Help me feed my family with this stuff...

[sunnylady303]

We have no $ and we are not going to starve because we have a lot of food but I need some advice on how to stretch it and put it together in a healthy and yummy way. Also adding to stress, we have no oven right now - just the stove. Here's what I have, I would be grateful for creative ideas. I can spend maybe $30 in the next three weeks to supplement. I have:

a LOT of beef - ground, steaks, roasts
several whole chickens (with more due to be dispatched in 2 weeks)
a lot of mozzarella and cheddar
several frozen bags of broccoli
one bag of frozen green beans
a whole garden of salad (which should last another 2 weeks maybe)
TONS of potatoes
a few types of grains - arborio rice, quinoa, brown rice
lots of dried beans
basics - flour, sugar, etc as well as most spices

I have no canned tomatoes or pasta which I usually have.

What can I make so that we don't get bored and that we will like? And what would you supplement with? I need about three weeks of meals. Thanks all. You all are so good at this and my creativity is nil after yet another hospital stay with my 3YO.

[Barefoot~Baker]

I hope your lo is ok!

Do you have eggs?

How about chicken fried steaks (coat with flour & spices), with mashed potatoes.
You could jazz up the mashed potatoes every time, sometimes skins-on, add garlic, chives
Potato pancakes - if you don't have fresh onions, you could use dried or powder.
Hash browns, home fries
black beans & rice, with the beans served over some lettuce
potato salad
use leftover steak for steak sandwiches

[sunnylady303]

Oh yeah. We also have a lot of eggs!!

[kamane18]

You have the makings for a great shepherd's pie - ground beef, potatoes, veggies, etc. Yum! And for chili's too - which freeze well for leftovers. Do you have a crockpot? If so I can post many more ideas. Either way, use some of the chicken bones to make soup (after using other parts of the chicken). Scrambled eggs w beans and veggies. Do you have a steamer? You can use it to steam potatoes (since you don't have an oven) and serve with cheese and veggies...

[cristeen]

I would probably start with a roast chicken. Set aside the breasts and bones after it's cooked, eat the dark meat the first night. Shred the breast meat, combine it with cheese, onions, tomatoes, green chiles, olives, beans, whatever, wrap it in tortillas, cover with enchilada sauce and more cheese and bake. Toss the bones and the drippings into a soup pot with water and make broth for soup. Strain out the bones, and add some broccoli and cheddar for broccoli cheese soup, or whatever flavor soup you'd like to make. Serve with some bread, biscuits or muffins. That will give you at least 3 or maybe up to a week's worth of meals.

Beef can be turned into beef stew, chili or sloppy joes. All of which you can serve in various ways. I just did this last week. First we had straight chili, then we had chili dogs, and tonight is chili cheese fries. You can also serve chili over cornbread, mashed potatoes, rice, scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, etc.

A big pot of beans with a small amount of meat and extra fat can help stretch a lot of dishes... or served over rice can be a meal unto itself.

I'd also probably make a beef roast with potatoes, carrots, whatever other root veggies you have on hand.

Some good uses for any leftovers:
Curry - with potatoes, and whatever veggies you have on hand, serve it over rice.
Combine leftover meat with beans and/or rice, toss it into tortillas top with some hot sauce and call it tacos.
Make fried rice with leftovers, rice and a scrambled egg or two.
Serve them over baked potatoes with some cheese.
Fry up some potatoes, add leftovers and call it hash.
Toss it with some butter and white wine and veggies and pour it over pasta.

You can also make pizza from scratch. I rarely put tomato sauce on my pizzas, just a drizzling of olive oil, herbs, cheese, and whatever veggies I have on hand.

You just need to be sure to get enough fat in each meal to be satisfied - whether it's from meat, or added in from meat drippings, coconut oil, coconut milk, butter, cheese, etc.

[maryeliz]

I was also going to ask if you have a crock pot.

I would probably buy some inexpensive veggies like onion, carrots, and cabbage and some milk with the money you do have

These are some meals that occur to me:

chicken and dumplings
fried chicken and mashed potatoes
hamburgers with homemade french fries
risotto (risotto snobs might turn in their grave, but I just make a creamy rice with whatever veg I have, your green beans would work, and whatever cheese I have).
chicken soup with brown rice
Rice with broccoli and cheese
Salad with every dinner
Fried mashed potato cakes (I loved these as a kid)

It sounds like you have really good stuff to work with, but I know it can be a burden to plan it all out when you have other things on your mind.

[Thalia the Muse]

You have a lot to work with!

Beef-broccoli served over rice
Frittata with potatoes, mozzarella, and green beans -- oh wait, no oven, so omelette with potatoes, mozzarella, and green beans.
Greens and beans, served over rice or grains (many salad greens can be cooked, too!)
Stew with potatoes
Tagine (Moroccan stew) over couscous
Potato cakes topped with greens
Avgolemeno soup -- cook a whole chicken with celery, carrot, and onion, add barley or rice after it's cooked for a while, then finish with beaten egg and lemon juice. This is my family's FAVORITE dinner. Salad on the side.
Dinner salads (bitter greens if you have them) with beans, croutons, and a softboiled egg on top
Potato salad with homemade mayo (do you have oil?)
Chicken fricassee with vegetables and a splash of vinegar (since you have no tomatoes)
I second the chicken and dumplings - yum! Assuming you have milk or buttermilk for the dumpling dough.
Chicken liver pate, if you have bread or crackers to eat it on. You can also do it on fried potato rounds, but that's a lot of fuss! (Delicious, though)
Beans and rice with lots of seasoning

I would supplement with garlic, celery, and onions if you don't already have them; vinegar and oil or lemons ditto; or if you're covered on those things, I'd get some fruit -- cheap and in season, like apples or pears or oranges, whatever's best where you are.