The bare shelves at Walmart, Target, and Publix told me I'm not the only one who stocked up on canned goods when the stay-at-home order was put in place (in what seems like a lifetime ago). But what do we do with them now? If I'm honest, I'm not really a pro when it comes to cooking with canned goods. But after a little research and discovering that many of them help with digestion, and are a great source of protein, I knew I needed to incorporate them into my diet and not just keep pushing them to the back of the shelf. While I'm only human and have ventured off into ice cream and cookies on more occasions than I would like to admit, I have to say, canned goods are my pantry's best-kept secret. A bonus is that many of them are easy and don't require a lot of time.
If I can make the best of them, anyone can (trust me). Check out a few recipes that use your canned goods for all of their delicious and nutritious potentials.
Moroccan Chickpea Stew:
It's vegetarian, it's packed with flavor (and protein, thanks to the chickpeas), and it's Moroccan. This recipe might be the getaway our taste buds never knew they needed.
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Sweet Potato Chilli:
Break out the sun-dried tomatoes. From Italian sausage and bell peppers to of course sweet potatoes, this recipe is where the real party is.
Vegetarian Black Bean Omelet:
Black beans never tasted so good.
Winter Minestrone:
Our hearts could all use a little warming up, and this minestrone soup does just that.
Sweet Potato-Pecan Pancakes:
Who knew sweet potatoes could be even more delicious? This recipe calls for canned sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, oats, and your appetite.
Golden Sweet Cornbread:
While you're making chili and stews, you might as well grab canned corn and indulge in this amazing cornbread!
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Easy Peach Cobbler:
No quarantine is stopping this groove. Canned peaches are the golden ingredient for this sweet treat.
Copycat Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli:
For those who are craving their favorite Italian joint, this recipe is definitely more than a constellation prize (and it's the perfect excuse to use the canned beans that have been camped out in your pantry).
Easy Vegan Chickpea Nuggets:
Vegans and vegetarians might not ever have a problem finding use for their canned goods, but this recipe certainly switches things up.
Creamed Spinach:
You only need three ingredients for this one: canned spinach, fried onions, and sour cream. And they all come together so perfectly.
Featured image by Shutterstock
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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