Lolling for budget meal ideas like our parents made

[ORDisneyfans]

Love the Betty Crocker coloring picture story. My MIL always traced her kids hands in the cookbooks (little feet too!). My Dh has done that with my girls too. It is so cute to open the book and see those little prints. They liked to pick there favorite recipe page!

As for a budget meal. I make lots of things like a roast one night in the crockpot, which then becomes shredded beef for burritos or enchiladas, sliced beef for sandwiches and beef for chili. My DH laughs and says ok what are we having with the leftover ________tonight!

Last night I used the last of the New Years ham for Pineapple Fried Rice.

Stir fry up chopped onions, cubed ham, chopped bell peppers (I use what I have on hand), carrots if you like etc. Add one can of drained pineapple chunks or tidbits, 6 cups of cooked white or brown rice, couple TBS of soy sauce, ground ginger, five spice, garlic etc to your taste. The last couple minutes I add about a cup of frozen peas. You can also add an egg or two stir fried off to the side. (I hate eggs so not me! LOL!) This is very filling, serves a crowd and everyone always has seconds.

The other meals I made with the ham: Ham and bean soup, ham and broccolli braid (pampered chef recipe), Malibu Chicken , ham sandwiches and the original ham dinner. Roughly 6 meals plus lunches from one ham!

Sorry for any typos, my fingers aren't working as fast as my brain tonight!

 

[TiffanyK]

Love the Betty Crocker coloring picture story. My MIL always traced her kids hands in the cookbooks (little feet too!). My Dh has done that with my girls too. It is so cute to open the book and see those little prints. They liked to pick there favorite recipe page!

As for a budget meal. I make lots of things like a roast one night in the crockpot, which then becomes shredded beef for burritos or enchiladas, sliced beef for sandwiches and beef for chili. My DH laughs and says ok what are we having with the leftover ________tonight!

Last night I used the last of the New Years ham for Pineapple Fried Rice.

Stir fry up chopped onions, cubed ham, chopped bell peppers (I use what I have on hand), carrots if you like etc. Add one can of drained pineapple chunks or tidbits, 6 cups of cooked white or brown rice, couple TBS of soy sauce, ground ginger, five spice, garlic etc to your taste. The last couple minutes I add about a cup of frozen peas. You can also add an egg or two stir fried off to the side. (I hate eggs so not me! LOL!) This is very filling, serves a crowd and everyone always has seconds.

The other meals I made with the ham: Ham and bean soup, ham and broccolli braid (pampered chef recipe), Malibu Chicken , ham sandwiches and the original ham dinner. Roughly 6 meals plus lunches from one ham!

Sorry for any typos, my fingers aren't working as fast as my brain tonight!

I love the idea of pineapple fried rice! I'm going to try that. Thanks for the idea!

And what a sweet story about the coloring pages in the cookbook. And the handprint outlines in the books. Great ideas for memories.

 

[JCMHutch]

This was something my great grandmother, grandmother and mother made when we were growing up and it is still a favorite of mine (and now DH's).

Tuna noodle:
1 can white tuna (in water)
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
1 small can of sweet peas
1 bag large egg noodles
Breadcrumbs

Cook noodles and drain. Break up tuna and mix with noodles, peas, and soup mix. Pour into baking dish and cover lightly breadcrumbs. Bake at 375 until bubbly around the edges.

 

[mtblujeans]

This was something my great grandmother, grandmother and mother made when we were growing up and it is still a favorite of mine (and now DH's).

Tuna noodle:
1 can white tuna (in water)
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
1 small can of sweet peas
1 bag large egg noodles
Breadcrumbs

Cook noodles and drain. Break up tuna and mix with noodles, peas, and soup mix. Pour into baking dish and cover lightly breadcrumbs. Bake at 375 until bubbly around the edges.

We grew up on this too and it's DH's favorite meal still!

 

[tkitty]

We really ate on a budget when I was young, and sometimes I just have to make this simple 3 ingredient meal:
1 large can of corned beef hash- browned in skillet
1 box Kraft macaronand cheese- cooked per instructions
1 can of french cut green beans- heated
(Serve with an ice cold glass of milk of coarse!)
Still a family favorite! (Cheap and easy!)

 

[tkitty]

This was something my great grandmother, grandmother and mother made when we were growing up and it is still a favorite of mine (and now DH's).

