Frugal Food and Cooking

What Was For Lunch ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:22:21 GMT

I'm starting this because it might give us ideas for lunches. I get tired of the same old things for lunch.

What was for Supper?

nattieandtjmom — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:02:56 GMT

I am always interested to see what other people are fixing for supper. I meant to do this last night, but oh well. So post what you had I will start and if anyone wants a recipe just ask

OK we had

Ritz cracker pork chops

fried potatoes

corn

and homemade chocolate pudding (my first time making it) yummy

Shannon

Pantry Challenge - your choice! November 14th to 21st, 2009

MarthaMFI — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:14:16 GMT

Thought we haven't had a pantry challenge for a while so since thought since it has come up in the forum recently.

What area do you have to work on...things in danger of freezer burn? cupboards bursting with almost expired canned or packaged items? fresh veggies or fruit going bad?

frankly I need to work on all areas. I have hampers coming at the end of the month so need to make space in the freezer.

have lots of eggs so will make a quiche this weekend. cheese and bacon because I have precooked bacon in the freezer.

will pull a roast out of the freezer for sunday dinner or something because we are having roast beef tonight at the inlaws.

Help, Please. Need Copy Cat Recipe for Martin's Potato Sandwich Rolls

Virginia Needlewoman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:20:39 GMT

My favorite hamburger bun is Martin's. What I don't like is the $3.19 price tag at Food Lion and at Harris Teeter.

I spent the $$$ for hamburger bun pans. I need to use the pans.

Does anyone have a recipe for making potato hamburger buns ?

Thanks.

Ways That I Cheat & Make Mixes/Prepared Things Taste Homemade

Virginia Needlewoman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:50:47 GMT

I add red wine to brown gravy mix for part of the water. I add white wine to chicken or pork gravy mix for part of the water. Do not use cooking wine for this as it will add too much salt. I use wines that I would drink to cook with.

I grease cake pans or muffin tins with real butter. People think that the cake mix cakes are from scratch if I do this.

I add a teaspoon of pure vanilla to cake mixes. If I used cookie mixes, I would do that also.

People think that my cake mix pound cakes are from scratch simply because I've used butter to grease the pan and I've used vanilla extract.

I use 1-2 teaspoons in a tub of prepared cake frosting. The trick is to mix it up really well.

I make mocha frosting by adding a teaspoon of vanilla and some coffee to chocolate frosting in a tub.

I add finely chopped pecans to stuffing if I want to make it special. Mom taught me to combine herb stuffing mix with cornbread stuffing mix. Another nice stir-in would be finely chopped up apples and dried cranberries.

It's little tricks like this that take a mix over the top and make it taste really good.

what is EVOO?

MarthaMFI — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:42:31 GMT

Lots of forum friends mention using EVOO? what is it? or is it something like Pam vegetable oil spray?

What's A Good Price To Pay For A Spiral Sliced Ham ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:20:47 GMT

I've seen spiral sliced hams selling for $1.99 to $2.99 in the flyers from Harris Teeter and Farm Fresh.

What price should I be looking for ?

I want a perfectly plain brown sugar glazed ham.

Thanks.

November Food Shopping and Cooking

Virginia Needlewoman — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:55:06 GMT

I'm starting this early because I got the sign-up sheet for frozen entrees from the local gourmet shop.

Question from a reader

Pat — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:29:44 GMT

Please post if you have any advice for her:

Do you have suggestions for frugal snacks for someone on a low fat/cholestrol - low calorie diet?

Thanksgiving leftovers

Pat — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:58:13 GMT

I never seem to have any problem with leftover food because I eat it or freeze it and use it later. I don't understand the question that comes up around the holidays - "what am I going to do with all this leftover food?" but I may be in the minority, or even alone!

Anyway, this article from Dollar Stretcher, "Leftover Guilt? " caught my eye. I buy bigger turkeys than we need for the meal on purpose. Turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey salad, and plain old turkey top my list of favorites. Most of the rest of the food gets eaten as-is and doesn't last all that long.

What do you do with Thanksgiving leftovers? Maybe even I can find a few different ways to eat them!

Share Strange and Expensive food Products you have seen lately..pancakes in a can..

