PANTRY VERY SKINNY. WHAT TO MAKE?

  Windy day today, but warm so all the windows open.  Feeling a little overwhelmed today.  This is why you always want to cook double and freeze one so on these kind of days you can just whip something in the oven.  But since I do not have alot in the freezer right now I need to suck it up and cook.  Once I start cooking I will probably get in the mood to cook.  I checked the pantry and shut it and opened the freezer then back to the pantry ugh!  Ok I seen a recipe on my computer the other day and it was for spicy pork chili.  I have pork steak, beans?  I have a bag of lentils, that will work.  Now I need tomatoes, I have no tomatoes but I do have a large can of tomato soup.  That will work!  I have frozen green pepper and onions.    I always put carrots chopped up in my chili and I have those so so I think its a go.

  I baked the pork chops while chopping veggies and threw them in with the lentils and water, chicken boullion, salt, pepper, chili powder, italian seasoning, sugar, tomato soup, onions, green pepper, and carrots.
When all the veggies and beans were tender I cut up the cooked pork and drop in the soup.  Simmered  for about a half hour to let the pork soak up the seasoning.  Served with a nice loaf of homemade bread and crackers.

  I made enough soup that I can freeze some for the weekend.  Tomorrow I need to make bread for the weekend so I won't have to buy any.  I think I will make a pecan pie tomorrow because I have leftover pecans from making Christmas cookies.

  I am thawing a ham that I got for half off on sale last Friday.  I figure I can cook it and chop it into bags and freeze for on homemade pizza, in scrambled eggs, ham sandwiches, and senate bean soup.  This 11 dollar ham is going to go a long way.

  I did something new today also to go with my saving containers from food items for food storage.  I usually buy my cheese in the 8 dollar bag and its the size of a gallon size ziploc bag.  I had 2 of them and instead of throwing them away I ran a sink of hot soapy water and threw both of them inside out into the water and cleaned and rinsed them and put them over my utensil holder to dry.    I was out of gallon sized bags and now I have 2 to put my loaves of bread I make tomorrow in and it was FREE!  This probably sounds corny to some of you but my grandparents lived through the depression and these are the things they did and my grandpa still has depression chips because he didn't even have to use all of them because he was very frugal and smart and he had 6 kids.  Waste not, Want not was what he lived by.  Must of worked!

    I am strapped with money this week but still want to have decent meals and I am one who likes something sweet sometime after dinner so I am going to make a list of frugal desserts and snacks that I don't have to buy very much to make and make ahead so I can relax with everyone else this weekend (well as much as a mom can relax).

  Hoping to go fishing this weekend with the kids.  Its frugal fun and hopefully we would come home with a couple meals!  I love to fish and haven't been able to do it very much but I am determined to start going at least once a month.

  I think there will be a walk this weekend with the family and play a game with the kids also.  After all week  of hard work at our homeschool the kids deserve to have some fun activities.

   What do all of you do for frugal fun with the family on the weekend?   What meals and snacks do you cook?  

FRUGAL FOOD STORAGE, DINNER AND EVEN DESSERT!

  Well I decided to try to make a mexican casserole with what I have in the house.  I didn't have soft corn tortilla shells but  I did have hard taco shells so I will use those in the layers and they will soften while cooking.  I didn't have a can of black beans but I did have a bag of dried black beans so I looked at the directions on the back for quick cooking.  It said to put  them in a pan and cover with water by two inches over beans and boil for 2 minutes and then set aside with a cover for one hour.  After that hour drain and add water again and boil till tender, rinse and drain.

 It usually calls for burger but I used chopped turkey I had in freezer.  I used a couple tsp.'s of butter in a fry pan and cooked 1 medium chopped onion and 1 green pepper then added 2 cups of chopped turkey, 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, a package of taco seasoning, couple tsp sugar to taste, salt, pepper, and a few squirts of red hot.  Any of these can be adjusted to taste.  Add the black beans and stir.  Layer in large oiled casserole  pan with whatever cheese you like.  I had a half bag of mozzarella, part of a bag of cheddar and half a bar of velvetta.  I crumbled some of the shells on top covered with foil and baked 1 hr on 350 degree's.

  My kids are going to  ask for dessert later so I figured I better get on it.  I checked the cupboard and I am out of alot but I had a big can of peaches and I have ice cream so I decided to make a chunky peach syrup for over vanilla ice cream.  I took the can of peaches and the juice I had saved out of a can of peaches I used for peach cobbler this last weekend and put in a pan with corn syrup(out of sugar), cornstarch, dash of salt and dash of cinnamon and boiled for a few minutes stirring constantly so corn syrup doesn't burn then remove from burner stir in a tsp of vanilla.  I put
mine in an empty applesauce container that I saved.

