Spring Pantry Challenge

[irish dancer]

ANyone know what to do with a whole turkey?

I have a free one in my freezer. I've only ever cooked the turkey whole, and then after a few days of cold turkey sandwiches it's gone. I'm a horrible cook and not creative - so I have no idea what to do.

Turkey Pot Pie? Soup? Any tried & true recipes for turkey? I think it's an 18 pounder.

My freezer is starting to look pretty sparce. Tomrrow I need to inventory the pantry and figure out meals with our random stuff...

I did a whole day of cooking last month and made a number of casseroles using turkey (had picked up an extra at Tgiving when they were dirt cheap). All the casseroles have been a hit here. If you want any of the recipes let me know. I got them from the Once a Month Mom website.

Turkey & Noodles
Turkey Cheesy Brocoli rice bake
Turkey stuffing bake
Turkey Shephard's Pie

They all used similar ingredients so it was fairly easy.

 

[acename]

Tonight I'm baking pork chops in the oven, mashed potatoes and green beans. I didn't get to bake yesterday because I forgot about having breakfast for dinner the night before and we didn't have enough eggs. So I headed to the store today and got some milk, eggs, carrots (not sure why but they were .79/lb for organic I'll use them with something this week) and a treat for me and dd (soda for me,, mms for her) and only spent 6.50. I'll bake tomorrow because we're supposed to have a snow tonight. I'll probably have my 11 year old niece here tomorrow if they cancel school so she'll like helping me bake. Anyway, everyone is doing great!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Today for lunch is leftover crab stuff, and I have some broccoli I'll make to go with it. Dinner tonight will be grilled chicken breast and more carrot salad.

Breakfast today, was cereal and yogurt.

 

[tinkmom2]

Tonight I'm baking pork chops in the oven, mashed potatoes and green beans.
Well you can't go wrong with pork chops! That sounds yummy!

I went grocery shopping and my bill was $105 but I had $5.00 in coupons. This is for a family of 4 including incidentals like soda. I once again found a ton of stuff in the store's clearance. There was a 12 pack of lime soda for $1.25 and Wheaties marked down to .50. I also splurged and got some York pepermint patties for a $1.50.

This is what the menu is for this week:
chicken vesuvio http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-vesuvio-recipe/index.html

ox tails(taste just like short ribs) http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/country-oxtails-recipe/index.html

marinated flank steak tacos and beans
chicken parm
baked spaghetti
taco salad inside of taco bowls with garbanzo beans, cheese, french dressing, lettuce, ground beef
another chicken dish of some sort
ground beef dish of some sort lol

 

[Deffenm]

Well so far this week we have had:

Sunday: Steaks, salad, baked potatoes
Monday: Chicken, corn, fruit, bread
Tuesday: Spagetti, meatballs, salad, garlic bread

We are having this for the rest of the week:
Wednesday: Tacos, corn bread, chips and cheese dip - Not healthiest
Thursday: Meatball subs (leftover meatballs from Tuesday), fruit, veggie
Friday: Venison, cinanamon apples, veggie
Saturday: Itlian beef sandwhiches, fruit, chips and dip

So far my family loves the idea of sitting down every Sunday and planning menu for the week. The kids love looking at what we have to decide what we get to eat.

They have already said they want pancakes next week one night and pizza. So that will be on the menu.

I would love some recipes that use frozen broccoli. I have several bags but my kids won't eat it unless it is mixed with something else.

 

[PeytonSdiz]

Today for lunch is leftover crab stuff, and I have some broccoli I'll make to go with it. Dinner tonight will be grilled chicken breast and more carrot salad.

Breakfast today, was cereal and yogurt.

I love carrots. What is the recipe for that salad? Is it easy?

 

[figment3258]

tonight for diner is Sunday chicken diner from the eat at home blog. It smells so good.
Also I made a cranberry sauce from the cranberries in the freezer.
I took out the pork chops for tomorrow night.

 

[stahshee]

ok this sounds gross and it might taste gross, but I need to get rid of this
Im cooking up the brown rice then adding a can of tomatoes with some garlic and onion. Then a layer of refried beans. Top with cheese.. Bakeing it

Also I have some summer squash to eat as a side dish


Ill let you know if it was a hit or miss


also I found a half of box of ice cream that needs to get out.. So thats desert

 

[disneyfav4ever]

ok this sounds gross and it might taste gross, but I need to get rid of this
Im cooking up the brown rice then adding a can of tomatoes with some garlic and onion. Then a layer of refried beans. Top with cheese.. Bakeing it

Also I have some summer squash to eat as a side dish


Ill let you know if it was a hit or miss


also I found a half of box of ice cream that needs to get out.. So thats desert

If you take out the refried beans, it kind of sounds like Spainish rice.