MarthaMFI — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:33:17 GMT

I have been thinking of this ever since the Dr Otker shakers commercial came on a few months ago. Up here in Canada we don't have the same range of products as the US but some strange overpriced things have shown up! and I am not talking fancy cheese or salami!

The Dr Otker shakers where you add milk and shake and make 6 muffins or a few pancakes....almost $5 each here! you can get muffin mix for $1 and do the same thing almost.

The kicker is the pancake batter in an aerosol can at walmart this weekend! almost $5 for a reg size can same as a Pam or hairspray can. To make fluffy pancakes it claims! maybe makes 8 to 10..

I am all for frozen eggo or aunt jemina pancakes for $2 on sale but 10 or 12 pancakes for 20 cents each..is a lot different for the sake of convenience. easy quick thing for the kids once in a while. they eat 2 each normally.

Its like that sliced peanut butter someone mentioned in a thread last year that was hard to believe but there was a website for that product! I googled it lol

Share your strange new food products!

would you do this? And do you think it's worth it?

kabin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:40:21 GMT

As many people on the forum know..I have a step daughter that recently lost her young husband to a heart attack. She is now adjusting to life as a single parent once again and I was wondering if you thought this might be a good idea. Since she works full time she is always crunched for time. Fortunately she only has 1 child to care for, but still time is limited. so, I was thinking that one thing I might do for her is try to put together a cookbook with frugal meals she make in the crock pot, so all she has to worry about is getting it started in the morning and having dinner ready when she comes home from work. I have found some very delicious looking recipes that she could do in the crock pot that would be just right for her and her daughter...mainly meat and cheese dishes.. What do you think?

TIA,

Kathy

Thai seasonings?

seaturtle — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:52:33 GMT

Hello, everyone,

I really like the hot/spicy Thai dishes that come with noodles. I'd like to duplicate these seasonings so I can make my own. Does anyone have a recipe for Thai seasoning?

Thanks as always, best to all. Seaturtle

I had NO intention of buying a turkey today, however..

budgetwise — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:09:53 GMT

Hi "guys".

I really wasn't looking for a turkey today, but our local Wal-Mart had some on special for .40 cents a pound!

Wow...that's the best price around here for a long, long time. I just couldn't pass it up so I purchased a 12 pounder. That was less than $5.00.

There's no even room in my tiny apartment refrigerator freezer compartment for it, so a friend put it in theirs for now.

I sure hope you find a bargain in your area!

Whatever is left over I want to can.

Meatball Recipes

Toni B. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:05:11 GMT

On the Dollar Stretcher home page is a wonderful article called Meatball Mania. If you're looking for meatball variations this article has several make ahead recipes. http://www.stretcher.com/stories/04/04nov15f.cfm .

Giving Homemade Frozen Meals for Christmas?

arianasilver — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:30:08 GMT

So we have two friends that DH and I discussed possibly giving a few homemade frozen meals for Christmas. One is DH best friend since they were in kindergarten (literally) and doesn't care for sweets. He works late hours and normally gets home around 8:30 - 9:00 p.m. wanting a shower and dinner. The other is another good friend who's wife leaves for Afghanistan in another three weeks and she'll be deployed for 12 months. He's another one that comes home and wants a shower and dinner.

I was thinking of getting some 8 x 8 foil pans (seems big, but these are hardworking men-folk that can really eat) and making them each stuffed shells, baked macaroni & cheese and meatballs in brown gravy with instructions on an index card for baking them on the outside.

So my questions. Do you think this is a good idea? They live in our neighborhood, so not like it'll be travelling enough for it to thaw. Any ideas for other meals I could make? Also, obviously I'll want to bake the meatballs until done first. Should I just make up the shells and mac 'n cheese and get it ready to bake, then let it cool and freeze since the baking is really just to melt things, not to actually cook anything.

Is Anyone Doing Any Bulk Cooking ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:37:13 GMT

I may or may not have posted this. I found a recipe in my current issue of Yankee Magazine for potato bread. I have all the ingredients in the house to make it. The recipe sounds easy and good. I may try making it today.

Food Observations

Virginia Needlewoman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:13:22 GMT

It sounds corny, but I can eat better and cheaper at home than I can at restaurants.

