Half-blind, stressed & too many choices- help me be creative!

[salubriousbunny]

OK, so I had plans to make Pesto-Cheese Stuffed Shells with Sauce, but I only have Australian Cheddar and I REALLY want to have Parm & Mozz for this dish.

So, now I'm back to the drawing board, it's late and I'm cranky. (I have really BAD vision and an eye infection so I am missing one contact and it's driving me batty!) Anyhow...wondering if you guys could help cheer me up and offer your usual amazing ideas for culinary pleasures ... (and hoping this is still the right thread since i'm not exactly limited on items - my problem is too many choices)

i eat gluten and soy-free. i want to make a vegetarian dish, although i do have 1/2lb of crumbled ground beef precooked from last night, and i have nearly every spice available, except parsley right now. i bake g-f, and would be happy to incorporate flour into this dish. i'm looking for something that's an intermediate skill level and preferably takes 45 mins or less.

i have:

• crimini mushrooms, a med. yellow squash, broccoli, carrots, onions, half a red cabbage, 4 ears of fresh sweet corn, celery and kale;
• 2-28 oz cans of diced tomatoes and 1 can of crushed tomato, 2 12 oz cans of butternut squash, 1 can of garbanzo beans, lots of frozen peas;
• 1 cup of cooked brown rice, uncooked rotini quinoa past, uncooked red quinoa (whole grain);
• australian cheese, 8 oz cream cheese, 3/4 cup of heavy cream, coconut milk, most of a tub of sour cream, 1/2 cup of homemade basil pesto, nearly 2 dozen eggs;
• mandarin oranges, chunked pineapple, 2 tetrapaks of beef broth;
• sesame seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, 1/2 cup of walnuts;
• a g-f flour mix and a 4-flour bean mix that is cup for cup with wheat flour, plus all the standard baking essentials

I probably have more stuff, but thinking that's more than enough.

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions - i'd love to identify a few meals out of this. thank god i've got a DELICIOUS cheesecake with fresh whipped cream that I made yesterday to keep me happy in the meantime.

thank you!!!

 

[salubriousbunny]

i also have...

fresh maple pork sausage links, fresh cilantro, rosemary, basil, oregano

dried craisins, raisins, and dried mixed fruit (rasp/blue/cherries)

 

[BH51]

Well Atomicgirl (aka; cranky)....If I was trapped in your house and
nearly starved & I had 45 minutes with what you got, I could throw
together a tomato/veggie stew with the carrots, onions some of those
peas, chop up some celery, might even chunk that basil pesto in it
and/or I see some omeletes with sauteed mushrooms & onions in a
mushroom sauce made with flour & the beef broth would come to
play in another dish with sauteed mushrooms on the brown rice,
maybe incorporate alittle of the cream cheese in with the sauce
with the sausage links on the side......that's all I got inside of a 45
minute time frame....................................................luck.........BH51..

 

[salubriousbunny]

thank you!

thanks for the suggestions!

you inspired me to make the following:

ground beef, brown rice, heavy cream + finely shredded cheddar melted in + dried basil, sea salt and pepper with sauteed mushrooms and steamed peas.

pretty tasty for a quick dish! i wanted to make a mushroom sauce, but when i finally had a use for my cooking sherry, it was gone.

the tomato veggie soup sounds good too, but i would like to make something to go with that when i do.

lastly, i should have taken the 45 min requirement off the table, b/c i still would like extravagant ideas that i can make this weekend. so if you're reading this, please throw your ideas out there!

 

[pennsy]

Sympathetic

Sorry A-girl, I'm in kind of a funk myself, so unfortunately no cooking suggestions. Indeed, you have my sincere concern regarding the eye infection. Been there, done that, cause I had a BAD infection years ago, and I'm still paranoid about anything to do with my eyes. Will keep you on my remember list - get well soon, happy cooking!
pennsy

 

[Claire]

I'd chop the veggies (fresh food goes first in my book). Then I'd cook the rice along with the canned tomatoes and the veggies along with some cumin and as much chili as you like and make a sort of Spanish rice dish. I think you could do the same using the grain rather than the rice, but I'm not a big fan of quinoa.

Alternatively you can use the veggies with the pasta, but season with olive oil (or a bottled Italian dressing) and herbs for a pasta primavera that you can eat either hot or cold.