Frugal cooking?

[wesleysgirl]

Since those of us in the colder regions are looking at a winter of very high heating bills, my family is looking at ways to cut our budget. One way to do so without enormous changes to our lifestyle is via our grocery bill, so I'm hoping maybe we can have a thread here with different ideas (including recipes or not) of meals that are fairly

Comments

[midnitechild]

cabbage and noodles. Definatly yummy and cheap!

Also homemade soups are cheap and easy to make. Just make big batches and freeze some of it for later use!

[scarlettgirl]

Great idea. Since I'm way too busy, I'm looking for cheap and things that can be made in quantity for the freezer. If it's a crock-pot recipe, all the better. I'll dig through my files and post some ideas.

[glimmer899]

My favorite, cold weather, quick and easy meal is our family version of goulash. Just saute a little bit of hamburger and onion, then added it to cooked and drained noodles. Toss in a couple of cans of diced tomatoes, add pepper and salt and heat until hot. It's great because you can exchange everything. Sometimes I use chicken or hot dogs instead of hamburger and you can always stretch the tomatoes.

Something I just read in a book today is that if you buy green tomatoes at the end of the season, wrap them in newspaper and store them in a cool, dry place, they will ripen slowly, and in December or January you'll have fresh tomatoes without actually buying them.

[ellen_fremedon]

A whole chicken goes a long way. Make a pot of stock, cut off the breast and thigh meat for sandwiches, or shred it for enchiladas-- mixed with rice, it'll make a *lot* of enchiladas-- and chop the small bits of meat from the back and legs and wings and random interstices to add back to the broth for lots and lots of soup.

Feed many Italian peasant style

[tazlet]

1 lb hot bulk sausage (Safeway's store brand is remarkablely fat free)
1 head of cabbage-coursely chopped
1 package of broad noodles or pasta
Much freshly ground black pepper

Cook the sausage, reserve 2 tbl. spns of the drippings and drain the rest. Place the sausage with the dripping in a heavy pot with the chopped cabbage and steam until the cabbage is tender (you may have to add a little water). While the cabbage is steaming cooks the pasta al dente and when all is done toss together with the pepper to taste. Vey inexpensive and warming.