Improvise a Frugal Meal

[barbszy]

Do you have any creative ideas that came out of "what can I do with these 5 ingredients?"

Today I found "a little of this, a little of that" in the freezer and fridge, and figured out a way to use it up.
Here's the improvised meal we're having tonight:

Pasta Bake with Sausage and Cheese

1/2 lb penne pasta, cooked al dente
2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cups cooked Italian sausage, sliced into "coins"
2 cups mozzarella cheese (save a handful for topping the casserole)

Mix all ingredients and put into casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350, 30 minutes or until hot.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Some of the things that I do with "stuff" that I have is make macaroni and cheese. I make a béchamel sauce with milk and flour and fat of some kind. I add whatever cheese that I have in the fridge to make a cheese sauce. If I have hot sauce, which I usually do, I add that to the sauce. Then, I add whatever pasta that I have on hand. I pour that into a casserole and sprinkle more cheese and bake.

Another thing I like to do is keep pinto beans on hand for those days when I don't feel like cooking. I soak and rinse and throw them in the crockpot with some salt pork or ham hocks. Later I add stewed tomatoes if I have that on hand.

Also, I like to throw whatever veggies and meat I have in a pot to make a stew or soup. Of course, since I am a tomato junkie, I always add those to my soup/stew. lol

[Yummys_Girl]

sounds good, barbszy

[Bilby]

Can cream of chicken soup
cooked pasta of your choice
any left over veges, or frozens
any leftover meat.

Make cream of chicken soup per instructions.
add all other ingredients till heated through.
Serve.

[cat lover]

Lets see:

leftover mac & cheese
leftover turkey burger
leftover peas
leftover tomatoes and onions from the turkey burger
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 soup can skim milk
Combine the leftover mac & cheese, break up the turkey burger into very small crumbles and stir into the mac and cheese. Dice up tomatoes and onions and add along with the peas to the mac & cheese mixture. After all combined well open 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup and mix with 1 can skim milk and blend into above mixture. Pour into a greased casserole and bake at 350 degrees approximately 30 minutes or till heated through.

[CrazyBMarie]

Upon looking in my fridge, I found a few leftover oven-bbq ribs, some spaghetti sauce, and half a dozen rolls. I tossed the meat and sauce into the slowcooker and will add a can of tomato sauce. It will cook down and we'll have sandwiches. If I had leftover veggies, they'd go in, too.

DeBora--I make a cheese sauce, throw in meat and veggies, and serve over pasta, too. It's always different because the ingredients are always changing.

I have also thrown meats into the food processor with veggies, egg, and a bit of cheese, blended it all together with crumbs and made "meatloaf".

These are not recipes I budget for--I plan my menu so we have a meal every night. But why throw away perfectly good food just because you have a little left over? It reall streches the grocer budget!!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Marie, I agree. Pasta, especially with cheese has got to be the ultimate comfort food. Welcome to Moms Menu too. If you get a chance, pop over to the Welcome thread (http://www.momsmenu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252&goto=newpost) so that others will be able to be introduced to you. I look forward to sharing more ideas with you!

[LifeStar]

No left-overs so I turned to the pantry. I found the ingredients for red beans and rice. My family loves this meal.

Canned Kidney beans
Potatoes
Canned tomato Sauce
Spanish olives
Rice
Sofrito and Sazon

Prepare Rice as directed

Place 3 TBS Goya sofrito and 1 packet Goya sazon in two TBS olive oil in sauce pan. Sautee for 1-2 minutes.

Add 1-15 oz can of tomato sauce, 2-15 oz cans kidney beans and two diced peeled potatoes. Add enough water to cover potatoes. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook till potatoes are tender. Add a couple of handfulls of olives to the pot and heat through. Serve the bean stew over hot rice. This is a very inexpensive dish.

[cat lover]

Meat "Pie"


1 lb. ground beef
1 jar (14oz) spaghetti sauce
4 cups uncooked white minute rice
Mozzarella cheese to cover top.

