Frugal recipes (lentil, cake recipe, sugar, cinnamon)

[deerislesmile]

Though I guess it should be a side, rather than a main, dish, this always goes over very well- (sorry for the loose recipe, I don't have it written down!)

(leftover) ham steak, finely cubed
small can pineapple (crushed is best, but I have used chunks, too)
basmati rice (I plan extra for this dish, so I assume it's already cooked)
brown sugar
clove, nutmeg,

Brown ham in large skillet, add in 1/2 cup (depending on your taste) of brown sugar, dash ground clove, dash nutmeg, chopped onion if you like it.

Add canned pineapple (no need to drain), rice and heat through.


It's easy, cheap, and everyone loves it.

[Dancingearth]

Cabbage and noddles - my kids loved this. Cook egg noodles and drain. Slice cabbage thin (I use the Cuisinart) and saute in olive oil, butter, and garlic until tender. Add the egg noodles, heat until the noodles are warm. Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. I always made it with pork chops but you could stretch the meat by slicing it thin and cooking it before putting in the cabbage.

My favorite is stir fry. I cook rice ahead of time and keep bags of it in the freezer so when I get home from work I can do a quick stir fry. I stir fry whatever veggies I have with a small amt of chopped meat, fresh ginger, garlic, the rice, and depending on my mood add fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro, soy sauce, hot peppers or Srirachi sauce.

[fierce_flawless]

Fideo and ground beef:

Fideo is basically thin noodles, like angel hair, either in little short pieces or curly "nests". see the wiki: Fideo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyway the way we make it here:

Brown the Fideo in a little oil.

Cook hamburger in skillet with garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin (comino), and diced onion if you like..drain. I like to rinse the ground beef also in hot water because I don't like greasy meat... but if you do this make sure to "put back" some spices or wait until after you've rinsed it to add seasonings.

Add to the browned Fideo, then add a can of Ro-tel (Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies in a can) and a can of corn (don't need to drain it) until the beef and fideo noodles are covered by liquid. If not, add some water, just enough to make sure the fideo is covered.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until noodles are tender and at this point most of the liquid should be absorbed. No need to cover.

If your budget allows, toss in some grated cheddar just before serving. It's great without it though.

Makes a lot, fills everyone up quite well. It's been described as the ultimate Tex-mex comfort food, and I agree with this assessment.

[fierce_flawless]

This one sounds kind of odd but the kids loved it...

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 bag tater tots
1 bag frozen green beans
1 lb of ground hamburger meat


Brown hamburger meat, drain. In a bowl (or if the skillet is large, in the skillet) add frozen beans to the meat. Add cream of mushroom soup and stir together meat/beans/soup thoroughly.

Place mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Lay tater tots neatly on top.

Place in oven on 350' and let the tater tots brown.

[kelly237]

Originally Posted by NCN

Chicken and dumplings: Stew a chicken using a stalk of celery, an onion and a carrot, salt and pepper. Just put the whole chicken in and cook these together. You should have enough water to cover the chicken. I then take the chicken out and keep the other things in the liquid and make a dumpling mixture of 2 cups self rising flour, 1 cup milk, and 1/4 cup mayonnaise. Stir the flour, milk and mayonnaise together. Bring the liquid to a boil and drop the dumpling mixture into the pot by tablespoons or teaspoons making about 10. Cook for ten minutes with the top off and then put the top on the stew pot and cook another 10 minutes. Take the chicken off the bones and serve the dumplings and the chicken together. Yum! Yum!

Or use Anne's frozen dumplings and drop then in one at a time still frozen.
Go slow enough that the pot continues to boil as you add dumplings.
These are really good!!!! ( like my mom's homemade)

[nomoresnow]

I make a stir fry, using whatever veggies we have in house, then throw in some cooked fettucini or linguine with some soy sauce to taste. Presto! Lo Mein! Yum. Oh, if you have some leftover meat like roast pork or pork chops or ham or beef, throw that in w/the stir fry.

If you have leftover beef or meatballs (not in tomato sauce), take one can each of mushroom soup and onion soup w/about 1 can water, stir together and heat till the soups blend. Then throw in beef strips or meatballs till heated through. Serve over noodles. Another big yum. Voila! Beef Stroganoff or Swedish meatballs.

Everybody's given some great recipes. I do the cabbage and noodle thing too. We call them Garlic Noodles.

[blue_eyedgirl]

My el cheapo before payday meal is cut up smoked sausage and bbq baked beans cooked together. Add some seasoning and serve with garlic bread. Very yummy and feeds several people.

[windchime]

I like to divide up meat to make several meals from one larger package and stock up/ freeze sale meats. When buying larger quanities I always cook and preseason some of it and wrap it in individual packages for easy, quick meals in the skillet or crockpot. Bulking up ground meats with breadcrumbs, minced celery, shredded carrot and onion along with spices for meatloaves, meatballs, salisbury steaks and even burgers helps stretch the meat out for more meals. Also, use less meat by cooking stir fries, casseroles, crockpot dishes. Try things like chilis, stews and meat/sauce mixtures that can go over rice/pastas or with various types of breads. To make meals more filling and healthy, serve plenty of sides such as potato, pasta or bean salad. Cole slaw is plentiful and affordable. Frozen or canned vegetables are a good standby. If low cal is an aim think pickles and carrot/celery sticks. I also have a fantastic roasted root vegetable recipe that is filling and yummy(I use just sweet potatoes and carrots).

[Racelady88]

Roast turkey. I kid you not, per pound turkey is the most affordable thing out there. After the first meal if there is enough meat left I make turkey a la king. After that I use the carcass to make soup. Both are easy & cheap. I will share my recipes if you like.

[useful]

Snack when entertaining:

3/4 cup Canola Oil
1/2 pkg Ranch Dressing
1 tbsp Crush Red Peppers
2 pkgs Saltine Crackers

Place all ingredients in plastic ziplock and shake until dry

Arrange on a platter.