Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Using What We Have on Hand.....


I have an eclectic collection of cookbooks, mostly older. One was printed in the 1950's and is full of ideas for using leftover items or stuff right off the shelf. Rather than run to the store each time I want to cook something I'm trying to learn to be more resourceful and use what's on hand. I had a bit of leftover bow tie pasta and salmon, but not enough to feed one person, much less a family so here's what I did. I took half a onion chopped, and sauted them in a frying pan with a little oil. I then added 1 15 oz. can of creamed corn and 1/2 cup canned milk. I added 1/3 a cup cheddar cheese powder, the macaroni and cheese kind, and let that get hot. I used to get this online but will have to find a new resource, rats! I heated up a pan of water as this was going on, and when boiling added 2 cups bow tie pasta and cooked that for 15 minutes then drained it. In the cheese sauce mixture I added lemon pepper, Old Bay seasoning and Lawry's seasoning to taste. I also added a dash or 2 of Tabasco. I then added 1 7 oz. can of salmon, Costco has the best I've ever tried. After this heated through, I added about 1/4 cup Parmesan and a little milk to keep the sauce creamy. I added the hot drained pasta and leftovers to the mix. Everyone raved! Our salad consisted of grape tomotoes, drained canned green beans, and chopped onion with a bit of italian dressing. We had a great meal, with what I had on hand!
Okay, back to the cookbook. There was a recipe for Pineapple Bran muffins I tweaked a bit using what I had on hand again, and here's the result. I replaced the bran with cornmeal and oats

Peachy Keen Muffins
2 c. flour
1/2 c. each cornmeal and oats
1T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/4 c. sugar
1 -8 oz jar peach preserves
1 egg
1/2 c. evap milk
1/4 c. oil

Sift all dry ingredients together. Blend all wet ingredients and gently stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Grease or line 12 muffin tins and distribute batter evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Yummy!

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