Eating on a Shoestring

Feeding Your Family on a Budget

$10 or Less Dinners That Are Delicious and Economical

by Joi

Red Beans and RiceRed Beans and Rice, Page 73

I LOVE receiving new cookbooks or recipe bookazines to review on the food blog. LOVE it. Especially when they’re as outstanding as one of my most recent treasures is. Feed Your Whole Family! $10 Dinners or Less! isn’t just a must buy, it’s a must, must, must buy. This colorful and picture-packed bookazine has 84 wonderful recipes that are as kind to your bank account as they are to your taste buds. I love that these are budget friendly meals that don’t look budget friendly.

For example, I made the Red Beans & Rice (shown above) the very day Feed Your Whole Family! $10 Dinners or Less! came in the mail. The kitchen smelled amazing all day. The dish was (obviously) very pleasing to the eye and it was absolutely delicious.

For less than $10. Wow.  When you buy the bookazine (look for it on magazine stands in grocery and department stores), you HAVE to try this recipe. You’ll find it on page 73.  I was going to include the recipe with the post, but I can’t find it!  I tore it out to take to the store with me – big mistake. Normally, I jot down what I need on paper, leaving the recipe intact. But this time I was in a HUGE hurry, yadda yadda yadda.  It’s disappearance is a big fat mystery. I mean, I keep all of my loose recipes in appropriate files or recipe boxes.

One of those months.

When the recipe turns up, I’ll post it.  In the meantime, here’s the next recipe I’ll be making from this great bookazine.  It’s Cheese & Salad Pizza (from page 94).  It costs only $1.87 per serving and sounds delicious.

Cheese & Salad Pizza


1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb fresh or frozen (thawed) pizza dough
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
Salt and Pepper
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, each cut in half
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, sliced

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Grease 15-1/2″ by 10-1/2″ jelly roll pan with 1 tablespoon oil.  With fingers, pat pizza dough onto bottom and up sides of pan.
  2. Spread ricotta on dough; sprinkle with mozzarella, Romano, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.  Place pan on rack in lower third of oven.  Bake pizza 20 minutes, or until cheese is hot and bubbly and crust is browned.  Top with tomatoes and basil.

 Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

$10 Dinners or LessCan you tell how often I’ve been using this bookazine?!

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

Cooking and Eating on a Budget

by Joi

Make the Bread, Buy the ButterI was recently sent a copy of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn’t Cook from Scratch — Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods to review.

As someone who loves books, I’m always ecstatic to get a new book. As someone who’s almost always cooking and baking, a food-related book makes the ecstasy even sweeter. Finally, as someone who (like everyone else) is trying to make her dollar stretch as far as it can without ripping, I appreciated the fact that this book didn’t just have FUN on its mind. It also has FRUGALITY in mind.

Great news.

When author Jennifer Reese lost her job, she was introduced to a whole new reality. She had to look at things differently, including the food she bought. She had never before considered making her own peanut butter and pita bread, let alone curing her own prosciutto or raising turkeys.  Although she KNEW that making-it-yourself, and even growing-it-yourself made sense economically, she had her reservations. After all, could she really pull it off?!

Jennifer marched into her kitchen and began the first of many experiments. Ultimately, she found that some things are cheaper to make and some are cheaper to buy.

She considers the average, everyday American family life as she answers the following questions: When is homemade better? Cheaper? Are backyard eggs a more ethical choice than store-bought? Will grinding and stuffing your own sausage ruin your week? Is it possible to make an edible maraschino cherry?

A few of her fun discoveries: Although you should make your hot dog buns, guacamole, and yogurt, you should probably buy your hamburger buns, potato chips, and rice pudding. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it.

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter includes 120 recipes with money-saving and  practical “Make or buy” recommendations.  It’s a lot of fun to read about the author’s adventures. She writes with a lively sense of humor that leaves you wishing the book were longer than it actually is.   You’re sure to get a kick out of her food and animal husbandry adventures.  If you’re like me, you’ll also find yourself wanting your own chicken coup, goats, and maybe a cow.  Fresh eggs and milk – right out the back door? Sign me up!

Some of the recipes you’ll find in this fun and frugal book are:

  • Homemade Beef Jerky
  • Canadian Bacon
  • Baked Beans (recipe below)
  • Mozzarella
  • Ricotta
  • Whipped Cream
  • Ginger Ale (can’t wait to try this simple recipe!)
  • White Mountain Frosting
  • Birthday Cake from Scratch
  • Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Chocolate Pudding
  • Homemade Oreo Cookies
  • Fig Bars
  • Olive Pasta
  • Sweet-Hot Pickle Relish
  • Many, many more!

