Please help me make a menu to use up my pantry

[~Megan~]

I can't buy anything more until next Friday and could use some lunch and dinner ideas (I think I've got breakfast covered) for 2 adults, 2 kids, and a toddler that eats a bit here and there.

We are gluten and soy free.

Here's what we have:

Meat-
5 or 6 chicken thighs
3 scant lbs of ground beef
4 hot dogs
1 dozen eggs
1 lb bacon

Dry goods-
loads of different kinds of beans
Lots of rice
tomato paste
tomato sauce
corn
green beans
carrots
salsa
various gluten free baking supplies
some nuts and dried fruits
baking supplies like sugar, yeast, and coconut flakes
oils, popcorn, shortening, juice, corn chips
Nutella and almond butter

Fresh-
Apples
a couple bananas
a big head of romaine
2 lbs cheese
1.5 gallons of milk
5 sticks of butter
1 onion
3 yams
corn tortillas
sauces in the fridge of varying types
frozen melon
frozen zucchini
frozen bag of scraps to make broth

It seems like a lot but I know I'll start to run out of ideas after a few days.

Help please!

[Phridae]

One meal I can pick out real quick is enchiladas with spanish rice.
Enchilada sauce HERE
Spanish rice HERE
If you have cumin add it to both, makes it more...authentic.

Fill the enchiladas with a mixture of the rice and some of the beans you have on hand.
Cover with sauce, and cheese if you have any.

Oh, I also see you have a frozen bag of scraps for broth. Make the broth! Toss in some veggies and make soup!

RecipeZarr is a great site, you can put in the ingredients you have and search for a dish.

[BetsyS]

Taco soup. Make broth if you have it, then add the salsa, corn, 1/2 pound ground beef and beans. Cut a couple of the corn tortillas into strips and fry until crispy. Use them to top the soup, along with a little shredded cheese.

[dentmom]

Try allrecipes.com

You can also do salsa, black beans and chicken broth together, puree half and you have black bean soup

[dentmom]

Check this out:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yam-Soup/Detail.aspx
Make modifications for this one:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheesy-...le/Detail.aspx
One of my favorite soups ever!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken...er/Detail.aspx (I know my mom, who has Celiac disease can have corn starch)

[azmomtoone]

Originally Posted by Phridae

One meal I can pick out real quick is enchiladas with spanish rice.
Enchilada sauce HERE
Spanish rice HERE
If you have cumin add it to both, makes it more...authentic.

Fill the enchiladas with a mixture of the rice and some of the beans you have on hand.
Cover with sauce, and cheese if you have any.

Oh, I also see you have a frozen bag of scraps for broth. Make the broth! Toss in some veggies and make soup!

RecipeZarr is a great site, you can put in the ingredients you have and search for a dish.

This - but I'd make the enchiladas one meal and spanish rice another, add a corn one day, green beans the other, two seperate meals.

And ITA - make the broth, add some veggies & rice to it for soup, maybe some chicken if you can spare one of the thighs?


Chicken / Rice Pilaf... Cook rice, put in a casserole dish, chicken on top w/ cream of (Chicken, mushroom, celery, etc) soup if you have any.

If your baking supplies include oatmeal, you can make breakfast cookies:
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/1...kfast-cookies/
(you can definitely use different dried fruits then cranberries, these are delicious w/ lots of good healthy combinations....and I make them using dried beans (cooked in a crockpot) not canned)

Fried rice (chinese-style)...rice, corn, and egg.

50 bean & lentil recipes, depending on what beans you have:
http://www.naturalonabudget.com/2009...ipes-with.html


The yams could be a meal themselves, not for everyone but maybe a lunch when someone's at work / school? Just bake them, add some butter & cinnamon.... yum.

If you have them Lentils & dumplings looks like a good option, cook the lentils with some of that broth you're making or just water, add chopped carrots, and make dumplings (however you do that gluten free), put those on top. Maybe add a piece or two of bacon.

[courtenay_e]

Gravy Train (aka gravy based goulash): saute onions (and lots of garlic if you have it, garlic powder if you dont have fresh), then brown meat (we typically use one pound). Make gravy (I love gravy and it stretches easier with more of the gravy) from the brown bits, add green beans or corn, warm them up (we use frozen, but whatever you have) in the gravy. We put over mashed potatoes OR egg noodles, but you could also put over rice if you had to, or regular pasta (which for my gf family would mean rice noodles...we use tinkyada), which my kids do often. It has been a family favorite for a couple of generations...the lunch lady at my mom's parochial school used to make it from scratch.

Sweet potato quesadillas: saute onions and garlic, add cumin into pan to "season" it, add shredded sweet potatoes, cook on medium high till sweet potatoes are tender. We add black beans to the quesadillas, as well as cheese. YUM! Again we are gf, so we would use corn tortillas.

Mmmmm...chicken and dumplings (we use spelt flour for gravy for this, but I suppose you could also use corn starch if you're not corn free, I don't remember if you said corn free). Saute onions and garlic, then carrots and celery, take out, brown chicken thighs, take out, use fond (brown bits) to make gravy. Use gf flour to make biscuit mix for top. Cook chicken in gravey (my grandma used to say turn it down till it's putzy-putzy) in oven till nearly done, then add biscuit dough. Mmmmmmm...I'm hungry just thinking about it!

Take the bacon, fry a quarter pound (?), and use the grease and brown bits to start a bean soup. Yummy!

Black bean soup is simple and yummy. Saute onions and garlic, put cumin in the pan to season it, add beans, tomatoes, and broth to thin (I like to put half of the beans through the food processor or blender, to make it a smooth/creamy soup when I make it for grownups. My kids will NOT eat this soup if it's "lumpy" so I just use the immersion blender in the whole pot for them. Cook till onions aren't crunchy. Quick lunch soup if you have the beans ready!

Nachos.

Mmmmm...crustless quiche! bacon and cheese.

Homemade mac n cheese, add hot dogs to leftovers for next day's lunch.

Gosh, I'm hungry now!