Eat what you store, store what you eat, and buy everything in bulk while it's on sale.
Last week over 1/2 my food budget was spent on 20 jars of spaghetti sauce and 30 cans of tuna. This week I spent 1/2 my food budget on 60 cans of vegetables, 12 boxes of pasta, and 24 bags of Ramen noodles. 2 weeks ago I spent $45.00 on 40 pounds of hamburger.
I try to spend 1/2 my food budget on basic, easy to store foods that are 1/2 or 1/3 the usual price. This allows me to purchase at least 25% more food for the same amount of money.
As much as possible I try to only cook with easy to store items. For example even though we have REALLY good prices here on day old bread, I still bake all my bread because white flour stores well, and I can make sure to rotate a LARGE stock of flour, by using it every day. I add quick oats to my bread because they store MUCH better than whole wheat flour.
We eat canned instead of frozen vegetables because they store better and have little nutritional difference, once cooked. I also need to leave my small freezer for stocking hamburger when on sale and can't waste it on less enpensive items.
If you get into the habit of eating what you store, storing what you eat, and buying as much as possible when on sale, you WILL be able to stock up.
Also change how you eat. Start filling up on less enpensive ingredients. Make a big bowl of popcorn each night. Make sure to boil up your leftover chicken into soup and serve with a cheap homemade bread. Eat lots of root vegetables, bought cheaply once a month.
Get a notebook. Go to your local stores. Make a list of the cheapest, most nutritious, easiest to store ingredients. Gradually learn to cook with JUST those ingredients.
This is my basic list and what I cook most often.
Produce and Legumes
fresh:
potatoes
onions
carrots
canned:
corn
green beans
peas
tomatoes
kidney beans
peaches
apple sauce
pickles
jam
peanut butter (natural)
lemon juice
vinegar
frozen:
orange juice
dried:
raisins
popcorn
Grains
white flour
quick oats
corn starch
white rice
Meats
hamburger
chicken (whole)
hot dogs
tuna
Dairy and fats
dry milk
eggs
butter or margarine
Monterey Jack cheese
Parmesan cheese
corn oil
Condiments, Spices, Baking
ketchup
mustard
mayonnaise
gravy darkener
beef cubes
chicken cubes
garlic powder
onion powder
parsley
Italian seasoning
chili powder
soy sauce
salt
pepper
cinnamon
vanilla flavoring
baking powder
baking soda
yeast
sugar
molasses
cocoa
tea
Emergency Foods
Jello
Imitation salt (containing potassium)
Ginger Ale
Tang
Dried Soup Mix
Oatmeal
Bring 3 ¾ cups water to a boil. Add 2 cups quick oats and ¼ teas salt to the boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Serve with milk and sugar, maple syrup, honey, or jam. Add fresh, canned or dried fruit.
Pancakes
Sift together 1 ½ cups flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Beat in 1 egg, 1 ¼ cups milk and 2 tablespoons oil. Cook on hot, greased frying pan.
Serve with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar, or white sugar and lemon juice. Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Make a sandwich with an egg and melted cheese as a filling.
French Toast
Beat together an egg and an equal amount of milk. Dip slices of bread in the milk/egg mixture and fry on a hot, buttered frying pan.
Serve as suggested above for pancakes, or with a white sauce or gravy.
Overnight Oatmeal Bread
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of yeast (½ foil packet) in ½ cup warm water. Set aside. Pour 2 cups hot water over 2 cups of oats. Let sit till cool enough not to burn a finger. Add dissolved yeast and stir well. Stir in 1/3 cup brown sugar (or any sweetener), 1/3 cup oil, and 1 tablespoon salt. Knead in enough white flour to make a sticky, but kneadable dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Grease a cookie sheet and roll dough into a long jellyroll shape. Place on cookie sheet, cover and let rise overnight. Bake at 350 degrees until bread can be knocked on.
Quick Rise Oatmeal bread can be made with 4 teaspoons yeast and risen as in the white bread below.
Quick Rise White Bread
Dissolve 4 teaspoons yeast in 2 ½ cups water. Add 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup oil, and 1 tablespoon salt. Add enough flour to make a kneadable dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Shape dough into a large jelly roll and place on a greased cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet on top of a large bowl filled with hot water and cover. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 350 degrees until medium brown and can be knocked on.
