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My mom never measured and she didn't bother with the nutmeg or oregano. It is one of those things you can just throw together. Add more or less of what you like/don't like (or have in the house).
Joe's Special.
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry; or 1/2 pound fresh spinach, rinsed, stems removed, and leaveschopped (about 4 cups)
4 to 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1.Heat oil in a wide frying pan over high heat. Crumble in beef and cook, stirring often, until browned. Drain excess fat.
2.Add onions, garlic and mushrooms; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes.
3.Stir in salt, nutmeg, pepper, oregano and spinach; cook for about 5 more minutes. Add eggs. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, just until eggs are softly set.
When meals needed to be stretched while I was growing up my mother turned to a recipe her sister gave her. All ingredients were usually on hand and it filled us up. Of course my mother had to double this recipe for our family of 6 and I am almost at that point (family of 3) because my teen son can almost eat this by himself now!
Sudie's casserole
1 can Chicken Noodle soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 lg Egg, beaten
6 slices Bread, broken up like for dressing
Corn flakes
Mix all ingredients except corn flakes in a casserole dish. Dot top with butter and cover with corn flakes. Bake 350° for 30 minutes.
Now as an adult I use reduced salt canned soups but if you don't the salt in the soups is PLENTY.
During the Depression, a great many families turned to beans for their protein. They were cheap, easy to grow and nutritious. Rice was also plentiful and my husband recalled eating some variation of rice at almost every meal.
Beans store forever, are about the most reasonable food item available in stores today and can be ground once they are cooked to make soup thicker - thereby turning it into a stew.
No matter what recipe you have in front of you, you can reduce the meat the recipe calls for by cutting the meat into small bits and adding beans.
When you think meat, think big. Turkey is big. Get a whole turkey as often as you can and put your freezer to work. By cooking a whole turkey, you can literally make your own lunch meat from turkey. I cook a turkey every other month and slice or dice the whole bird while it is still warm. Put several slices or the diced parts into ziplock bags or vac seal them and put them in the freezer. It keeps meat on the menu and when combined with beans or rice makes a great soup and stew.
Also take a look at budget 101. The recipe section in particular tells you how to make just about everything from scratch - and that really is the most economical way to do food these days. This is the link: Make Your Own Mixes and Convenience Foods
You all are welcome for the Hillbilly Housewives site!
I belong to a mommy group and they all love it too. I haven't tried the homemade hamburger buns, but I've heard they are wonderful.
A little off subject-but still relates-they just said on the new that gas will go up .30 a gal. in the next month-so I guess we'll all be tightening our belts another notch.
Other than beans, I mean. we've got beans coming out of ears, lol. I've got a family of 5 and am trying to add more frugal recipes (in addition to already shopping frugally) to our rotation. We are willing to try any type of ethnic foods, so please, don't worry about that.
Stir fry is pretty cheap and you can kinda "clean out the fridge".
Mashed potatoes, brats, and sour kraut.
Smoke a brisket, we can get brisket for $1.19/# and lasts a long time, great in stir fry too.
Smoke a boston butt for pulled pork samies, slaw, and baked potatoes.
Top sirloin is a cheap and tender cut of meat. Put on skewers and grill. Along w/some onion and tomato.
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