Roadrunner Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Beans are easy to make. Soak them overnight. Boil the next day with lots of garlic and spices (dried corriander, paprika) and a couple of dried bay leaves. When it's almost all cooked, pour in saute onions into in and loads (I mean loooooads, be very, very generous) of fresh greens (cilantro, parseley, some basil). Cook for little more after adding greens. It's yammyyyyyy! Also, (my kids favorite) is a rice meal. Saute chopped (very small in squares) carrots, onions and chicken (use any meat you want). When half done, pour into rice and water and cook until rice is done. Salt and pepper of course. You can stretch very little meat this way since rice expands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsingscrapper Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Forgive me if I'm repeating other posts .but we've eaten some of the following meals when things get tight: Pasta with homemade pesto (Italian flat leaf parsley is yummy!) Army man rice (hillbilly housewife has the recipe) made with canned tomatoes (do not drain) Homemade mac & cheese (add cheese to a bechamel sauce) One thing I've done is to take a package of smoked sausages (about $4 for 16) and divided it into 4 bags. Squeeze the air out of two or three and freeze them. Take one bunch and cut them on the diagonal and fry for a bit of color and crispy. Stir into any of the above and enjoy! If you're interested, I have a recipe for a powdered white sauce if anyone's interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) This link has a varied price eating plan for the week. http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm We didn't use everything on it, but used its ideas to create our own. We rotated the following: Spaghetti, Tacos, Chicken, Mac and Cheese, Potatoes w/leftovers for toppings, and Pizza. We used the crockpot a lot over the past two years. Sliced veggies and fruit are good fillers, also. Edited July 13, 2012 by readinmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeritasMama Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I put a whole chicken in the crockpot with onion, carrots, and celery. We eat it with rice and the veggies from the pot. After we eat I use the bones and such to make stock in the crockpot, then I use the stock and leftover meat to make soup. I love chicken tortilla soup, but you could just use whatever is around that isn't too expensive. You could also roast a chicken for the same purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeritasMama Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 If you're interested, I have a recipe for a powdered white sauce if anyone's interested. Yes please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I only scanned, so forgive me of this is a repeat. Stir Fry. Sauté a little meat and vegetables and serve over rice or noodles. Other ideas Spaghetti with salad and parm. cheese tacos with spanish rice white chicken chili with cheese and tortilla chips Shish k bob and rice Seasonal foods, here we grill in the summer, soup in the winter Ditto the pizza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsingscrapper Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Yes please! This white sauce recipe is one I found in a cookbook called "Not Just Beans" by Tawra Kellam. If you don't own it already, it is worth buying!! 1/4 cup powdered milk 2 Tablespoons flour 1 cup very cold water Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons butter or margarine Grab your favorite jar and mix everything but the butter vigorously. Melt the butter in a pan and pour your mixture in. Do not let it boil but stir constantly so it thickens. If you double this, only use 1 3/4 cups water. Whole powdered milk tastes better but nonfat will do. Add cheese to your liking for mac & cheese. Cheese powder works nicely if you can find it. I use half as much cheese powder as milk. Making this in a blender has been the best way for me to avoid clumping. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 This cannellini bean dip is good. You can serve with pita chips or baguettes. Can you find cannellini beans? I believe they are basically a white kidney bean. Navy beans would probably even work. This recipe is the best!!! I just made some yesterday with a can of garbanzo beans I found at the salvage grocery for 40 cents, and it was wonderful. I use either cannellini or garbanzo beans for this recipe, but have not tried navy beans yet. My Walmart frequently has the pita bread on the mark-down rack for 74 cents, and I usually buy several at this price. Oh, and those pita chips that go with the dip are divine just out of the oven! I cook a platter of oven-roasted vegetables about once a week, and serve with a pot of rice and some kind of fruit salad. If chicken thighs are on sale, I stew these in my slow-cooker and serve with all of this. If I buy a rotisserie chicken from the deli, we use as much as possible. I boil the bits left from the bones and use the stock and meat bits as the base for a bean soup. Lentil burgers are yummy, and you can throw in most anything to season that you like. I have made mackerel patties in the past when it was cheap, but salmon is almost the same price now. I found salmon for $2 a can on sale and bought six cans. I can usually get about 5 or 6 patties from one can, after adding in all the extras. We were given a case of tomatoes and two gallons of figs last week, so I canned them and made salsa with half of the tomatoes and yummy fig preserves with the figs. The rest of the tomatoes will be frozen to use this fall and winter. If you have access to any cheap produce, home-canning is a great way to preserve for the fall and winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeritasMama Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 This white sauce recipe is one I found in a cookbook called "Not Just Beans" by Tawra Kellam. If you don't own it already, it is worth buying!! 1/4 cup powdered milk 2 Tablespoons flour 1 cup very cold water Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons butter or margarine Grab your favorite jar and mix everything but the butter vigorously. Melt the butter in a pan and pour your mixture in. Do not let it boil but stir constantly so it thickens. If you double this, only use 1 3/4 cups water. Whole powdered milk tastes better but nonfat will do. Add cheese to your liking for mac & cheese. Cheese powder works nicely if you can find it. I use half as much cheese powder as milk. Making this in a blender has been the best way for me to avoid clumping. Hope this helps! This looks great, the cookbook is on my Amazon list. Thanks! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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