Overnight White Bread can be made with 1 teaspoon yeast and risen overnight as in the oatmeal bread above.
Irish Soda Bread
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cut 2 tablespoons butter into the flour mixture. In another bowl, beat together 1 egg, ¾ cup milk, and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Pour liquid mixture into flour mixture. Add raisins if desired. Knead dough for 2-3 minutes and shape into a round loaf. Place loaf in greased cake pan and cut a cross in the top about ½ inch deep. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.
Biscuits
Sift together 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in ¼ cup oil and ¾ cups milk. Stir and form into a ball. Pat into a square or rectangle. Cut into squares. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or till the tops and bottoms begin to brown.
Biscuit dough can be spread onto a greased cookie sheet to make a thin crust pizza. Or roll out and spread with butter and cinnamon and sugar, and then roll up into a jelly roll and slice into cinnamon rolls.
Tea Scones
Sift together 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Rub in ¼ cup butter. Add ½ cup milk and 1 beaten egg. Shape dough into a flat circle. Brush with milk. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut into pie shaped pieces. Bake on a greased cookie sheet, at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Serve with lemon jam.
Instead of rubbing in butter, ¼ oil can be added with the milk and egg.
Lemon Jam
Beat together and boil 1 cup sugar, 3 eggs, ¼ cup lemon juice. When mixture begins to thicken, remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons butter.
Hearty Oatmeal Scones
Sift together 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Add 1 cup quick oats. Rub in ¼ cup butter. Add ½ cup milk and 1 beaten egg. Shape dough into a flat circle. Cut into pie shaped pieces. Bake on a greased cookie sheet, at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Serve with a piece of cheese, meat or an egg. Raisins and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon can be added to the batter and the top can be brushed with milk and sprinkled with sugar, as in the above recipe for Tea Scones.
Instead of rubbing in butter, ¼ oil can be added with the milk and egg.
Sandwiches and Alternatives
Instead of making sandwiches, serve breads with a piece of cheese, cold meat, or a boiled egg.
Sandwich spreads can be made by combining some diced egg, chicken or tuna with a bit of mayonnaise and dried parsley.
Grilled cheese sandwiches can be cooled on a cooling rack, and eaten later cold. Bits of leftover meat, egg and vegetables can be added to grilled cheese sandwiches.
Sandwiches can be made with scones, biscuits or even pancakes.
Crepes
Thin pancake batter with extra milk and cook as pancakes. Sprinkle chopped leftovers, tuna, chopped eggs, cheese, fruit, jam or whatever you have down the middle of the crepes and roll up into logs. Drizzle savory crepes with some gravy or a pasta sauce.
Tortillas/Fajitas
Stir together 1 cup flour, ¼ cup oil, ¾ cups water, 1 teaspoon salt. Add about 1 more cup of flour. Knead dough for a minute and break dough up into ping pong ball sized balls. Let rest for about 15 minutes. Roll dough out into paper thin circles. Bake on ungreased frying pan for about 20 seconds a side, over medium heat.
Fill with leftovers, cheese, browned hamburg or beans. Drizzle with Mexican sauce. Roll up into logs.
Calzones, Rolls and Tarts
Make some bread dough, biscuit dough or pie crust. Roll small amounts of dough out into circles. Fill with leftovers, browned and seasoned meat, cheese or whatever you have. Fold dough into half moon shape and seal the edges. Let bread dough rise till puffy. Biscuit dough and pie crust can be baked immediately. Bake on greased cookie sheet for about 30 minutes or till browned, at about 375 degrees.
Hot Open Faced Sandwiches/Sloppy Joes
Simmer leftover chopped chicken, browned hamburg or chopped hotdogs in BBQ or Mexican Sauce or gravy. Simmer leftovers or chopped, boiled eggs in a White Sauce. Pour filling over thick slices of homemade bread or rolls.
BBQ Sauce
Combine 3 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup ketchup, ½ cup water, ¼ teaspoon prepared mustard. ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Mexican sauce
Add 1 teaspoon chili powder to 1 cup BBQ Sauce.
