Pantry Challenge: Making My Own Boxed Bakeby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 25 Jan 2007 10:59 AM
Yesterday's lasagna meal turned out wonderfully. My picky two-year-old ate four helpings. Yup four. Plus she finished her salad and had a serving of ice cream from the freezer. I don't know where she put it all. Andrew left a little bit on his plate, which the cat happily devoured while the rest of us were busy getting everyone who is under 30 to bed. Yes, I know that we should clear the plates right away, but with my husband working late, we tend to eat dinner an hour before the kid's bedtime. Once they are settled down, then I clear the table. Today we had cereal, milk and bananas for breakfast. Nothing special there, but as our cereal stockpile is running low, I may be baking breakfast or making waffles soon. Lunch is sandwiches for the guys, more mushed carrots for the baby and yummy leftover lasagna for Molly and I. I'm going to get my frugal creativity flowing for dinner. Do you know those boxed dinner bakes type kits that sell for $3 or $4? Even with the kit, you sometimes have to use your own chicken or other main ingredient. A while ago, I got two kits for about 75 cents each, while I was more than happy to use them at that price, I would never buy them without a discount. Have you ever opened one of them up? It is basically a couple of cans in a box. Tonight, I decided to reach into my pantry and create one of these kits with my own ingredients. For inspiration, I chose a "pot pie" bake. For this pot pie bake, I'm using a can of chicken, a can of corn, a can of "turkey pot pie" chunky style soup, a can of peas and carrots, and a can of potatoes. The vegetables will get drained and mixed together with the chicken and soup, then placed in a glass baking pan. Then I will mix some baking mix (like Bisquick, although you can make your own), an egg and some milk. I'll pour the batter over soup mixture. About 30 minutes in the oven and dinner will be served. How am I doing in my pantry challenge for today? Want to join me? I'll post the best member meals here in this blog. Related Articles: Pantry Challenge: Enchilada Helper Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantpreparedness tags User Comments  Traci Anderson (970) 25 Jan 2007 07:41 PMI love this article! I think I do the "pantry challenge" because I hate shopping with preschoolers...but I never called it that. All kidding aside, wonderful article. Thank you.  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 26 Jan 2007 05:54 AMThanks Traci! Don't you love it when you get to the check out and all of that candy is at preschool eye-level? Community Tags dinner, meals, pantry challenge, stockpile, Tips Discuss this article
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Today is day three of my self-imposed pantry challenge. I must use up items in my pantry, refrigerator and freezer for meals and not shop at the store for anything but milk. I might add eggs to my allowable list, but I haven't caved, yet. To learn more about 
