Back to basics cooking

[havanaholly]

I've been doing pasta like that for mini years! We eat casserole-type things year 'round since it's just the two of us. I;m making smothered pork chops tonight (dredge the chops in a little flour with salt & pepper & brown them in the skillet with cooking spray, remove them & layer sliced potatoes & onions, replace the chops, add water to cover the layer of potatoes and put in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35-45 minutes). I also have some chicken thighs in the freezer, I might make pilau (pronounced "perlew" around here) tomorrow.

[heidiiiii]

In winter we usually make soups and stews, chilli, clam chowders, and a receipe my mom always made when we were short on $$$$$.

Cook as much macaroni as you want for the amount of people you are feeding. Then drain. Cook together ground beef, chopped onions until brown. Then add a can or two of canned tomatoes including the liquid......add spices of your choice. I use salt, pepper, chili powder, etc. Then add your drained macaroni...... It's inexpensive (CHEAP!) and very filling. There are no particular measurements.. When I cook it for Doug and myself, I use three cups of macaroni, a pound and a half of the ground beef, an onion, and two cans of the tomatoes. This feeds us for a big meal, then we warm it up the next day. It's really good the next day too.

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Oooo! (got the chills) American Chop Suey!

My Mom made that and I loooovvvveeed it.

I havent made that in quite awhile. I think I know what I am making for dinner tonite. Thank you Gina for bringing that memory back.

[heidiiiii]

Macaroni...Check!

Vidalia onion..Check!

Hamburger defrosting...Check!

Canned tomatoes...Check!

Mmmm! Thanks again my dear. I did not know what I was going to make for dinner tonite.

[c4cache]

My grandma always had a theory: if she couldn't grow it or raise it, she didn't eat it. She was a wise woman! Being the Mom of six kids, I can tell ya that going back to basics pays off! My husband makes about $60k a year, I go grocery shopping once a month, I never spend over $300.00 per trip. We don't eat pre-packaged meals, no easy fix it's around here. It can be a pain, but in the long run it saves us soooo much money! I also make all of our bread in a bread machine. (Kids won't eat store bought anymore lol) We don't starve by any means; in fact, my kids tell me that I feed them too much most of the time lol. But it's good old, down home food that would have made my dear grandma proud! I have an excellent recipie for home made chicken noodle soup that will knock your socks off. Home made noodles and everything! (In fact, my kids won't eat canned now that they've had it). My GG-grandma's recipie; if anyone is interested, drop me a line. I'd be glad to give it to ya!

[what2craftnow]

Well, I have no real great $$ saving tips here, but I will sing the praises of Sam's Club (if you have one nearby, or anywhere you can get a 5-8 lb. pkg. of any meat) - I just bring them home and use zip-lock bags - express as much air from the bag as you can and freeze them. I have done this with ribs, chops, ground meat, etc. and they keep for 3-4 months. I buy 7-8 lb. pkgs. of gr. chuck and then seperate into at least 5-6 pkgs. for later. It may cost me $20-$25 to buy initially, but I'll get 5-6 meals out of it...works for me. I do the same with large pkgs. of pork chops, or at Sam's, they have baby back ribs in lg. pkgs. - I just split them into 2 meal sizes and freeze for later use. Having an extra freezer is a benefit for us...I used to hate the space it took up in our side room, but with the way things are now...kinda glad I have it. At least I don't have to shop for the expensive stuff weekly .

One thing I would say to save $$: Make more dinners with pasta...it's a great filler and you can incorporate just about anything with it - veggies, meat, etc. Really stretches the dollar.

Another thing I have been doing here: Learn to love left-overs. I hate to think of how much I have thrown away over the years...my Mom always used to take yesterday's roast and make Shepherd's Pie or the roast diced up with leftover gravy and served over noodles with a few rolls. We were always happy and well fed. And in a real pinch, she always could make pancakes from a bit of Bisquick, milk and eggs. With all the bad times we went through, it's funny, but I never remember it being "bad" - and to this day, some of those "in a pinch meals" are still my all time favorites. Sometimes it's not about what's "on the table", but how we are at the table -just family.

[heidiiiii]

Breakfast for dinner is one of our favorite meals.

[busyone]

I am enjoying this topic very much. I have just pulled my bread machine out, stocking up on supplies and getting ready to make the bread myself!!! Thanks for all the helpful tips.

[heidiiiii]

Hamburger recipes I have..

I need some new chicken recipes. Boneless chicken breasts, breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings..The whole cluck.

I made Spaghetti pizza last night. You take your leftover spaghetti, make a simple pizza sauce (crushed tomato, paste, seasoning), and pillsbury pizza dough. I could make my own dough but they sell it cheaply at Walmart (i was not in the mood..still achy).

Roll out dough, sauce, cheese, spaghetti, sauce, cheese.

Bake at 350 deg for 10-15 mins.

[Anna]

Hamburger recipes I have..

I need some new chicken recipes. Boneless chicken breasts, breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings..The whole cluck.

I made Spaghetti pizza last night. You take your leftover spaghetti, make a simple pizza sauce (crushed tomato, paste, seasoning), and pillsbury pizza dough. I could make my own dough but they sell it cheaply at Walmart (i was not in the mood..still achy).

