Cooking need ideas for meals from pantry

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We4mickey

Cast Member
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Jan 15, 2000
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Here is the deal. We will be camping for two weeks. We will not have a car, but will be in an RV. We really don't want to have to take the RV to the grocery store. We will make a stop before we get to the campground and fill the frig and freezer. By the end of the 2 weeks we might be out of fresh meats (there is only so much freezer space). What meals can you come up with that don't need fresh meats, but you could make out of canned or boxed stuff?
 
Could you maybe take some frozen meat packed in lots of ice in an ice chest? Then as you use what's in the freezer, you could take stuff out of the ice chest & put it into the freezer, or just use it first. :confused3

Otherwise, how about canned chicken? I know some people use it for certain recipes, but I'm too cheap. I just shred mine & freeze, which is no help to you. But I use that shredded chicken for chili, tacos, BBQ...really almost anything.

Here's one I found using Google - just to give you an example: "Chicken bundles. Preheat oven to 350*. Use the small/regular size tubes of crescent rolls and divided into the triangles. In a bowl mix canned chicken, shredded chedder cheese and chopped onion (i use dried). Mix together the filling in the bowl and divide equally between the crescent rolls. Roll up and finger press seal the rolls. Lay them in a pan, with sides, appx. 1-2 inces apart. Using the same bowl, mix a can of cream of chicken soup and just enough milk so that you can pour it over the stuffed rolls. Sprinkle the top with more cheese and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown. Our you kids inhale these."

Canned corned beef - I use it for sandwiches, but you could use it for hash.

Then there's always canned ham, tuna, crab & salmon in cans.
 
Canned beans come to mind, but you may get tired of that after a while, expecially in such close quarters:rotfl2: You could do lots of burrito, taco type stuff. Taco soup omitting the ground beef.

Boxed mac-n-cheese, tuna helper, that kind of thing.

I'll keep thinking!
Katy
 
I remember my Mom made great Salmon Cakes when I was younger with canned salmon. Looking for recipes, I came up with this sight:

http://www.alaskaseafood.org/canned/recipes/recipes.html

I also love tomato soup with egg noodles, pasta with peas (I make a sauce out of garlic, olive oil, chicken broth, peas and lots of grated cheese).

Canned Ham is an option. Then use leftovers for breakfast and lunch.

You can make chicken pot pie using canned chicken, canned veggies, gravy and bisquick for the top or just serve the filling over rice or instant mashed taters.

Here are some good recipes too:

http://www.timetrimmers.com/chicken.htm

The shake and pour pancakes are good too.

OK, I am starting to get carried away...have a great trip!
 

I did some more thinking about this. Are you able to put some things in your freezer before leaving, rather than getting everything at the store when you get there? If so, I suggest doing a couple things I do. Fry up several pounds of hamburger & then put it into a colander to drain. Put it into zip-loc bags in meal-sized portions, squeeze out the air & lay flat when freezing. You'd be surprised at how little space the cook meat will take compared to when it's raw. For chicken, I do mine in the crockpot but you could just cover in water & cook a couple hours until it's done enough to shred...either with 2 forks or cool & use your hands. Freeze the same way. This would also cut down on your prep time while on vacation.

Will your family eat stuffed peppers? The fresh peppers would keep nicely & then if you make it meatless, you'd just need jarred spaghetti sauce & rice basically. Spaghetti would be good & you could get sauce with meat or just serve it with lots of Parmesan.

I've also looked for some recipes that might help out. I'm sure your refrigerator isn't too large either in the RV, but if you can take a bunch of eggs you could make a quiche for an evening meal. These recipes aren't ones I've tried, but sound good & should work for your purposes:

Hungarian Noodle Bake

4 ozs fine noodles
1/4 C finely, chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. butter
1 12 ozs carton (1 1/2 C.) cream-style cottage cheese
1 C. dairy sour cream
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
Dash bottled hot pepper sauce (only a dash)
2 t. poppy seed

Cook noodles in large amount of boiling salted water till tender; (I usually bring water to a boil, add the noodles and let it come back to boil and then turn it off and cover the pan for about 15 mins.) Drain.

Cook onion and garlic in butter till tender. Combine noodles and onion mixture with remaining ingredients, 1/2 t. salt, and dash of pepper. Turn into greased 10x6x1 1/2 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 25 mins or till hot. Sprinkle with paprika. Pass grated Parmesan cheese. Serves 6

Golden Cheese Bake

Cook 3 c. shredded carrots covered in 1 c. water for 10 minutes; drain. Combine with 2 c. cooked long-grain rice, 6 ozs processed American cheese, shredded (1 1/2 c.), 1 c. milk, 2 beaten eggs, 2 T. minced onion, 1 t. salt, and 1/4 t. pepper. Turn into 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Top with additional 1/2 c. shredded cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 about 1 hr. Serves 6.

Crabmeat and Artichoke Casserole

Drain 2 cans artichoke hearts. Cut each in half and put in the bottom of a
casserole dish. Next layer 1lb fresh white crabmeat. Next layer sliced
fresh mushrooms. Cover with sauce . Sauce: 4tabsp. butter, 4tabsp. flour,
1/2teasp. salt 1/4teasp.pepper,1/4teasp. Creole seasoning, 1 cup heavy
cream, 1tabsp. Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 cup dry white wine. Sprinkle
with parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake 350 20 to 30 min.

Cozy Orzo

1 lb. room-temperature cottage cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup minced chives or scallions
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
Black pepper to taste
1/2 lb. orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 cup frozen peas
Grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese for the top

Combine the cottage cheese, salt, chives or scallions, lemon zest and black pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well.

Cook the orzo in plenty of rapidly boiling water until it is tender. Place the peas in a colander in the sink, and drain the pasta right onto the peas (this will defrost the peas and cook them slightly).

Shake off the excess water, transfer the orzo and peas to the cottage cheese mixture, and stir gently. Sprinkle with grated pecorino or Parmesan, and serve warm or at room temperature in bowls.

Makes 4 to 5 servings.
 
How about canned chili poured on top of tortilla chips with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream green onions hot sauce. Somewhat like nachos but when a lot of chili is on top of the tortilla chips they are nice and soft and some are crunchy. What about couscous made with chicken broth and you can add can or fresh vegetables. How about pasta, with jar sauce.
 
If you take some cans of chickpeas you could mash them up to make a chunky houmous with some oil and seasoning.

How about tinned ravioli?
 












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