It’s time for another edition of Frugal Pantry Tuesday.  Most of you know how this works.  I give a list of ingredients – a meat, items from the fridge, and from the pantry.  Then you leave a comment on what you would make from those ingredients.  It’s a fun way to get different recipes.

Before I give the scenario for today I want to say thank you to everyone who sent the encouraging comments after I had my accident last week.  I’m much better now and the insurance companies are doing their thing.  There will be a post coming soon on things I’ve learned from the accident and you know it’ll probably have tips learned along the way.

Picture by Liltree @ Flickr.com

Ok enough about that – this week’s scenario is – drum roll please!!!

You were running late for work this morning and forgot to lay a meat down from the freezer and you don’t have any leftover meats from last night’s supper.  What are you going to do?

You could thaw something out in the microwave, but instead you open the pantry and look at what you’ve got.  This is what you see.

2 cans of white beans

1 can of corn

1 can of tomato sauce(the same size as the canned veggies)

1 jar of marinara sauce

1 can of green chiles

1 jar of mushrooms

1 can of green beans

elbow macaroni

tri-color spiral macaroni

a box of vermicelli

a can of tuna

1 box of cornbread mix

spaghetti sauce

a box of pizza crust mix

a box of beef broth

a box of chicken broth

1 can of whole tomatoes

1 can of petite diced tomatoes and chiles

vegetable oil

In the fridge, you see that you have:

ranch dressing

mayo

mustard

eggs

milk

ham and turkey sandwich meat

refrigerator biscuits

sausage

carrots

On the counter you see that you have an onion and a fresh tomato..

What would you make?  I know what I would make.  My hubby doesn’t get home till around 6 or 6:30 so what I’m seeing that I could make would have time to cook.

I’d take the tomato sauce, the white beans, the chicken broth, and the onion.  I’d drain the white beans and wash them.  While they were draining, I’d rough chop the onion and saute them in some oil in a big pot.  Then I’d add the tomato sauce, the chicken broth, and the white beans.  I’d season it up with some garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper.  If it needed a bit extra, I’d add the petite diced tomatoes and chiles.   I’d also make the cornbread mix and maybe add the corn, onion, and green chiles.  It’s a different variation of tomato soup but one that cooks quick.  You could use the marinara sauce because it already has a lot of seasonings in it.  I saw this once on a cooking show and decided to start keeping all the ingredients on hand for it.

What would you make from the list for this week’s Frugal Pantry?  Share your recipes with us.  We’d love to hear from you!!!

Till next time,

JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife

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