  I cleaned out a cupboard today and dedicated it to all my containers I save to reuse. It will hold food I want to freeze or just keep in the fridge.  I am keeping all my applesauce, pickle, spices, boullion, cottage cheese, ice cream buckets,sour cream, ketchup, mustard, etc. containers so  I do not have to buy any.  These containers have come in so handy lately.  Its  a comfort to me to know that anytime I need a container to send  food with anyone or want to freeze something I have any size I want right at my fingertips and it cost me nothing!  I don't need fancy containers when I use these it is such a sense of satisfaction to know I have what I need and it was FREE and I am not wasting!  I always say I wished I lived in the Little House on the Prairie days when it wasn't what kind of things you had it was just good that you had it at all.  Have a good night!

MY DAILY ROUTINE

  Eyes open, its that few seconds before you realize all that you have to do today.   I hear kids, my older ones got up with the grandbabies and gave them breakfast, good, now I can actually get a shower and get dressed before I go out of  my room.  My day goes so much smoother when I can stick to my routine.
I used to be the one that once my eyes were open I was up out of that bed, dressed and on task all day long.  Now its like get up, back hurts, stretch that out little then step out of bed and heals hurt also.  I think to myself just a few more steps to my flip flops and then smooth sailing.  Get to the shower and think I am always cold so this is not enjoyable till I am out and put back  together.  Then yes I feel like I can start the day, first hurdle jumped.

  Now out the bedroom into the hall hoping the living room is not to messed up since the kids have been up before me.  I have a certain routine in the morning.  I go to the kitchen  and if there are any dishes I load them into the dishwasher and clean off the counters (again).   I then make sure the highchairs have been washed up and sweep the floor. I can't cook until the kitchen is clean.

  I go to the living room and bring any cups into the kitchen then back to pick up whatever toys got left on the floor from night before.  Open the blinds and get the vacuum and get that done. Start to feel like I am gaining on my chores. Turn the ceiling fan on low cause by then I am finally warming up.  Back to the kitchen  to start laundry then what to cook?  Not sure.  Look in the fridge to refresh my memory of what was left over from the day before and think what I am hungry for.  I usually don't get around to eating till lunch.  Try to figure out whether to freeze left overs or serve them.  Do I feel like cooking? Sure I do. Probably will serve the Turkey noodle soup for lunch and freeze any left overs for my husband to take in his lunch for work and make something completely new for dinner.  Thats the plan then!

  I have turkey cooked, chopped and froze to put in something, pork chops, chopped and frozen chicken, frozen stock etc.  Not sure need to search web and see if there are any frugal recipes that give me any ideas, I usually never follow a recipe entirely, I always change something or add something.  I find that I like more flavor than most recipes call for.

  Have to get started!

TURKEY SOUP, VANILLA, PEANUT BUTTER NO-BAKES AND PLAYDOUGH!

  Had to add this!  So Cool!!!!

 Well I got another meal out of the turkey I cooked Friday.  I took a bowl of the  stock out of freezer and put in a stockpot with a few cups of water on  medium heat.  I chopped carrots, celery, onions, about 6 boullion cubes, and pepper then threw them in too, brought to a boil and simmered till veggies were tender.  I put a 12 oz bag of  store bought wide egg noodles in  and about 2 cups of the chopped turkey.  I simmered this until noodles were tender.  Done!

  Now everyone else laying around on computers and I am loading the dishwasher and putting the food away.  Plenty left for either lunch tomorrow or dinner.  Not sure which yet.  Grandbabies went to the church daycare today so I had a day to  get alot done and  my three kids that we homeschool had a quiet day to get alot of work done.  I made a double batch of almond flavored sugar cookies today and a batch of Vanilla Peanut Butter No-Bakes.  Grandbabies were excited to see those when they got here!  To Cute!

  Going to be 71 tomorrow so on the deck with bubbles is where we will be. Going to surf around the web and find some good ideas for "FREE" fun things to do in or outside.  Maybe I will make playdough for them all to play with.  I have a box of cookie cutters, plastic silverware, and a plastic rolling pin so it keeps the kids amused for some time for the very small cost of salt and flour.  I think my kids will probably like to do there work sitting on the deck also!  Fresh air and sunshine, a good mix!

No-Cook Playdough Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons oil
A few drops of food coloring

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients very well and store in plastic bag or covered jar.

  My plan is to teach my kids one new skill every week that I feel they need to know how to do correctly.  Like laundry and how to sort loads, how much soap, bleach, fabric softener to add, what temp to wash on and when,  how to fold the right ways, how to get stains out, etc.  We do this everyday and until you go to teach someone else you don't realize just how much more than just whipping clothes and soap in that there is to know.  

http://www.circleofmoms.com/article/teaching-kids-do-laundry-page-1-01730#     

CONTAINER GARDENING ON MY DECK

  Today I am thinking (I know way in advance) that I want to container garden on my deck this year.  I am thinking about it early because I need to get the containers.  I don't want to spend anything on containers  because its going to be my challenge not to buy any just use what I have!  To me then it really makes my food that I grow only cost what I spend on soil and my time to take care of them.  I am anxious to get growing!  One year I picked up two big metal containers by the side of the road that someone was throwing away so I have those so far.

