Recipes Using Food Bank Food!

            Of all the foods at the food bank, I have my favorites. It is quite possible to eat healthy and feel full by eating food from the food bank. The answers are just like the super market. Buy natural, buy green, buy fresh. If it comes in a box with a cartoon on it, don’t buy it. If it needs a refrigerator to stay fresh, buy it.

            In the food bank I work in, we are shopping style. This means that the people who use the food bank get to pick and choose what they want to take with them. There are guidelines to how many of something you can take, but generally speaking, you can have at least one of every variety of food.

            So how does one get the proper nutrients, feel like they have eaten something, had good tasting food and all from a food bank? Following are a few recipes that I have come up with using only food found in the food bank currently (meaning today, July 10, 2012 at 9:30am.).

Breakfast: Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:

4 Eggs

2C Spinach or kale

16oz Cottage Cheese

3 Green Onions

Add-Ins not in bank: Feta or cheddar cheese, Pam Spray (was in my bank, but probably not others).

Equipment:

Pie plate, whisk, medium mixing bowl, sauté pan, toothpicks, oven, eating utensils.

Heat oven to 350. Wilt spinach in sauté pan. Add green onions. Whip up eggs with some of the cottage cheese whey. Spray pie plate with Pam or other non-stick spray (This is found in my food bank, but if you don’t have it, use a little vegetable oil or melted butter).  Add the spinach to the eggs. Add the rest of the cottage cheese. Put in oven for about 30min or until a clean toothpick comes out of the center.

Serves 4.

Lunch: Loaded Salad

 Ingredients:

1 Bunch Romaine

1 Bunch Kale

1 Bunch of Cauliflower

1 Medium Tomato chopped

Salad dressing of your choice

Optional:

1 Can solid tuna (for every 2 people) or 2 hard boiled eggs (per person)

Herbs of your choice. I would use basil, tarragon or oregano.

Cheese if you have it on hand. I like cheddar, jack, mozzarella, feta or any goat cheese. 

Equipment:

Knife, Cutting board, big bowl, serving bowls, eating utensils.

Chop up all of the lettuce and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. Chop tomato. Put all into a big salad bowl. Dress with favorite dressing. Toss and enjoy!

Serves 4.

Dinner: Chicken Mexi Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

2 Large chicken breasts or 1 large can of chicken

1 C Brown rice (you can use white rice, but there’s much more nutrients in brown rice. It does take longer to cook, but I think it’s worth it. If you use white rice, make sure to alter the cooking time)

2C Chicken broth

1 Can Black beans

1 chopped Tomato or can of chopped tomatoes. If you can find canned tomatoes with peppers in it, bonus!

1 medium Onion, diced

1 Red bell pepper

1 Jalapeño (if you like it hot!)

1 can of Corn (if you want. It's more of a filler)

¼ C your favorite Salsa (I could find this in my bank, but if you can’t, it can be omitted, but it adds a TON of flavor.)

Add-ins not in food bank:

1 T Chili powder

1 tsp Cumin

Opinional if you have it:

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese

Equipment:

Knife, Cutting board, can opener, casserole dish, oven, serving spoon, plates or bowls, eating utensils.

Preheat oven to 350. Dice the onion, tomato, red bell pepper, jalapeno and chicken. Put it all into a casserole dish. Put it in the oven for about 45min or until the rice is done and the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Serves 4.

Dessert: Peach Crisp

Ingredients:

2 cans Peaches (drained)

1 C Flour

1 C Brown sugar

1 C Rolled oats

½ C Butter (soft)

1tsp Cinnamon (Again, I could find this in my bank, maybe not all). 

Equipment:

Strainer (if you can’t strain straight from the can), 8x8 dish oven safe dish, oven, medium mixing bowl, plates, and eating utensils.

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together butter, flour, oats and brown sugar and cinnamon into a crumbly mixture. Put peaches in the base of an 8x8 pan; add crumb topping on top of the peaches. Bake for 45min or until topping is golden brown.  Enjoy!

Serves 4.

As you can see, all of these are super easy to make and can be done anywhere with a stove, oven and bowls. 90% of the food is from the food bank. The other 10 percent is easily and cheaply found at any grocery store. I realize that food banks vary from day to day and city by city. So I plan on having Recipe Tuesdays every week! Bon Appetite!