So I am really feeling guilty for buying that sun visor. It just gets so hot here, and I hate getting sweaty on my way to work. It was probably a stupid decision though, because we're running out of food. Yesterday, we found chicken noodle soup in the cupboards and ate that for lunch. Last night, I made hamburger helper using old frozen turkey burgers that I cut up, and a box of hamburger helper mix that MIL gave us from the food pantry at her church a few months ago. It was really delicious though! Crunchy Taco flavor, and had the sauce mix, plus rice, corn chips, and cheese sauce. I wish we had some left, but we were VERY hungry and ate all of it.
Today I think we'll be eating the last of the chicken noodle soup for dinner. I have one more box of mac and cheese for lunch. Then, we have 1 more box of hamburger helper from the food pantry. I only have 2 frozen turkey burgers left though, which will only be 1/2 a pound of meet, instead of the 1 pound it recommends, but that's ok. Then we will be officially out of meals. I think I have 1 little bag of brown rice, 1 can of corn, and 1 can of peas, so maybe we will have a veggie night. We do have a bunch of canned fruit. I guess it would be smarter to just have the veggies with the meals to stretch them further, wouldn't it? I need to stretch what we have 3 weeks (to feed 2 adults).
I'm going to make a list of everything so I can refer back to it:
1 box Hamburger Helper
2 frozen Turkey Burgers
1 box Mac and Cheese
4 bags Brown Rice
1 can Peas
1 can Corn
1 can Cream of Chicken
1/4 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
2 cans Pineapple
3 cans Peaches
1 can Fruit Cocktail
3 cups Raisins
1 jar Applesauce
1 bag Sugar
1 sample Coffee mix
9 servings Hot Chocolate w/ Marshmallows
1/3 can Cappuccino
2 Creamsickles
2 Ice Cream Sandwiches
2 cups Italian Ice
3/4 gallon skim Milk
4 Snack Packs (pudding)
8 bags Popcorn
2 1/4 boxes Wheat Crackers
1/2 bag Pretzel Sticks
1/2 box Cereal
1/2 bag Candy
1/2 jar Peanut Butter
20 Saltine Crackers
Yes, we have more junk than anything. Any combo. ideas? I'm thinking the Peanut Butter and Saltines could work for 1 meal. The only problem is I'm hypoglycemic and can't go more than a few hours without eating or I pass out, and sometimes have seizures. Well, I better go make lunch before work.
Scraping the Cupboards
September 23rd, 2007 at 08:05 am
September 23rd, 2007 at 09:21 am
September 23rd, 2007 at 09:46 am
You truly don't have any oils or spices? I think you could feel like a you have a lot more variety if you can cook with oils and spices!
Assuming this is truly all you will have for three weeks and that the visor cannot be returned, then I'd recommend you make a lot of simplified rice pudding meals. You truly don't have any oils or spices.
For the rice pudding, cook up any volume of rice using the drained off liquid from a can of fruit as part of the water. You don't want to throw away the calories and flavor from the canned fruit; you will want to eat it! Add enough extra water to the pot to be able to cook the rice extra long, until it goes about as mushy as brown rice can. Cook slowly, and keep an eye on it so that you can evaporate the excess water, yet have a pudding like consistency of the fruit flavored rice. Meanwhile mince one of you cans of fruit into tiny pieces. When rice is ready, add the minced fruit. Add some extra sugar if the flavors are too diluted. (If you really do have any spices, some that complement sweet dishes like this include fennel, anise, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cardamon, an all-in one pumpkin pie spice, & ginger....If you really do have oil, add a bit to the rice at the end of cooking and it will make a smoother texture and give more calories per serving.)
Do not throw away the juice from any of your canned fruit. Drink it or add it to a food. Maybe even use it to make that hot chocolate with. Might taste odd, but so what? There are calories in there to help get you through the day.
You could probably use your hot chocolate mix to make a faintly chocolate rice pudding.
Heck, even those creamsicle could be melted into a rice pudding for flavor and to extend the volume and calories.
Rice and peas cooked together are a good combination. Add spices if you have them. Definitely salt could go it! Pepper? Onion? Garlic? Coriander or cilantro? Basil or oregano? Curry? Any savory spice. (If you have oil, fry the rice to make it richer and more caloric.)
Does your hypoglycemia necessitate checking your blood glucose level via fingersticks? If so, I would save some of the candy specifically for staving off hypoglycemia. Well, even if you don't do blood glucose checks, I think you should save some of your candy for that. On average, one gram of sugar consumed will raise your level by 5 ml/dl if you weigh about 140 pounds. The effects are different if you weigh more or less or have just been really active. Anyway, you don't want to under treat your hypo, but in order to make sure you have enough candy for any subsequent hypo, you don't want to over treat it. Hope you still have the packaging so you can look at the carbohydrates per serving and especially the grams of sugar carbs per serving of the candy.
That cream of chicken could mix with the rice, the pea, the corn. In the 1960,s, 1970's there was a fad for making casseroles using canned cream soups.
If you feel really desperate, cannot bum meals from friends and events at school, and do not want to call home to Mom to bail you out, ask and I might be able to tell you a couple wild vegetables to collect. I collect wild vegetables myself, so I would not advise anything I would not do myself. Here, for example, wild onions are resuming their growth and they could be used for your rice, cream of chicken soup, corn, hamburger helper.
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:44 am
September 23rd, 2007 at 01:26 pm
September 23rd, 2007 at 04:32 pm
basically, you need the onion for the flavour, the tomato for a bit ofbody to the broth, and potato and beans to fill you up. everything else, you just get whatever you have in your crisper, and the best part is, it doesnt matter if things are old and wilty because thats what soups for! to use up the stuff that's about to turn.
you can also add pasta or rice to add more filling, and to stretch the soup over a few more days. you could get away with a bowl of cooked rice and a spoon of the soup for a pretty economical meal which is also healthy.
sorry if that was very boring, hope i could help though!!!
September 23rd, 2007 at 06:34 pm
Also, don't forget local food banks and soup kitchens. Our community serves meals free of charge almost every night, at a different church each evening. Soup and bread, but homemade and yummy. Food banks are great as they always have the staples; rice, beans and oatmeal. With those 3 things, one can really stretch the extras like you have on your list.
Best of luck in this real life challenge!!
September 23rd, 2007 at 08:15 pm
Thanks to everyone for the recommedations. Unfortunately, I had a falling out with my family, and they won't return any of my phone calls. They have been upset with me ever since I went to college, and wouldn't come to my wedding or anything since. I cannot possibly get help from them, no matter how desperate I am. I don't have any friends around here, just coworkers, who are for the most part poor, and I couldn't possibly burden them with it.
I'm going to do my best with what I have in the cupboards. I certainly am not turning down anything offered to me at work anymore (sometimes people offer candy, chips, etc if they have extra). Someone gave me 2 reese's cups today, and I gladly accepted. We don't have spare change lying around, and we don't have a couch to dig in for any. We use all of our change when we grocery shop, so we don't have any. I do keep my eyes peeled though, for any change on the ground, and I know bananas are cheap, maybe 15 cent each, so perhaps if I find enough, I can add that to my pantry.
It's only a few weeks, I think I'll be able to manage. Thank you for all the recipes and suggestions!
September 24th, 2007 at 06:04 am
September 24th, 2007 at 08:54 am
September 24th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Do you have a walmart or something near you so that I may send you a gift card? I would like to help out in some way. My daughter is a college student and I would hate to see her struggling this way. Please let me know your address so that I can send you a gift card. My email address is ecwan1@aol.com.
Lorie
September 24th, 2007 at 01:06 pm
I would go to the one in your area.