  When we moved I took all the marigold and zinnia seeds off my dead flowers and now I have a big container full of them so I want to put some small containers on the rail of the deck with those in it to.

  Here is some of the ideas I found on the web for containers. Shows anyone CAN do this frugally and still really nice if not better and more interesting than others who spend their money on boring containers!

  I think it will be fun to find unique things to plant in!

DEPRESSION ERA (Eat Cheap)

  I was looking around on the internet today and I got to reading about the Depression Era and recipes they used in order to survive and thought I would put them on here in case someone would want to try any of them to save money.  I am planning to try a couple and see how they taste.

  I was reading that most people thought there was not enough food at that time but really their was alot of food but no-one could afford it.   So here is a large list of recipes.  If you try one or know something about one leave a message and let me know.  Here is a link you can copy and paste in your search bar to go to a page with 50 facts about the depression (very interesting).              

http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/04/12_great-depression.html

~~DEPRESSION ERA RECIPES~~

**Vintage WW1 Eggless, Milkless, Butterless Cake

1 cup water

2 cups raisins

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup lard (shortening)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Place water, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, lard (shortening), nutmeg and salt in a saucepan and mix. Place on heat and bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Allow to cool, then sift together the flour, baking soda and baking

powder. Stir into cooked mixture.

Place in a greased loaf pan and bake at 350F for one hour.

**Ritz Mock Apple Pie

The classic pie, featuring Ritz crackers baked in a golden crust, is perfect for the holidays. 

Pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie

36 RITZ Crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 3/4 cups crumbs)

1 3/4 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Grated peel of one lemon

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate. Place cracker crumbs in prepared crust; set aside. 

Heat water, sugar and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan over high heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and peel; cool. 

Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with margarine or butter; sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie. Trim, seal and flute edges. Slit top crust to allow steam to escape. 

Bake at 425°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden. Cool completely. 

**Buttermilk Johnny Cake

Believe it or not, food was actually pretty cheap during the Great Depression. The problem is, a lot of people didn't have the money to buy food, no matter what it cost. One staple item that was plentiful and cheap was corn meal. Since it often served as a main course, families had to find new and inventive ways of preparing corn meal. One favorite preparation was called Johnny Cake.

1 c. flour

1 c. cornmeal

2 eggs

1 c. buttermilk

1/3 c. sugar (if desired)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 c. oil

Pour into 8 inch baking pan. Bake 30-45 minutes.

**Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk (or 2 cups half & half)

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar (white or brown, depending on taste preference)

3 eggs

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups bread, torn into small pieces (french bread works best)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk (or half & half) just until film forms over top. Combine butter and milk, stirring until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm.

2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Slowly add milk mixture.

3. Place bread in a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart casserole.

4. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Pour batter on top of bread.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Serve warm.

If you make the sauce to put on top of your bread pudding, adjust the sugar in the bread pudding recipe, change it to 1/3 cups sugar (the sauce has the other 1/3 cup in it).

**Bread Pudding Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

2 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. flour

dash of salt

Directions:

Mix everything together and bring to a boil for 3 - 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside for 5 minutes, then pour on warm bread pudding

**Rice Pudding

Grease a glass 9" x 13" glass baking dish with solid shortening.

Preheat oven to 300F.

Ingredients:

½ cup long grain white rice

½ cup sugar

1 can evaporated milk, diluted to make one qt [must use evaporated milk]

1 cup raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

Cinnamon to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients except cinnamon in pan. Generously sprinkle top with cinnamon . At least once during the baking, stir cinnamon crust into the rice and sprinkle top again with cinnamon. Let bake until rice is tender, or approximately 1 ½ hours. Let cool and serve either warm or cold.

History:

It seems like every culture around the world has their version of rice pudding. It is a cheap yet tasty luxury which can be eaten as a desert or snack. Again, this is an example of the starchy, "stick to your ribs" fare that was popular during the Great Depression. 

**Vegetable Soup

1 quart boiling water

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup cabbage

1 cup potatoes

1 cup tomato juice and pulp

1 tablespoon minced onion

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 tablespoons fat (lard)

4 cloves

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons salt

4 peppercorns

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Heat onion, pepper, salt, bay leaf, and peppercorns with tomatoes for 20 minutes, over flame or on stovetop.

Add other ingredients to mixture and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add parsley before serving.

**Potato & Cheese Soup

2 cups cooked diced potatoes

2 cups of water (use the same in which the potatoes were cooked)

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons onion juice

2 tablespoons fat (or lard)

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1/8 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons of parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup grated cheese (if available)

Dice potatoes and cook slowly until very tender.

