I haven't been feeling well this week. At first, I attributed it to a little post-Navy Ball fatigue, then to just being tired, but sometime yesterday I realized that I might be fighting off some sort of sickness. My house is slowly deteriorating into a wreck, but we have continued to eat well due to our well-stocked pantry and some pre-planning.
I always try to keep some sorts of "emergency meals" in my pantry and/or freezer. I wrote about my freezer menu long ago, but this week we have been more of a pantry menu. No one is going to argue that these meals make the most amazing diet, but they are warm, filling and much better than drive-through, carryout, or restaurants.
My current pantry menu consists of the following items:
- Boxed scalloped potatoes, frozen ham steak, and frozen vegetables.
- Chicken pot pie, using prepared pie crust, canned or frozen vegetables, and canned soup.
- Tuna noodle casserole using egg noodles, canned noodles, canned or frozen vegetables and the evil canned soup.
- Kielbasa or sausage served with boxed rice product and, of course, frozen vegetables.
- Quick and tasty pasta carbonara from Owlhaven blog.
I usually shy away from the prepared soups for recipes, but the purpose of this menu is to provide your family with meals when the cook isn't up to cooking. In this case, I am glad to cheat a little so that my family can eat decently without me touching all their food. This wouldn't be a great menu for the heat of summer but it is perfect for the late fall/early winter weather we are currently experiencing here.
I always love to hear other people's emergency menu ideas. Please, please share in the comments...
