$10 Dinners part 10

Well, its been a few days since I posted, and I figure I better get back on the ball here. I promised 100 recipes and I plan on delivering!

Today I had about 1 hour until supper and 3 pieces of cooked leftover chicken. I put those 3 pieces on to boil and called 2 of my kids into the kitchen to help make noodles. There are many noodle recipes and I'm sure everyone has a favorite, but the simplest egg noodle recipe is just eggs and flour. A pinch of salt if you really want it is also added. A chef taught me this one. You make a pile of flour on the table or in a bowl, crack 1-2 eggs into the center of it, whisk the eggs with a fork and start incorporating the flour. I would guess about 1 egg to every cup of flour. It depends on the size of your eggs and the moisture content of your flour. I used whole wheat flour. Then when you have a ball that isn't too sticky, start rolling it or putting it through your noodle maker. I have an old hand-cranked one which I really love. Drop noodles into boiling water or broth and boil for 7-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your noodles. These are so cheap they're almost free! (And the taste is fantastic!)

Anyway, back to the pot of water boiling with the 3 pieces of chicken in it. After about 20 minutes, I took the chicken out and stripped off the meat. I returned the meat to the pot, added bouillon cubes (I use the kind with no MSG), chopped carrot, onion and celery, and 1/2 cup frozen peas. In about 6 minutes the veggies were tender so I started adding the noodles. Add them 1 by 1, so that the water continues to boil. If you dump them all in at the same time, they may stick together and create a big stuck-together mass.

This recipe is very cheap, but hard to put a price to. The eggs I buy are 10 cents each (from a farm.) The flour probably 10c. The chopped veggies and peas probably 50c. The chicken probably 1.50 and the bouillon cubes probably 20c. That makes a grand total of $2.50 which sounds hard to believe, but the water in the soup carries all the flavors and helps to fill up tummies. I made peach cobbler for dessert (see March 21, 2009 post). The approximate cost to that is $3.00

Let's put it all together:

16. Menu: Chicken soup with homemade noodles and peach cobbler
Shopping List: 3 chicken pieces or leftover bones with meat on, 1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery and carrot, 1/2 c frozen peas, 1-2 eggs, 1-2 cups flour, peach cobbler ingredients (see March 21, 2009 post)

For soup and noodle instructions, see above. Make cobbler and put in oven to cook while you're eating. After the hearty soup, the cobbler will be done and ready nice and hot to eat. Total Cost = $5.50

Now how's that for a great meal with very little cost? I hope you like it too.

$10 Dinners part 9

14. Menu: Mexican cornbread squares and salad
Shopping List: 2 Cornbread mixes (or make your favorite recipe), milk & eggs, 1 lb ground beef, chili powder and/or cumin, 1/2 c chopped onion, 1 1/2 cup salsa, bag of lettuce salad(or make your own.)

Pre-heat oven to temperature on cornbread mix. Scramble-fry the ground beef and onion, adding a little chili powder and/or cumin to taste. (We use 1 tsp each.) Using a sprayed 9x13 pan, cover the bottom with ground beef and then layer the salsa over top. Mix up the cornbread batter using eggs and milk. Evenly spread over the salsa and meat. Place in oven and bake until cornbread is done.

Take out of oven and cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge to release from pan. Place a flat pan or plate large enough to cover the cornbread over top and grab each end of both pans with potholders. Carefully and quickly flip (invert) pans so that the cornbread squares come out of the pan and onto the plate for cutting and serving. This makes a very nice presentation. Serve with salad on the side. Pass the dressing.

Alternate Method: Place half of the cornbread batter in greased pan and then sprinkle with ground beef. Layer in the remaining cornbread batter and then bake. When squares are removed from pan the ground beef will be in the middle layer. Serve with salsa on top. Total Cost: $7.95

15. Menu: Chicken Dinner Quick (To buy on your way home from work)
Shopping List: BBQ chicken, 1-2 pkg refrigerator biscuits, 1 can gravy, (For the fruit or vegetable, just use something you already have at home; froz veg or can of fruit or fresh veggies in fridge that need to be used up.)