Pizza
Dissolve 1-2 tablespoons yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon salt in 2 ¼ cups warm water. Add 3 tablespoons oil. Stir in enough flour to make a dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Let rise till double in bulk. Grease 2 cookie sheets with a solid fat, not oil. Oil makes the dough much harder to spread. Spread the dough onto the cookie sheets. Top with whatever you have and bake at 425 degrees till crust is golden brown on the bottom and topping have begun to brown.
Be creative with your toppings. Use ketchup, pasta sauce or canned tomatoes for the sauce. Use any kind of cheese. Top with browned and seasoned hamburger or leftover chicken. Sprinkle with chopped onion. Use ANYTHING you have.
Pot Roasted Chicken
Place chicken, vegetables, potatoes, and herbs, and spices in a large roasting pan. Pour in several cups of water. Water should cover the crunchier vegetables. Potatoes should be left whole and unpeeled and placed on top of the crunchier vegetables. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Bake all the leftovers into a pie.
Gravy
Measure and pour the broth into a sauce pan. Dissolve corn starch into lukewarm water and add to broth. Use 1 tablespoon corn starch to each cup of total liquid. For example 6 cups broth and 2 cups lukewarm water will require 8 tablespoons (½ cup) corn starch. Darken with a little gravy darkener if necessary.
Pie Crust
Sift together 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Stir in ½ cup oil and ½ cup water. Roll into 2 round crusts. Fold dough in half and in half again, to transfer to pan, then unfold in pan. Bake pies in a 9 inch cake pan, so fillings do not overflow. This is a soft, biscuity dough that can be easily repaired if a hole forms. Double the recipe for an 11x13 roasting pan.
BBQ Chicken
Place whole chicken in a roasting pan. Pour a little water in the pan and cover. Bake at 400 degrees until chicken is about ¾ cooked. Uncover and coat chicken with BBQ sauce. Crank the heat up and cook chicken till skin is crunchy and slightly charred.
Leftover meat can be used on pizza, in a pasta sauce or quiche, or as a sandwich filling.
The bones and skin, and tiny bits of meat can be boiled into broth and made into Tortellini Soup.
To quickly defrost whole chickens, place in a watertight bag and submerge in hot water.
Pasta
Beat 3 eggs and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir and then knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Divide dough into 4 pieces and roll out into paper thin rectangles. Cut rectangles into smaller noodles or use whole as lasagna noodles or to make tortellini.
Noodles can be dried and stored for 1 month, or boiled when fresh.
Pasta sauces
Sauté 1 onion in oil. Add a can of tomatoes. Add Italian seasonings. Add bits of leftover chicken or browned hamburg. Simmer for 15 minutes to an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Can also be used for pizza.
Bring 1 ½ cups milk to almost a boil. Dissolve 2 tablespoons corn starch into ½ cup milk and add to hot milk. Bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. If desired, add some cheese and stir till melted. White sauce and cheese sauce can also be used on baked potatoes, toast, biscuits and French toast.
Lasagna and Casseroles
Roll pasta recipe into 4 paper thin rectangles and add to boiling water. Rectangles will become larger as they are boiled, and easily fit in a 9x13 roasting pan. Boil for about 10 minutes and drain and then let cool on a flat surface.
Create a layered casserole with one or more pasta sauces, slices of cheese, leftover meat, tuna and/or vegetables or whatever you have. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Tortellini
Make a filling of 1 cup diced, cooked meat, ½ teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a teaspoon of dried parsley, and ¼ cup parmesan cheese. Taste and add more seasoning if desired. Add 1 beaten egg to the mixture.
Roll ¼ of the pasta recipe out into a rectangle. Cut into 1 inch squares. Add bits of ¼ of the filling to the center of each square. Fold the squares into triangles and pinch the edges to seal them. If dough is too dry to stick, moisten with a few drops of water. Leave as triangles or pinch two of the corners together to make a hat shape. Use up the rest of the dough and filling, ¼ at a time.
Boil the tortellini in chicken broth or water, until tender.
Meatballs/ Salisbury Steak
Combine 1 1/4 pounds hamburger, 2 eggs, 2 cups stale homemade bread, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon dried parsley and ¼ cup parmesan cheese (optional). Shape into balls or patties and bake in 375 degree oven till centers are gray. Serve in a red sauce or gravy.
