Recipes & Pantry Cooking Tips

2025 Pantry Cookbook

Overnight Peanut Butter Oats

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup Oats
• 1 cup Shelf-stable milk
• 3 tbsp Peanut butter
• ⅛ cup Dried fruit

Instructions:

1. In a jar or container, mix oats, milk and peanut butter
2. Stir in dried fruit and refrigerate overnight
3. Eat cold or warmed up in morning
    

One-Pot Tuna Pasta

Ingredients: 

• 1 (5 oz) Can tuna, drained
• 8 oz Pasta (uncooked)
• 15 oz Pasta sauce (or less, based on preference)
• 1 Can vegetables (optional)

 Directions:

1. Cook pasta and drain. (Optional - keep a small amount of liquid from pasta after cooking)
2. Add pasta sauce, reserved water (optional - add small amounts to increase creamy-ness of sauce), tuna, and drained veggies to the pot.
3. Heat until warmed through.

“Scratch” Mac n’ Cheese

Ingredients: 

• 1 Cup Pasta (uncooked)

• 1 Cup Velveeta (cut into small pieces)
• ½ Cup Milk
• Season as desired. Suggestion:
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ¼  tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp paprika

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

2. Mix pasta, velveeta, and milk  over low heat until everything is melted and mixed together (begin with ½  cup milk and then slowly add more until you reach the desired creaminess)

3. Season with salt, pepper and/or other seasonings if desired

No Bake Cereal Bars

Ingredients: 

• 2.5 cups Cereal (cereal dependent)
• ½ cup Peanut Butter
• ⅛ cup Applesauce

Directions:

1. In a large microwave safe bowl warm peanut butter and applesauce slightly (around 20-30 seconds) and mix
2. Stir in cereal until coated
3. Press into 9x9 dish and let set until firm (in refrigerator, if possible)

Cheesy Chicken/Tuna Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pasta, uncooked
• 2 (5 oz) cans canned chicken or tuna, drained
• ½ block (appx. 16 oz) velveeta (cut into 1 inch pieces)  
• 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken/vegetable/celery/mushroom soup
• 1 (14.5 oz) can rotel (or diced tomatoes), drained
• 2 TBSP milk

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook pasta as directed on package
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, add drained chicken/tuna, soup, drained canned tomatoes and milk. Stir until well blended and set aside. 
4. Drain pasta and combine cheese, chicken/tuna mixture and pasta in a cooking pan coated with cooking spray
5. Bake, covered, for 30-35 minutes until heated through

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 (5 oz) can Chicken, undrained
• 1 (14.5 oz) can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (15 oz) can Beans (black beans, pinto, or navy) rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 oz) can Corn, drained
• 6 tsp Garlic Powder
• 4 tsp Cumin
• 2 tbsp Chili Powder
• 2 tsp Onion Powder
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp Salt Chopped Jalapenos or 1 (14.5 oz) can Rotel
• 7 Corn Tortillas

Instructions:

1. In a stock pot combine 1 quart of water, with seasonings, diced tomatoes, Rotel, corn.  Bring to a boil, adjust seasoning as necessary, and reduce to a simmer.
2. Add the beans and the chicken
3. Tear the the corn tortillas into pieces and add to the simmering water
4. Let simmer and stir occasionally until the tortillas dissolve and thicken the soup

Hearty Lentil & Tomato Stew

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed with hot water
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 3 cups water (or use 2 cups water + 1 cup shelf-stable milk for creaminess)
• 1 (15 oz) can mixed vegetables or any canned veggies (like carrots, corn, or green beans), drained
• 2 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional if you have)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (optional, for a creamy finish)
• 1 cup cooked rice or pasta (optional, for serving)

Instructions:

1. Prepare the lentils:
   In a medium pot, combine lentils, 1 tsp salt, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20–25 minutes, or until lentils are tender.  Once tender add the milk, do not drain the lentil liquid
2. Add the tomatoes and veggies:
   Stir in the canned tomatoes (with juice) and drained vegetables. Add salt, pepper, and any optional seasonings. Simmer for 10 more minutes.
3. Make it creamy (optional):
   For a richer stew, stir in the mayonnaise before serving.
4. Serve:
   Ladle over cooked rice, pasta, or enjoy as a thick stew with crackers or tortilla shells on the side.

Variations

• Spicy Lentil Chili: Use Rotel tomatoes and add canned black beans or kidney beans.
• Lentil “Ramen” Bowl: Serve over cooked ramen noodles instead of rice.

Cheesy Version: Stir in a little Velveeta or shredded boxed mac n cheese powder while warm.

Tips for Pantry Cooking

Don’t have butter on hand? 

• Use mayonnaise or Miracle Whip for butter substitute in Mac & Cheese
• When cooking rice, if no butter is available, use oil and salt. 

Making pasta w/ sauce?

• Reserve the water from the pasta after cooking and slowly mix some of it back in (little bits at a time). The starchy water acts as an emulsifier that helps bind sauces.

Made a soup that was too soup-y (and want to thicken it up)?

• Use corn tortilla shells (torn or cut up) as a thickener for soups.

Want to make a soup but don’t have broth or bouillon cubes on hand?

• Ramen seasoning packets can work well in soups where broth is needed.

Don’t have pasta?

• Use your ramen noodles (without seasoning) for your pasta dishes in place of other pasta.
• Watch your cooking time – It only takes 3 minutes to cook Ramen.

Why is my rice so mushy and gross?

• Try sauteing rice before cooking. It adds flavor and prevents it from becoming mushy.  This will help the rice to be fluffier too.

Don’t have oil or eggs?

• Save the liquid from garbanzo beans (aquafaba). It can be used to replace oil in dishes, eggs in baking. 
• Applesauce is great for replacing eggs in baking by using ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce for each egg, which adds moisture and acts as a binder (best for cakes, brownies, muffins).

I have dried beans, but my recipe calls for a 15-oz can of beans.

• In general, for a recipe that calls for 15 oz of beans, you can cook ¾ cup of beans and be close to the right amount of beans (it depends on the type of bean).

How to cook dry lentils

• Before cooking, sort through lentils and remove any small pebbles/debris found, then rinse.  
• To a pot, add 3 cups of water, vegetable stock or broth, for every 1 cup of dry lentils.  
• Bring to a boil and then simmer, cover the pot with a lid until lentils are tender (5-7 minutes for split red lentils, 20-30 minutes for brown and green lentils)

How to cook dried beans

• Before cooking, sort through beans and remove any small pebbles/debris found, then rinse.   
• Soak beans fully covered in water for at least an hour and up to overnight.  
• Drain and rinse beans again.  
• Pour the beans in a pot, cover with fresh water about 2 to 3 inches above the beans.
• Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover until tender, depending on the type of bean, this will take 45 minutes to 2+ hours.

I have regular rice instead of instant rice - what do I need to do differently?

• When cooking regular rice, use a 2-to-1 ratio (2 cups water for 1 cup rice), the rice will take longer to cook than instant rice.