ISO What to do with canned mandarin oranges...

[CWS4322]

Okay--I took inventory of my folks' stash (they are prepared for the end-of-the-world). What do you do with 23 cans of mandarin oranges, 17 cans of sliced mushrooms, 13 cans of sliced pineapple, and 31 cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, etc.., 13 cans of cream of mushroom soup and 2 cans of sour cherries (not to mention all the cans of canned salmon, tuna, and chicken, as well as oysters)? I've been "ordered" to cook from the pantry...let's start with the mandarin oranges--what do you do with canned mandarin oranges? My dad says "make orange jello" (quite frankly, that isn't high on my list of things I'd like to eat). Ideas????

 

[Selkie]

Canned Mandarin oranges, by themselves, makes a nice desert, or add them to cottage cheese for breakfast, or add them to a salad for lunch.

 

[joesfolk]

Use the canned fruits and toss them in a salad with mixed baby greens, some nuts and a raspberry vinegarette. You can make a rice and chicken casserole ala 1950 using the mushroom soup. (But let's face it it's going to be high in sodium) Fish crouquettes or patties can be doused in mushroom soup.

 

[jennyema]

23 cans? Oh my!

Orange/almond salad with spinach -- a blast from the past!

Fruit salad with some fresh fruit.

Waldorf salad. Sorry but I wouldn't eat that.

Why not purée it and add it to sone vodka and seltzer?

 

[Aunt Bea]

The oranges or the pineapple would be good in a Chinese chicken salad.

I would be very happy with that stash and so would many other people.

When life tosses you a lemon make lemonade.

 

[kadesma]

I love mandarins icy cold on a platter with red grapfuit sliced so it looks like an open flover, the top with thin sliced red onion top with sprinkle with sesame seed and poppy seed dressing made of sugar dry mustard vinegar chopped onion veggie oil and poppy seeds.
kades

 

[CWS4322]

The problem is that my father doesn't cook and my mother's dementia has progressed where she is not allowed to cook...not that she was ever a great cook. Ambrosia salad...I did make sweet-and-sour pork chops last night with some of the pineapple and did mix a can of the mandarin oranges in with cottage cheese today for lunch. I thought of spinach salad, but spinach is on the "no-no" list for my mom, ditto re: cabbage.

So, my father goes to the base in Grand Forks to pick up my mom's meds on a regular basis...he buys the cans of mandarin oranges there. I've given him a "DO NOT BUY" list as he is going to the base next week...maybe I should go with to make sure he doesn't add more canned goods to the pantry. They also have 3 freezers full...and that list isn't everything in the pantry...my goal before I leave is to get the # of cans of oranges down by about 1/2.

Thanks everyone!

The seltzer-vodka combo sounds good--but they no longer can consume alcohol...hmmm...would I be able to consume that many cans of mandarin oranges with vodka-seltzer before August 23rd...

 

[pacanis]

I'd be happy with that stash, too, AB.

CW, I guess your parents want to get rid of what they have been saving for TEOTWAWKI??? That seems odd, but I would take the mandarin oranges and use them on some grilled babyback ribs. You could use the syrup/juice to make a glaze.
For instructions, send me half the cans, lol.

 

[CWS4322]

My folks are in their early '80s. I jokingly asked my dad that if I emptied the pantry and the freezers, did that mean they were going to move to assisted living? Conveniently, he didn't have his hearing aids turned on, so I didn't get an answer. It is a case of elderly individuals not being able to deal with things and being overwhelmed by life in general. Also, my father has a bit of "hoarder's instinct" in that he keeps buying cans of stuff, food, but there's no one there to use it up. I have drawn the line at hamburger helper--that he's going to have to use up after I head back to Ontario. I'm NOT eating (or cooking) that. And, since they do eat that kind of stuff, when I'm here, I like to cook from scratch for them using fresh ingredients--especially right now--it is harvest season.

 

[merstar]

Here are some recipes from my to-try list:

CARIBBEAN RICE
Caribbean Rice Recipe - Food.com - 47168

ORANGE AVOCADO SALAD
Orange Avocado Salad Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

SPINACH SALAD WITH SOY GINGER DRESSING
For the Love of Cooking: Spinach Salad with Soy Ginger Dressing

 

[jabbur]

If you really want to clean out the pantry, consider boxing up what you don't want to use and donate it to a church or food bank. I'm sure they will be very happy to take it off your hands.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup pineapple, drained
1/3 cup grated carrot
1/2 tsp vanilla
Honey if desired for extra sweetness

Mix vanilla and honey into yogurt until well blended. Mix in mandarins, pineapple and carrots. Chill and serve.

 

[CWS4322]

If you really want to clean out the pantry, consider boxing up what you don't want to use and donate it to a church or food bank. I'm sure they will be very happy to take it off your hands.

That would be my choice (except, I have no idea how long some of the cans have been there--in 2008 I went through and cleared the pantry of expired cans--and then labeled all the others with the month and date. That system didn't last long). No, my father is not going to give away the food.

 

[Andy M.]

Donate to a food bank.

 

[4meandthem]

Avacado and mandarin slices sprinkled with paper thin red onion slices topped with a dressing made from the juice and a little rice wine vinegar,salad oil,spices.A few thyme leaves on top too.

 

[EatLoveMove]

Make a pavlova and scatter them over the top with any other fruits of your choice.
Add them to fruit salad.
Make Orange jelly and add the mandarin segments. Kids will love it.
Make mandarin based cocktails.

 

[JMediger]

Make Fluff ... 1 large container cottage cheese, 1 container cool whip (can be low fat or fat free), 1 package jello (can be sugar free) and 1 can of either pineapple or mandarin oranges (well drained). Mix all together in a bowl (I use a Tupperware so I don't dirty another dish) and refrigerate over night (or at least a couple of hours).

 

[lifesaver]

Here are some recipes from my to-try list:

CARIBBEAN RICE
Caribbean Rice Recipe - Food.com - 47168

ORANGE AVOCADO SALAD
Orange Avocado Salad Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

SPINACH SALAD WITH SOY GINGER DRESSING
For the Love of Cooking: Spinach Salad with Soy Ginger Dressing

The Caribbean Rice sounds so good.

 

[Leolady]

I developed this adaptation of a store cake mix myself.

Orange Cake

1 box of good yellow cake mix like Duncan Hines or Pillsbury
Substitute 1 stick of melted butter -- not margarine for the oil called for in the mix
Substitute the water called for with whole milk
1 can of mandrian oranges

Drain oranges into a small bowl and reserve liquid. Remove a couple of slices and place with the liquid.

Make the cake as directed on the box but with my substitutions and added orange slices, making sure you watch the mixture carefully as you add the milk. This is important because you don't want too much milk added because the oranges add moisture also.

Make sure the oranges are beaten into the batter with small chunks being left.

Bake as directed in a well greased bundt pan or appropriate cake pans.

You can sprinkle the finished cake with powdered sugar, or you could go all the way.

I like to make a glaze out of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, the reserved orange juice and orange slices, vanilla extract, and on occasion a little rum. I then poke holes through the cakes with a fork or skewer. I slowly drizzle the glaze into the cake making sure some go in the holes.

If there is leftover glaze, I set it to the side for those who want more.

 

[JMediger]

That looks delicious Leolady! I wonder if you could do the same with pineapple ...