If ever there was a fast and delicious pantry meal this is it!
Prep time: 5 min … maybe
Cook time: just needs warming up
Ingredients:
Hormel Compleats shelf stable meal– Beef Pot Roast, 1 per person
1 box Betty Crocker Homestyle Creamy Butter Mashed Potatoes
2 TBS Powdered Milk
4 cups water
1-2 TBS Powdered Butter, to taste
Dried Rosemary to garnish
Instructions:
Open meals and heat. Prepare mashed potatoes and serve along side.
Warmed it up in my Sun Oven…
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Notes:
I found these meals at Walmart and Randalls (for those of you on the west coast Randalls is a supermarket which is also linked to Safeway so you might find them there too), and I’ve also heard they’re sold at Winco. If you look on Walmart’s website you can search for them by name find a store nearest you where they’re in stock. I’de suggest you do this ahead of going shopping because when I was there they only had 8 of these meals on the shelf and for my family I needed 6 of their 8 for it to feed us all. Also, there are a number of other entrees in the Hormel Compleats line to choose from. This was the one I read about that was most highly rated for taste, but there are a few others I picked up to try out too so I’ll let you know. These would be great to add to a 72 hour kit. Here are some of the other available choices:
- Spaghetti with meat sauce
- Chicken Alfredo
- Chicken and Dumplings (there was a poor review on this one)
- Chicken and Noodles
- Chicken Breast & Dressing
- Chicken Breast & Gravy
- Chicken and Rice
- Grilled Chicken & Pasta
- Spicy Italian Sausage & Pasta
- Cheese Manicotti
- Chili with Beans
- Chili n’ Spuds
- Swedish Meatballs
- Salsbury Steak (got a good review)
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Turkey & Dressing
- Turkey & Hearty Vegetables
- Beef Steak Tips
All of these meals are shelf stable and ready to eat with nothing more than providing a way to heat it. The only downside to this meal is it’s price. Each meal cost $1.98, so to feed my family it was a $12.00 meal which is really quite expensive as far as the everyday meals I make now. I’d imagine if you priced out making it with shelf stable ingredients (freeze dried, etc.) the price difference wouldn’t be as drastic. It’s function of being so so convienent however has a place in my plan, so for that reason I can stomach the expense if it means a few ultra-convenient meals. The taste on this one, by the way, was excellent!
Buying mashed potatoes by the box is the way to go (in my opinion) for pantry meals. Using the entire box, it makes a perfect amount of potatoes to go with this meal for a family of six. The powdered milk is used in making up the potatoes and the powdered butter is just for flavor.
Megan, have you seen the breakfast Compleats? I’ve been testing them when I get $1 off coupons and so far they have been really good. It’s an easy way to have scrambled eggs when there is no power and you don’t want to open a #10 can of FD eggs. BTW, we like to rotate this type of meal on road trips. We get a hotel with a microwave in the room and eat in our room instead of trying to find a restaurant and eat a big meal.
I haven’t seen those — I’ll be on the look out now though. Where have you found them to buy?
That’s such a good idea for rotating! We’ll be travelling a lot this summer, what a perfect opportunity to use them up, save money on restaurants and maybe try some new ones out! Thanks Cheryl!
I found them at HEB.
[…] your family’s 72 hour/ survival kit. Also, I reviewed Hormel’s line of Complete meals over in this post, and some of those are very good tasting and very convenient to include in a kit like this. And […]
[…] While I largely focus on healthy longer term food storage options, to address a temporary short term need (such as a 72 hour kit) these could offer a viable solution. As a mom I have a hard time saying that, due to the artificial ingredients they contain, but as a realist their portability and convenience would be easier to manage than a pantry meal (my preferred “home-cooked” convenience meal) in the event of having to drop everything and go. Another idea that comes to mind as a “ready made” option are the Hormel Compleats meals (as seen in this post). […]
Love the suggestions. I also love that you are testing them out on your family and letting us know how they are. Thank you!!!