Pantry Meals: the PMS group!

Let's talk a little bit about the PMS group, because I know you are dying to know! 

My friend, Judy, gave a homemaking/enrichment night/RS meeting (you know what I mean!) on pantry meals.  She invited anyone in the homeschool group that wanted to, to attend and several of us did.  We finally were able to get our heads around the concept.  We decided that we needed to get going on this, so the PMS group was formed.  PMS is, of course, for Pantry Meal Swap!  And you thought we were just a bunch of ornery moms!  :)

We decided that we would meet once a month and swap meals.  Each one of us would choose a pantry meal and make 12 of them.  12 of the same meal.  Then we would swap and come home with 12 different meals to try.  We set up some ground rules and went for it.  We swapped 5 times before life got hectic and Christmas rolled around.  It was fabulous!  Some of my family's very favorite meals came from the PMS group.  I can't wait until we get going with it again!

Our ground rules were:

1 - The week before the swap, you had to post to the group what meal you were preparing.  This kept us from duplicating what someone else was doing.

2 - The meal had to have several ingredients.  It wasn't specified how many, but we didn't want someone bringing spaghetti sauce and noodles and calling it a meal.  If you wanted to bring spaghetti sauce and noodles, you would pare it up with a side dish (like a can or 2 of green beans).

3 - We did NOT include the meat.  That made things too pricey.  It was assumed and understood that everyone would just use the meat that they had at home. 

4 - The full meal had to be shelf stable.  We tried to avoid things that had to be put in the fridge.  The whole meal went in the box and stayed in the box.

5 - Everyone included a typed 4x6 card of the recipe with the meal.  There's nothing worse than getting home with a bag full of canned goods and not know what to do with them!  I usually printed mine at this site: http://www.apollostemplates.com/templates-food/recipe-card-templates.asp

6 - Every meal had to serve at least 8 people.  Most of our families are large!

7 - Not everyone was taking the meals home and putting them in boxes.  Some preferred bags.  So we would just put our whole meal in a grocery bag and then when each person got home they could do with them what they wanted.

Pantry Meals: Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:
1 tsp dried onion
2 ¼ c. rice   
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 can diced tomatoes   
1 tsp chili powder   
1 tsp cumin


Directions:
Mix the bouillon cubes with 4.5 cups of water.  Stir to dissolve.  Add the remaining ingredients, stir, cover and cook until the rice is cooked.  About 20 minutes.

UPDATE: Okay, this made WAY too much.  It was a lot of rice.  We had left overs for 4 days, and that's saying a lot with the amount that my teenaged boys eat!  So let's half it for one meal.  That would make the recipe this:

1/2 tsp. dried onion

1 c. rice

2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

2 c. water

Follow the directions above.

I know what you are thinking.  "That's not exactly half of everything".  I know.  But it's really good this way!

Pantry Meals: Green Chili Burritos

Green Chili Burritos
   
In the bag:
1 pint hamburger (or 1 lb. cooked)
1 can green chilies
3 c. dehydrated refried beans
1 lg. can refried beans
1/4 c. flour

Also needed:
Ingredients to make 1 batch of tortillas

Directions:
Brown the hamburger.  Add the flour and mix in.  Whisk in 4 c. water to make a gravy-like sauce.  Add the green chilies.  Boil to thicken and then set aside.  Make the tortillas according to directions.  Reconstitute the dehydrated refried beans with 2 cups of boiling water.  Stir in the can of refried beans and heat through.  Use beans and tortillas to make burritos and top with hamburger/green chili sauce.  Serve with Spanish rice.

In times of plenty serve burritos topped with cheese, chopped tomatoes and sour cream.


**Note: "Why," you ask, "do you mix the canned refried beans with the dehydrated?"  The answer is simple.  My kids won't eat the dehydrated refried beans.  They have too much...flavor?...seasoning?... and by mixing with the canned beans, it tones down the taste.  Even better than that is to mix them with home canned beans which contain no salt or seasonings of any kind.  Then they are flavored just right.

Pantry Meals: Green Chili Beans

Green Chili Beans

In the bag:
1 pint hamburger (or 1 lb. cooked)
3 cans pinto beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can green chilies
10 cubes beef bouillon   

Directions:
Mix the bouillon cubes with 10 cups of water.  Stir to dissolve.  Add the hamburger, beans and chilies.  Bring to a boil and heat through.  You can add additional water if you like it "soupier". 
Season to taste with salt, pepper and cumin. 

In times of plenty serve topped with cheese & sour cream.

Pantry Meals: Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie

In the bag:
1 pint hamburger (or 1 lb. cooked)
2.5 c. potato pearls
3 pkts. beef gravy mix
1 can carrots, drained
1 can green beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup  

***instead of the separate cans of carrots, green beans and corn; you can just get 3 cans of "mixed vegetables".  I choose to have them separate because I have issues with mixed veggies... and Lima beans and peas.  I won't buy them or eat them.  So I buy the vegetables that I like separate and mix them myself instead!

Directions:
Reconstitute potato pearls according to directions to make mashed potatoes.  Set aside.  Mix and cook the beef gravy according to package directions.  Stir in the soup.  Mix gravy mixture with the carrots, green beans, corn and cooked hamburger.  Pour into a casserole dish.  Top with mashed potatoes.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. 

In times of plenty top with cheese before baking.

Pantry Meals: Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

In the bag:
1 pint chicken
1 can carrots, drained and chopped up
1 lb. egg noodles
1 lg. can cream of chicken soup
12 cubes chicken bouillon   

Directions:
Mix the bouillon cubes with 12 c. of water.  Stir to dissolve.  Add everything else to the pot except the noodles.  Bring to a boil and add the noodles.  Cook until the noodles are done.  About 10 minutes.

In times of plenty stir in more veggies (celery, broccoli, etc) with the carrots or a handful of fresh spinach right before serving.

Pantry Meals: Hawaiian Haystacks

Hawaiian Haystacks
In the bag:
1 pint chicken   
3 c. rice   
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 lg. can cream of chicken soup
1 c. coconut   
1 can olives   
1 can pineapple    
1 bag Chinese noodles   

Directions:
Cook the rice with 6 cups of water.  Make the sauce in a pot by  mixing the bouillon cubes with 3 cups of water and stirring in the soup and chicken.  Heat through.  Serve sauce over cooked rice and top with the other toppings.

In times of plenty also top with diced tomatoes, chopped walnuts and cheese.

Pantry Meals: Tamale Pie

Tamale Pie

In the bag:

2 cans corn, drained
2 cans tomato soup
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 quart jar of ground beef (or 2 lbs)
2 cans green beans, heated through and served on the side

In addition:

Ingredients to make 1 batch of cornbread

Directions:

Brown ground beef and drain.  Add chili powder, corn and tomato soup and bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Mix up the corn bread according to directions and set  aside.  Put the meat mixture in a casserole dish and spread 1/2 of the cornbread mixture on top.  Cook for 35 minutes at 350.  Check the cornbread with a toothpick for doneness.  (LOL, is that even a word???)  Bake the rest of the cornbread in as 8x8 pan at the same time as the tamale pie.