Baked Potato Bar
The day before our biweekly shopping trip the cupboards around here can be pretty bare. There really is lot of food in the house, but there isn't much left that is quick and easy.
Today is grocery day. Last night I was at a loss for what to make for dinner. I wanted something quick and easy. Most of the usual choices, like spaghetti, were not available. Some of the other choices like pancakes or pizza, I just didn't feel like making. What to make?
Then I remembered a meal I love that we had not had for a very long time: Baked Potato Bar! Just microwave some potatoes, and put out a variety of toppings. Use whatever you have on hand. Last night we had broccoli, shredded cheese, and sour cream. I also had some bacon that I cut in small pieces and fried. There also was a small container of leftover chili in the freezer that was quickly defrosted for the meal. Then fix up your potato how you like. My plate is pictured. Tim put it all on his potato. The kids ate the broccoli and chili off the potato.
Baked potato bar is a fun and easy meal that uses up what you have on hand. What are your favorite meals when the cupboards are bare?
Works for Me Wednesday
11 comments:
you make it sound like I'm a hog. oh, wait, I am a hog.
Tim's a hog? Wow, I learn something new every day.
Ok, for me I always have butternut squash, acorn squash and sweet potatoes in my pantry. I have a stock pile of wild rice, and like to always have some typ of sausage, like Italian sausage in the freezer. Bake the 1 butternut, 1 acorn, and steam 1 sweat potatoe, cook rice and sausage. Puree the roots and squash together with some butter, salt and brown sugar. Top with rice and sausage. Very quick, supper simple, somewhat healthy, and very tastey.
Here's a site with easy recipes: http://dinnerfairy.blogspot.com/
I usually have something in the cupboard, even if it's soup or mac and cheese. I try to have a menu planned each week. I may change the meals around (my kids hate this), but we usually have something I've planned. I have been known to just be sitting on the couch after a really rough day and telling hubby the pizza's been ordered.
I'll have to second the dinner fairy- she's my roommate from college and I've grabbed a few recipes from her. Most of the quick recipes at my recipe blog http://whatelseisfordinner.blogspot.com are from Kraft Food and Family (free magazine) or Simple and Delicious.
I always keep a package of whole wheat tortillas in the fridge. If I need a quick meal, I will just layer stuff in tortillas, like rice, lunchmeat, cheese, beans, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, and a squirt of ranch or honey mustard and roll it up. Sometimes I will first put the meat and cheese on the tortilla and nucke it for twenty seconds before adding the cold stuff. It's fun to come up with different combinations, which always depends on what's in the fridge!
You mean "bottom of the fridge" meals - you cook up everything you find in the bottom of the fridge (we're a vegetarian family so often have excess vegetables hanging around at the end of the week). So we combine excess veggies with storecupboard basics like pasta or rice to make vegetable pasta sauce, vegetable chilli, or vegetable and lentil soup.
We also serve my 6-year-old's favourite meal called "everything on a plate" - which is whatever we can find all served up as finger food. Cubes of cheese, grapes, apple wedges, bread and butter, crackers, nuts, you name it, we just put it all on a plate.
YUM! That potato looks good. When the cupboard is bare, I like to throw together a crustless quiche- IF we have eggs then I can usually scrape together enough leftovers to fill it. If not, we've been known to peanut butter and jelly it for dinner but that's usually a last resort.
We've been known to have breakfast for dinner occasionally. Sometimes cereal, but usually I'll make pancakes and eggs. It's quick and I almost always have the necessary ingredients.
I'm still known to cheat with a rotisserie chicken and I can always pull off some frozen veggies from the fridge. There's a creamed spinach we always like and my husband cries with joy when I let him make the freezer mac & cheese.
Love the baked potato bar idea and some others here...thanks!
That sounds so good. I think I might make that tonight.
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