Bare Cupboard Casserole Recipes

This makes two hearty Italian style pasta casseroles with beef and spinach for very little money and makes good use of ingredients you might have lying around your house. This comes from my Aunt's recipe collection, updated a bit for my tastes. She had originally clipped this from an article in Family Circle in 1973. I wanted to share the story behind this recipe as well as the recipe itself. Basically, a mom of six children had, on the spur of the moment, decided to invite guests over for supper on a Sunday. Apparently, no stores were open on Sundays, so she was unable to buy any ingredients and was faced with only using her meager household staples, and relied on her Italian family background for inspiration. This was what she created. This makes two big casseroles, one you can eat now, and one you may freeze and reheat later if you are not having a bunch of guests over. I think if you don't have any spinach, you could substitute another veggie like roasted red peppers, sauteed mushrooms...really whatever you have handy is the point here. Also, when you make this...you might say "this could use some more cheese"...go ahead and use extra cheese if you want, melting some on top during the last 5-10 minutes of baking.

Provided by HeatherFeather

Categories     Vegetable

Time 2h30m

Yield 16-20 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 13

• Ingredients

This is a dish I created when the cupboard was getting pretty bare. It tastes great and is very easy to make, so it's a great week-night dish when your back's to the wall with no time and everyone is hungry. Even though the recipe calls for Lawry's taco seasoning, other brands (or homemade) would work equally well. I made this with macaroni, but other small pasta would be just as good. If you use regular tomatoes instead of roma tomatoes, add in a good squirt of ketchup or tomato sauce or paste to make up for the lack of tomato pulp.

Provided by Cook In Northwest

Categories     Meat

Time 45m

Yield 3 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 7

• Ingredients

This is something my 9 year old and I came up with one night when we went to make dinner and the cupboard was bare! While certainly not gourmet food, it's a real kid pleaser, and I thought it wasn't too bad either. Quick and easy for a weeknight meal when you have little time and nothing thawed! Make it a little more zippy for adult tastes by adding cumin and chopped cilantro or a little curry if you'd like.

Provided by Leslie

Categories     One Dish Meal

Time 20m

Yield 4-6 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 8

• Ingredients