Food storage recipes

[ltlmrs]

DH didn't get paid when he was supposed to . The freezer has no more meat from a lean income summer and I'll only be able to buy another gallon of milk and maybe a dozen or so eggs for next week (he'll get paid on the 15th, I hope). So, we're down to eating out of my relatively well stocked pantry. I've never actually had to plan an all vegetarian menu since we've always had at least some kind of meat to stretch So, please share your ideas/favorite recipes for the following, as well as ideas for how to make a complete meal: I'm too much in the mindset of meat w/ two sides...

Legumes:
Lentils
Green Peas
Cow Peas
Garbanzo beans
Kidney beans
White beans

Grains (have grain mill, but no flaker for oatmeal):
Wheat
Spelt
Oat groats
Buckwheat
Millet
Barley
Brown rice (I'm down to one meal's worth, though)
Cornmeal
Wheat pasta
Rice pasta
Tortilla shells

Fresh:
Onions
Garlic
Maybe a few carrots
Mixed salad
Tomatoes
Sour cream
A tiny bit of cheddar cheese (enough to grate on one meal or to have a slice each)

Dried:
Red peppers
Chili peppers

Canned:
Tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Mushrooms
Peas
One can of salsa
Salmon
Tahini

Plenty of herbs & spices.

So far I'm thinking:
- vegetarian chili w/ cornbread
- lentil or pea soup with whole wheat bread
- porridge or yogurt for breakfast (our usual fare, thankfully)

And that's where my ideas run out

[jbug_4]

I am not familiar with rice pasta- can you use it in recipes in place of rice? Your beans can pretty much act as your meat.

Spaghetti (or whatever pasta you have) with the canned tomatoes, mushrooms if you like and spices.

Beans and rice with the kidney beans, garlic and onion to season. Then is you have enough left (you don't need much) use the beans and rice to make tacos with your tortilla shells, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, grated cheese, salsa-you don't need a lot of the left over beans and rice. You can also just cook and smash half the beans mix a little salsa and the whole beans with the smashes and use that as you meat for the tacos.

I know of (but don't use because we don't eat peas) a recipe that is just pasta, peas, garlic and mushrooms. I believe the "sauce" is just melted butter or olive oil. Then season with whatever you want.

Do you have any potatoes? You could make salmon pouches with potatoes and carrots. Just dice, mix and spoon into individual alum pouches and bake. Serve with bread.

buckwheat pancakes for dinner topped with yogurt if you don't have syrup.

Egg salad sandwiches for lunch/and or dinner- assuming you have mayo

[Nandis]

It's so cool that you're kind of prepared and you're not completely freaking out. I'm sure it's stressful, but wow. Having such a well stocked pantry probably helps your stress level at least a little.

These are the things I thought of after looking at your list...

You can substitute cooked barley in place of rice in many dishes, or as the starch for your meal. I make hulled barley often- cook like rice, only use 1c. of barley and 4c of liquid (water, broth, a combo of half milk and half water for breakfast)

For the buckwheat, all I can think of is vegetarian kishkas, which I have been served before, but have never actually made.

You seem to have ingredients for hummus and pita, or other flat bread to go with it, is pretty easy to make. My kids like that for lunch with a cucumber salad or even just carrot sticks or lettuce on the side for dipping, too.

You can make creamy tomato soup with the tinned tomatoes to stretch them and serve with cheese crustini instead of grilled cheese- we make toast first, rub it with a garlic clove and sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt, then sprinkle just a little cheese on each slice of toast and run it under the broiler to melt the cheese. You'd likely have enough cheese left to sprinkle on something else, like maybe bean, egg, salsa and cheese burritos with your tortillas?

Rice pudding makes a good breakfast, or you can prepare barley in a similar way. Maybe you could cook the oat groats and then add milk and sugar like rice pudding too? I don't have any experience with that. Ooooh... you could grind the wheat very coarsely and make cream of wheat. That would also be a yummy breakfast. Filling, too!

Lentils can make a decent burger substitute for sloppy joes. I always put nutritional yeast, though... for flavor. I'm sure it will taste different, but still good if you leave it out. If you have marmite or vegemite, you can add a little of that instead to give it a beefy flavor. If you have it, you could also use beef broth or other flavorful liquid instead of water. I'm sure it will be fine with just the spices, though.

Lentil "burger"
Cook 1/2 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water until the lentils are fully cooked and the water is absorbed. While the lentils are hot, add 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast, 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon each (or to taste): onion powder, garlic powder, and coriander powder, and 1/4-1/2 cup each bread crumbs and rolled oats (depending on if you're making patties or sloppy joes and how thick you want it to be). You can now form it into patties, brown them on both sides and serve as burgers, or you can continue cooking to create sloppy joes. For sloppy joes, you need to add some fresh chopped onion (1/4 to 1/2 of a large one), a clove or two of minced fresh garlic, and a smallish diced bellpepper. If you like it a little spicey, you can add hot sauce or a bit of minced chile as well. Sautee, stirring often until the veggies are softened, then add 1 small (15oz) can of diced tomatoes (or fresh if they're in season). Sprinkle it over with a bit of brown sugar, to taste- it takes a bit more than you're willing to add because you can't stop yourself from thinking you're ruining it- adding sugar to a savory dish, and add enough malt vinegar to balance out the sweetness. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve on buns. You can also use it to make picadillo by adding olives, almond slivers, and raisins- a good filling for empanadas.

You could also make a white bean or whatever bean stroganoff over rice or pasta using the mushrooms and sour cream as the sauce.

I sometimes make a cream (white) sauce with dill and garlic and serve it with tinned salmon over pasta maybe with a squeeze of lemon on top.

That's all I've got... hope one of these is helpful. Good luck, mama!

[ecocentric]

If your grain mill will grind garbanzos, I recommend trying a chickpea frittata. If you have a cast iron, this recipe will work:

http://www.myrecessionkitchen.com/Si..._Frittata.html

Its one of my new favorite things. We eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner- its sort of like a quiche- made with garbanzo beans.