YNAB You Need A Budget

[hdsportyguy]

This is one just about everyone loves. I reccomend it for your next family get together as a side dish. it's always a hit wherever we take it, and people just can't believe how cheap and easy it is to make.

1 cup large macaroni noodles
1 can of creamed corn with juice
1 can whole kernal corn with juice
1 cup of velveta mexican or regular cheese
4 tablespoons of butter

boil macaroni noodles in water/drain water
put all but the butter into a casarole dish. mix everything up (cut the chesese into small squares. put the butter last on top. cook for 45 min at 350, stirring every 15 minutes. You can also add ham to it for extra flair. I particulary like to serve this up with a ham dinner, as then I get the best of both worlds. Enjoy!

[ladymari]

I love cheap & EASY I am also a cookbook collector.....,mostly because I like history and seeing differences and sameness between then and now. Sooo Corn Chowder, has been around since at least the 1800's when all the ingredients were grown and prepared from scratch at home, with a few more changes around 1930 and then my Granny's version, which probably morphed out of the Depression or perhaps later. Or just perhaps because her husband was not a real stable kind of guy she might have discovered she could stock up on canned foods so she always had something handy to feed her 5 kids. I'm not sure. One of those questions I'll never get to ask. But here ya go, nice, hearty, filling soup. Perfect for fall/winter days.

Dice some bacon about 4 strips for a medium size batch [which fills my 6 quart soup pot, the whole pound for the monster 15 quart pot], and brown gently in your soup pot. Dice 1-2 onions and toss in with the bacon. Dice 4-10 potatoes, depending on amount needed. When onions are translucent, add in potatoes, just barely cover with water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally until potatoes are soft and most of the water is gone. Dump in 1 can of regular whole kernel corn, 1 can creamed corn, 1 can condensed tomato soup, simmer together a few minutes, then add one can of milk. Serve up with crackers.

[lautzu]

Here I am carving what of the Thanksgiving turkey that we didn't eat yesterday. I've got a pretty good amount of meat here, even though there were six adults and three kids eating it yesterday. On top of that, I'm going to get a really good soup out of it... And then I started thinking about the fact that the whole bird was about $12 (albeit on a Thanksgiving sale price). We're going to get at least four or five meals out of this, and maybe some work lunches... I don't know if it fits "cheap" perfectly, but the whole turkey certainly seems like good value for real food...

[WhatsInYourWallet]

I make this once in awhile when I want some good old fashioned comfort food. This recipe is lower in carbs than most chicken pot pie but if you're watching carbs, figure about 21 grams per serving if you use water or meat broth for the liquids.

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie
Servings: 4 to 6
Preheat: 350 degrees

1 chicken breast, cook and cut into bite size pieces
2 ounces cooked frozen green peas (use mukimame to lower the carb count a little more)
2 ounces cooked frozen corn
1 small red potato, cooked and cut into small chunks
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup
1/4 to 1/2 cup liquid (milk, cream, water or broth)

Topping:

1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese
dash or two of salt
liquid (milk, cream, water or broth)

Mix the first four ingredients in a bowl. Add liquid and stir just until liquid is incorporated. Pour into a baking pan.

Mix remaining five ingredients and spread over the top of the chicken mixture in pan.

Bake in 350 degree oven until top is brown, about 25 minutes.

[WhatsInYourWallet]

I don't know if maurinsky still posts here but maurinsky, I want you to know I'm now baking the dish, with a couple of modifications, for the recipe you shared for "Delicious and inexpensive chicken". I didn't have raw chicken thighs but had some slightly undercooked chicken breast I'd baked and sliced for recipes this week. I also happened to have some leeks, a shallot and other onion varieties left from when I bought those items recently for a cornish hen recipe. Soooo, I used my sliced chicken breast and a good deal of the languishing onions to make your recipe. It's baking and smells wonderful! I'll have that for lunch today and there should be enough for at least 4 more meals. Thanks!

[TheNateLaw]

Here's a quick meal I picked up from my mom, who got it from a friend. I make this at least twice a month at the request of my girlfriend:

Taco Ring

1lb ground beef
2 cans plain crescent rolls
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I use whatever "Mexican" blend is cheapest, but you can be even more frugal and shred your own Cheddar, Jack, etc.)
Taco seasoning (You already knew this, but please do not buy the pouches for $.50-$1. If you must use McCormick's, Costco has a big bottle of the stuff that lasts forever. Otherwise, make your own.)
Salsa (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375. Brown the meat, drain, add appropriate amount of seasoning and water, simmer for 5 minutes. Unroll crescent roll dough and arrange into a star shape, overlapping the short sides by about 1/3. Spoon the meat onto the wide end of each roll, top with cheese and salsa. Fold the ends over and tuck underneath. Bake for 12 minutes. Serves 3-4.

I bake with a pizza stone. To get the whole thing in and out, I cut a piece of parchment about the same size as the stone, put it on my pizza peel, and assemble it there. It slide in and out of the oven very easily this way.