Brown and drain ground beef. Combine meat & 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce. Spread evenly into bottom of 13 x 9 dish. Mix remaining sauce with rice. Add 1/4 cup water to sauce jar & shake. Use last of the sauce in rice and mix well. Spread evenly over meat and sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil. Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove foil. Bake uncovered 15 minutes; let stand 10 minutes before serving. Great with a salad and garlic bread

[katharina]

Do you have any creative ideas that came out of "what can I do with these 5 ingredients?"


My favorite "base 5 ingredient" recipe is
1. a pasta
2. cooked chicken breast
3. a cream soup
4. a vegetable
5. chicken broth

I've tried various veggies, various cream soups, and all kinds of pasta. I add other stuff if I have it, too... sometimes a little milk, sometimes pimiento, herbs, etc. Oh, and I often toss in whatever shredded cheese I have in the fridge.

[cau]

I've been know to add deli ham to leftover potatoes , add some onions, pepper and garlic( MY holy trinity)and fry it all up. I also add ham to homemade mac & cheese with some broccoli.
Pasta, speg sauce , cottege or ricotta chees and drained frozed spinach & what ever cheese I have.
Mix together, save some cheese for the top. Serve with salad

[katharina]

I've been know to add deli ham to leftover potatoes , add some onions, pepper and garlic( MY holy trinity)and fry it all up. I also add ham to homemade mac & cheese with some broccoli.
Pasta, speg sauce , cottege or ricotta chees and drained frozed spinach & what ever cheese I have.
Mix together, save some cheese for the top. Serve with salad

I like throwing cooked ham cubes into all kinds of dishes, too... my favorites are soups, scalloped potatoes, and with scrambled eggs. I often add sour cream to dishes that don't usually take it, too. I'm getting hungry. :)

[cat lover]

Another is use leftover pimto beans and add to spanish rice, steam whatever veggie is ready to be picked from the garden and have cornbread!

[Sammi1961]

My kids actually like this recipe and it is easy to make - often a Sunday night dinner for us.

2 lg. cans Franco American spaghetti
1 lb. - 1 1/2 hamburger
1 med. onion
worcestershire sauce

In a skillet brown the hamburger and onion until onion is tender and hamburger is well done adding a few dashes of worcestershire sauce to taste. Once hamburger is browned, add the 2 cans of Franco American spaghetti and heat till hot. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese if preferred.


Another easy caserole I make is one the kids also like

1 pkg. Near East spanish rice mix
1 lb. boneless pork (any cut)
1 sm. onion

Prepare rice mix according to package directions
In a skillet, brown the port and onion until port cooked through and onion is tender
Add the prepared rice mix to the skillet and heat until well blended.
This makes a very easy, spicy caserole.

[barbszy]

Sammi, that spanish rice with pork sounds REALLY good! I may be trying that one soon :) I bet it would be good with chunks of chicken as well.

[vicki2]

If there are a lot of tail ends of cold cuts and cheeses, I'll do a chopped Cobb salad. If that's not there, it's dried beans quickly cooked ...I love lentils because they're quickest! lol.

[barbszy]

Sammi, we tried the Spanish Rice and pork last night and it was REALLY good! Thanks for the recipe! We'll definitely have it again.

[ajrsmom]

My family loves this:

either 1/2 of a whole cooked chicken
or 2 boneless breasts, cooked and shredded

3 cans of chicken or turkey gravy (Dollar Tree has cans of gravy for 50 cents ea.) Could make homemade even cheaper.

1- 1 /2 lbs of Penne pasta


Add shredded chicken to gravy and warm. Cook pasta and toss into gravy. I serve it with green beans and warm bread.

[katharina]

Meat "Pie"


This one sounds fabulous, too. I didn't realize how many great recipes
are available using so few ingredients! I've been collecting recipes and
cookbooks for many years but this is rather new to me and I'm having
a lot of fun with it. :)

[cat lover]

This is a good quick meal that is frugal also!

Oriental Tuna

1 can tuna, drained
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
2 cups chow mein noodles
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup cashews, chopped

Combine soup with 1/4 cup water. Add 1 cup chow mein noodles and remaining ingredients. Place in baking dish and spread rest of noodles on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

[katharina]

either 1/2 of a whole cooked chicken
or 2 boneless breasts, cooked and shredded

3 cans of chicken or turkey gravy (Dollar Tree has cans of gravy for 50 cents ea.) Could make homemade even cheaper.

