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

The two that I can think of off the top of my head is: rice and scrambled eggs for breakfast and also hamburger gravy and mashed potatoes. The scrambled eggs and rice is one my mom made once in a while growing up. Its something she occasionally had growing up as well. But you take 1 egg and scramble it, set aside. Add some leftover cooked rice and cook in a small amount of butter, serve the egg on top of the rice or mixed in. The second is you take some hamburger, just a small amount, add onions and cook together, drain some of the oil, add flour and butter to make a roux, and water and stir until thickened, adding a little more water if necessary. Adjust the seasonings-(salt/pepper/garlic powder), and serve over mashed potatoes.

 How about you???

 pancakes and eggs is my cheapest meal coming in at $3 for a family of four. 

pancakes: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon white sugar, 1 1/4 cups milk, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons oil. Mix the dry, mix the wet, mix together. cook.

eggs: scrambled. one per person.

syrup and kastup 

cyn

Pancakes from scratch are definately cheap!!! I make them once a week, on weekends.

I saw a Poor Man's way to make Cheesy Tuna Casserole...it was a box of macaroni and a can of tuna. Make the mac as usual, drain the tuna and mix in. You can bake it in a casserole dish with cheese on top or serve as is. I haven't made this yet but it is definately a Poor man's recipe.

Basic spaghetti with canned sauce and noodles is always a very cheap meal.  DD loves it and I keep it around b/c it's shelf stable and fast to make.  If I use a small box of noodles and the whole can of sauce it's about $2 and we could stretch it to meals, essentially feeding 6 people for that price.

Another kid favorite -- mac-n-cheese with hotdogs added.  The mac-n-cheese can be had for about 50 cents and 4 hotdogs grabbed from my sale stock in the freezer is another 50 cents.  This would make 1 meal, but I would up the price on this and add in some sliced apple or something.  I can't stand a meal to have absolutely no veggies or fruit.

A couple of cans of no-name tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches is also very inexpensive and a real crowd pleaser during the cooler months.

Crockpot Fried Rice

I use this recipe for leftovers as well and it is always different everytime so it is never boring.

Sunshine, we just recently made Mac-n-cheese with hotdogs and we liked it. I will make it again but you're right, you need some type of veggie to go with it. I like Macaroni and tomatoes, and I like macaroni with broccoli too. They all go together to me!!

 jayashiangel, what great recipes! I esp. want to try the fried rice ones. I hadn't thought about that.

 My favorite poor man's ingredient is a hambone. Ham's go on sale periodically, and in some cases you can get your family members or friends to save you the bone. 

 I put the bone in the crock pot with some water and chopped onions and cook it over night, or all day, on the lowest cooking setting until everything falls apart. I strain it in a collander, and put the stock in jars and freeze it for use in soups, for cooking beans in, and making rice for fried rice.

 Then i pick apart all the meat from the bones and yuck stuff. I shred it and save it in small portions for adding to potato soup, fried rice, home made pork and beans, hash, and all sorts of meals. If theres a lot of meat on the bone i'll chop up a few cups with some mayo and sweet relish for spreading on bread and crackers for lunches. And then i save a small amount of meat after its all said and done to sprinkle on our lunch salads. 

 So while a ham may be a 15+ dollar investment, i can feed us lunch, dinner snacks, and often add to breakfast for an entire week, and for weeks after with the stock and what falls off the left over bone. 

As an added bonus I only by nautral cured hams, no nitrates, MSG or ugly stuff, but only when theyre on sale ;)

Forgot to mention that the fatty skin left on the bone is great for freezing in small chunks- the fat can be run along a hot pan or wok to grease it and give a nice flavor. Also, the gelatin that forms on the top of the stock if you cool it before freezing and be collected and used to flavor different baked dishes, like augratin potatoes and corn bread.

Golly I love a ham bone!

 Janet, I love a ham bone too. I add a little of the small pieces to eggs and scramble for breakfast. Babs

jayashiangel:

Crockpot Fried Rice

I use this recipe for leftovers as well and it is always different everytime so it is never boring.

 

Mexican Rice  &  Crockpot Refried Beans I always have the ingredients on hand I can make a burrito if I have the tortilla or use leftover tortilla chips to scoop or I can mix w/ lettuce for a quick salad

Thank you. I had lost the crockpot site. The Mexican rice recipes do look tasty.