So, cooking. I have a love-hate relationship. I love cooking. I hate trying to cook and do a zillion other things at the same time. I also have very little patience for the kids wanting to help. I try; I do.
I’m best at dinner when I have a plan, but with school starting and moving and budgets being a little out of sorts, I haven’t really meal planned in a while.
When that happens, I search the pantry shelves for ingredients to make something. It’s a skill I learned from my husband. He’s the master at it, but since his work schedule doesn’t allow him as much time in the kitchen as I’d like, I’ve had to get creative myself. Okay, so maybe these recipes aren’t going to win me a cooking show, but they’re relatively inexpensive and I generally have everything on hand. (I also have a love-hate relationship with the grocery store.)
So, here are five recipes I return to again and again when I’m in a time crunch or ingredient pinch.
1. Pie. Last night we had a turkey pie. (You thought I was going the dessert for dinner route, right? It’s an option.) I make my own crusts out of butter-flavored shortening, flour, salt and water (I could eat just the crusts!) and then I just mix a bunch of stuff together and put it in the pie. Cooked turkey or chicken, a frozen vegetable mix, a couple of cream soups, some mushrooms. Other times we’ve thrown in potatoes or gravy, especially after Thanksgiving. Turkey pie is great for Thanksgiving leftovers because you can use just about anything.
Similarly, shepherd’s pie. Usually with ground turkey or beef, some vegetables and a biscuit mix topping.
2. Black beans and rice. If I make the rice ahead of time, this comes together quickly. Some peppers and onions sautéed in oil, a can of tomatoes (with or without chiles), a can of black beans, thyme, hot sauce, apple cider vinegar. Heat it all up in a skillet and serve over rice.
3. Creamed tuna on toast. It sounds kind of gross, but really, it’s yum. Make a creamy white sauce with butter, flour, pepper and milk. Stir in the tuna. Toast some bread slices. Serve the warm tuna sauce over the toast. (This is one of those I love to make in winter because it’s warm and comforting.)
Similarly, goldenrod eggs on toast, a dish I’d never had before I met my husband. Hard-boiled eggs, separated after they’re cooked. Yolks crumbled. Whites stirred into a white sauce. Layer toast, white sauce, crumbled yolks. It’s surprisingly tasty.
4. Cheesy salmon rotini. I have my friend Nikki to thank for this one. It’s another winter-comfort food. A similar cream sauce to the previous recipe, only with canned salmon and cheddar cheese stirred in, over cooked rotini (or sometimes bow tie noodles). I almost can’t wait for winter.
5. Soup. When I lived on my own and didn’t regularly stock chicken noodle soup and didn’t have my mom in the same house to take care of me when I was sick, I experimented with homemade chicken noodle soup. In the fall and winter, we try to have soup once a week, at least. It’s another one of those dishes you can clean out the cupboards to make, especially if you keep a soup base on hand (or make your own stock from bones, which I have done several times–a surprise for even me!). My chicken soup starts with sautéing some sliced carrots, celery and onion, then evolves from there with chicken, broth, noodles and seasonings. Rice, potatoes, frozen veggies, canned meat, beans … the possibilities are endless. (And if my husband was cooking, they’d be amazing. A couple of years ago, he created two soups in one day just on a whim. Man, I miss his cooking. Hint, hint.)
What recipes do you find yourself reaching for when you’re low on groceries or time?