Rub through strainer using the potato and the water.

Melt fat, and add dry ingredients. Gradually add the liquids and onion juice.

Sprinkle parsley and cheese on top when ready to serve.

**Stovetop Baked-Beans

1/2 cups beans

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon shortening (or lard)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup tomato catsup

1/4 cup water

In medium saucepan, brown chopped onion in shortening or lard.

Add beans, brown sugar, catsup, and water.

Stir and cook over low heat and stir for 15 minutes.

**POOR Man's Casserole

1 small head of cabbage

2 large potatoes

1 large onion, diced

1 1/2 pounds of hamburger

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less. depending on taste

pepper to taste

dash of paprika

Cut cabbage into cubes, salt and pepper to taste and cook until well done. Drain. Peel and quarter potatoes. Salt and cook until well done. Drain and mash potatoes with butter but make sure the mash potatoes are on the dry side. Place hamburger in large skillet, add onion and cook until well done. Drain off all the fat. Stir in the cumin. Line baking dish at least 3" inch deep with cabbage. Place meat mixture on top of cabbage. Cover the top with the mash potatoes, sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 25 minutes at 350/o. makes 4 large servings. In the casserole you had your whole meal. Meat potatoes and your vegetable. 

**Beef Casserole

1 cup rice

1 quart canned tomatoes

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

little pepper

1 small onion

1 pound ground beef 

Wash rice thoroughly. Add tomatoes, add seasonings, half the salt and pepper and all the sugar. Let stand for about 2 hours, then add ground beef seasoned with remaining salt, pepper, and the minced onion. Mix all well. Pour into casserole, cover and bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hour, then uncover and continue to bake for 30 minutes. If tomatoes are a solid pack, it may be necessary to add just a little water to the mixture. Serves 4 

**Hot Dog Casserole

1 large green pepper, cut into long slivers

1 large onion, cut in half, then in long slivers

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons bacon fat

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2" inch pieces

8 hot dogs, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

8 ounces tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

dash cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Preheat the oven at 350/o. In a large frying pan, place green pepper, onion, and garlic in bacon drippings.Saute until slightly tender but not soft. Set the pan aside. Place potatoes in a large saucepan filled with salted water. Cook the potatoes at a slow boil for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. To prepare sauce, put tomato sauce, water, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well. Add the sauteed vegetables, potatoes and hot dogs to the sauce. Mix well. Place the mixture into a greased 2 quart casserole dish or pan. Cover the dish and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes. Allow the dish to set for a few minutes before serving. 

**Scalloped Corn

1 can corn

3 eggs

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups sweet milk

1/2 cup soda cracker crumbs

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Beat eggs separately, put 1 teaspoon of butter in baking dish and 2 tablespoons butter melted butter into cracker crumbs. Add yokes of eggs, milk, salt and sugar to corn, fold in whites of eggs. Bake in casserole dish for fifty minutes in moderate oven. 

**Stuffed Cabbage

1 medium head cabbage

2 ounces pork, chopped fine

2 ounce veal

2 tablespoons butter

2 egg yokes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon onion

1 cup crumbs

1 pimento

Parboil cabbage, drain and let cool. Open leaves and scoop out center of cabbage, save the center and chopped it fine, add bread crumbs, moistened with butter, add meat, seasoning and the cabbage that has been chopped fine. Mix these all together. Stuff into the cavity of the cabbage. fold the leaves back over, and tie with a string to hold. Bake in moderate oven for about 3 hours. 

**Spanish Rice

6 slices chopped bacon

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green peppers

2 cans canned tomatoes

3 cups cooked rice

1 cup uncooked rice { makes about 3 cups of cooked rice }

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Fry bacon until crisp, remove bacon, then cook onion and green peppers until the onion turns a yellow color. Add all remaining ingredients to the bacon and onion mixture. Bake in greased casserole dish, at 350/o for 30 minutes. If desired sprinkle grated american cheese over the top before baking This recipe will serve 8. 

**Poor Man's Bread

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Water

Stir in enough water to make a batter and pour into greased skillet.{ use a cast iron skillet. Fry until brown on each side like a pancake. Taste great with homemade butter and jam. 

**Quick, Muffins

1/2 cups of flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup of butter or butter substitute

Mix into a bowl the flour, and baking powder, salt, sugar and egg. Add milk, pour gradually into the bowl with other ingredients, beating with a fork as it is added. When the mixture is smooth, add butter or butter substitute melted. Beat until the dough is smooth and creamy; this takes but a moment. Grease the tins and only fill them half with the batter.Place in hot oven 400 degrees F. Bake 25 Min. 

