit with meat.

[lisaflex]

first, i must say i am a bit jealous you have tim horton coffee...they stopped selling it in NY where we used to get it while traveling! great stuff!

anyway, try Supercook...you put in ingredients you have on hand and a bunch of recipes pop up from all different sites.