A Meal from My Pantry

I've been asked by a reader to share some of the meals we enjoy from our pantry.  Below is a meal we had today.

Ham slices from our freezer lightly browned.  While we were traveling recently, we came across a huge sale on ham and purchased two of them.  (Yes, we even bargain shop when we travel!)  We stashed them in the cooler that we always take with us and when we got home we cooked them, sliced them and froze them into meal size packages.

Button mushrooms sautéed in a little butter.   Canned earlier in the year when I found them on sale.

Whole kernel corn.     Canned earlier in the summer from the corn we grew in our garden.

Boiled okra.   I picked out enough of the smallest pods to save for boiling from the bucket of okra we were given last week.  I used to not like boiled okra until I met my husband and learned how his mother boiled it.  Growing up as a child, I remember boiled okra as slimy and I did not like it at all!  The first time I had it at my mother-in-law's house hers didn’t look slimy so I put a small amount on my plate mainly because I did not want to be rude.  I knew I would have to eat it and so very carefully put a very small bite into my mouth … imagine my surprise when I realized I liked it!  Here’s how she and now I cook boiled okra. 

Boiled Okra

Select young tender okra pods no longer than 2 inches long

Wash and clean

Fill pan with enough water to cover the okra at least one inch

Bring water to a boil

Add salt to taste

Add okra to boiling water

Put lid on pot and turn down to simmer  (Do not take the lid off while cooking)

Simmer at a very gentle boil for 8 minutes (this is very important, do not simmer any longer)

Promptly remove okra from boiling water

Place 2 or 3 pats/slices of butter on top of steaming okra

Enjoy! 

This meal was delicious and it all came from my pantry.  It was also easy to pull together since everything but the okra had been cooked/preserved beforehand, which cut down on the final cooking time tremendously.  Not all of our meals are a meat and 3 vegetables, one day last week we opened up a jar of chili that I canned last year and had it for a quick lunch. We eat from our pantry everyday, that’s why it is necessary for me to continually work on keeping it resupplied.  If you would like to see more of the meals we eat from our pantry, let me know.

 

patsy
A Working Pantry

 

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This post linked to Carnival of Home Preserving; Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways; The Morris Tribe; Homestead Revival; Teach Me Tuesday