Method: Make biscuits while setting table and warming gravy. Prepare your fruit or veggie. Serve chicken with hot biscuits and gravy to go over top and veggie. Ready in a snap. Total cost: $8.80

$10 Dinners part 8

12. Menu: Sausage-Pepper-dogs and macaroni salad
Shopping list: Italian spiced beef sausages, hot dog buns, 1 red pepper, 1 sweet onion, butter, mustard, boxed macaroni salad mix (or make your favorite recipe.)

Make macaroni salad according to package directions; refrigerate. Meanwhile, cook sausages. Drain pan and use a dab of butter to saute red pepper strips with sliced onions until soft and golden. Serve sausages in buns topped with pepper and onion mixture. Serve macaroni salad on the side and pass the mustard. Total cost = $8.90

13. Menu: Vegetarian bean soup and toast or crusty bun
Shopping list: 2 small zucchini, sliced, 1 cup each of chopped onion, celery, carrot; 2 tbsp oil, 5 cups vegetable broth, 1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained, 1 can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained (beans are approx. 15 oz cans), 1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes (don't drain tomatoes), 1/2 tsp each thyme and oregano. Pepper to taste.

Use oil to saute onions, celery, carrots and zucchini in large pot. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Serves 7. Pass the toast or rolls. Total cost = $6.00 or less for soup. Make your own buns or buy discount.

$10 Dinners part 7

11. Menu: Beef Soup in a Hurry, biscuits
Shopping list: 1 can beef stew, 1 can stewed tomatoes and their juice, 1 can condensed vegetable-beef soup, undiluted, 1 can whole kernel corn, drained, 1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce. Homemade biscuits or made from a can of biscuit dough. Total cost with homemade biscuits: $6.40

Open cans and add together; heat. Make biscuits. Serve both nice and warm. Feeds 6.

$10 Dinners part 6

How to get a lot out of poultry: There are a lot of ways to buy poultry these days. I'm referring mostly to chickens and turkeys, as cornish hens, duck and goose are too pricey for everyday fare, and require specialized cooking.

You can buy skinless, boneless chicken. You can choose whole chicken, uncooked or whole BBQ chickens. You can choose cut-up chicken pieces. You can choose breaded or unbreaded chicken strips. You can choose chicken patties- cheap but not exactly all real chicken. Of course, there are also chicken nuggets. You may be wondering which of these choices gives you the most for your money. I really think that depends on how you prepare them, how much you serve per person, and whether you shop for the deals.

Some people swear by the skinless, boneless chicken. The cost per pound is greater, but there's no doubt that it is quick and easy to use and there is absolutely no wasted parts. Chicken pieces on the other hand, appear to be cheaper per pound but you don't eat the skin or bones. (Well, let me retract the "you don't eat the skin" part because I know that some people do. But we know its not as healthy as the meat.)

I have often noticed that the whole BBQ chickens that you can buy cooked and warm and ready to serve are cheaper than buying a whole chicken and cooking it yourself. So, to choose between these two options, you need to compare costs, and also ask yourself how you wanted to cook the chicken. If you wanted to stuff it and bake it with certain seasonings, for example, you would want to purchase it raw and cook it at home. If you just want cooked chicken, you might choose the BBQ chicken. They are very tender and juicy.

Sometimes I buy those processed chicken cutlets- you know the breaded ones, that are made out of a combination of chicken meat and soy protein. They are seasoned and only need warming as they are pre-cooked. They are like a large flat chicken nugget, almost. My kids enjoy these in a hamburger bun, with fixings inside like tomato, lettuce and pickles to make a chicken burger. They are quick to prepare and are inexpensive. The drawback is they are processed, and thus contain additives and preservatives. So don't eat them too often. Serve with citrus fruit which helps to negate the effects of the preservatives.

When I want to buy and serve turkey, I just go for the best deal I can find. I don't buy a certain brand or anything. I have never bought them pre-stuffed so I don't know how they compare in price.

