A One-Month Shelf-Stable Food Menu Your Family Will Love

Now that most of the country is practicing social isolation, people are turning more and more often to their pantries to make meals from shelf-stable ingredients.

Do you ever wonder what on earth you’d eat if you had to rely solely on the items in your pantry? How could you possibly make tasty meals from these items you have stashed away? Do you imagine a future filled with cans of Spaghetti-O’s and saltine crackers?

Trust me when I tell you, you can do much better than that. Here’s a menu that you can adjust to your family’s preferences.

A one-month menu of shelf-stable dinners

If you have fresh or frozen ingredients on hand, feel free to substitute them in for shelf-stable ones. If you’re a vegetarian, a lot of these meals can be converted by simply omitting the meat or replacing the meat with lentils or beans. Tweak the meals according to your family’s preferences and allergies or intolerances.

Menu: Week One

• 5-Can Chili
• Chili Pie
• Tuna Noodle Casserole
• Chicken Alfredo and Pasta
• Udon Noodles in Peanut Sauce
• Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
• Mexican Pizza Pie

Menu: Week Two

• Shepherd’s Pie
• Vegetable Soup
• Chicken and Dumplings
• One-Pot Beans and Rice
• Spaghetti
• Bread and Gravy
• Pantry Potato Soup

Menu: Week Three

• Goulash
• Vegetable Fried Rice
• Chicken and Dressing
• Jambalaya
• Fry Bread Tacos
• Split Pea Soup
• Pasta Primavera

Menu Week Four

• Pasta Fagioli
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Poor Man’s Stroganoff
• Baked Beans with Ham and Sweet Potatoes
• Baked Bean Chili
• Southwestern Chicken and Rice
• Corn Chowder

I like to save leftovers from dinner for the following day’s lunch. Shelf-stable breakfasts are pretty simple with things like powdered milk, dried fruit, and cereal or oatmeal. You can get all these recipes and a shopping list in my PDF book, The Stockpile Cafe, for just $5.

Below, find one of my family’s favorite shelf-stable recipes.

Fry Bread Tacos

You can cook 1 pound of ground beef from your fridge or freezer, or substitute an extra can of beans for the beef crumbles for a vegetarian option.

Ingredients (Filling)

• 1 cup of ground beef crumbles, rehydrated
• 1 can of pinto beans, drained
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ ketchup
• Salt to taste

Directions for the filling

1. Heat some cooking oil in a skillet, then add the beef crumbles and lightly brown them.
2. Stir in the beans and seasonings and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the ketchup (I know it sounds weird but trust me) and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Put this aside while you make the fry bread.

Ingredients (Fry Bread)

• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tbsp of shortening
• ½ tbsp of baking powder
• ¾ cup of water
• Cooking oil or shortening for frying

Directions for the fry bread

1. Mix all the ingredients together with half a cup of the water and knead until you have a nice soft dough.
2. You may need to add extra water to get a nice dough.
3. Let it rise on the counter for 15 minutes.
4. Add cooking oil or shortening to a skillet and heat it up until it sizzles when you flick a drop of water on it.
5. Then, pull off small pieces of dough, roll them into little balls, and then flatten them into circles.
6. Drop them into the skillet and fry them for about 2-3 minutes per side.
7. Use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel.

Assemble the tacos

1. Scoop a spoonful of filling onto each piece of fry bread.
2. Dress up your tacos with any fresh vegetables you might have, hot sauce, and salsa. You can break into your freeze-dried goods and add some reconstituted cheese or sour cream.

Fry bread is a fast and useful side-dish to serve with all sorts of soups and stews – you get all the goodness of homemade bread without having to wait for yeast bread to rise and bake.

I hope you enjoy these recipes made from shelf-stable pantry items. Many of them are family favorites that I make whether there’s a quarantine going on or not.

source : Daisy Luther