**Depression Cake

1 cup raisins

2 cups cold water

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream butter and sugar until real smooth. Cook raisins in water until water is reduced to 1 cup. Sift all dry ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the raisins and the liquid. Grease and flour a tube or loaf pan. Pour the cake mixture into pan and bake in a 350/o oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done when tested with a tooth pick in the center of the cake.  

**Apple Dumplings

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons shortening

1/2 cup milk

4 apples

4 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; rub shortening in lightly with finger tips. add just enough milk to make a dough. Roll out 1/8 inch thick on floured board; divide into four parts; lay on each part an apple which has been washed, parred, cored and sliced; put one teaspoon sugar with 1/4 of butter on each; wet edges of dough with cold water and fold around apple, pressing tightly together. Place in pan, sprinkle with cinnamon, remainder of sugar and put 1/4 teaspoon butter on each dumpling. Bake about 40 minutes in moderate oven 350/o. 

**Fried Macaroni and cheese

1 pound macaroni

3 to 4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 pound margarine or butter

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook macaroni in water and the salt until tender. Drain. In a large skillet, heat the butter or margarine, pour the well drained macaroni into the skillet. Beat the eggs as for scrambled, pour this over the macaroni. Fry on medium heat. Add the shredded cheese over the top and cook until the eggs, macaroni, and cheese are all blended and a golden brown on both sides. 

**Wilted lettuce

1 large bowl of fresh clean garden picked lettuce pieces

8 slices of bacon fried and crumbled. {more if you like}

1 small onion diced small

3 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons sugar

Break lettuces into a large bowl and salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients to bacon fat in frying pan. {use not more than 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat} Bring this to a boil stirring constantly, pour over the lettuce, toss lightly with salad fork and spoon until the lettuce is wilted. 

*My grandpa made this for us when I was a little kid but he used dandelion greens.  He is 99 years old this year!

**DEPRESSION MEXICAN RICE  

2 c. uncooked rice

1 lg. can whole tomatoes

3 tsp. chili powder

1 lg. onion

1 lb. bacon

3 c. water

Cut bacon into quarter pieces. Brown until done. Drain some fat off. Wash rice and put in with bacon. Cut up onion. Add tomatoes and chili power. Stir and cook 10 minutes. Add water. Cook until done.

**Depression Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup evaporated milk

2 slices bread

1/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

Directions

In a large bowl, pour milk over bread. Let stand until the milk is absorbed. Add onion, salt and pepper. Stir with fork until bread softens and is light and fluffy. Mix in ground beef. In a shallow baking dish, shape into a 7-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until no pink remains. Yield: 4 servings.

**DEPRESSION MAYONNAISE CAKE  

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2/3 c. cocoa

1 c. mayonnaise

1 c. water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. sugar

Beat. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in tube pan.

**1929 DEPRESSION CASSEROLE  

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

Kidney beans (1 can)

5 sliced raw lg. potatoes

3 sliced raw onions

10 oz. bottle catsup

Salt, pepper and garlic powder

Green pepper

Brown ground beef and flavor with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In 9 x 13 inch casserole pan layer kidney beans, sliced raw potatoes, sliced onion, diced green pepper, top with ground beef, and cover with catsup, repeat with a second layer in same order. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Uncover during the last 15 minutes of baking. May need to add small amount of water if too dry.

Turkey Sloppy Joes and Peach Cobbler!

  I took almost all of the meat off the bones of the turkey I baked last night and chopped it into a cake pan and added ketchup, mustard, molasses, garlic, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, small amount of left over bbq sauce had in fridge, touch of cinnamon, onions, green pepper, brown sugar, red hot (how ever hot you want it).  Stir, taste, bake until thick and bubbly.  When  it got done we had it on the homemade hamburger buns that I talked about in the last post with shredded cheddar cheese.

                                                SO GOOD AND SO FRUGAL!!!!!!


  Now I took the carcass of the turkey and broke it down and put it into two stockpots and added salt and pepper then water to cover turkey and threw on the stove to boil for awhile to make stock for the freezer to use later in the week in stew, rice, or chicken soup.

  When done pour it through a fine strainer and sit in fridge overnight.  The next day the fat will all harden on the top and you will be able to scrape it off.  Then you can either freeze or use.  Stock is expensive so you are saving alot of money here!  This is alot of stock just from boiling carcass of turkey!

  We've all eaten and now everyone's looking at me because dessert a little later is sounding really good and there is nothing made.

  When I went grocery shopping on Friday I went to Food Lion and they,alot of the time, will have close- outs on the shelves and whatever it is its marked down considerably.  I got large cans of peaches 1.29 a can that are usually 1.99 a can.  I bought all 8 cans that they had because at a time like this when everyone wants dessert and I do not feel like making some long drawn out recipe I can whip together a peach cobbler in minutes and it will be delicious and cheap to make!

