We are still in use it up mode here and cleaning out the
refrigerator, freezer and pantry. My income is always lower in the summer time
due to school being out and therefore I have to watch the pennies even closer
than I do at other times of the year, so using up what we have on hand is one
way to do that.
First on the menu is Macaroni and Cheese in the crock pot.
I
have several boxes of elbow macaroni on hand, but I also have two boxes of
Great Value macaroni and cheese in the family size boxes. I bought these on
clearance at one time for 25¢, but my family did not care for the cheese sauce
in the pouch. So I set the cheese sauce pouch aside and I’m going to see if my
daughter would like to sprinkle it on her popcorn sometime soon. So, rather
than use up my good elbow macaroni, I decided to use the elbow macaroni in this
box.
I’m also using one can of evaporated milk from my pantry, which needs
using up along with some generic Velveeta cheese, which I had on hand.
Crockpot Macaroni
& Cheese
1 box (8 ounce) elbow
macaroni, cooked
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup of butter, melted
12 ounce can of
evaporated milk
3 cups processed cheese
(I had generic Velveeta on hand)
1 & 1/2 cups of
milk
Stir that all together and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours.
Next on the menu are Green Beans with Onions. I picked these
fresh from the garden this morning and went ahead and broke them up and started
them cooking early to avoid heating up the kitchen later.
One thing I want to mention is if you have a green bean that
wasn’t picked in time and has a tough outer shell, you can still use the beans
inside the shell and cook those with your beans. We call them shelly beans. I
can remember one time when I was growing up picking a whole batch of green beans from my
grandfather’s garden. The beans did not get picked in time and ended up being tough,
so we broke open the shells and used the beans only. You can see from my batch
that I had a couple like that.
I also made two gallons of Iced Tea, and will slice up some of the cucumbers from the garden.
What's for dinner at your house today?
Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2012.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
good tip to still use the pasta contained in the mac n cheese dinner boxes. Many would have simply donated the mac n cheese, or (gasp!) thrown it out! Heat hit here as expected. I made a gigantic salad for supper already, we have several homemade dressings to pick from. Rice was cooked ahead so all I need to do is make a quick chicken cacciatore, using chicken leg quarters that I had bought on sale and froze, but first separating the thigh portions from the drumstick ends.
ReplyDeleteI learned that tip from Jo-Ann on the TWOD board last year when she bought the Mac and Cheese boxes from Food Lion as a loss leader for like 12¢ each. I was kicking myself for not buying any after I learned that tip.
ReplyDeleteYour dinner sounds good and refreshing. It is currently 108 here in the shade and about 85 in my kitchen even with the a/c on it is hard to cool with such a high temperature, but we'll survive. :)
Be careful in this heat.
I love string beans straight from the garden. Our supper was simple -- breakfast. Pancakes, sausage links (frozen from a big package bought sometime ago), scrambled eggs and fruit salad. Didn't take long to cook, which was good because then we spent a while putting up a bushel of sweet corn.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good dinner, Shara. Fruit Salad would be especially refreshing in this heat wave we are having. So, how did you put your corn up? Did you can it or freeze it?
ReplyDeleteWe gave up and froze it. It was so hot I didn't relish the idea of running the canner for over an hour.
DeleteI wouldn't either! Not with the steam and humidity created by a canner. Good plan to freeze it.
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