With each recipe, the author provides a cost comparison. You’ll see how much it costs to make the recipe yourself as compared to the most popular brands of store-bought products.

Homemade Baked Beans

( Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, page 169)
1 pound dried navy beans
1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
1/2 pound salt pork, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 apple, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

  1. Soak the beans overnight in water to cover.
  2. Drain the beans. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
  3. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven and brown the salt pork.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent. (You can use a bean pot to make this, but it generates fewer dishes to use the Dutch oven in which you fry the pork.)
  4.  To the fried pork, add the beans and all the other ingredients.  Stir well and add 6 cups of water.
  5. Bake for 3 to 4 hours, replenishing water as necessary. Midway through the cooking, taste for salt and adjust.  When they’re done, the beans should be very soft, but not falling apart.  Serve immediately or cool and store for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Makes 2-1/2 quarts beans, to serve 10.

Take a closer look at Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn’t Cook from Scratch — Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods on Amazon.

Chicken-Broccoli Casserole

A Budget Friendly Recipe That Tastes Like a Budget Buster

by Joi

Piggy Bank

It seems like most budget-friendly recipes and meals involve ground beef, don’t they? I love when chicken recipes play by the penny-pinching rules. This casserole is also a quick and easy recipe, so basically there’s nothing you won’t love about this Chicken Broccoli Casserole!

4 chicken breasts
2 pkg. frozen broccoli
1 cup grated swiss cheese
1 stick margarine
5 Tbsp. flour
1-1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Cook chicken thoroughly and discard all bones (be sure to get them all!). Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and place in a baking dish. Cook broccoli in salted water and drain well. Place broccoli on top of chicken.

Melt margarine in saucepan over medium heat. Blend in flour. Add cheese and broth and cook until thickened. Add whipping cream, stir until smooth.

Pour the creamy mixture over the chicken and broccoli. Cover with bread crumbs and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Photo Credit: Carters Smiley Happy Piggy Bank, Silver

Hot Dogs and Corn Bread

Budget Friendly Meal that's Also Fast & Easy

by Joi

Budget Friendly Meal

Budget Friendly Meal Idea: Hot Dogs and Cornbread

2 16 oz cans Pork & Beans
1 12 oz. pkg Hot Dogs (feel free to buy any variety you’d like, but Oscar Mayer Angus Beef Hot Dogs are extraordinary)
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbs Mustard (prepared)
1 box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 cup shredded cheese, shredded
Chopped green onions (optional)

 

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Transfer to a greased 9 inch square baking dish.

Prepare cornbread batter according to the directions on the box.  Stir in cheese.  Drop by spoonfuls onto bean mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped green onions or chopped sweet onions.

Yield: 6 servings

Oscar Mayer Angus Hot DogsThis isn’t your grandma’s hot dog. Oscar Mayer Angus Hot Dogs are absolutely delicious.  My favorite ways to fix them:

  • I cut them into thirds, wrap bacon around each, securing with a toothpick. Then I place them all into my crock pot (slow cooker).  I drizzle brown sugar over the whole shebang and cook on low until they’re just perfect. Delicious!
  • I “grill” the hot dogs on my cast iron grill skillet.  It leaves the marks I cherish and the taste is out of this world. Naturally, you have to heat the buns and complete the masterpiece with chopped onions and mustard.

If you’ve never tried Angus hot dogs, try them asap. You’re going to love these guys.

Sour Cream Cucumber Salad

From Eating Well on a Budget

by Joi

Cucumber FreshSplash

The following recipe is from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget by Lucy Beale and Jessica Partridge, one of the cookbooks I’ve been recommending the most lately. What’s so wildly wonderful about this cookbook?

  • It’s filled with recipes you’ll actually make.
  • All of the recipes call for ingredients that are readily available AND inexpensive.
  • The recipes are healthy!
  • The cookbook, itself, is inexpensive.  Appropriate, given the subject matter, right?
  • Did I mention that they’re all recipes you’ll actually make?! As in again and again.

I’m wearing my copy of this cookbook out!