Roll out dough, sauce, cheese, spaghetti, sauce, cheese.

Bake at 350 deg for 10-15 mins.

Chicken... We aren't that much of red meat people (anymore LOL in hubby's case) but we often have some kind of chicken dish so here is a sage-"fried" chicken brest on a pasta bed:

4 chicken brests

1tsp salt (or less)

1 tsp dried crushed sage

1/4 or so of crushed black pepper

1 dl creme fraiche/sour cream (slightly less than half a US cup I think)

flat spahetti (we call it tagliatelle) the verde/green kind is perfect

2 dl grated cheese with a good flavour (appr slightly less than a US cup I think)

Mix the spices (salt, pepper, sage ) rub some of it on the chicken breasts and put them in a oven safe dish and "bake" in the oven appr 25 minutes in 225 degrees Celsius (according to the conversion cahrt 437F????) and meanwhile prepare the spaghetti verde accoridng to insturctions and when "done" mix it with the sour creme and the rest of the spices and half of the grated cheese. Take out the chicken breasts when they are doen and put the pasta in the bottom and then the chicken breasts on top of that and top it all of with the rest of the grated cheese spinkled on top, put the whole thing back in the oven for a little while so that it gets a nice surface (not more than 5 minutes or so) and it is ready to serve with a nice sallad.

Hugs

[heidiiiii]

I just got back from the grocery store and it is depressing..again.

I kind of liked going grocery shopping. Now I do not like it one bit. Another $80 tab..5 bags of groceries. FIVE BAGS!

The fridge does not stay as packed as it used to by the end of the week. There are staples that I just have to have that are getting more and more expensive.

*at least oil and gas are cheaper*

It gets kind of depressing when you go to buy food and your dollar does not go as far as it used to. I did not even buy cereal this week. Fred will have to be happy with old fashioned oatmeal.

Sorry for the gripe. I just hate it. And there is nothing we can do about it. You need food to eat. The only *processed* type food that I bought was a box of Ritz crackers (on sale). Everything else was staples.

I will not raise the amount of money that I have alloted for food just yet...time will tell.

[PATBIDLACK]

One chicken meal my children always loved was chicken and dumplings. I boiled whatever chicken pieces I wanted to use.

It could be breasts, thighs, legs or whatever. when chicken was cooked remove pieces from liquid and place in fridge to cool. (so you can remove bones) add vegetables (tons of fresh vegetables stretch the meal healthily) and potatoes to liquid, bring to a boil again.

When vegetables are cooked add chicken that has been separated from the bones and thicken the liquid mixture slightly.

Now get out you trusty bisquick and mix up your dumplings. This makes a scrumptious meal and if there are any leftovers (LOL) you can serve them for lunch the next day.

[havanaholly]

If you buy whole fryer/ broilers and joint them yourself it's actually a lot cheaper. Some of our local stores will sell 10-pound bags of chicken legquarters really cheap! Did I post my petit marmite recipe?

Bring 1 liter of water to boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid; when the water reaches a rolling boil, immerse your whole, washed chicken, turn off the heat and put on the lid and leave it until the pot feels cool to the touch/ overnight.

When you remove the lid there may be a lovely layer of hardened chicken fat on top; contrary to the folks who like to cook with schmaltz, this stuff will clog your arteries just as effectively as lard, and I discard it. I also peel off all the skin and discard it; I save the wing tips & backs & bones to cook down further for soups.

Pick the rest of the meat from the carcase and place into a casserole pan with a chopped head of cabbage, a couple of onions (I brown mine first, the flavor is incredible!), carrots & celery. If you must have them you can chop up a few red-skinned potatoes, too. Season with a little salt & pepper, add some of the broth, cover & bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

You can also process some of the picked chicken with olives & celery and mix it with low-fat/ fat-free mayo for some chicken salad to spread on sliced homemade bread for sandwiches.

You can wrap your whole chicken or pieces in foil after seasoning them with whatever you like (Greek Seasoning & Mrs Dash works nicely) and put them on a baking sheet and put them into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour while you fix whatever side dishes you like; they are also good this way with barbecue sauce.

Last but not least, brown your skinless chicken parts in a cookingsprayed pan, add however much rice your family eats (1/4 cup uncooked per person, if you're big rice-eaters) and a litle salt, all the veggies you want, twice the amount of water as rice, give it a stir and cover tightly with a lid, turn down the heat to simmer, and cook until the rice absorbs all the water (less tems than you think it will!); you can add small amounts of water until the rice reaches the desired tenderness, but don't cook it to pulp!). This is pilau (promounced "per-loo" where I live).

[heidiiiii]

Going to make chicken and dumplings for dinner tonite.. Mmmm!

We had American chop suey last week and it made me happy. I havent had it in so long. Thanks Gina!

Stuffed cabbage and Stuffed peppers are a nice dinner also. You add rice to whatever meat you are putting in it..(ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, etc).

[havanaholly]

We found some of the ingredients I hadn't been able to find to make my Indian firend's pulau recipe when we were in Atlanta, so that's what I cooked last night. It's basically basmati rice (of course) with curry spices and cashews and veggies.

I have some more turkey Italian sausage begging to be made into some sort of pasta dish tonight, in honor of the cold front.

[busyone]

You folks have given me some great ideas!! Thanks!!!