Here are my tips on how to get a lot out of your poultry purchase:

1. Skinless, boneless chicken: Because it is a high quality meat with no waste, you can serve less per person and still make it cost-effective.
2. Bone-in whole chicken: You can make 3 different meals out of it. 1) Bake it and serve pieces cut off of the bird, like you would with turkey. Do the same with chicken (don't give each person a whole piece because you are going to use the bones) 2) Strip away as much remaining chicken as you can for chicken salad, chicken wraps or chicken casserole. 3) Boil the bones to remove as much remaining strands of meat and flavor as you can for chicken soup. This is the biggest reason I usually buy bone-in chicken. Price is better and I can get 3 meals out of one chicken (even for 7 people.) When the BBQ chickens go on sale I buy those. Even though they are generally smaller birds, the meat is supreme and I didn't have to cook it, which saves energy (mine and electrical) and time.

Enough of the rambling and on to the $10 recipes for today.

9. Menu: Chicken burgers, lime & carrot salad
Shopping list: chicken patties (1 each), hamburger buns, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, relish, mustard, etc (whatever you like in a burger), 2 pkg lime jello, 3 large carrots, shredded fine. Total Cost = $9.50

Warm precooked patties by placing in 325 oven covered with foil for about 20 minutes or fry in a frying pan. Serve with buns and fixings. The jelly salad is made ahead of time by preparing 2 pkgs of lime jello according to package directions. Stir in finely shredded carrot. Let set.

10. Menu: Taco Rice and tortillas
Shopping list: 1/2 lb ground beef, 1/4 c chopped onion, 1/4 c chopped celery, 1 pkg taco seasoning, 1 1/2 cups cold water, 1 c frozen corn, 1 c frozen peas or mixed vegetables, 1 can tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, 1 1/2 c uncooked instant rice, 1 c grated cheddar cheese, 1 t chili powder, 2 Tbsp sliced canned jalapeno peppers (optional.) Corn or flour tortillas, sour cream. Total Cost = $9.00

Brown ground beef with onion and celery. Add taco seasoning, water, corn, vegetables, spices and peppers. Bring to boil. Add rice and stir. Simmer covered for 7 minutes. Turn off heat, add cheese and recover for cheese to melt. Serve on a warmed tortilla with a spoonful of sourcream on top.

$10 Dinners part 5

What to do with all those colored Easter eggs? Today we made a cobb salad.

8. Menu: Cobb salad with toast and jam. This served 8 people.
Shopping list: Lettuce (I used 3/4 of a large head of iceberg), 1/2 large green pepper-chopped, 2 carrots shredded, 2 large tomatoes chopped, 3 stalks chopped celery, 4-6 thin slices of ham (cut into thin strips), 1/2 cup chopped onion or 6 green onions chopped, 5-7 hard boiled eggs-peeled and chopped. Variety of salad dressings to serve on the side. Bread and jam.

Shred the lettuce and add all other ingredients. Slicing ham thin makes it spread around the salad and looks like there's more than there really is. Add chopped eggs last and gently toss so yolks don't disintegrate before it's served. We had run out of onions so I served it without but I sure wanted them. We ate toast and jam for "dessert." Total cost = $6.40 salad only.

$10 Dinners part 4

Today I am only going to post 1 dinner rather than the usual 3. It's Easter weekend and I have really enjoyed having my kids home from school.
I have been trying to clean out my pantry and not spend too much money on new groceries until I find some more work. I am self-employed and I do research and editing. I had been employed by someone more than 10 years and just got let-go a month ago when he lost several of his big contracts.
We put together a meal mostly out of cans the other day and it was really good, so I wanted to share it.
We named it Beans-a-roni on toast. This size fed 7 of us.

