Tasty Buffalo Stroganoff

AKA Poor Man's Pantry Meal

Last night, my husband and I decided to try and whip something up from our fridge and pantry out of things we already had instead of bringing home more food. We're trying to keep on a budget, since money is a bit tight, and although we always seem to complain there's nothing to eat, that's silly, and last night we did something about it. This resulted in the creation of what my husband dubbed 'Tasty Buffalo Stroganoff'. Basically we just whipped things together we had on hand, and it actually turned out really great. Figured I'd post up a bit about it so someone who's looking to have something quick and easy can snag the inspiration!

Now I'm pretty sure you could make this with any kind of pasta and any kind of meat, but we just so happened to have a package of bison from the store and a half box of linguine laying around, so that's what we used. This recipe is a little 'loose' so to speak, so I apologize for that in advance, but it should give you the gist, if you're a bit intimidated by the idea of just throwing together ingredients (like I was).

Ingredients:

• Package of Meat of choice (amount is up to how meaty you want yours. ours turned out a bit much)
• About a half box of noodles of choice
• A small can of cream of mushroom soup
• Cheese (We used sharp cheddar, grated.)
• Olive oil
• Milk
• Seasonings (We used garlic salt, pepper, and a cajun blend)

So the directions are pretty simple. Start a pot of salted water boiling for your noodles, and add a bit of olive oil into a deep fry pan to brown your meat. The amount of oil the meat gives off naturally will determine how much. (For instance, chicken would take more than bison. We ended up draining a bit of ours).

Brown your meat, adding the seasonings of your choice, until nearly done, and add some vegetables here if you want, continuing to cook it all together. We didn't have any veggies on hand, so we just skipped on. After your meat is fairly well browned, and hopefully your water is boiling, add your can of mushroom soup and cheese to your meat, again this is mostly to taste. We used the whole can of soup and about a half cup of cheese. And add your noodles to the water.

Continue to cook your sauce (meat mixture), adding a bit of milk occasionally to gain your desired consistency. We used a few splashes, we liked ours a bit thick. Cook your noodles to what you like, and then drain, but don't bother rinsing much. Dump noodles into your meat sauce, and stir and let soak up a bit of flavor. Then dump them on your plate, and voila! Dinner!

For us, the dinner was really good tasting, but it was also a lot of fun because at the beginning of us getting together, we used to cook and 'create' dishes all the time, and it was a really nice bonding experience. To discover that again was a really nice touch, one we both enjoyed. I always love making dinner with my husband, evne though we don't do it nearly often enough.

So I hope this gives someone out there a bit of inspiration, or gives you at least the confidence to be able to through together your own pantry meal!

As always,