Inexpensively

Helping you live your life, inexpensively.

No Time to Cook: Emergency Supplies to Avoid the Drive-Thru

at  

Even if you’ve carefully planned the week’s menu, it doesn’t take much for things to fall apart. Meetings run late, extra practices get added to your calendar, kids get sick—and you find yourself running through the drive-thru just to have something you can call dinner.

Most nights, I cook from scratch—anywhere from an easy to crockpot roast & veggies to more involved dishes with a side homemade mashed potatoes or macaroni & cheese. However, I keep my pantry stocked with quick essentials for avoiding the drive-thru and my freezer filled with full cooked meats for (nearly) instant dinners.

Here are a few things you should keep on hand for emergencies:

  • Ground Beef (cook, drain, then freeze): How many casseroles begin with browning a pound of ground beef? With step one out of the way, you can serve dinner in about 20 minutes.

  • Fully Cooked Meats: In addition to ground beef, keep sausage ropes, grilled chicken strips & other ready-to-serve meats in the fridge. They are perfect for a quick one dish skillet dinner.

  • Frozen or Canned Vegetables: Add to casseroles or quickly steam a side dish for your instant meal.

  • Frozen Meals: Even if you aren’t into once a month cooking, a few freezer cooking strategies will have dinner on the table even on the busiest nights. You might also buy family-sized entrees when you find a good grocery deal.

  • Instant Rice, Potatoes or Mac ‘n Cheese: Just add water and your grain is served!

Betty Crocker Instant Mashed Potatoes prize packWe recently had the opportunity to try Betty Crocker’s instant mashed potatoes. The whole family was pleasantly surprised! My daughter even announced that they were better than mine. (Gee, thanks.)

While I personally wouldn’t go that far, it is nice to have a truly instant option in the pantry. They take less than 3 minutes and come in a variety of flavors. Plus, they’re very inexpensive (especially with coupons!)

Giveaway Closed

But, what’s better than inexpensive? Free, of course! You have the chance to start your pantry stock with a prize pack that includes two boxes of Betty Crocker Boxed Instant Mashed Potatoes (one Roasted Garlic and one Homestyle Creamy Butter), a serving bowl, a trivet and a serving spoon. Simply leave a comment here, and let us know how you’re breaking the fast food habit. You can earn additional entries by:

  • Subscribing to our site by email or RSS
  • Following Betty Crocker and Inexpensively on Twitter
  • Writing about this giveaway (blog, forum, public Facebook note)
  • Tweeting about this giveaway: Win a @BettyCrocker prize pack from @Inexpensively! {link}

For your extra entries to be counted, be sure to leave an additional comment directing us to your entry. Only one additional entry per method (i.e. While multiple tweets are appreciated it, only one will count as a drawing entry.) The contest runs until November 16th at 11:59pm est. One winner will be notified by email on November 17th and receive a prize pack. Winner will have 48 hours to complete the claim form or a new winner will be chosen.

I was provided with a free Betty Crocker Instant Mashed Potatoes prize pack by Betty Crocker through My Blog Spark to try for this review, but the opinion is 100% real.

More from Inexpensively

Comments

  5. i try to cook for a couple days and take out meat from the freezer the day before if u have to eat i try to eat at subway and eat a salad.

  13. I keep browned ground beef in the freezer plus chopped onions, green peppers, celery in the freezer and you can make a variety of quick meals with these.

  15. We break the fast food habit by having easy and quick meal items stocked in our pantry and refrigerator.

  20. We pack lunches here. Also, I love to make homemade pizza with the kids. When they can do it themselves, they don’t mind that we didn’t go out for food!

    Thanks for the chance to win!

    alise(dot)d(dot)wright(at)gmail(dot)com