Sometimes I have time to prepare a wonderful, complicated dinner for my family . . . but often I don’t.
Especially during soccer season.
Does this mean I order pizza or get take out?
No way.
I pull together a meal from what I have on hand. And it’s not uncommon to make up a quick batch of burritos.
Take today for example. I didn’t have much food on hand, so I threw a few cups of pinto beans in the crock pot early in the day. By dinner time they were thoroughly cooked. I mashed them with a fork and added in some leftover rice from a few nights ago. Added salsa and salt lent some flavor.
I keep a bag of Quaker Harina Preparada tortilla mix in the freezer at all times. It’s literally a just-add-water endeavor. These tortillas cook up quick as lightning and are to-die-for. So yummy, that we have an official policy that you have to eat a burrito before you can eat a plain tortilla. And that goes for the adults as well.
A little cheese, some lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream — and you’ve got a complete meal in a pinch.
The ability to make a quick meal out of available ingredients will not only save you money, but will aid to prevent food waste in the home.
Click here to learn more about issues related to food waste.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Ah yes…being comfortable in the kitchen will save you from many takeout temptations, that’s for sure!
I am not sure whether I will be able to buy a tortilla mix in my city, but I have found a nice recipe for making my own tortillas: http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/flour_tortilla_recipe.html. I will have to try. I like the making wraps, but I find the flat bread very expensive ($4 or more for a package of 8 or 10). Thank you for the suggestion. If I can master the art of making tortillas, this will save me some money.
Learning to cook all meals is a skill I’ve had to learn within the last year. I’ve always loved to cook, but we moved to a town a year ago where restaurants are only seasonal, and there is no such thing as take-out. Previously, we had always lived in places where take-out was always an option. I’ve learned that I need to know what I’m cooking for dinner by noon. We shop about every 2 weeks which has a net result of much more efficient menu planning. The end result? More nutritious meals, and significant food bill savings – especially with kids.
I’ve run to the website supercook.com many a time to do just that ~ make do with what I have! It is a fabulous site where you can type in the ingredients you have on hand and it will produce a myriad of results for you to choose from.
But those weeks do come along when I have not a good plan and all my greens are left uneaten and spoiled in the fridge… oh, the agony of disorganization!
Ooh, tortillas, what a great idea. We use them often and I always wait for them to go on sale at the grocery store. Never thought about making my own! I use a breadmaker for bread, and I use the dough setting to make pizza dough, or hamburger or hotdog buns. I’ll try the dough setting for tortillas now. Thanks for the new idea!!
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