Pantry Escapades: Tacos Bake, Mason Jar Oatmeal, and Scones

Since our wedding, we’ve gotten into the takeout routine, and now are trying to cut back on that to save money. 

We belong to the local CSA, and yesterday Steve got some wonderful cantaloupe, tomatoes, squash, carrots, onions and peppers. Being a part of the CSA is interesting because every week we anticipate what we are going to get, as opposed to going to the farmers market and specifically picking out corn, etc.  It’s made me a more innovative cook.

Last night I pulled out the canned chicken, seasonings, cornbread mix and thawed black beans and corn (that I had made from a bag o beans, soaked and had several containers of beans, for 49 cents). Steve chopped up the peppers and onion, and we had ourselves a taco bake- I poured the prepared cornbread mix (Jiffy, 25 cents) on top of the seasoned taco mixture and baked. YUM! Plus, lunch for today.

I also made chocolate chip scones (thanks to pal Ronnie’s present for my bridal shower- a basket of Trader Joe’s goodies!).

AND I tried Mason Jar Oatmeal. We got many generous wedding gifts, many of which were gift cards to Williams-Sonoma. I got the apple cinnamon cranberry steel cut oats for $5.99 (not a terrible price, but still too high and too full of sugar and flavorings).

I didn’t love all the added stuff, so I added a pouch of Trader Joe’s organic flax and oats to the Mason jar to cut the sweetness, along with a scoop of the WS oats, a cup of boiling water from my glorious Cuisinart PerfecTemp kettle, plus nutmeg, honey, and walnut. I mixed it up, put the lid on, and let it sit, and cool. Before bed I put it in the fridge.

I wasn’t sure how it would be bc I usually do microwave insta-oats in the am, and it’s never any trouble.

But, early this morning at work, there were no bowls, spoons or even cups to be found, so I ate it cold out of the jar. (the mason jar wouldn’t fit in the microwave either!)

And it was good!

I was sick earlier this week, and still have a cough, but I decided to work out today, and was hungry. The oats-in-a-jar were creamy, satisfying, and tasty. I’ll make a bigger portion next week and add in more things from my pantry: cranberries, almonds, cashews, nutmeg, cinnamon, and honey.

DINNER: Seafood Alfredo Trimble…cream, parmesan, peppers, onions, tomatoes, frozen shrimp and canned crabmeat (again, all pantry and CSA items!) over pasta