7. Menu: beans-a-roni on toast, sliced fresh vegetable (whatever you have)
Shopping List: 2-28 oz cans beef-a-roni, 1 regular-size can pork & beans, bread for toasting and margarine, 1 fresh vegetable (cucumber, carrots, etc.)
Open beefaroni and beans. Combine and warm. Make toast. Slice cucumber or carrots or whatever. Serve warmed "beans-a-roni" on toast with cucumber on the side.
Total Cost = $6.00

I think it would have tasted good with some pineapple tidbits mixed in. I will try it next time.

$10 Dinners part 3

In $10 Dinners part 2 I broke down the shopping list into each item needed and listed the prices separately so you could see how the dinner value is calculated.

Because we want to generate 100 of these $10 dinners, in the interest of time from now on I will only indicate the total cost of the dinner. Remember that is my cost and hopefully you can match or beat that cost, and save yourself even more money!

In these times when people are looking for ways to make more money, we can't forget to try to save as much of the money we are making as we can. The extra money you save on your grocery bill could be put towards savings, debt payments to pay them down faster (and save you interest!), or other items you need.

Try to have as much fun planning meals on a budget as you can. Think positive about this and you will do well and can be very proud of yourself. Remember health is important and we are trying to make nutritious meals which cover a wide range of the food groups.

Today's $10 Dinners:

4. Menu: (Mock) BBQ beef on a bun, coleslaw, orange wedges
Shopping list: 3 cans of well-drained tuna in water
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 1/2 cups of bbq sauce (homemade works great)
Combine the above ingredients in non-stick skillet. Heat thoroughly for about 10-15 minutes. Serve on discount or homemade buns.
6 cups shredded cabbage
1 shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
coleslaw dressing- bought or homemade
Combine coleslaw ingredients and blend well.
Orange wedges- 3 or 4 per person
Total = $7.98

5. Menu: Vegetable BBQ Couscous, cucumber and tomato slices and sausage patties
Shopping list: 1 lb bulk pork sausage meat
1 package frozen veg mix (corn, black beans, broccoli and red peppers)
1/2 bottle bbq sauce
1 box couscous
1 english cucumber
2 tomatoes

Make couscous according to package. Cook frozen veggies, drain and add bbq sauce. Heat together. Form sausage meat into patties and put onto cook in skillet with lid. Meanwhile, slice cucumber and tomatoes. Arrange alternate slices on a plate. Turn sausage patties over and cook on other side.
Serve veggies over couscous, with sausage patties on the side and a plate of cucumber and tomato slices.
Total cost: $7.80

6. Menu: Pinto Beans and Cornbread
Shopping List: 1 lb. dry pinto beans
1 large can tomato sauce
ham pieces or bone
one clove garlic, chopped
spices: pepper, onion powder, cayenne, garlic powder, etc.
1-2 pkg cornbread (or homemade)
Salad dressing

Directions:
Soak beans overnight in water. Drain and rinse. Put all ingredients except salad in crockpot. Add a variety of the spices if desired. Cook for 12 hours on low. Salt as needed after beans are cooked. When beans are ready, cook cornbread and serve. Leftover beans can be used in burritos the next day or frozen.
Total cost: $5.40

I hope today's recipes give you some new ideas for cooking within your budget.

$10 Dinners part 2

Okay, Here is the beginning of our list of Dinners for $10 or less.

1. Menu: Spaghetti with scrambled hamburger, salad, canned peaches
Shopping List: Spaghetti (1.85), sauce (1.00), 1/2 lb hamburger (1.25), salad (2.00), peaches(3.00)
1/4 bottle of salad dressing (.75) TOTAL = $9.85

2. Menu: Beans and meatballs with crusty rolls, carrot, celery and cucumber sticks
Shopping List: 1 Tbsp Oil, 1 onion(.20) 2 cloves garlic(.05) 1/2 cup ketchup(.15) 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp mustard, 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans(1.50), 1 can (15 oz) pork & beans(1.50), 16 small meatballs- use 1/2 lb ground beef(1.25) Crusty rolls-discount or homemade (1.00) carrot, celery and cucumber(3.00) TOTAL = $8.65

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large saucepan, warm oil and add onion and garlic; cook til tender. Add ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Bring to simmer.