I watch the sales, I use my store cards, and I clip and use coupons.

I have found that baby carrots are more expensive and don't taste as good as big carrots.

I have found that I prefer beef stew made with a chuck roast rather than using stew beef. I learned that tip from Pegheart on another forum. The trick is to find the chuck roast on sale.

I actually prefer most of the things I cook from scratch to things that Mom made. Mom's biscuits and pie crust were to die for, but I really like Pillsbury's frozen pie crust that is in the dairy case and in the freezer.

My pot roast is better than Mom's.

Chicken stock is not hard for me to make and there is no waste (I don't eat chicken soup) if I use the carcass from a rotisserie chicken instead of using chicken parts.

I used to enjoy going to The Trellis to eat soups, but I have a collection of soup recipes that I prefer to the soups at The Trellis. It's healthier as well as being easier on my budget.

If I could just get more organized and set up the slow cooker more often, I'd have the time for other things. I am better, though, about having things that make an easy meal. What helps me a bunch is how Mom got me a lot of neat things for the kitchen. I really use the Dutch oven a lot. It doesn't look like the usual Dutch oven, but it is such a useful pan.

I really like the What's For Supper thread. I like how we can post the recipes. I understand that some of you have tried my recipes I've posted and you've added touches to make them your own. I only hope that I've been able to help others as much as the help I've gotten from DS.

Does Anyone Have A Good Recipe for Making Cheese Balls ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:30:01 GMT

It occurs to me that I could most likely save $$$ if I made my own cheese spread or cheese balls. They would make nice food gifts around the holidays.

Does anyone have a good recipe for making them ?

I'm looking for recipes for the cheddar cheese ones and the Swiss almond ones.

Thanks a bunch !

help! questions cooking my first pumpkin

MarthaMFI — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:18:30 GMT

I need help from you experienced cooks!

I cut up and baked my first pumpkin today. in a pan uncovered with some water. half is still in the oven because not cooked all the way. The cooked pumpkin is not very orange and is stringy and not watery at all. I have the cooked pumpkin sitting in a colander in the sink cooling.

is it suppose to be stringy and yellow? some parts were really cooked and others not as much. smells like squash to me :)

I have only cooked with canned pumpkin once or twice so this is a new experience for me. I get good pumpkin pies cheap at safeway because no one really likes pumpkin in the immediate family. the canned pumpkin looks so different.

I think I will get about 8 or so cups from the pumpkin with discard the bottom and top. wasn't enough room in the oven for the whole thing.

please advise!!

What is considered good price per pound for a Thanksgiving Day turkey?

dmc_2008 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:09:38 GMT

I have been looking at loss leaders and for frozen I see 1.69/lb. Is that good or should I wait? I am doing Thanksgiving and I want one big enough for leftovers and soup.

Thanks much.

November 4-10 is Triple Coupons at Harris Teeter

Virginia Needlewoman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:43:53 GMT

I am computerless. I quickly scanned the eVIC in my inbox here at the library.

Lots of baking supplies like $.99 for 1 5 pound HT Brand sugar if you have eVIC. Regular sale price is 2/$3.00. Flour is on sale.

Triple Coupons with a value up to $.99 and a limit of 20 per day.

Food Lion has some baking stuff on sale also.

Sorry to be short on details, but normally I spend hours looking at the ads. Can't do that here at the library.

How to cook frozen breaded chicken parts?

LindaC — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:16:50 GMT

We got some of these in the AFM chicken special box. I'm thawing them out in the frige and plan to bake them at 375 degrees. I'll spray the pan and the chicken pieces with cooking spray. Does this sound about right for oven baking pre-breaded fried chicken? We don't like to fry food too much. Some of these pieces are large, so I figured they need to be thawed first to cook through evenly.

Do You Make Cheese Straws or Cheese Wafers ?

Virginia Needlewoman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:27:30 GMT

Do you make cheese straws ?

The local gourmet shop sells them 8 ounces for $6.99.

I was thinking that if I made up cheese wafers and froze them, I could enjoy them at home.

Whats your best Poor Man's recipe???

leasmom — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:58:07 GMT

Being frugal people, we all have them...poor man's recipes we use to stretch things out. What is your best one???