I grew up poor so I guess that's why it doesn't bother me now. Actually people shock me how wasteful they are. Many weeks we've only had like $30 to feed four people to eat for a week. Everyone always thinks we eat Ramen Noodles all the time. They are a part of our diet but not that often. Here's a list of thrifty meals we eat. These are things you can always find on sale or even at your local Dollar Tree.
Chicken Rice a Roni with Smoked Sausage
Sounds gross together but it's not I promise. Just use half the package that has either one link wrapped around or two links in it. Dice the smoke sausage and brown it in the butter the Rice a Roni calls for. Then when almost done add the rice and brown it like called for on the package. Then cook just like stated on package. Diced chicken and pork also work great this way.
Mac and Cheese with Hot Dogs
This is my step daughters' favorite. Just dice 3 or 4 hot dogs. Then when you add the pasta to the boiling water add the hot dogs also. Then finish cooking like stated on package.
Stew Meat over Rice
I say stew meat but any diced meat will work or even leftover roast. Just put the stew meat on to boil with two cups of water, 2 beef bouillon cubes, and salt and pepper. Boil until meat is done and tender and almost falling apart. Also let the water boil down until there's only about 1 cup left. This will strengthen the flavor. In the last 10 minutes I add mushrooms to mine also. Then serve this over rice in a bowl with some of the broth in it. I discovered this when I first got married and my husband was an avid deer hunter. This is great with canned deer meat.
Cream of Chicken Noodle Soup with Grilled Cheese or Cheese Toast
I thank boarding school for this one. Take one can of cream of chicken and add one can of milk and one can of water. Mix till there are no lumps. Then add one can of chicken noodle. I state this because you will kill the noodles if you try to mix after adding the chicken noodle soup.
As for the toast everyone says I'm a master at it. Not really I just worked in the kitchen at boarding school, in college, and in restaurants. The secret to not getting it so greasy is to not butter the bread. Add the butter to the griddle or frying pan then place the bread in the pan. Add one slice of cheese per piece of bread. Then when browned to liking flip one side onto the other, squish together and wala!
Spaghetti
My mother says she will never eat jarred spaghetti sauce and can tell when people use the fake stuff. She's an idiot! She loves mine and I fake it the whole way. I prefer Hunt's canned sauce. You can find it at the Dollar Tree. Just add a little extra italian seasoning and no one will know you faked it. You can add meatballs (also can be found at Dollar Tree), ground beef, diced smoke sausage. All work great. Then serve over your favorite pasta.
Baked Spaghetti
I'm originally from Atlanta and loved this restaurant called Fazolli's. OMG! Their baked spaghetti was awesome. Alas there isn't a Fazolli's anywhere near hear but her's how to make baked spaghetti. Once you know you may never go back to regular spaghetti. Just cook your sauce and pasta. Then in a casserole dish put a little sauce in the bottom (stops pasta from sticking). Then alternate layers of pasta and spaghetti noodles. Top it all with a ton of mozzarella cheese and cook until cheese is melted and starts to brown.
Use ziti noodles and you have baked ziti. Add pepperoni slices to the layers and you have pizza pasta.
Veggie Night
This always includes stewed tomatoes and pasta. Just cook elbow pasta and add a can of stewed tomatoes that you crushed up by hand. Then we have three other veggies; usually a bean and whatever canned food we can find in the cabinet with cornbread.
Cornbread
This is added for the northern people (stated with love). This is Southern Cornbread and sugar gets nowhere near this cornbread.
You will need:
1 large egg
2 cups self rising cornmeal
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of milk or buttermilk
1/4 cup Crisco (shortening) or bacon grease
Heat the oven to 450 in a iron skillet or 8x8 baking dish place the crisco or bacon grease in the pan and place it in the oven while it warms.
In a bowl mix the egg, cornmeal, and milk and mix. Then (with potholder) remove the skillet from the oven and swirl the now melted grease around the pan, making sure to coat the entire bottom and side. Then pour the rest of the grease into your batter and mix. Pour all the batter into the skillet and bake.
This could take 20 to 30 minutes. When golden brown and pulling from the sides it's done. Just place a plate on top and flip it over. If you greased the pan well it should fall right out.
Treet Meat and pasta
You will notice pasta and rice are common themes for me. This is because they are cheap cheap cheap.
This is extra easy!. Dice the treet meat (or Spam) and brown it in a little oil. In another pot cook your elbow pasta and drain. In a bowl mix the pasta with a little butter and add some salt, pepper, and all purpose seasoning. Then mix in the meat. My husband adds a little milk to him. A little mozzarella on this is nice also.
Trailer Park Pizza
Works on any thick bread. We use Hot Dog buns broken in half. Apply a little jarred pizza sauce to the bread then top with anything you like. We go crazy digging in the fridge for leftovers to add. Then top it all with whatever shredded cheese you have. Then put in the oven until cheese is melted.
Nachos
This is the lunch the night after we have homemade tacos. just lay the corn chips on a plate, add leftover taco meat, leftover refried beans and cheese and melt in the microwave. Then I add shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and salsa to mine. You can also use leftover beef or chicken diced up in this
Ham bone soup (the bone is no longer for the dog)
Place the leftover ham bone in the crockpot with salt, pepper. I let this cook over night. Then the next morning remove the bone and pick off any little ham pieces that didn't fall off and put them back in the broth. NOW the dog can have the bone. Then I dice a little more ham into it (if any was leftover) and add my veggies. These are veggies of choice. I usually add corn, some type of bean (if using canned make sure to rinse them first unless green beans), sweet peas, potatoes, whatever I have available. Then place it on low until you are ready to eat or if using fresh veggies, when they are tender.
Pan Fried potatoes
OMG good OMG bad for you!
Four potatoes sliced about 1/8 inch thick, stick of butter, one sweet onion diced, garlic and salt. Melt the butter, I add a dash of cooking oil so the butter doesn't burn. Then mix in the potatoes, onions, and seasoning. Mix every so often until the potatoes and onion are cooked though and browned.
We have these with a veggie and some type of meat like smoke sausage, or pan browned hot dogs cut in half.
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