Note: This post is sponsored by the Cans Get You Cooking campaign through Mom It Forward. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and the recipe is an original, though the idea is well-known!
Just last week, Reese, my 10-year-old, volunteered to clean out the refrigerator. Before you start thinking she’s some super-girl (she IS pretty amazing) she was solely motivated by a desire to earn marbles in her cup so that she could chose the Saturday morning TV show to watch.
As Reese emptied out the fridge, I challenged her to only put fresh food back in after the shelves were wiped clean – not only were the shelves a mess, but the fridge was full of food and I knew we weren’t eating it all. So much food was thrown away, and most of it was produce that had not been used quickly enough and had rotted.
Did you know?: 73% of Americans throw away spoiled fruits and vegetables on average two times a week. Cans help make sure nature’s bounty doesn’t go to waste.
How often do you throw away produce that has ripened or rotted faster than you could use it? It happens quite often for me, though I try to only buy food that I know we will eat. Things happen, menu plans change, leftovers get forgotten at the back of the fridge…and we end up tossing food.
And I hate wasting money on food purchased and not eaten.
Food for thought: A well-stocked “Cantry” helps you save time and get a healthy, flavorful and home-cooked meal on the table, more often. It’s homemade made easy.
The best thing about cooking with canned food is that I can serve my family healthy, home-cooked meals any time of the year (even when produce is not in season) AND I don’t have to worry about the veggies rotting in the fridge before I get around to using them. We always have a stock of canned food on the shelves in our basement, which is especially handy for days when I haven’t planned ahead on what to cook for dinner.
The other night, I made one of our favorite comfort meals – Shepherd’s Pie – and tried using as much canned food to make it as possible. Not only did it taste as good as ever, but I was amazed at how easy it was.
- 1 to 1½ pounds ground beef
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 can corn, drained
- 1 can peas, drained
- 1 can carrots, drained
- 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (10.5 oz) turkey or chicken gravy
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups mashed potatoes (approximately)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Brown ground beef in skillet with onions until cooked through. Drain.
- Add canned vegetables and gravy to skillet with ground beef and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon beef and veggie mixture into a 9×13 baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes.
- Sprinkle cheese on top of the potatoes and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until cheese is fully melted.
How often do you cook with cans? What’s your favorite recipe using canned foods?
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I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
I do not know who you are but definitely you
are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already ;) Cheers!
We do tend to throw away a good deal of food. That is what I hate about buying perishables.
YUM! That looks so good, can you believe I’ve never tried it?
Looks really yummy!