Amazing Meals From The Pantry - #2

 

About mid January it got cold here and I was on a serious soup kick as far as the meals went.  I started out by pulling from the freezer leftover soups and odds and ends to make soups with.  I love a good chicken egg drop soup with a little cornstarch to thicken it up a bit.

 

Along with the containers of soups I had in the freezer I also pulled some of my home canned soups off the shelf to heat up and eat.  Along with these soups I made a lot of green salads and served them with homemade bread and rolls that I had made and put away in the freezer in smaller quantities.  Soup, salad and bread still remain one of my most favorite meals, especially a nice tomato basil soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  So tasty!

 

In order to not get bored with too many soup meals I decided to make a nice Sunday dinner one day using one of the bone in chicken breasts I had stashed in the deep freezer.  I also had an open jar of pesto in the fridge I had been wanting to use up for a while so I spread that across the top of the chicken and let it roast all day in my medium size slow cooker.  Oh mama!  I used this chicken to add to a very large dinner salad on two nights.

 

The rest of that sauce and all of the drippings from cooking it in the slow cooker ended up becoming a sauce I made with a touch of cream and then tossed in a bit of pasta for a delicious meal.  I had a small jar of Farfalle in the pantry to use up so it was perfect and delicious!  It made so much that I ended up with a bit of leftover to add to another meal the next day.

 

Lastly, I was hankering for some Chinese takeout.  I used cabbage, carrot, a couple leftover mushrooms, some green onions and an eight ounce jar of pork sausage I had canned to make egg roll filling.  From the freezer I thawed and reheated leftover egg drop soup I had made back in December.  That was more than enough to settle my craving.  It was so good!

 

It feels so good to be using up all the odds and ends leftover from the holidays as well as other meals I’ve prepared.  Nothing is going to waste around here that is for sure!  But, I still have a ways to go so stay tuned for an update on my current pantry challenge and see what else I end up making.