Drain kidney beans and add with pork and beans to onion mixture; mix well and remove from heat. Add meatballs and pour all into 2-quart casserole. Bake 40 minutes or until bubbling.

3. Menu: Chef salad and garlic toast
Shopping List: 1 large head lettuce, iceberg or leaf (1.50) 4 eggs (.50), 6 slices thin-sliced ham (1.50), 1 shredded carrot (.20), 8 chopped green onions (.75), 1 cucumber (1.00), 2 tomatoes (1.50), discount or homemade bread(1.00), garlic powder, parmesan cheese(.50), margarine(.25), 1/2 bottle ranch dressing(1.00) TOTAL= $9.95

Directions: Hardboil eggs; cool, peel and chop into 1/8ths.
Cut ham into thin strips, shred carrot; chop green onions and cucumber. Cut tomatoes into 1/8ths. Toss salad ingredients together.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread each bread slice with margarine, sprinkle on the garlic powder and parmesan cheese. Bake in oven till crispy around edges but still soft in middle, about 5 minutes.

$10 Dinners

$10 Dinners: Quick, Easy, Cheap Meals
I have decided to postpone the bread machine posts until later because I have noticed a lot of demand lately for ideas for dinners that are in the $10 or under range.

Then if you like, you can leave comments to add to our list.

I would like to come up with a list of 100- Dinners under $10.

After that, I want to be really daring and do dinners under $5. (We might have to make that $6. We'll see!)

These dinners need to cover as many food groups as possible, and use ingredients that are available to most people.

The dinners should be able to feed 4-6 people. This depends, of course on age and appetite.

I will gear the dinners to feed my family, which is 7 but not all are big eaters.

Food is a little more expensive where I live, but I will include my prices and hopefully you can make them for less!

Chopped Bread

Quick Easy Cheap Meals are well-accompanied by some hearty, homemade bread.
Try this one:

Chopped Bread

1. Make your favorite dough in the bread machine. Whole Wheat Bread dough posted previously works great.
2. Take out the dough and pat into a 10 inch circle. In the center, add the following. Make sure all ingredients are well-drained and patted dry.

• 1 cup grated or cubed cheese
• 1/4 cup cooked meat or deli meat slices
• 1/4 cup chopped peppers and onions
  

3. Bring up edges of dough and seal around the add-ins. Chop through several times one way, and then several times the opposite way. Bread dough cubes should be about 2".
4. Lightly mix dough mixture with knife, making sure most add-ins are touching dough.
5. Place dough mixture on lightly greased baking sheet and lightly pat into a round loaf shape.
6. Let rise.
7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until puffy and brown.

Enjoy!

This chopped bread makes a nice savory loaf. If you like, make a slightly sweeter loaf by using the following for the add-ins:

• A mixture of 3 chopped apples + 1/2 cup sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon

Shape and bake as above.

This general idea can be adopted to make other tasty loaves. Just make sure your add-ins are dry so as not to get a soggy loaf.

Bread Machines

Yesterday I posted my very favorite bread recipe. We only make 100% whole wheat bread, and that recipe makes a wonderful loaf.

I have discovered, however, that the exact same recipe in a different bread machine will behave differently.

My 10 year old wonderful Black & Decker does something that not all new bread machines do. It pre-heats the ingredients before kneading. I don't know exactly why, but this seems to make a big difference when baking with whole wheat flour.

This is one reason why experimenting with a recipe and then adjusting it until it is perfect for your bread machine really is worth while.

Yes, you may have some loaves turn out less desirable. Don't waste it. Just make something else out of it. Try again. Once the recipe is perfectly suited for your bread machine, copy it into your bread machine book and it will be there whenever you need it.

When I make dough, here are some of the things I make with it:

• pizza
• cinnamon rolls
• giant pretzels
• buns
• chopped bread
• pizza buns
• bagels

Over the next few days, I will post on the dough recipe and instructions for each of the above.