Help me with some meal ideas.

[SheThrowsDown]

Starting our upcoming paycheck (around the 20th) I'm going to actually try to save money on groceries-- not something I honestly do that much. Sure, I go to a discount organics store (some stuff is WAY cheaper than even conventional stuff!) but that's about it.

I want to change that this month though. Even though we don't get paid until the 20th I'm going to start my habits now so that they're not as hard on me then lol. So my first project is to "eat from my cabinet".

I'm going to post everything I have in my cabinet/freezer and would love some ideas for meals! Try to use as many things that I already have as possible without adding too much. I also have a wide range of herbs/spices, and I really hate tofu/tempeh. And yes, I know I have a lot of canned beans. I've tried a million methods to cook dried and I screw it up every single time. Oh, also mention any fresh vegetables I would need. I always have a variety on hand but I list my most common ones under "Fridge"

CABINET
1 can bamboo shoots
1-28oz can crushed tomatoes
3-6oz cans tomato paste
2-8oz cans tomato sauce
2-14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
2-14.5oz cans whole tomatoes
2-14.5oz cans stewed tomatoes
1-29oz can tomato puree
1-10oz can rotel tomatoes
1-4oz can diced green chilies
2 cans kidney beans
3 cans great northern beans
1 can white acre peas
1 can mixed beans (white+pinto)
1 can crowder peas
6 cans chickpeas
4 cans black beans
3 cans black eye peas
1-28oz can italian green beans
1-15oz can pears in their own juice
2 cans black bean soup
1-32oz vegetable broth
1 bag white rice
13oz bag of yellow rice
4-5 one pound boxes of various pastas
1 box of spaghetti
2 lbs of couscous
1 black beans and rice mix
1 box golden raisins
1-24oz jar pasta sauce (mushroom+ripe olive)
1 1/2 jars "Better Than Bouillon"
LOTS of oatmeal

FREEZER
Lots of frozen veggies including carrots, chopped broccoli, peas, white corn, yellow corn, and "butter beans"
2 boxes of boca chk'n patties
2 boxes boca vegan burgers

FRIDGE
A variety of fresh vegetables. Usually things like mushrooms, asparagus, fresh peas, collards, spinach, broccoli
Milk alternatives (sometimes soy, sometimes rice, sometimes hemp). Chocolate, vanilla, and unsweetened plain
Faux Parmesan

OTHER
Usually have tomatoes, bananas (without these currently), potatoes and onions on hand also

[Nessus]

This sounds like a job for.... *trumpet fanfare*..... Mr. Falafel.

I was going to post a couple ideas but they seemed too obvious, like "put the tomato sauce on the spaghetti noodles..."

[hollywoodveg]

Looks like you'll have a lot of options there. You could make stir-frys, burritos, pasta sauce, baked potatoes and rice pilaf just for starters with those ingredients.

[Tori~CL]

Homemade veggie burgers or some type of a bean mash, many soups, and pasta dishes. Have you tried cooking beans in a pressure cooker? It would save a ton of money not to buy can beans and buy dry in bulk...plus they taste so much better. You could take several of the frozen veggies and roast them in the oven with olive oil and whatever spices you like. This is the way I get my whole family to eat several types of veggies.

What about maybe doing some type of freezer cooking? Making homemade spaghetti sauce and freeze the rest, just like soup or maybe vegan twice baked potatoes freeze really well if you flash freeze them first. If you have baking stuff you could do a lot with the oatmeal, like muffins or cookies and freeze them for breakfast. Canned fruit is really good thrown in cakes or muffins.

Beans, rice, and tomato sauce make a good burrito with added spices.

Yeah, calling Mr. Falafel. :pibo:

[hoodedclawjen]

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1124/moroccan-tagine

use agave instead of honey, raisins instead of dates. serve with some kinda couscous thingy.

beans are just endless- tacos, hummus type pates and dips, soups, stews, beanburgers, etc.

[SheThrowsDown]

Homemade veggie burgers or some type of a bean mash, many soups, and pasta dishes. Have you tried cooking beans in a pressure cooker? It would save a ton of money not to buy can beans and buy dry in bulk...plus they taste so much better. You could take several of the frozen veggies and roast them in the oven with olive oil and whatever spices you like. This is the way I get my whole family to eat several types of veggies.

What about maybe doing some type of freezer cooking? Making homemade spaghetti sauce and freeze the rest, just like soup or maybe vegan twice baked potatoes freeze really well if you flash freeze them first. If you have baking stuff you could do a lot with the oatmeal, like muffins or cookies and freeze them for breakfast. Canned fruit is really good thrown in cakes or muffins.

Beans, rice, and tomato sauce make a good burrito with added spices.

Yeah, calling Mr. Falafel. :pibo:

We don't have a pressure cooker-- are those expensive?

[Tori~CL]

We don't have a pressure cooker-- are those expensive?

Depends on what you want as they come in many price ranges. I have a cheapo one and really like it and my beans always come out perfect.

[Shamandura]

Do you have baking goods too? Like flour, baking soda, etc? If so, you have so many more possibilities than just mixing and matching what you've listed. You could make pot pies, burritos/enchiladas, shepards pies, soups, homemade burgers with the oats and beans...you really have quite a bit of options there. What I usually do when I am trying to just live off of whats in the cupboard, is look up something in particular I would like to eat that matches at least 2 main ingredients and substitute from there.

[sleepydvdr]

I envision your big 28oz can of Italian green beans used in a green bean casserole. Served with some of the Northern bean made into baked beans (use ketchup & molasses - I had this recently and it was great). The meat eater may like the Boca Chik'n patties in a bun with pickles & mustard.

As for all the tomato products, I say you eat some pasta with mushrooms & peppers. The chickpeas can make some great hummus if you get some tahini. Then you would have some awesome appetizers before meals (well, with pita bread, that is).

The oatmeal can be used with black beans, onions and flour to make veggie burgers. Everyone likes veggie burgers, right? Oatmeal can also make some awesome oatmeal-raisin cookies, too. Be sure to use brown sugar and cinnamon!

I'm getting hungry thinking about this, so I'm going to stop.

[Skylark]

When you're grocery shopping, make a price list. Every item you'd normally buy will cost X at the organics store, but it may cost more or less at the scratch & dent store down the street, or the surplus store in the next town, etc. Make a list of everything you'd normally buy, and then visit those stores to write down the prices of everything. It takes awhile, but be thorough. Take care not to buy something at anything other than the lowest price. When a store offers a special that beats the best price you've found otherwise, stock up. How often does the store run that special? Once every four months? Once a year? Buy enough to last you to the next special, if it's something that will keep.

When you find a store/source with many lower prices that's not on your normal route to anywhere and is far from your home, you'll have to get more selective in your trips there for the savings to be worth the gas and time. They'll need to have much lower prices or lots of items at a lower price, or some other redeeming factor.

Another key aspect to this is you should very rarely look in your pantry and say "Oh, I need X item to make X recipe; I'll go out and buy it." You probably won't pay the lowest price for the item if you buy based on when you need it vs. when it's at its lowest price. Work off of what you have, and buy when everything is cheapest.