Desperation dinner (lunch) to ward off cold!!!

I wasn't about to go out yesterday and need to cook something to eat. I scrounged my freezer and pantry and decided to make potato soup out of a package of frozen potatoes o brien. I had some onions, and found some chunks of ham in my freezer which I diced.

I cooked the chopped onions in a little oil, added the potatoes frozen, some seasonings like salt, pepper, dill, and added some water to cover. Added the diced ham and some diced celery I had. The pot was about half full. I also added about five chicken bouillon cubes. I simmered that for a while. Then I added one can of cream of chicken soup. Cooked that for while. To finish it off I added some milk and some shredded cheddar. (do not boil after milk)

I ate this with bacon bits that I had in the fridge in a jar. All in all not great, but better than canned soup. I prefer potato soup made with fresh potatoes and freshly diced and fried bacon, but what the hay.

Today I am making "spaghetti with meat sauce". Meaning red sauce made with ground meat. I have onions, some canned or dried mushrooms and some diced and crushed tomatoes so that will work.

I won't need to trek to the store. Weather warming up soon so then grocery store, here I come!!!

Do you have any favorite things you make out of things you might have at home?

i do this all the time. at our house we call them 'clean out the freezer' meals.

the last one i did was a sort of chicken-andouille stew. i had eight chicken thighs, which i seared and seasoned with smoked paprika and salt and pepper. pulled them out of the pan and let'em cool, and used the same pan with the chicken fat to brown some sliced andouille sausage, some carrots, and a chopped up bell pepper. i would've added onion here, but didn't have any.

once everything was brown, i deglazed with wine and then added about half a box of chicken broth. while that was coming together, i pulled the center bone out of the thighs and pulled the skin off.

dumped the thighs into a large braising pan, then poured the other mixture over the top and put it into a 275 oven until my wife got home. (maybe three hours).

i degreased the braising liquid, thickened it slightly with corn starch, and served it in deep bowls.

Oh that sounds great. I always keep a bag of Ore Ida frozen chopped onions in the freezer for in a pinch. I prefer fresh but sometimes you don't have any.

We've been subsisting on a variety of casseroles.. relatively cheap too! I did enchilada, once with ground beef and once with only beans... can of this, can of that- the small can of diced green mild peppers, layered cheese with corn tortillas, ground beef with onions and black beans, or just refried beans and topped with enchilada sauce and more cheese of course.

One other cold weather meal has been grilled cheddar w/ tomato and onion, with good old fashioned Campbells tomato soup. I add some cayenne and parmesan.

We also did "leftover" rice/cheese/chicken/broccoli casserole, and I am making potato/tomato/onion gratin right this minute. Had leftover onions and tomatoes, so sliced them and added potatoes, cream, rosemary, butter and topped with parmesan.

And I roasted a whole chicken for the first time ever last week (kind of embarassing I have waited this long) using this recipe http://www.recipezaar.com/The-Barefoot-Contessas-Lemon-and-Garlic-Roast-Chicken-146825, fashioning a rack for the chicken from a coathanger... then made chicken and dumplings from the carcass. Anything to keep the oven on these days!

Any other casserole suggestions out there?

no rack necessary for roasting a chicken. just hack up a few carrots and celery stalks and put them underneath. they elevate the chicken well enough and allow air to circulate around it, just like a rack would.

that enchilada casserole you mentioned reminds me of one of my mom's standard dinners growing up--we called it "dorito casserole". same thing as you described, but she used nacho cheese doritos for the tortilla chips and she always included a can of corn kernels. my brother and i loved it.

The other day I had leftover "stock" made from chicken, celery, and onions, to which I added a third of a package of leftover spaetzle plus some of the water I used to boil it in, salt, pepper, and some nasty garlic/herb seasoning which will go in the trash as soon as I get home.