5 Easy Recipes With Ingredients From Your Pantry (2024)

Times are really tough right now. Inflation is through the roof and we are officially in a recession. Today I’m sharing 5 easy recipes with ingredients from your pantry.

This will help you to say money by not ordering takeout when you don’t want to cook or forget to take chicken out of the freezer to thaw.

Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 1/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth (I use water and chicken bouillon)
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
• 12 oz bag of mixed vegetables

Biscuits:

• 2 cups complete pancake mix (just add water type)
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 oz (1/2 cup) cheddar cheese (optional)
• 2 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt butter over medium heat in a skillet or saucepan. Stir in flour and mix well to prevent clumps. Add in chicken broth, and continue siring until the sauce thickens and it’s bubbly. Season with salt and pepper then add shredded chicken and mixed veggies.
3. Prepare a 2-quart baking dish by spraying with cooking spray and spoon the chicken mixture into the baking dish.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is starting to brown and sauce is bubbling.

For the biscuits:

1. Heat over 400 degrees.
2. Stir pancake mix, water, and cheese until sticky dough forms. Drop dough on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Batch will make 4-8 biscuits, depending on size you want.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Stir together softened butter and garlic powder; brush over warm biscuits.
6. Serve biscuits on side of chicken pot pie, and enjoy!

🙋🏼‍♀️ Have you found yourself throwing away vegetable after vegetable, month after month?

🙋🏼‍♀️ Do you think about your food habits and get discouraged?

🙋🏼‍♀️ Are you tired of never having a plan and watching your food budget balloon out of control?

🙋🏼‍♀️ Does the thought of grocery shopping stress you out?

🙋🏼‍♀️ Have you tried meal planning before and failed?

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Butter Ranch Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3-6 chicken breasts
• 1/2 stick of butter or margarine
• 1 packet dry ranch seasoning
• 1 bag frozen vegetable of choice
• 2 cups of rice

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker add chicken breasts, slices of butter and sprinkle with ranch seasoning mix (I used the chipotle ranch to give it a little kick).
2. Cover the lid and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
3. Add in 1 bag of frozen veggies 30 minutes before serving.
4. Serve with rice on the side.

Meal planning and meal prepping may feel like a lot of work or something that you don’t have time to do.

But if you are super busy, that is even MORE reason to meal plan and meal prep.

Taking the time to meal plan will help to set up your meal for success.

You will no longer have the internal battle or fight with your spouse of “what’s for dinner”! It’s already decided at the beginning of the week.

Meal planning and meal prepping also takes the urge out of ordering take out which will save a ton of money.

Another tip is to only go to the grocery store a maximum of once a week. Each time that you go to the grocery store, the likelihood of impulse purchases increases.

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Are you wanting a new weekly meal plan? Or maybe it’s your first time ever using a meal plan? Either way, you are in luck!

I’ve created a 7-Day Meal Plan for you and your family!

Using a weekly meal plan is the best way to cook healthy meals, save money, and time! My weekly meal plan includes a grocery shopping list, weekly meal plan, recipes, and printables.

A great way to save money while meal planning is to choose recipes with the same ingredients for multiple meals. This will help make your shopping list shorter resulting in saving money. Some ingredients you can even cook once and use for the next day as well!

• Have you thought about your food habits and felt discouraged?

• Have you found yourself throwing away vegetable after vegetable, month after month?

• Are you tired of never having a plan and watching your food budget balloon out of control?

I know those frustrations well. I have felt the pure, unadulterated annoyance that food can bring. It’s never fun feeling like you’re floundering and wondering what the heck to do to ‘fix it’.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 32-ounce bag frozen meatballs
• 20-ounce can of drained pineapple chunks or tidbits
• Sweet & Sour Sauce
• Rice

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker, add full bag of frozen meatballs, drained can of pineapple and sweet and sour sauce to taste. I typically do 1/2 to 3/4 of jar.
2. After a couple of hours, switch your crock pot to high and cook for an additional hour. Doing this will thicken the sauce. The sauce should be thicker and bubbling around the edges when ready.
3. Serve over rice.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 (15 oz.) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (10 oz.) can Rotel tomatoes
• 1 jar of salsa of your choice
• 1 package taco seasoning (or 1 oz if you have the giant container from Costco like me)
• 1 (15 oz.) can cream style corn
• 1 (15 oz.) can sweet corn
• Tortilla strips for topping (if desired)

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker place your chicken breasts, salsa, great northern beans, Rotel, chicken broth and taco seasoning.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.
3. (I personally like to first cook my chicken in my Instant Pot and shred then switch to the slow cook function. I prefer the texture of the chicken).
4. Remove the lid and shred the chicken with two forks. Stir in the cream corn and sweet corn and keep the lid off, cooking for another 20 minutes on high (this will allow the soup to thicken up a little bit.)
5. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with tortilla strips if desired.

Simple BBQ Chicken, Side & Veggies

Ingredients:

• 3-6 chicken breasts
• 1 box of couscous or rice of choice
• 2 teaspoons of oil, butter, or margarine
• 1 bag of frozen veggies of choice
• BBQ sauce to taste

Directions:

1. In Instant Pot, cook frozen or fresh chicken breasts with 1 cup of water on high pressure for 14 minutes.
2. Shred chicken and add desired bbq sauce.
3. To cook the couscous: in a small saucepan, bring 1 1/4 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of oil or butter to a boil.
4. Remove from heat, stir in seasoning packet and couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes, before serving fluff with fork.
5. Serve veggies on the side.

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