Baking potatoes. Then cream some veggies or leftover meat and create your loaded baked potato. Something as simple as canned corn and cheese is tasty and filling.
Or use cheese sauce. Make it yourself from milk, flour, butter and long-keeping Velveeta cheese that you keep on hand. Top them with parsley or bacon bits to dress them up a bit.
I keep pasta and corn tortillas on hand for last minute casseroles or enchiladas (topped with salsa) made out of left-overs.
Tuna melts under the broiler. Mix tuna, a little mayo, chopped onion, pickle relish and cubed cheese. Spread on toast and broil. Or top toast with bacon and Velveeta and broil.
I keep roasted red peppers, sliced water chestnuts, slivered almonds and a variety of pickles on hand. These things will quickly elevate a hot dish to something a little more company worthy.
Chicken Divan: Frozen broccoli cuts topped with leftover frozen chicken. Sprinkle water chestnuts. Top with can of cream of mushroom soup mixed with sour cream. Layer cheese on top.
And there's always the old brunch fall back of
pannekoeken. Spectacular in their presentation but cheap and simple in their prep. Fresh fruit is best but I keep a couple of different cans of pie filling handy to pour into the bottom of the cast iron skillet. Top with beaten eggs, milk and flour and pop into a hot oven for a short time. Watch it rise and like magic you have a small miracle to bring to the table.
'tatoes and eggs. Fry eggs with chopped onions and pour some beaten eggs over the top. Stir. Serve with ketchup. Who doesn't like fried potatoes and ketchup?
Frozen waffles and Jimmy Dean sausage patties when they are on sale. Top with your stash of real maple syrup and garnish plate with orange slices.
Just a word about presentation. If you have a special dish, serving spoon, a doily for the serving plate, pretty paper napkins, toothpicks with cellophane decoration on the top, even paper drink umbrellas (LOL) you can elevate a slap-dash meal at least to humorous, if not charming.
It's summer - go pick something edible to put on the plate. Pansies, nasturtiums, violets. I grow them just for this purpose.
My story about nothing to eat:
I know about that. The first year my husband was drafted into the Army we lived paycheck to paycheck and they only came once a month. Lean times.
But after we had children I always made sure there was something healthy around even if it was cheap. And when they were little I tried to be there when they got home from school to give them something good. But one day I can't remember what drew me away from home just before sixth grade son got home.
Later my mother told me he had called her, sixty miles away, to complain, "My mom is gone and there's nothing in the house to eat."
When I got home that night I made shrimp fettuccini for supper. He said, "How'd you do that?" Mom's have their secrets. When you have sixth grade boys you have to be creative about storing food, right?
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) Sardines too... canned and dried fruits and veggies.
