Hello All,
I'm the chef instructor of a small rural high school culinary arts program in Arizona. Arizona, like most states, was hit hard by the recession and shortfalls in state budget funding of public education have hit a lot of districts hard. I actually lost my last teaching job in Tucson due to budget cuts and was lucky to find this job.
I inherited what appears to have been a home economics kitchen which I've been transforming into a commercial kitchen. We're actually going to apply for our commercial license by the end of this month so that we can open a small student operated restaurant. This will give my advanced students some much needed hands-on experience while also defraying food costs through sales.
I've also inherited two annual catering events that come out of my department's food budget. The first upcoming event will be Veterans Day. I am told that 80 veterans will be in attendance.
Although I appreciate our veterans, I'm on a tight food budget. It occurred to me that I might save some money by using up supplies my predecessor left me.
In my dry good storage are 44 pounds of masa de harina (corn flour), a dozen bottles of salsa verde, 50 lbs. of long grain rice, and a half dozen #10 cans of tomato sauce.
I've been thinking of using these to make a tamale pie that I could serve with Spanish rice and beans ... but I'm open to other suggestions.
One of my students stated the obvious. Why make tamale pie when we could make actual tamales? The answer was that I'm trying to conserve my food budget and dry corn husks are expensive.
So ... does anyone have any advice on what I can do with 44 pounds of corn flour, a dozen bottles of salsa verde, and six #10 cans of tomato sauce?
Given my location in rural Arizona, tamale pie with Spanish rice and beans seems to be the obvious solution. I would just have to buy dried pinto beans, onions, and cheese.
Any constructive advice would be appreciated.
I'm the chef instructor of a small rural high school culinary arts program in Arizona. Arizona, like most states, was hit hard by the recession and shortfalls in state budget funding of public education have hit a lot of districts hard. I actually lost my last teaching job in Tucson due to budget cuts and was lucky to find this job.
I inherited what appears to have been a home economics kitchen which I've been transforming into a commercial kitchen. We're actually going to apply for our commercial license by the end of this month so that we can open a small student operated restaurant. This will give my advanced students some much needed hands-on experience while also defraying food costs through sales.
I've also inherited two annual catering events that come out of my department's food budget. The first upcoming event will be Veterans Day. I am told that 80 veterans will be in attendance.
Although I appreciate our veterans, I'm on a tight food budget. It occurred to me that I might save some money by using up supplies my predecessor left me.
In my dry good storage are 44 pounds of masa de harina (corn flour), a dozen bottles of salsa verde, 50 lbs. of long grain rice, and a half dozen #10 cans of tomato sauce.
I've been thinking of using these to make a tamale pie that I could serve with Spanish rice and beans ... but I'm open to other suggestions.
One of my students stated the obvious. Why make tamale pie when we could make actual tamales? The answer was that I'm trying to conserve my food budget and dry corn husks are expensive.
So ... does anyone have any advice on what I can do with 44 pounds of corn flour, a dozen bottles of salsa verde, and six #10 cans of tomato sauce?
Given my location in rural Arizona, tamale pie with Spanish rice and beans seems to be the obvious solution. I would just have to buy dried pinto beans, onions, and cheese.
Any constructive advice would be appreciated.