1- 1 /2 lbs of Penne pasta

Add shredded chicken to gravy and warm. Cook pasta and toss into gravy. I serve it with green beans and warm bread.

This sounds good... when I was reading the recipe, I forgot that it would be mixed with the pasta and I realized that just the chicken and gravy, maybe with peas or corn mixed in would be good over waffles... chicken and waffles. I'll have to try this. :)

[katharina]

We like this recipe and it's quite frugal. I've been making it for years.
It's the easiest thing you'll ever make, too.

Hamburger, Peas, and Gravy

Brown a pound of ground meat. I've found that to serve 2 or 3, even a half pound works well to be especially frugal... I use ground pork but beef is fine.

When browned, add it to a jar or two of gravy (fat free is fine and we prefer it.) Then add peas that have been cooked and heat it gently. Amounts of the ingredients depend on how many people you're serving. 1/2 to 1 pound of meat, 1 jar of gravy, and about 8 oz. of peas serves three of us well.

The fourth ingredient is the mashed potatoes that you will serve it over.
I usually just serve this with a biscuit or crescent roll... your meat, potato, and veggies are already in the meal.

[ajrsmom]

This sounds good... when I was reading the recipe, I forgot that it would be mixed with the pasta and I realized that just the chicken and gravy, maybe with peas or corn mixed in would be good over waffles... chicken and waffles. I'll have to try this. :)

Katharina, By any chance are you from the south?

The reason I ask is that until I moved to NC (from Pa), I had never heard of chicken and waffles. To us, this is the strangest combo. ;)

But if you like it, I bet the chicken and gravy would be great.


Tami

[Barb]

I have a few to share that is less than 5.

1-I have used spanish rice and add white rice since it cheaper than the spanish rice and then cook hamburger meat to add to it.. sometimes I add a can of tomoto soup, or paste which ever I have.
Then sometimes I roll it up in tortilla and when I don't I just use bread.


2- use a can of vegetable soup and add it to hamburger meat
or I use another kind of soup that contain meat in it... I have use
different kind to see which ones my family like.

[RobertaD]

Sausage Hash
bulk sausage, potatoes, onions, bell peppers fried together. Can use hamburger but the sausage gives it more flavor.

Smoked sausage, potatoes, cabbage steamed together until the potatoes are done.

Ham, potatoes, green beans steamed until done.

Roberta

[cat lover]

This is a dish I used to make and I added eggs on top. Do your directions and when about 5 minutes from being done break 4 to 6 eggs on top of it all; cover and let steam cook about 5 minutes or till eggs are done. Makes a nice one dish breakfast or whatever meal you want to use it for!

[Bilby]

Roberta
when you say ham for the above is that like chunks off the bone?
I don't buy whole hams, usually deli sliced stuff so just curious.

[cat lover]

For the ham, potatoes, and green beans I would say probably chunks, but really any form of the ham would work; it is almost like a seasoning so as long as you get the flavor it works. Chunks would be good to almost make that a one dish meal though, but still any ham could work. As far as just for seasoning, even ham hocks work; can you get those?

[barbszy]

Kathy, you can go to the deli and ask them to cut you a chunk of ham, instead of slices. Then just take it home and cube it.

[cat lover]

Here is way to make ground beef go further AND a way to get veggies into the kids.

Carrotburgers ( Give them another name for the kids! LOL)

2 cups grated carrots
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 cup grated green pepper
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all the ingredients and shape into patties. Place in a shallow baking pan and broil about 3" from heat for about 8 minutes. Turn and broil about 5 minutes more. 8 servings

NOTE: I have added uncooked oatmeal as a binder along with an egg also)

[RobertaD]

For some reason I'm not getting notices that there are posts.

Yes I use chunks of ham in ham, potatoes, green beans.

When a ham is on sale I have the butcher slice it for me into ham steaks 1/2" thick to fry as is or will chunk it later to add to dishes. I also have them slice some very thin for sandwiches. And freeze into dinner size packages when I get home.

Roberta

[pag36]

[Catlover your "burger" recipe sounds really good. I will write it out as printer is not working now GRRR!. Good nite all,