Home-cooked pinto beans with a touch of salsa. Love it. 

macroni & cheese, tuna and cream of mushroom soup 

beans and rice

eggs and grits  

good old bologna 

hot dog and chil

old fashion biscuit and gravy .

I have a recipe for poor man jelly . 

Poor man's Fruitcake aka Raisin Nut Loaf

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups raisins
1 tsp salt
3 cups water

Bring to boil in a very large pot. Let boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely to room temperature.

Sift together over cooled mixture:

1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tb baking soda
3 cups flour

Mix well. Stir in 1 cup chopped walnuts.
Pour into greased loaf pans.

If using large pans, this makes 2 loaves; a smaller loaf pan will give you 3 loaves. The mini loaf pans will yield 5 loaves from one recipe.

Bake at 300°F for about 1 hour, until tester in center comes out clean. This cake freezes well.


My note: I found through research that this is considered to be a Civil War era recipe. Although, it is possible that it is older than that. This recipe was also very popular during World War I and World War II.

poor man's Jellly

4 c. skinned & mashed tomatoes ( red or green)
5 c. sugar
1 (6 oz.) pkg.Jell-O (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry)

Prepare 4 cups skinned and mashed tomatoes;bring to a full boil in a heavy saucepan. Add 5 cups sugar; mixing well. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat add 6oz. Jello pack and mix well. Pour into sterilized jellly jars and seal with lids and bands. Process for 5 mins in a boiling water bath.

This is super easy and SO good! You would NEVER guess that it is made with tomatoes. Great for all those extras and end of season!!! I have used cherry and peach Jello with great results....makes great Christmas gifts!!

poor man's steak

1 lb ground beef or turkey
½ cup crushed saltine crackers
½ cup water
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Combine all in a bowl and mix. Pat into thin patties and fry in an ungreased pan. Serve as they are or add a sauce for variety.

ah a hambone .. my DH claims I rob the dogs .. First I serve the ham as dinner than it appears as with biscuits lunch usually with noodles then a pot of beans  pure southern bliss .

Ok this is mine the left over meat lets say from last night dinner ,beef broth left over veggies small potatoe with onion and tomatoes xut in from a can then the old stand by top ramen noodles goes quick before my kid died he was a chef or a short order cook he called the whats it soup I called it the hobo stew course my x at the time called it slop both kid and I ate it left the hubby to fend for himself...lol

I grew up eating both those recipes and still make them today, I love eggs and rice.

Left over cassarole

Take all the leftovers meat, veggies, rice whatever, put in a cassarole dish use either canned cream of whatever or make cream sauce with butter flour and chicken or beef broth, throw cheese on top and you have a cassarole. My dh calls this cassarole crap, but good. I usually put frozen hash browns on the bottom that I keep all the time, form the dollar tree, it gives you a krispy bottom. The bad thing is we usually have leftovers from the leftovers lol.

hi gabbiecat thats another recipe I use also actually kind of sounds good for dinner tonight mind if I steal your idea for tonigh and thanks...