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We had an amazing article in a local magazine - THREE pages!!! It details our mission and even has some recipes! HER Magazine - The Pantry
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Here is what I started with today at 6:45 (with approximate cost) 2 pounds white beans ($2) And I'm going to bed with this: A belly full of tacos for myself and my five year old plus leftovers Here is the time that took. Please notice that a great deal of this time was spent just hanging out, watching TV, doing dishes, catching fireflies, etc. with just 2-5 minute tasks interspersed. You don't have to be stuck in the kitchen an entire day to get some quick prep work done. By cooking beans to this point now, you can make bean dishes take about half as long or you can cook them even longer and get the cooking time when you are ready to make a meal from them even shorter. 7:00 Rinse beans and put on stove We are so lucky to be able to work with Share the Harvest each year! This year we received roasts and ground meat. Missouri's Share the Harvest program helps deer hunters donate surplus venison to the needy. This program is administered by the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, more than 4,500 deer hunters donated more than a quarter-million pounds of venison from last season’s deer harvest. Since the program was started in 1992, Share the Harvest has provided more than 3.5 million pounds of venison. Below is one simple recipe for using the roasts. If you need more inspiration, the internet is full of great recipes; here are some from the Department of Conservation: Recipes 2-3 T oil 1-2 t salt 1/2 - 1 t pepper 1/2 - 1 t rosemary 1/2 - 1 t granulated garlic 1 apple 1 onion Preheat oven to 450*. Rub roast with oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cut apple and onion into cubes and put under roast. Put 1 cup water into pan. Bake 10 minutes at 450*. Cover with foil. Turn oven to 325*. Bake 20 minutes per pound (ex: 3 pound roast for 1 hour). (If you have a meat thermometer, your goal temperature is 145*) Let rest 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Alternate Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Method: Rub roast with oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cut apple and onion into cubes and put under and on roast. Put 1 cup water into slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-9 hours *or* high for 3 hours and then low for 1 hour Other Considerations:
Tuna Salad
1 can tuna, drained 2T mayonnaise 1t mustard 2t sweet or dill pickle relish 1 hard boiled egg, diced, optional Mix together Serve one of these ways: -with fresh vegetables to dip (carrots, celery, cucumbers, bell peppers) -on crackers or bread -on a bed of lettuce tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper Bean Dip You can use cooked pinto beans that you have mashed or pureed to your favorite consistency or canned refried beans. Just add about half as much salsa as you have beans then mix together, microwave to heat and serve with chips or tortillas. You can make this as fancy as you want by adding any of the following things, but it's delicious just as is! avocado guacamole tomatoes onions cheese black olives sour cream Baked Potatoes Wash baking potatoes Prick with fork several times Microwave for about 5 minutes per potato or 350* oven for 1 hour This is a super quick meal if you do some prep ahead of time. I have talked a lot of times about cooking a whole chicken, dividing the cooked meat into meal size bags and then using the bones and skin to make stock and this is a perfect use for that! Also, I will sometimes buy a 12 oz jar of premade alfredo sauce, then divide it into three smaller containers and freeze them to use later, like for this. Of course, you could also make this totally from scratch if you haven't done prep ahead of time. At my house, this is one of our go to meals when we are really pressed for time. I even do it with rice in the pressure cooker sometimes which makes it go from freezer to table in less than 10 minutes.
These things I pull from the freezer and thaw in the microwave: 1 quart of chicken stock 1 bag cooked, diced or shredded chicken 4 oz alfredo sauce 8 oz frozen peas, optional (these don't need to be thawed, they will warm up very quickly when they get added to the pan) Then add: 1 pound pasta or 2 cups rice or about 4 diced potatoes Italian herbs, seasoned salt, garlic, or salt and pepper to taste Use the chicken stock to cook the potatpes, rice, or pasta (adding more water to it if necessary). When it is almost cooked properly add the chicken, peas, and sauce to warm through. If you are using full fat chicken stock it will likely be creamy enough with just that small amount of sauce, but you can also add a spoon of sour cream or splash of milk if desired. Topping it with some parmesan cheese would be delicious also. Another variation would also be to substitute beans for the chicken! I love rice and beans! When I started on my healthy and inexpensive mission, I only made red beans and rice with Mexican seasonings. That was the only way I had eaten them and it didn't occur to me to change it... until I got bored with it... That is when the magic happened! You can season rice and beans with literally anything! They accept and enhance many, many flavors! Today it is rosemary and seasoning salt with avocado.  I had some leftover rice that was made with rosemary and seasoning salt (Jane's Krazy Salt is my favorite.) I soaked a pound of red beans in cold water overnight. Then in the morning, I put them in the crock pot 3/4 full of fresh water on low. Ideally, they would be in there for 4-6 hours, but I didn't get home until 8 hours later and they were still perfect! I added a little more seasoning salt and rosemary and cubed some fresh avocado. That's it, super easy!! I think some tomato would also be a good addition, but I didn't have any on hand.