Tuna noodle:
1 can white tuna (in water)
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
1 small can of sweet peas
1 bag large egg noodles
Breadcrumbs

Cook noodles and drain. Break up tuna and mix with noodles, peas, and soup mix. Pour into baking dish and cover lightly breadcrumbs. Bake at 375 until bubbly around the edges.

Not a big fan of tuna, but I never minded this much but I wonder if the can of white chicken would work too?

 

[Hootiss]

http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ and the associated cookbooks have good recipes for bread that take very little time on a given day.

Thanks so much for this website, I it!

 

[ORDisneyfans]

Love the artisan bread in 5 minutes a day! I make the buttermilk raisin bread oftenand the original dough is great for pizza crust or breadsticks too!

On their website is a recipe for pizza on a stick that is fun and easy. Basically use pizza crust rolled out in a rectangle, cover with a little pizza sauce, pepperoni slices and mozzarella cheese. Roll up and slice cinnamon roll syle, bake on parchment paper covered pan. (I forgo the stick!) My kids love these! Even good the next day in lunch boxes. I will try to post a link if I can.

 

[mtblujeans]

Not a big fan of tuna, but I never minded this much but I wonder if the can of white chicken would work too?

I would think so. You could try varying it by using cream of chicken soup and see if you like it.

 

[phamy76]

We're living from the freezer this week (as much as possible).

This evening I made a pot of potato corn chowder. YUM!

Corn kernels frozen (from this past summer)
5 potatoes (left over from NY's Day).
2 random chicken breasts from the freezer
partial bag of shredded cheddar cheese blend.


It was very easy.

Saute chicken until fully done. Add in onions, celery or carrots and saute.
Milk, water and chicken stock in pot and bring to boil.
Chop up fully cooked chicken and add sauteed veggies. Small dice raw potatoes and put in pot. Add in frozen corn kernels. Cook until potatoes are done. Add in shredded cheese until melted and then thicken w/ roux.
Season as needed (bay leaf, salt, pepper, pepper sauce).

Sometimes I toss in a little crumbled bacon, if I have it.

YUMMY and so cheap!

 

[runwad]

My mom always made fried potatoes and pork'n beans, or fried potatoes and eggs. Fry sliced potatoes in olive oil and garlic when they're cooked either beat a couple eggs and toss in at the end and kind of scramble them up in the potatoes. Or if you don't like eggs; like me, throw in a can of pork n beans and let them heat up in the potatoes. Fast and easy and can be done in a pinch when you forget to take something out of the freezer.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Last night we had Cubed Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Greenbeans.

To make the cubed steak, I coat it with flour, then brown it in a skillet with a little oil. Then I put it in a oven safe dish and mix up a packet of brown gravy mix. You need enough gravy to cover the meat. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

This is in my oven right now. Hope it turns out good!

 

[ah1126]

This is in my oven right now. Hope it turns out good!

How was it?

One of my favorite go to meals is Homemade Chicken Nuggets.

Cut up chicken breasts and toss in breadcrumbs. (I like to season my breadcrumbs and add parm cheese). Spread out on a cookie sheet. I melt margarine or butter and drizzle over them. Then bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning half way.

We have mac and cheese and a veggie with these most of the time.

 

[dyna]

HMMMM maybe I older than most here....As a kid momma made nothing from a box except the pasta it's self. We ate lots of fried chicken, round steak, meatloaf, chili, bean soup with ham an cornbread, Sunday dinner was ham or chicken an dumplings.

Veggies came from the garden was either canned or frozen for winter eggs from chickens my aunt or a neighbor grew milk from my aunts cow....cream too. Even our ketchep was homemade, pickles too.

I don't remember momma ever getting out a Betty Crocker or Better Homes an Gardens cookbook she did not own a cookbook..NEVER used a recipe for supper. Everything was from scratch. Momma even worked full time us kids cooked supper during the week from about the time we was 8 or 10 yrs old. It was my 2 brothers job till they was old enough to drive an have jobs after school then it became my job. Momma layed out the meat before leaving for work we cooked what she had out.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Disneydreamersx4, I love the sound of the pasta and peas recipe! It kind of reminds me of one that Clara from Depression Era Cooking made. She has a bunch of youtube videos of her making recipes that got her family through the Depression.

I have a list of low-cost meals on my blog. There are lots of other low-cost meals on my blog that aren't on this list. I should do an update since that list is a 1 1/2 years old.