[Luna]

I make my own bread. I cannot remember the last time I bought bread! It's really pennies per loaf, takes very little time (make a bunch of dough and freeze for future use), and you can't beat crusty artisan bread right out of the oven!

[WairereRose]

Luna, please would you share your bread recipe with me?

[Luna]

It's kindof long, but here it is. If you have a Dutch oven with a cover, the crust comes out wonderfully crisp. If not, you can just put it on a cookie sheet. If you live alone, make small loaves because they don't stay fresh for more than a couple of days.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 Tablespoons yeast
Some molasses (about a Tablespoon) (honey or sugar will work, too, but molasses is best)
1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt
6-1/2 Cups Flour (mix of white and whole wheat)
3 cups warm water (100F) OR milk or plain soymilk (can mix with water, depending on how much you
have)
Cornmeal for sprinkling
Sesame seeds for crust if desired
Parchment paper
Dutch Oven with lid

Process
1. In large bowl, mix yeast, honey, salt, and water. Stir and let sit for a few minutes until foamy.
2. Mix in flour until there are no dry patches. Dough will be loose. Cover with towel and let rise for 2 hours.
3. Make 3 balls of dough by kneading lightly until smooth ball is formed. Use extra flour if needed. Put balls on individual pieces of parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal. There is no need to knead, just form the balls of dough.
4. You can refrigerate the dough at this point if you will not bake it right away. It can stay in the fridge for about a week or so in a Tupperware-type container. You can also freeze it in a medium or large ziplock bag.
5. When ready to bake, let the balls of dough rise for 40 minutes (more if coming out of fridge). If you are taking it out of the freezer, put it in the fridge overnight, and then let it rise as above.
6. With 20 minutes to go, turn on oven to 450F and put empty Dutch oven with lid inside oven to heat up.
7. When dough has finished rising, sprinkle flour on top and smooth around. Or moisten with water and sprinkle sesame seeds. Make a few slashes with a knife.
8. Take Dutch Oven out of oven and put boule in, parchment paper and all. Put the lid on and put in hot oven.
9. After 25 minutes, remove lid from Dutch oven. Bake uncovered for 20 more minutes.
10. Remove from oven. Boule should be hollow-sounding when tapped, and very pretty. If you have a food thermometer, it should read about 195F from the middle of the loaf.
11. Cool on a rack for a few minutes before slicing.

(and don't forget to turn off the oven--I speak from experience)

[WairereRose]

Thank you for that. I will have to do some conversion (temperatures) and get some yeast, but I'll give it a try.

[WairereRose]

Ok, I tried it today, it rose really well and it's not even that warm here at the moment with the rain. I don't have a dutch oven, just used a roasting pan, and I didn't have wheatmeal flour so just used white, but the first loaf is all gone (last piece disappearing into 17yo now) less than 4 hours after I took it out of the oven. So I'll put the next loaf on the bench to stand while we're out at church tomorrow from the fridge, and then bake it when we get home. I used honey as molasses would have been another purchase from my stripped to less than bare budget, and water instead of milk - I can see this one will provide lots of variation with different options. I may try chucking in some milk powder next time.

Thank you for that recipe, it certainly is easy to make.

[Luna]

I'm so glad it works for you, Rose. I sometimes make it with water, sometimes with milk, sometimes with soymilk. It seems to last a little longer before going stale with milk or soymilk...but often that is a moot point because it gets eaten right away as you have found out. Lots of variations are possible, so I hope you enjoy experimenting with it.

[WairereRose]

It seems to last a little longer before going stale with milk or soymilk...but often that is a moot point because it gets eaten right away as you have found out. Lots of variations are possible, so I hope you enjoy experimenting with it.

I asked my son how he liked the kitchen last night after I had finished moving things around furniturewise. He said the only thing wrong with it was that there was no more of that bread in it. I have showed him the recipe and he was talking about the different things he could do to it to provide variation, so it sounds like he will take over the experimentation part of it all. He does most of the cooking.

[TheNateLaw]

6-1/2 Cups Flour (mix of white and whole wheat)

Can you clarify this a little more? How much of each do you use? I use King Arthur flour by weight, and a cup of AP flour is 1/4 ounce heavier than a cup of whole wheat, so I feel like I need a little more information here. (I am assuming you mean All Purpose when you say white.)

[Luna]

6-1/2 Cups Flour (mix of white and whole wheat)

Can you clarify this a little more? How much of each do you use? I use King Arthur flour by weight, and a cup of AP flour is 1/4 ounce heavier than a cup of whole wheat, so I feel like I need a little more information here. (I am assuming you mean All Purpose when you say white.)

I don't go more whole wheat than 50%. You can experiment and see what works for you. For me, too much whole wheat makes a very heavy, dense loaf, and I prefer it a bit lighter. I do not do it by weight. I am not that exact. Once you make it a few times, you'll know what works for you. I don't even use the recipe anymore; I just throw it together and it works great. Occasionally, I've forgotten the salt, though!