1-2 lb chicken
6 C water or chicken stock 1 ½ t Jane’s Krazy Salt 1T poultry seasoning 2 t chicken bouillon (omit if using chicken stock) 1-3 carrots, diced 1-3 stalks celery, diced Dumplings: 2 C flour 1 T baking powder 1/2 T Italian seasoning ½ t salt 1/4 C olive oil 1 1/2 c milk (or water) Cook chicken and remove bones and skin (if applicable), then dice or shred meat. Combine all ingredients except Dumpling ingredients. Bring to a simmer. Mix dumpling ingredients and milk (it will be sticky). Drop spoonfuls of dumplings into simmering soup. Simmer 8-10 minutes. 1-2 lb chicken 16 oz frozen mixed vegetables 2 C water 1 pot pie seasoning packet 1 ½ t Jane’s Krazy Salt 1T poultry seasoning 2 T cornstarch 1 ½ t chicken bouillon Crust- 1 bag of biscuit mix 2 C flour 1 T baking powder ½ t salt ½ C shortening 1c milk (or water) Preheat oven to 375°. Cook chicken and remove bones and skin (if applicable), then dice or shred meat. Combine all ingredients except Crust ingredients. Microwave on high or cook on stove until it reaches a boil (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally. Boil 3 minutes. Pour into 9x13 pan. Combine biscuit mix and milk (it will be sticky). Let sit 10 minutes and vigorously stir if it is too wet. Press out on floured surface into a roughly 9 inch square, cut into 12 pieces and place on top of chicken mixture (or spoon on top). Bake 20-25 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.  I talk often about the Thrifty Meal Plans and here they are. I'm working on getting all of the recipes in one place and this is that place. Granola Cookies Lentil loaf Spaghetti Chicken and dumplings Chicken pot pie (9x13 pan) Chili Tomato and bean pasta Chicken alfredo pasta Potato salsa chicken Frittata Diced potato with chk alfredo Baked potato with chili Tuna Salad Bean dip Scrambled eggs and pancakes Vegetable bean pasta Chicken and veg pasta White bean chili (with or without chicken) Beans and Rice White bean curry Hummus Bread Pumpkin muffins 
 (Photo of Kolbi's copycat version of Deanna's recipe) By Deanna Collins-Ellyson When I began diving into learning more about The Pantry, I recall Kolbi making the statement of a possible problem that could arise with The Pantry meals; boredom. Hearing this actually brought some relief. I’m not entirely sure why; maybe the whole idea behind The Pantry just seemed too good to be true. All I knew was the her concern was legit. It was something I never thought of, and I appreciated her honesty. However- I tucked it into the back of my mind with no intention of directly attacking this issue. That was until, of course, the good Lord knew it was time to remind me. I made the red beans and rice meal after deciding I was going to dedicate to being part of the change however I could. Something had come up for the next two days, so I knew I had to do something with the red beans and rice so it didn’t go to waste; FREEZE IT! But how? A giant bowl of red beans and rice didn't seem like the right answer. Then a simple solution came to me; that light bulb moment...or again, the good Lord! So off to the store for some tortillas and cilantro and I was ready to whip up some HEALTHY frozen burritos! What I love most about these is that they were hand made and WAY healthier (and lets not forget CHEAPER) than any store bought. I had no idea what would become of this, but I knew I had something exciting to share with someone. So, I started snapping photos and making some mental notes. As I was whipping these bad boys up, I was thinking about the other benefits this simple meal provided, not just food for our bellies. Something I never thought a “pantry” would gift me with. (1) The desire to please the Lord by offering a solution to one concern. (2) I often don’t get the opportunity to eat a healthy meal or two; mommyhood right? But being able to turn a simple meal into an easy, quick, AND healthy option that JUST so happens to be a top favorite food of mine, actually eased some anxiety for me. The entire feeling of relief was more than I can really put into words, and I don’t struggle as much as many others do when it comes to getting food on the table, so I could just imagine a sense of relief for someone not as well off as myself. I was eager, in that moment, to tell someone else! (3) FAMILY! When the ideas were flowing, I was thinking about things my family would want to add to these burritos. That led me to thinking about the other meals The Pantry offers and how my family could have an input in revamping them for our family so we didn’t get bored. THIS provided some communication that wouldn’t have been had between us. Bonding that wouldn’t have been had. Love. Growth. Opinions were mattering, confidence was building, imaginations were rolling (yeah if you have young ones, watch out for what they want to put in it haha). These things you would never really be at the forefront of you mind when simply receiving food from any pantry.
If numbers are your thing, here is an average cost breakdown (plus some other optional ingredient costs):
3 cups of rice $0.80 1 pound of beans $1.00 Seasonings $0.10 Tortillas $8.00 Cilantro $1.00 TOTAL - $10.90 or $0.36 per burrito! Even if you go crazy and add all of these things: Onion $0.25 Tomatoes (2) $1.00 Avocado (3) $3.00 Lime $0.25 Salsa $1.00 Cheese (8 oz) $2.50 You will have still only spent $18.90 or $0.63 per burrito! Please comment to let us know if you have changed up any Pantry recipes or if you try this one! |
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