PEACH COBBLER RECIPE
Batter:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup room temperature milk
1 room temperature egg
Filling
1 (28 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions:
1.Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2.Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.
3.Stir in milk & egg.
4.Pour evenly over melted butter.
5.Combine peaches, sugar & spices and spread over batter-DO NOT STIR!
6.Bake 35-45 minutes at 350°F until batter comes to the top and is golden brown.

Homemade Hamburger Buns (DELISH)

   These Homemade Hamburger Buns turned out so good that I wanted to put them on here in case anyone else wanted to make them.  You make the dough in the BREADMAKER. Very Easy!!

Ingredients:

Servings:
12
Units: US | Metric
1 1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed
1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions:
1.Place all ingredients in pan of bread machine according to manufacturer's directions.
2.Select dough setting.
3.When cycle is complete, turn out onto floured surface.
4.Cut dough in half and then each half in half.
5.Cut each of the 4 pieces in 3 pieces so you have 12 total.
6.Place on greased baking sheet far apart and brush with melted butter.
7.Cover and let rise until doubled, about one hour.
8.Bake at 350° for 9 minutes.
9Note: Oven temperatures vary so check after 9 minutes to see if done. Some reviewers baked these anywhere from 12 to 30 minutes.
10.I brushed the tops with butter after they were done also (optional).

  I am going to freeze a couple of these cause I made 24 to many for today and see how well they hold up and then I will post if they do or don't.  I have a feeling I will not be buying buns again at the store.  Once you taste these the store bought are kind of a joke (in comparison).

BUSY BUSY SATURDAY!!

  I was going to sleep in today but the dogs thought otherwise.  I don't think I would be in such a big hurry to go out in the ice.  They ran out the door like they were free until they realized what it was like out there and they all ran did there business and was back to the door in 5 minutes.  Well I'm up time to get started!

  I got my list that I made when I went to bed now to by pass the living room without looking at it or I will stop and clean it before getting to the kitchen ( too late I seen it, oh no!) and I need to get the breadmakers loaded to make homemade hamburger  buns for todays turkey sloppy joes and I am making 12 extra to freeze for later.

  The grandbabies had alot of fun in the living room while we all watched  Kitchen Nightmares with Gorden Ramsey so it is a disaster and I like it to be clean before I sit down to watch tv or be on the computer. Oh well they had alot of fun!

    Ok off to the kitchen I will have to come back to this in a minute.  I stayed up last night and cooked the turkey I had been thawing in the fridge for the past few days so I could de-bone it today to make the sloppy joes and probably a few more meals also since in weighed 28 lbs.  Paid 10 dollars for it so very frugal.

  Well I also need to tackle the laundry mountain today while I cook its a good thing my washer is right off the kitchen.

 Will be back with pictures in awhile!  Hopefully with clean living room pix and an organized laundry room!

MY IDEA OF PANTRY STAPLES

 I have two different pantry staple lists.  One list is when money is very tight and one is when money is not so tight. So here they are.  If I forget something I will add them on as I remember them.

~Very Basic Pantry and Fridge Staples~

White Flour (Bread, Muffins, Pancakes, Fried bread, Pizza dough, Bread sticks, Cake, coating, thickening 

                     agent, Pancakes, Waffles, Tortilla shells, French Toast with the bread, etc.)

Sugar

Brown Sugar ( Sprinkled with butter over fried bread for a dessert, in baked beans, in cookies, etc.)

Powdered Sugar (Frosting, Sprinkling on Cupcakes or cake, etc.,)

Chocolate Chips

Cocoa (Homemade chocolate syrup, No bake cookies, Chocolate pudding, Chocolate cake, etc.)

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Vanilla (Vanilla pudding, Custard, Banana cream pudding, etc.,)

Rice (Rice Pudding, Casseroles, Cabbage rolls, Chicken and rice, in chicken soup instead of noodles, etc.)

Dried Pinto and Black Beans (ean soup, Chili,Refried beans, Black bean and chicken burritos, Black bean 

              salsa, black or pinto bean veggie burgers, etc.,)

Pasta ( Goulash, in soups, Tuna casserole, Pizza pasta, Taco pasta,  Macaroni and cheese, Macaroni  

             salad, etc.,)   

Canned Tomatoes (Diced and Sauce)

Canned Vegetables (Corn, Green Beans, Peas)

Potatoes ( Potato salad, Scalloped potatoes, Fried potatoes, hashbrowns, mashed potatoes, potato soup

                 Shepards pie, Baked potato w/sour cream, aked potato with chili over, Loaded baked, French 

                 fries, Chunked up in stew, etc.)

Onions

Carrots (baked, roasted, in soups, boiled dinners, carrot cake, carrot cake muffiins, in chicken pot pie,etc.)