 

[tinkarooni]

Hi guys... I am late to the party this month but completely with you. I am also posting on the the "No Buy" thread because these two really are hand in hand. Again we are focusing on eating what we have.

Last night for dinner we had omelettes made with yard fresh eggs, a leftover zuke I have bought for a holiday dip and didn't use and some leftover chunks of ham. One of the gifts I receive from a work vendor is a giant wonderful ham. Ate it at the holiday with guests and finished cutting it up into 8 bags for casseroles and such. With our omelettes I made sweet potato pancakes made with mashed sweets and oatmeal. Still using up sweet potatoes from the garden.

Breakfast was the last of the sweet potatoes pancakes topped with slow cooked cinnamon apples (leftover) and a slice of Canadian bacon.
Lunch home made chicken fingers that I made yesterday and packed into lunch boxes.

Dinner will be stew with dumplings. I found a beef roast starting to freezer burn and am tossing in all of the leftover veggies I bought for dips to make the stew.

I did go to the store this week, spent about $27.00 on milk, lactaid, yogurt, mozz sticks, butter and a couple of oranges. I'm happy with that.

 

[momto1]

Well, I tried to post this morning but was having computer problems. So, I will try again.

Lunch - Had the ham and bean soup I made on Sunday. I am the only one who likes this so I get plenty this week.

Supper- Tortialla Beef Casserole - new recipe. I hope it is good!

I need to stop at the store for TP, PT, milk, tomato soup, and frozen brocoli. If I stick to that list, I will be OK without much damage.

Lori

 

[stahshee]

that bean dish was soooooo good I found a package of taco season and I added that to the tomatoes... It was soooo good.. Im so proud

 

[PeytonSdiz]

that bean dish was soooooo good I found a package of taco season and I added that to the tomatoes... It was soooo good.. Im so proud

It sounded interesting. Did you by any chance get a picture of it? I love to see food pictures (yes, I'm weird.)

 

[Silent1CB]

Just me tonight so:
grilled chicken breast over salad
apple slices dipped in Smuckers sugar free caramel sauce for dessert
iced tea sweetened with splenda.

Had everything on hand again.

I'm trying to eat better. Can you tell?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

It sounded interesting. Did you by any chance get a picture of it? I love to see food pictures (yes, I'm weird.)

I love food pictures too. I'd take pictures of my food to post, but I can not find my camera, I know I had it at Christmas, I hope I didn't leave it at my grandparents.

 

[stahshee]

no I did not.. I also like to see the pic, so I can see what it should look like.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Change of menu plans I had today; lunch was a pasta salad I made, and dinner was grilled chicken, spinach salad, and snow peas.

I used up a box of pasta, peanut butter, a bottle of marinade, and the rest of the produce I had, so I'll be going to the store tomorrow.

 

[charming23]

Today I had a very lazy day. We were suppossed to go to a movie with my Aunt and cousin but they live a 1/2 hour away and the weather was being unpredictable. So instead we tayed home and watched movie with hot chocolate.

For lunch we had left over spaghetti and meatballs (mom) and I had a tortillia pizza.

Dinner was sloppy joes with tater tots and grapefruit.

 

[KKB]

Sunday--kielbasa, peppers, onions, pasta
Monday--over the weekend I crocked chicken breasts, so we had chicken tortilla soup--can tomatoes, can chilis, can black beans, 2 cans chicken broth, topped w/ last of chip bag & cheese; BIG hit
Tuesday--dinner out; Runza (local chain--"cabbage buns"--kind of a calzone w/ spiced meat and very thinly shredded cabbage--most kids don't even realize there is cabbage in it; it is a very popular chain) offers Tues in Jan--Runza for price of temp at 6AM--which was below zero, so FREE (well, you have to buy med fries & drink)...so $15 for 5 of us is more than at home, but worth it
Wednesday--meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, frozen veggies, can fruit.
Breakfasts have been banana bread I made last week w/ bananas from the freezer and cinnamon rolls my MIL sent home w/ us last week.
Lunches have been leftovers. (kids always eat school lunch--we could brown bad it cheaper, but w/ our schedules, this makes the most sense)
Just headed to make snickerdoodles & PB cookies
Tomorrow...bag of Bear Creek Soup; Make 2 pouches of BC muffins
Friday...we have class OT from 5-9, so it is usually fast food or convenience food dinner--expensive & not that good but no choice when you get off at 3:30 & have to drive an hour to class...

 

[figment3258]

All the posts sound so good.
I love the idea of taking pictures of your food I'll have to try it tomorrow with diner.

Tonight was chicken in the crock pot

tomorrow will be pork chops in the crock pot with apples and onions side dish of rice and a veggie from the freezer.

Friday is my chicken casserole with the extra chicken to be used next week for my homemade chicken noodle soup.

Tonight I went through some old magazines and cut out recipes that sounded good. I'll have to see what i have and what I need to buy next week. Can't wait