I don;t know about you but I love to do easy cooking from my pantry. So, when Whole Foods contacted me to see if I’d like to participate in the $50 pantry challenge with the offer of giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky reader, I loudly said YES.
Included in the challenge were a few foods that aren’t on my vegan diet such as a an of tuna and a few boxes of chicken broth but other than that, all he other foods provide the basis for great meals when paired with fresh produce.
Here are the foods on the list:
- 1 lb black beans
- 1 lb lentils
- 1 lb quinoa
- 2 lbs brown rice
- 3 (32-oz) boxes vegetable broth
- 1 (32-oz) box chicken broth
- 1 lb rolled oats
- 2 cans cannellini beans
- 1 lb orechiette pasta
- 1 lb pasta, your favorite kind
- 1 can black beans
- 1 jar unsweetened applesauce
- 1 (32-oz) box unsweetened soymilk
- 1 (32-oz) box unsweetened almond milk
- 1 (5-oz) can tuna
- 3 (15-oz) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 package no-oil sundried tomatoes
- 1 jar pasta sauce
Here are a few dishes that i have made with the pantry staples:
Pasta with tomato sauce, white beans and greens.
Black bean and sweet potato chili that was served over brown rice
Purple sticky rice pudding made withe the almond milk (I bought the purple sticky rice)
Shane’s Fabulous Lentil Soup which required the addition of onions, potato and carrots
And there’s much more on the horizon as I have hardly made a dent in the ingredients. I see a bean burger with oats, sundried tomato and spices in my future. A big pot of brown rice will also get cooked, with some stashed in the freezer to eat later. If the weather turns cold again, another pot of soup will surely appear.
I will randomly draw a name for the gift card at midnight on February 1st.
To be entered to win, like my Facebook page by clicking here and post a comment below (right here on this blog) with the most creative pantry dish you might make with the vegetarian ingredients listed above. (If you use the tuna or chicken broth, you are automatically disqualified.) Include the list of other ingredients you need to add to complete your dish and list your current favorite pantry meal. I hope that you can think beyond the pasta.
Have fun with this. I love pantry cooking and saving money. Of course I also save energy in the process by using my pressure cooker. Shane’s Fabulous Lentil Soup takes only 6 minutes at pressure and it’s oh so tasty.
Good luck.
Star is the winner of the $50 Whole Foods Pantry Challenge Gift Card Giveaway. I need o have her email me. jill at theveggiequeen.com.
I am so impressed with all your creativity with your pantries. Amazing. I wish that I could give each of you a gift card for Whole Foods. You each deserve it. But the joy will have to be in the knowing that you can create meals out of just a few pantry ingredients. Thanks for your comments.
Forgot to add,,, current make in a pinch meal pantry staple has to be a tasty quinoa salad. Qunioa cooked up, diced tomato, scallion, olives chopped up (something nice and salty to act as imitation Feta, lol) some black beans or glandules, chopped parsley or even better cilantro (love cilantro!) and toss with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice a bit of garlic, pepper. Toss to coat,, let it sit a few minutes for flavors to blend,,,, and voila! Dinner is served! This is a favorite in the summer,, who wants to cook?
I think I would attempt to make a veggie Tzimmes. I’d probably use firm tofu cut into chunks that was frozen and defrosted and pressed as an added ingredient gently stir frying it first with an onion chunked up with just a tad of olive oil, add some prunes, use some of the diced tomatoes, some of the beans for added texture, a bit of veggie broth, a few spoonfuls of the applesauce to sweeten, add carrots sliced into coins, and a splash of cider vinegar so the dish gets it’s sweet and sour taste!Let it simmer slowly so the liquids reduce a bit. Serve it on either the brown rice or the quinoa,,, gosh I’m really getting hungry just thinking about it now. I think I am going to go pantry hunting now!