Picture by Evelynishere at Flickr.com
Have you ever laid out meat from the freezer (in the refrigerator of course) to thaw in the morning before you go to work and then when you get home you aren’t hungry for what you laid out? I have. Just the other day, I put some hamburger meat down. That morning I thought hamburgers sounded good for supper that night but when I got home, it just didn’t sound good any more.
What do you do when that happens? Do you order delivery? Do you just leave it in the fridge and go with something else? Or do you open the pantry door and look at the items on the front of the shelves and see if there is something interesting you can add to the hamburger?
The Frugal Housewife is adding a weekly series called “The Frugal Pantry”. Each week on Tuesday we will post a list of items, one meat and several items that you might see when you first open the pantry door. You can also use the spices in your spice rack, onions, and garlic. Then we will offer suggestion(s) as to what we would make with the items. Please leave us your suggestions and comments.
Here’s this week’s The Frugal Pantry scenario.
This morning you put hamburger down in the fridge to thaw. You get home from work and don’t want hamburgers so you open the pantry and on first glance you see the following:
- canned corn
- canned tomatoes
- Rotini noodles
- Macaroni
- Tomato Sauce
- Chili Beans
- Corn Bread Mix
- Mushrooms
- Black Olives
- Green Chiles
- Corn Chips
- A Jar of Brown Gravy
Using five or more of the pantry items, what meal would you make that isn’t just plain hamburger patties?
What would I make?
I’d use the corn, the chili beans, the canned tomatoes, an onion, chili powder from my spice rack, salt and pepper and I would make a goulash. I’d also use the cornbread mix and add the green chiles and some of the corn and make a Mexican cornbread.
What would you make?
We look forward to hearing from you!!!
Till next time,
JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife
About The Frugal Housewife
I’m going to make exactly what you just described because I took out some hamburger meet to thaw and I have no idea what to do with it. But I have all of those things in my pantry and it sounds delicious!
OOoh this sounds fun! I would make a taco casserole:
and a dollop of sour cream. Yum yum!
fry up the hamburger, pour in a large casserole dish along with the corn, canned tomatoes, chili beans and green chilis (chopped) and 1 chopped onion. Add some chili or taco seasoning, 1/2 cup of water (about) and salt and pepper to taste, mix well. Mix up the corn bread mix as recipe calls for, adding an extra 1/4 cup of liquid. Pour over the top of taco mixture, bake until cornbread is golden brown. Serve with grated cheese (if allowed here)
I took out hamburger today and had the same problem. I got talked into burgers, but instead of my usual, I added Country Bob’s sauce to the patties. Everyone enjoyed them. I like to make enchiladas, either the verde sauce or the red sauce when I use ground beef or chicken. The whole family loves them.
We call it Sunset Dinner (I have no idea why). Brown the hamburger with a chopped onion, salt & pepper. Put the beans in the bottom of a casserole dish mash them up a bit. Drain the hamburger & onion and put that in the dish, layer in the green chiles. Cheddar cheese on top is an extra bonus or jack cheese is good too. Whatever you have in the fridge. Heat it at 350 for 20 minutes or until the cheese looks yummy and serve with black olives, salsa, sour cream and chips.