Celery (Chopped in potato salad, chicken noodle or rice soup)

Lettuce (Salad, Sandwiches)

Tomatoes (Salad, Toasted Tomato sandwich)

Cucumber (Cucumber salad, on salads, sliced on veggie tray)

Salad Dressing (Sandwiches, Potato salad, Macaroni salad, Chicken salad, etc.,)

Apples ( just for eating, Apple pie, Apple tart, Applesauce, Baked apples, Apple muffins, Cake, Mini pies,  

             mini tarts, etc.)

Banana's ( Banana cream pudding, Banana muffiins, Cake, Bread, Pancakes, Cookies, Waffles, etc. )

Eggs ( Egg salad, in baked goods, Deviled eggs, in potato salad, Macaroni salad, Scrambled eggs, Omelets, 

          Quiche, Egg noodles, Boiled eggs, Poached eggs, etc.)

Mayo

Mustard

Ketchup

Raisins (Rice Pudding, Oatmeal Cookies, Cake, Chicken Salad, Salad, etc.,)

Stick Butter (in place of shortening in recipes)

Seasonings (Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Poultry Seasoning,

                    Cinnamon, Italian Seasoning)

Oatmeal (Oatmeal cookies,Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, Oatmeal peanut butter cookies, Oatmeal                                                                                                                   

                and fruit  in crockpot, Oatmeal jam bars, Oatmeal cake, Oatmeal cinamon muffins, blended into      

                smoothies,No-bake cookies, etc.)

Peanut Butter (Peanut butter cookies, Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cChocolate chip peanut butter 

                       cookies,  Peanut butter muffins, Peanut butter pie, etc.)

Grape Jam ( cause its cheap)

Cheese- Cottage, Mozarella, Cheddar

Chicken (Can be boiled so stock can be used or frozen and chicken taken off the bones

               and used in place of expensive beef in tacos, Burritos, Chicken salad, Soup, Chili,

                Chicken pot pie, etc.)

Chicken Boullion (add long cooking flavor to soups, stews)

Cabbage (Cabbage Rolls, Coleslaw, in stew, Creamed cabbage, etc.,)

Applesauce (in place of part of butter in cake, Applesauce muffins, Applesauce cake, etc.,)

~Expanded Pantry Staples in addition to above~

Whole Wheat Flour

Shortening

Molasses (aked beans, Molasses cake, etc.)

Dried Great Northern Beans (Beans Soup, White chicken chili, etc.)

Dried Kidney Beans (Chili, Soups, etc.)

Dried Lentils (Lentil veggie burgers, Lentil chili, etc.)

Dried Split Peas (Pea Soup)

Lasagna Noodles (Lasagna Roll-ups, Mexican Lasagna Roll-ups, Lasagna, Breakfast Lasagna, etc,)

Onion Powder

Cumin (Chili)

Basil (Spaghetti, Minestrone, Italian Soups, Pizza Sauce)

Oregano ( Italian Dishes)

Lemon Pepper (Lemon Pepper Chicken, Sprinkled in Chicken Noodle or Rice Soup)

Cajun

Parsley (in Egg Noodles)

Thyme (Stuffing)

Shredded Coconut

Almonds

Pecans

BBQ Sauce ( Chicken bbq's, Beef bbqs, etc.,)

Sour Cream (on baked potatoes)

Parmesan Cheese

Honey (Honey Whole Wheat Bread)

Apple Cider Vinegar (mixed with sugar and mayo for coleslaw dressing, poured over sliced cucumbers

         or tomatoes as a salad, delish)

Raspberry Jam (put in Oatmeal Bars, Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Thumbprint Cookies, etc.,)

Strawberry Jam ( "    "     "     "     " )

Almond Flavoring

Lemon Juice

Lemons

Ground Beef (Meatloaf, Burgers, Goulash, Spaghetti, Lasagna, Soups, Stew in place of stew meat, Meat-

                       balls, Tacos, Burritos, etc.,

Pepperoni (Turkey is what I use, mini pizzas, regular pizza)

English Muffins (mini pizzas, breakfast pizzas, egg sandwiches, etc.,)

Tomato Paste (Tomato Sauces, Stews, Chili, Goulash, etc.,)

Stewed Tomatoes (Stews, Chili, Italian Soups, Goulash, etc.,)

Corn Meal (Corn Pudding, Corn Bread, etc.,)

Green Peppers (Stuffed Peppers, Cut up on pizza's, in scrambled eggs, in sauces or soups, etc.,)

            ~ HALF OF MY  PANTRY BEFORE STOCKING~

          ~THE PANTRY I "WISH" I HAD~

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

  I just found this recipe and tried it and it is delicious!  Its not as thick as store bought  but its not full of corn syrup!  It is very rich because of the cocoa.  My kids love it.  I washed out an empty mayonaise jar to store it in the fridge.  I make a double batch at a time so it lasts longer.  A double batch makes a mayo jar full to top.  It would be good over ice cream also!

