Back to School shopping – for your pantry!

 

Have you finished school shopping yet? We haven’t. We still need to pick up a few more supplies, new shoes and maybe some new jeans and socks.

This time of year parents are making sure that their student have all their supplies as well as extras stocked up for use throughout the school year. You can never have too many pens, pencils and paper.

You maybe have stocked up on supplies for back to school – but have you stocked up your pantry too?

Once school is in full swing many families will be juggling school, work, sports, homework and after school activities. I know many parents who barely walk in the door before they have to head back out to take their child to practice or to a game. By the time they get back home it’s late and the last thing they want to do is spend a long time laboring over making dinner. They need something quick, easy and budget friendly.

Children also need quick and easy meals to prepare after school to hold them over until dinner time. In our household my kids get home from school at 2:30 and we don’t eat dinner until 6:00 PM when my husband gets home from work. Sometimes when my kids get home they are looking for meals, not snacks. That is why I like to keep a well stocked pantry so that they always have something they can easily prepare, either “as is” or with a few other common ingredients.

Here are a few items that I always make sure I have in my pantry.

Canned Soups

Soup is probably one of the quickest, easiest and more affordable meal. You can eat it “as is”, or add  your own extra ingredients. Soup is also great on it’s own or accompanying a sandwich or salad.

I like to pick up hearty soups. I like ones that are chuck full of meats and vegetables. Progresso soups such as Rich & Hearty Chicken & Homestyle Noodles, High Fiber Homestyle Minestrone and Traditional Chickarina are very fulling and satisfying.

The great thing about soups is that there are so many flavors that you’ll never get bored of it.

Here are a few ways to quickly “jazz” up your soup to make it a satisfying and quick meal.

Progresso Heart Healthy Creamy Tomato with Rice – Prepare the soup as directed on the package and then toss in some left over (or minute) rice. It doesn’t sound like much but it’s very filling. Tomato soup on it’s own might not fill you up, but when you add the rice is added more “bulk”. Adding cooked cheese Tortilini to canned Tomato soup is also delish!

Progresso Light Chicken Pot Pie – My family loves it when I made chicken pot pie, but sometimes I don’t have the time to prepare it. An easy solution is to prepare a few cans of soup (I use one can per person in a large pot). While the soup is warming I bake dinner rolls. When the roll are done I spoon soup into bowls and top with a roll or two. It’s kind of a “mock” pie. You can do something similar with Progresso French Onion Soup. Simply top off with a slice of Italian (or French) bread and sprinkle a little shredded mozzarella cheese on top.

Progresso Vegetable Classics Lentils – I make this a lot for my family. I cook a box of pasta (usually Ditalini). Once cooked I drain the water and then toss in two cans of Progresso Lentil soup and a jar of pasta sauce. I mix it all together and season with some garlic and pepper. It sounds odd but it’s really very good. My family enjoys it with slices of mozzarella cheese (dipping the cheese into it tastes really good!).

Canned Broth/Creamy Soups

There is a lot you can do with canned broths. For example, beef broth mixed with onion soup mix is great for drizzling on meat (even left over meatloaf or pot roast!).

Microwave a potato and top it with Progresso Creamy Mushroom soup.

Prepare Minute Rice with chicken or beef broth to add more flavor.

Pour your favorite creamy soup over grilled or baked chicken.

You can replace water with broth to add more flavor to pasta too.

Canned Beans

My kids love beans, especially Chickpeas. You’ll always find cans of Goya Chickpeas in my pantry. My kids eat them for a snack. They also like to add them to salads.

Canned Kidney Beans, like Goya Canned Kidney Beans, are great to whip up a quick chili. Or even red beans and rice (minute rice works great).

My kids like to use canned beans and mix them with whatever left overs they can find (veggies, meats) in the fridge and make burritos. They have even added beans to scrambled eggs with some veggies and cheese to make a very satisfying breakfast burrito (which they will make for lunch too).

Even on their own canned beans make a great side dish to most any meal.

Canned Meats & Seafood

I always have canned Tuna, Salmon and Chicken on hand. They are great “as is” or mixed with a little mayo. We use them to top off salads too.

We’ve added canned Tuna or canned Chicken and peas into boxed Mac & Cheese. It sounds odd but it tastes great.

If you have lettuce and/or Spinach, garden veggies, canned tuna and some tortillas it makes for a great wrapped sandwich.

I’ve used canned chicken on top of pasta and pasta sauce.

I also make this meal for my kids (they love it). Toast some bread. Take some canned tuna (plain or mixed with mayo) and put it on top of the toast. Then top it off with a slice of American Cheese. Pop it in the over under the broiler long enough to melt the cheese. Remove from the over and enjoy.

Canned tuna, chicken and/or salmon also goes great on crackers for a quick and easy snack.

Canned Fruits

Fresh fruit is always preferred, but don’t dismiss canned fruits. Growing up all my mom ever bought was canned fruits (I don’t know why). A typical dessert after dinner was some canned fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.

Canned fruit makes a quick and easy snack. I always look for canned fruit that is labeled “light” so I know it’s not packed in extra sugar.

You can use canned fruit on top of a piece of cake, ice cream and even on top of oatmeal.

What canned foods do you always keep on hand in your pantry? Do you have a favorite recipe that features canned foods you would like to share? Feel free to tell me about it in the comment section.

For more information about cooking with canned foods visit the Cans Get You Cooking official pages –Facebook page, Pinterest page and their YouTube channel.

Are you looking for some family friendly recipes? Check out the recipe sections on these websites.

• Allens Vegetables
• Bush Brothers
• Del Monte
• S&W
• Muir Glen
• Progresso
• SPAM
• Hormel
• Margaret Holmes
• Glory Foods
• Nestle
• Red Gold
• Goya
• Ocean Spray
• Ol El Passo

Kimberly

*I am participating in a blogger campaign and received a gift card to shop  for canned goods. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my  own unless otherwise noted.