I am a big fan of Tiffany's blog! She has some good recipes on there, and they are easy to follow plus they usually include ingredients you have on hand in the kitchen.

We bought an extra large turkey for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and froze leftover meat in 2 cup portions. I've been using that meat for a variety of recipes such as chicken rice casserole, chicken noodle casserole, enchiladas, chicken and dumplings, chicken salad, chicken pot pie, etc. It's been a nice money saver for us to have those frozen turkey packets in our freezer.

 

[shortbun]

Last night we had Cubed Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Greenbeans.

To make the cubed steak, I coat it with flour, then brown it in a skillet with a little oil. Then I put it in a oven safe dish and mix up a packet of brown gravy mix. You need enough gravy to cover the meat. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Wow!! I had no idea you could still buy cubed steak anywhere. Kinda makes me hungry.

OP, why not make a mealloaf and mashed potatoes with a steamed veggie. Meatloaf is easy, you can google recipes. Mashed taters just need to be rough peeled, boiled until you can easily break them apart with a fork-about 25 minutes-and mashed with a little milk and butter. the amount of milk and butter will vary with the number of potatoes. Light eaters would take a medium to large potato per person. Around here, I use two large potatoes per person because 15yo boys can burn it up and I like to make leftovers.
Steaming a vegetable is as easy as putting water in the bottom of a pan, breaking the veggie into pieces-fairly large for broccoli/cauliflower/carrots and cooking for 8 mins or less after the water boils and you turn it down to a simmer. Test the veggies with a fork or watch for color. Broccoli turns a brighter green when it's done-then it gets army green when it's overcooked.
Good luck! Another idea is spaghetti and meatballs. Although most purists would say frozen meatballs are not great-I disagree. I thaw them in sauce in the microwave, cook the pasta al-dente and pour the mix over the drained pasta-salad in a bag-voila!

 

[powellrj]

Because you mentioned microwave cooking, I'm going to bet I am the same age as your mom because microwaves became mainstream about 5 years after I got married. My mom was a pretty bad cook, but she thinks she is really good, but we lived on casseroles.

I am not a casserole person so we mostly live on scratch cooked meals. I am a fan of once a week cooking. I will make a couple of things like roasts and chicken on sunday and then rework them all week. I also make lots of soups and stews.

I didn't really know how to cook when I got married, but PBS had cooking shows on between noon and two so when the kids would be down for a nap, I would watch the shows and learned how to cook!

Chili on one day becomes chili mac another. Pot roast on one day becomes beef and noodles another. Roast chicken on one day becomes chicken tacos another. Ham one day becomes ham and beans another. My family won't eat leftovers, but they will eat meals reworked! I also use restaurant menus to get new ideas for home meals. I will try to recreate meal we have out and those are usually a big success. The only thing I don't recreate well is fried chicken. I have never gotten broasted or fried chicken to come out as good as you get in a resturant.

I have found that many times convenience foods can be cheaper than fresh. I can't roast a large chicken like the $4.95 you get at Sams Club or Costco so I will buy those. I also can't buy many fresh vegetables this time of year for what I can get frozen ones for. I also like to keep a jar of soup base to add flavor to soups and stews.

 

[ah1126]

Are there any meals that you have in mind that we could help you out with?

 

[GraysMom]

My mom is a home ec teacher (although she was a SAHM while I was growing up) so all our food was from scratch. One of the things she made was Mashed Potato Meat Pie.

Press hamburger into a sturdy pie pan (I use Pyrex, foil won't be able to hold the weight of the completed dish). The hamburger will shrink a lot, even the extra lean variety that I grind myself, so really spread it to the edges. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder then bake until the hamburger "crust" is thoroughly cooked. Top the cooked crust with homemade mashed potatoes and then pile on the shredded extra sharp cheese (but be careful as this will run off the edges and onto the bottom of your oven if you don't put foil under the pan). I like to kind of make a lip around the edge with the potatoes so that the cheese stays in the middle. Put the pie under the broiler until the cheese melts and gets a little brown. Slice and enjoy

 

[mtblujeans]

When I cook pasta for spaghetti, I add a teaspoon of olive oil to the boiling water. It keeps the noodles from sticking together so much when I drain them and I don't have to rinse them. I also sprinkle some parsley flakes over the pasta and toss it after it drains. It makes the pasta pretty and a tad bit healthier.