Help me figure out dinner

[beccafromlalaland]

We are poor this week. Help me figure out 4 dinners and 4 lunches with these options. I'm feeling very uncreative.

I have 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1can of black beans
1can of chili beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of sweet corn
Bread
Quinoa
Rice
1/2 jar of spaghettie sauce
1/2 jar of salsa
1 can of tomatoes.
5 russet potatos
and a bag of frozen brocolli
(and staples like flour,oil, sugar, and standard spices)

Help me make meals out of this!

[RealLifeMama]

Hmmmm....

Cut up the chicken so it will go further.
Do you have butter or margarine and milk?
If so you can make a white sauce.
Let me know and I will see what I can come up with.
Also, do you have enough rice and quinoa for more than one meal?

[beccafromlalaland]

Yep I have butter and milk.

Quinoa I have enough to make 2meals if I mix it with something else (quinoa salad maybe?)
Rice I have a lot of.

[Lady TS]

Hmmmm....here's what I'd do with those ingredients...

Chili with the chili beans, kidney beans and tomatoes. Add rice if you like. Or maybe the corn to make it a complete protein. Or make cornbread if you have cornmeal.

Throw the chicken in the crockpot with the salsa. Add a bit of water if you like. Cook all day long. Make tortillas with flour, oil, and salt and have chicken tacos.

Maybe invent a cream of potato and broccoli soup? Or bake the potatoes and serve with broccoli and cheese on top(if you have cheese, that is)

Make your own pizza crust, top with the spaghetti sauce and anything you can find in the house.....you could make it Mexican with leftover chili or chicken. :shrug You don't have to have cheese on a pizza. :)

Hmmm...that leaves Quinoa(which I don't know how to cook), bread, and a can of beans maybe.....can you make something of that?


Does that help any?

[RealLifeMama]

It is just you and DH and a little one? So really like cooking for 2?

OK, you can make a white sauce and put broccoli and one or two of the chicken breasts in it and to make it a casserole, cut up some bread and put in melted butter and sprinkle on top. Serve with rice one night and then over baked potatoes for lunch. (1 dinner, 1 lunch)

You can make a salad with quinoa, black beans, and half the corn and half the tomatoes. Add some cumin and salt and pepper and coriander if you have it. This would be large so you can eat the salad for lunch and as a side for dinner. For dinner: Serve with the remaining chicken breasts, just dredged in flour, salt, pepper, cayanne and garlic powder. If you have any broccoli left, serve it on the side. (1 dinner, 1 lunch)

Make some "chili" with the other half the corn, the other half the tomatoes, and the kidney beans and chili beans, and salsa. Serve with rice once and with the other two potatoes another meal. (1 dinner, 1 lunch)

Hmmm, I am sorry, that is one meal short.

If you had cheese and onions, that would help a lot but you did not list cheese nor onions.
Do you have boullion cubes?

OK, maybe you could make some baking powder biscuits, and serve the chili over that the second meal. Then you would have some potatoes leftover.
Or you could not use the kidney beans and corn in your chili and make a salad with quinoa and kidney beans and corn. Then you would have another lunch and would only be short one dinner.

I have been known to eat bread dipped in spaghetti sauce, though!

[beccafromlalaland]

It's me Dh a 4yr old and a 2yr old So it's more like cooking for 3 1/2 as the 4yr old can eat as much as I do.

Thanks for the ideas!