Chili
Fry 1 onion and a handful of hamburger, till the meat is browned and the onion is soft. Add a large can of tomatoes, two 16 oz cans kidney beans , 1 tablespoon dried parsley and chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Simmer for 1 hour on low heat.
Shepard's Pie
Brown 1 1/4 pounds hamburger. Pour off grease. Dissolve 1 tablespoon corn starch in 1 cup water. Pour into hamburger. Add 2 beef cubes and a few drops of gravy darkener. Cook till gravy bubbles. Meanwhile boil 5-8 peeled and sliced potatoes till soft enough to mash. Make 3/4 pie crust recipe and pat into a 9x13 roasting pan. Place hamburger mixture onto crust. Spoon 1 can vegetable onto hamburger mixture. Spoon mashed potatoes onto the vegetables. Drag a fork across the mashed potatoes, so they will brown better. Bake at 400 degrees till crust and potatoes are browned.
Quiche
Make ½ pie crust recipe. Pat into 9 inch cake pan. Beat 3 eggs and 1 cup milk. Pour onto crust. Add ANYTHING you have: sautéed onions, leftover vegetables, leftover meat, cheese, chopped tomato. Read an omelet book for ideas.
Strata
In a large bowl, beat together: 8 eggs, 4 cups milk, 1 teaspoon prepared mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper. Set aside. Fill a greased 9x13 pan 1/3 full of torn, stale bread. Sprinkle cheese, tuna, leftovers, canned tomatoes, or whatever you have, over the bread. Layer more torn, stale bread on top of the filling ingredients. Pour milk and egg mixture over the bread and filling ingredients. Place in refrigerator for 2-24 hours. Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
Asian Fried Rice
Sauté 1 large onion in a little cooking oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 tablespoon soy sauce, until onion is tender. Add 3 cups cooked rice and 2 cut up, boiled or fried eggs. Continue to cook and stir until eggs and rice are warm and have absorbed some of the sauce. Add more soy sauce if desired.
If you have any leftover meat and vegetables, add them with the eggs and rice.
Mock Boiled Dinner
In a large pot, boil some onions, potatoes and carrots and till tender. Add a package of hotdogs and boil for another 10 minutes. Serve with Irish soda bread.
Snicker Doodle Coffee Cake
Cream 1 1/3 cups sugar and 2/3 cups oil. Beat in 2 eggs, a little at a time. Gradually stir in 1 1/3 cups milk. In another bowl, sift together 3 cups flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed ones. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 inch roasting pan or two 9 inch cake pans. Sprinkle top of cake with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees till top of cake is golden brown and the center is set.
Chocolate Cake
Sift together 3 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, ½ cup cocoa, 2 teaspoons baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Beat in 2/3 cup oil, 2 cups water, and 2 tablespoons vinegar. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees till center is set.
Biscotti
Cream ¼ cup (½ stick) butter and 1 cup sugar. Gradually beat in 3 eggs. Add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon extract or liquor if you have some. In another bowl sift together 2 ¼ cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Shape dough into 2 long, narrow logs on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven till set. Slice logs and turn cookies on their sides and bake again till golden brown.
Spices, nuts and raisins can be added to the cookies. Chocolate Biscotti can be made by adding ¼ cup cocoa and another ½ cup sugar and decreasing the flour to 1 ¾ cups.
Oatmeal cookies
Cream together ½ cup soft butter, ½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup white sugar. Beat in 1 egg. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla. In another bowl sift together 1 cup flour and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup quick oats.
Drop by rounded teaspoon fulls onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees until centers are set.
Bread Pudding
Fill a greased 9x13 roasting pan about 3/4 full of stale homemade white bread. In a large bowl, beat together 4 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon vanilla and 4 cups milk. Pour over the bread. Bake at 350 degrees till the custard is set.
Brown Sugar
Combine 2 tablespoons molasses to each cup of white sugar.
Vanilla milk
Dissolve 1 or 2 tablespoons sugar in hot water. Add 1 cup slightly warm water. Add 1 1/3 cups dry milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring. Stir till dissolved. Add enough ice and cold water to make 4 cups.
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