CHOCOLATE SYRUP

½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Mix the cocoa powder and the water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Boil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Be careful not to let it get too hot and boil over! Add the salt and the vanilla. Let cool. Pour into a clean glass jar, and store in the refrigerator. Keeps for several months, but trust me it will be gone before then. Yields two cups.

TIME TO GROCERY SHOP!

  Getting ready to head to the store for a few groceries.  Have to make sure I have a list and a plan for the meals I am going to make so I don't overspend.  There is double coupon to $2.00 which is great but when you go and something that would have been 6 bucks ends up being 2 bucks you think "oh my gosh, what a deal I saved 4 bucks" but really if you don't need it, you are out 2 bucks that you could have bought a whole bag of flour which would make tons of bread then you are spending money when you don't need to.  I always figure unless my pantry is full of  what I consider staple items then I buy nothing else until it is stocked because when you have the right staple items you can make a meal just from those items.  I will list what I consider "staple" items later today and a few ideas of what you could conjure up with them.

                                                   ~ COUPON HOLDER IDEA~

   They say eat before you go to the store well this picture shows what happens if you do eat or if you don't eat at all!   Happy medium, eat a little!

Weekend Preparation (HOMEMADE POTATO SALAD!)

Thursday's are the day I figure out what I have in the pantry or freezer that I can cook on Friday for the weekend.  I usually always spend Sat. doing something away from the house and if I have something prepared or in the crockpot waiting for us to get there and eat then we are way less likely to go out to eat.  Also I try to make it a favorite of everyone so we actually look forward to coming home to it and not bummed that we aren't going out to something better.

For today I had boiled 5 lbs of potatoes whole yesterday and took them out of the water and refrigerated them to make potato salad today. Potato salad is pretty frugal.  I got my potatoes for 3.47 for 10 lbs so it took 1.75 for the potatoes.  I boiled 10 eggs (1.00) and peeled them. Then I scraped the peeling off the potatoes and cut them into medium chunks into a large bowl.  .

Then I chopped all the eggs and 1 large onion and dumped those in.

Then I dumped in 3/4 jar of salad dressing, 3 Tbsp of mustard, 3 Tbsp sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all together well and then taste and adjust any one of the ingredients till its the way you want it.

Delish and is way cheaper and better tasting than the store bought.

  I had left over pinto beans from the veggie burgers so I put them in a baking dish and poured some bbq sauce, brown sugar, molasses, salt, pepper, pancake syrup and a dash of cinnamon in and stirred it up.  Taste and adjust any one thing and bake until thick and bubbly.

  Then I took 5 lbs of chicken leg quarters ($1.75) and simply placed them in an oiled cooking sheet and sprinkled with seasoned salt and baked for an hour approx.  Alot of food for little cost plus I had left overs for the next day for lunch.

  I have the turkey I talked about in the last post thawing in the fridge for roasting on Friday.  My plan is to look through some websites for turkey recipes and go from there.  I am thinking some bbq's one of the days but we will see what find that sounds good.  I will have a ton of turkey so I can make probably 4 meals. Some for eating and some for freezing for a busy day.

  One thing I do to save money is run 2 breadmakers at a time.  I either make 2 batches of dough to freeze for quick pizza later or I will make 2 loaves of bread so there is 1 for dinner and 1 for french toast or lunches the next day.  You can pick up breadmakers for 5 bucks a piece at yard sales all the time.  I see them at goodwill all the time also.  Good investment!

  We are expecting some freezing rain here in NC tomorrow starting at noon till 10 at night and again on Sat. morning so I am planning on this being a weekend that we will be staying indoors and at home.  Not sure what we will do.  Should do some organizing and sorting because I looked on craigslist and found a church that is doing a clothing swap in Feb. and that is the perfect chance for my kids to go shopping for free.  They will enjoy that.  I sit a box in the hallway of my house and its usually the goodwill box but now its for the clothes swap.

   I am also using all the t-shirts with holes or stains to make homemade baby wipes. Its suprising how many wipes you get out of one t-shirt you would have thrown away.  This isn't just for if you have babies. You can make these to keep in your car for quick clean-ups also.  You can toss or bag to wash at home.  Either way you are saving money and it is a good feeling to know you can have all the conveniences that people who go out and spend alot of money to have and it costs you nothing!

  I found a math bingo game I had bought at a yard sale awhile ago and I thought I could play this with the kids this weekend for prizes.  I thought I would take a couple sheets of paper and cut them into like 2 x 2 pieces and think up prizes for them to win like  1 extra hour of tv, 1 extra hour on computer, a bubble bath with my special bath foam, choice of what movie we watch that night, a sleep over, pick out of 3 choices of desserts I would make or they could make, use my makeup, ride in the front seat of the car next time, sit in the favorite chair, choice of chairs for a whole day, no chores for a day, etc, etc, etc.  FREE and FUN!

  Well should go look at the cookbooks and websites for the turkey recipes.  Will be back tomorrow with what I find.  Have a great night!