The recipe below is from page 177  (in chapter 12: Salads).  We’re having a good crop of cucumbers in our garden, so I’m always looking for different ways to use them.  We love cucumber and onions in vinegar, we love them in tossed salads and on cucumber sandwiches (Thinly sliced cucumbers on  bread that has been de-crusted and spread with cream cheese and sprinkled with either mint or chives), and my oldest daughter and I love sliced cucumbers in water. Fresh and delicious!

I’m making the following tonight to go with grilled chicken, broccoli & cheese, fried okra & squash, and three bean salad.

Sour Cream Cucumber Salad

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 TBS dried dill
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 cucumbers, sliced
1/2 cup sliced white or sweet onions, optional

In a large bowl, combine sour cream, dill, salt, and pepper. Stir well.

Add cucumbers and onions. Toss gently to coat. Chill 1 hour before serving. The cucumbers and onions will wilt and become softer the longer you let them marinate in the dressing.

Recipe Credit: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well on a Budget by Lucy Beale and Jessica Partridge.

Image Credit:
Cucumber FreshSplash Photographic Print from Allposters.com

Barbecue Baked Beans and Ground Beef

Economical, Quick, Easy, and Delicious

by Joi

Baked Beans and Ground Beef Recipe Image

2 24 oz. cans Bush’s Baked Beans with Onion
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1-1/2 lb ground beef
1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
1/3 cup mustard
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef; drain. Briefly saute’ the ground beef with the onions and peppers.

In a large bowl, combine the beans, BBQ sauce, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar. Add the beef mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Sprikle with a little extra brown sugar. Bake for 1 hour.

Optional: My mom always added strips of bacon on top before baking.

The Many Benefits of Eating Local!

Improve Your Health and Support our Community

by Joi

The Complete Idiots Guide to Eating Local by Diane A. Welland, M.S., R.D.

The most recent “cookbook” I was sent to review isn’t really a cookbook at all. It’s more of a live longer, be healthier, help your community, and protect the environment type of book. If that’s your cup of tea, this ambitious and truly fascinating book is for you.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local is one of those books that, after reading, my first thought is, “I wish this were required reading for everybody. Everywhere.”  Of course, I  have on idea how one would go about enforcing the reading assignment, but I think someone should give it a try.

Seriously, when is supporting local farmers NOT a wonderful idea?  When is eating healthier foods NOT a wonderful idea?

Product Description

Supporting local farmers has really grown on people-and here’s the guide to doing it right.

There are so many great reasons to shop for and eat locally grown or raised foods, including freshness, taste, energy conservation, and supporting small business owners. That is why tens of thousands have made the switch to local foods. Now families and communities are enthusiastically supporting farmer’s markets, artisan dairy farmers, cheese makers, family farms, local vineyards, and local livestock. Food expert and nutritionist Diane A. Welland explains what local eating is and isn’t and how anyone can move toward a more sustainable way of eating. It covers: Types of foods considered local; what is in season when; Storing foods; Money saving tips.

• A practical approach for a challenging endeavor.

• Includes a complete overview of local eating across all 50 states.

Front to back, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local is an education in wholesome eating. You’ll learn things you never knew you didn’t even know! (Say that three times fast…. but not in front of you cat. They can be so condescending.)  You’ll find ways to feed your family healthier meals, and yes, to do so on a budget.

From the Back Cover:

You want to eat healthy, fresh foods, and at the same time, be good to the environment.  But it’s a challenge to know what is available, when itis available, and where you can get it locally.

You can find your favorite foods – and discover new favorites – without headaches and a tank of gas.  The next best thing to a personal tour through your local farmers’ market, this helpful guide gives you:

  • A primer on why eating close to the land not only rewards you with incredible food, but also supports your community and your planet.
  • A look at heirloom vegetables, seasonal fruits, fresh meats, and dairy products, and other local food near you.
  • Tips for shopping local at food festivals, CSAs, U-picks, and even supermarkets, plus advice on food foraging.
  • Suggestions for making the most of your harvest, including 25 regional recipes highlighting local specialties.

Favorite Regional Recipes include Wild Blueberry Muffins, Pennsylvania Dutch Chow-Chow, New York State Apple Pie, Maryland Crab Cakes, Southwestern Stuffed Jalapenos, California Avocado-Almond Salad, Texas Chili, and many more.

I’ll leave you with an excerpt from this outstanding book. It’s from a section titled, Fresh Food Tastes Better… which is a delicious fact!

