GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES INGREDIENTS: Shelf

The overwhelming response to my Bags To Dishes series continues, so I’m bringing you more recipes like Ma’s Chicken and Rice Bake! These shelf stable recipes can ensure you never have to wonder what’s for supper again – and will help prevent huge bills at fast food drive throughs, too.

Today’s meal has one of my family’s favorite ingredients :Yellow Saffron Rice. My husband and kids just love this stuff. It must be a Jordan thing because last year all of the Jordans (Georgia side and Alabama side) got together for a weekend in a big old cabin in the mountains and we all brought different things to cook. When I pulled out the package of yellow rice, my niece and nephew’s eyes got big as dollars and my niece said “OH you brought the GOOD stuff!”. So yeah, this is a regular ingredient in our food rotation.

Ma’s Rice and Veggie Bake is easy to throw together and a meal in one. You can easily customize it, though. Leave the chicken out, leave out the veggies, add more veggies or only the kind you like, and even make your own homemade cheese sauce if you don’t want to reach for the can (But don’t feel bad if you reach for the can because that is what I do!).

When you buy the ingredients, though, make sure you buy enough to make several of these bag meals. When combined with the other bag meal recipes I’ve brought you so far, we are getting close to a whole months worth of back up meals already!

Are y’all hungry? I sure am. Let’s get cooking!

In your bag, you’ll place: Can of chicken, Can of veggies (or dehydrated veggies*), can of cheese soup (or recipe for homemade cheese sauce), small can of evaporated milk, a large package of yellow saffron rice, and a copy of this recipe. Exact measurements are at the bottom of this post.

*I prefer dehydrated veggies because I like their flavor better than canned but I wanted to show at least a recipe or two with canned since I know a lot of y’all may not have a dehydrator. Another ideal is frozen, but this takes this from a completely shelf stable meal to a partially shelf stable meal, which is fine. If you decide to use frozen get a ten ounce bag or so and cook them in a bit of boiling water until heated through, then drain and proceed with recipe as written.

You can also have top this with cheese if you like, just before removing from the oven. You’ll need about a cup or so but that is optional, too.

To season this, you’ll need salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Actually, all of these are optional. Sometimes I add them, sometimes I don’t. Go with your mood on this one. Keep in mind that the Saffron rice is pretty well seasoned as is. If you decide to go rogue and use white rice, you’ll want to amp up the seasonings a good bit according to your taste.

Cook rice according to package directions in a pot large enough to add everything else (no sense in dirtying up a bowl). Once rice is cooked, drain veggies and chicken and toss those in along with evaporated milk, cheese soup, and seasonings.

Stir that up really good.

Place in an 8×8 casserole dish – or whatever you grab first that is oven proof.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Or until bubbly. Top with cheese, if desired, and cook 5 minutes more.

EAT!

Be sure you check out my original Bags to Dishes post to learn more about these meals and how you can adapt your family’s favorite recipes to be shelf stable. Also, take a gander at the other Bags to Dishes recipes I’ve shared!

Ma’s Rice and Veggie Bake ~Bags To Dishes~

Ingredients

10 ounce Package Yellow Saffron Rice the size that makes 5, 1 cup servings
10-12 ounce can of chicken whichever size you have
10 ounce can Cheddar Soup or homemade cheese sauce recipe
4 ounce can evaporated milk
14 ounce can mixed veggies
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar for topping optional

Instructions

To assemble bag meal: Place rice package along cans of chicken, milk, soup, and veggies in a large 2 gallon zipper seal bag along with a copy of this recipe.

To make:

Cook rice according to package directions. Drain chicken and veggies.
Stir all ingredients into warm, cooked rice. Spoon into greased 8×8 casserole dish.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Top with cheese, if desired, and bake another 5 minutes more. Serve warm.

This post was originally posted in 2014 but I updated the photos and post in 2020.

“Pray the hardest when it is hardest to pray.”

~Unknown

Submitted by Martha G. Click here to read more and submit your own.

Yum

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful comments on my Bags to Dishes series! Thanks to all of the wonderful feedback, I’ve shared a series of recipes with you so that you can have all of the recipes I use in my bags to dishes meals. Be sure to read the original post to find out how you can convert your own meals into shelf stable ones in order to have your family’s favorite recipes available with the grab of a bag, like this Taco Soup!

Taco Soup ~Shelf Stable Bags To Dishes~

Today’s recipe is one of my Bags to Dishes recipes. I’ve also shared Ma’s Chicken and Rice Bake, Famous Alabama Camp Stew, Chicken Noodle Casserole, Chicken Enchilada Pie and Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole, so make sure you check those out as well if you are planning on assembling some of your own Bags to Dishes meals this weekend.

Taco Soup (my mom calls it Sante Fe Soup) is one of those incredibly flavorful meals that involves nothing more than opening a few cans and packets, stirring together, and simmering. It has all sorts of wonderful veggies in it, but you can add even more if you like. This soup can also be customized when it comes to serving. I sometimes top mine with cheese or sour cream but we often just leave it as it because it is already so good! If’ I’m really wanting a heartier meal or need to stretch it to feed more, I serve it over rice, which I purchase for less than half the retail price by buying in bulk.

Taco soup ingredients are easy and when you’re ready to make it, this entire meal comes together in less than 15 minutes. I gather up all of the canned goods and then measure out the spices into a bag. You can use spice packets if you prefer (just one packet ranch dressing mix and one packet taco seasoning of your choice along with a little onion powder) but I buy those in bulk at Sam’s to save money.

I alternate between using Dehydrated Ground Beef and black beans but I never hesitate to use black beans in place of beef in a Bags to Dishes recipe, so you go with whatever you want.

Main options/alternatives for beef in this recipe that come to mind right now are:

Dehydrated Ground Beef
Ground Beef from Freezer (label it for this bag meal so you don’t use it for something else)
Canned Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
Canned Chicken, etc

In your bag, you’ll need to assemble : Beef Option (choose one from above), kidney beans, corn, Ro-tel*, tomato sauce, and a seasoning bag of onion powder, ranch dressing mix, and taco seasoning mix. Actual recipe is below. Be sure and print out a copy of the recipe to include in the bag. That’s it!

I usually make anywhere from 2-4 Taco Soup Bag meals at a time.

*Rotel is diced tomatoes with green chilies. If you can’t get it where you live, you can substitute a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes and a 4 ounce can of chopped green chilies. You’ll have a wee bit more tomatoes and chilies in your soup but it will be fine. Another option is to move to where they sell Rotel but I’m guessing that may be out of most people’s budgets and it would be cheaper just to buy the substitution ingredients.

To make this meal, open all cans and dump everything into a pot along with the water. I don’t drain anything with the exception of those times I use black beans. I always drain and rinse black beans before adding them to a recipe because the liquid in the can imparts an overwhelming black bean taste to the dish if you don’t.

Bring this just to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. In about fifteen minutes, you can have supper 🙂

This is one of six Bags to Dishes recipes that I’ve shared with you.

If you make up four of each of those, then you could have 3 days each week for the next month that you don’t have to worry about what’s for supper!

More Bags to Dishes meals coming up so stay tuned! If you’re on Facebook or Pinterest, be sure you post these recipes to your wall for easy finding later.