Ideas To Stretch Your Meals Until Grocery Day
January 23, 2012 by Marci
Growing up, my mom and grandma could always make dinner out of nothing. The cupboards could be nearly bare. The fridge could be almost empty, but they still managed to come up with something for dinner. Their secret? These ladies always had some pantry basics on hand to create something out of anything or stretch what they did have.
I have tried to make sure I keep some staples on hand myself. Here are a few ingredients I don’t want to be without.
Chicken Broth – There is always chicken broth or chicken bouillon in my pantry or freezer. I can add it to rice to make it more flavorful. Throw in some veggies, noodles and left over chicken and you’ve got soup! There are so many options available when you have broth on hand. My recent pantry favorite is THRIVE chicken bouillon. The container is huge. It keeps forever. The flavor is fantastic and it is cheaper than the bouillon I used to use!
Pasta and Rice – I combined these since they are sometimes interchangeable. Use them to stretch foods you already have. Throw them in chili or soup to make them go a little further. Make a casserole out of meat and veggies you have on hand. Toss pasta with a little butter and parmesean cheese. So easy!
Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Sauce – I use a lot of canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. They are so easy to toss with pasta or rice. Cook your meat with canned tomatoes in a skillet. Make tomato soup.
Frozen Meat – Whenever I have a little leftover meat (cooked or uncooked), I throw it in the freezer. There are so many times when I need to go to the store and I don’t have any fresh meat to make dinner (and my husband requires meat!). I just check the freezer. I am always so surprised to find that little bit is just enough!
What are some of your pantry basics that can keep you feeding your family just a little longer?
Comments (6)
This is some great information. I’ve been playing a little game with myself — on my normal shopping day (Monday), I see if we can stretch a few more days without going to the store.
I like to keep my freezer in the basement stocked with meats and veggies, which has helped me to keep cooking when supposedly I should be at the store buying more!
Thanks for the shout out for the THRIVE bouillon Marci!
I’ve been trying to cook mostly out of my pantry this month and it has been eye opening to see just what staples are truly important. I’ve been really glad I keep a large selection of spices / herbs!
Very timely since I need to stretch food till the end of the month thanks sister!
Glad I could help!
We had one of those weeks last week! Beans and rice anyone? We finally got the chance to get off the mountain and shop. When we unloaded groceries, we couldn’t decide what we wanted to eat first!
[...] 'wpp-261'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":false,"ui_language":"en"};Last week in the “Ideas To Stretch Your Meals” post, I mentioned having frozen meat in your freezer to pull out for quick meals. Sometimes, I put [...]