Local foods, because they’re ripened on the plant rather than in storage, develop high levels of aromatic compounds that help give the food its characteristic taste and heightened flavor.  This is most noticeable in fruits, where the intoxicating scent of fresh-picked strawberries or peaches can signal the start of the season even before you pop one into your mouth.

Another reason why local food tastes better has to do with the timing.  The longer a food travels, the more flavor and aroma compounds it loses during transit. Because produce is often brought to market within 24 hours of being picked and is at the peak of freshness and ripeness, this isn’t an issue for local farmers.  It may, however, be a big concern for food traveling from California to New York.

Finally, local produce tastes better because it is better, inherently. Over the years, supermarket produce varieties have been chosen for their ability to be shipped long distances and withstand harvesting equipment, bulk handling, and processing.  They’re bred for sturdiness, stability, and looks, not taste.  As a result, we’ve gained the ability to have peaches in the dead of winter and apples in April, but at what cost?  Bite into any of these off-season fruits, and you’re likely to find a dry, mealy texture with only a hit of its natural flavor.

On the other hand, local foods are just the opposite.  Small farmers care most about taste, quality, and diversity of crops.  Raised according to the natural seasons, local produce is picked at the peak of flavor and ripeness and quickly transported for a quick sale.  -The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local, page 20

The author explains the local food movement, how near or far is considered local, what is and is not organic, how eating local is best for your health, how eating local builds a stronger community, how eating local helps our planet. You’ll get a complete education on produce as well as meats, dairy foods, and eggs.  There’s also a lot of great advice about freezing and preserving fresh local delicacies so you won’t have to even look at the produce in the stores during the winter months.

This is a wonderful and timely book and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Read more about The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local and order you copy today by clicking the link!

Easiest Macaroni and Cheese in the World

An Amish Recipe You'll Use Over and Over...

by Joi

Amish CookbookOne Step Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

4 cups elbow macaroni
6 cups milk
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
2 Cups Velveeta Cheese
dash paprika

Combine ingredients and put into a large casserole dish.  Bake, covered with aluminum foil, at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Recipe from Cooking With the Horse & Buggy People

Skillet Macaroni and Beef

Budget Friendly and Fast, What's not to Love?

by Joi

Veggies with Faces

Skillet Macaroni and Beef Recipe

1-1/2 lbs ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1-1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup water
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
Small amount of sugar

Brown ground beef and remove meat from skillet, then cook the macaroni and onions in the drippings and cook for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to the skillet, including the ground beef.

Add a small amount of sugar (to taste) and cover and simmer until noodles are tender.

The adorable little figurines at the top of the post are from Cracker Barrel. My youngest daughter and her boyfriend brought them home to me one night. They knew I’d give them a good home.  I swear, sweeter kids were never born.

Adorable Fruit Dessert Plates

From Wal-Mart aka Wally World

by Joi

Fruit Dessert Plates from Wal-Mart

I bought a few of the dessert plates, shown above, at Wal-Mart a few days ago – for the whopping price of $1.25 each.  Apparently there’s also a “watermelon” plate as well, but they were already gone.  These are just too cute for their own good, and how could you not love the price?

These adorable plates (which are intended to be used sort of like saucers… but I’m using them as little platters for lemon wedges, strawberries, grapes, etc) are a perfect example that you can have great-looking items in your kitchen without spending a fortune.  You’d never know by looking at these adorable plates that they weren’t from a MUCH more expensive store.  Wal-Mart is just a great place to look for dishes, appliances, kitchen gadgets, etc.  Their dishes are actually gorgeous and you can find outstanding deals on everything else.

For example, I just went to their website to see if I could find a picture of the watermelon plates to add to this post. No luck, BUT I did see that they have the Black & Decker Fruit and Vegetable Juice Extractor (pictured below) for only $29.88!!  If your local Wal-Mart doesn’t have them in stock, you can go to their website and order one.

I know I want one in the worst way and I’m seriously considering grabbing one or two extras at this price for Christmas gifts.  $29.88, seriously?  I’m all over it.

Black and Decker Fruit and Vegetable Juice Extractor

Back to the adorable fruit plates, you can find them in the area where they sell plastic pitchers, cups, and picnic-friendly dishes.  They also have a killer selection of red, white, and blue plates and glasses for the Fourth of July.  I have my eye on each of them, and fellow shoppers, you know what that means: Where the eye goes, the hand will follow.

The hand with the money {insert maniacal laughter}.

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