Easy frugal recipes

[Prairie Lady]

Guess I'm in the mood to type recipes today

I have a few that I will put up that are tasty, convenient, and low cost. I will post each of them separately so that you may copy only what you want to keep rather than having one long runon thread.

Here is the first one:

Funnel Cakes

2 Beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Cups cooking oil
Sifted powdered sugar

In mixing bowl combine eggs and milk. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to egg mixture; beat smooth.

In deep skillet heat oil to 360 degrees.

Covering spout with finger, pour 14 cup batter ito funnel. Remove finger and release batter into oil in a spiral, starting in center and winding out. Fryy till golden, about 3 minutes. Turn carefully; cook 1 minute more. Drain on paper toweling; dust with powdered sugar. Makes 6 to 8 funnel cakes.


Note: I don't use a funnel for this personally because the batter is so thick and my funnel isnt wide enough at the narrow part to let the batter out in a steady stream, thinning it makes the batter not puffup like it should. So, i use a pitcher with a pour spout and carefully pour it out to make the spiral. I find it much easier to pour all the batter into the pitcher than to have to keep refilling the funnel. I don't like having lots of extra crap to juggle.

I was thinking, a little nutmeg and maybe one additional egg might make some tasty donught holes if you just poured out some plops of batter into deep oil (so that the plop can float). If the oil level gets low, then the plops tend to make thick little pancakes. Big plops in deep oil would make a nice doughnut you could later fill with a pudding. Yum!

 

[Prairie Lady]

Mock Chicken-Fried Steak


1 beaten egg
1/4 cup milk
1 Cup coursely crushed saltine crackers (about 20)
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon chilii powder
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pould lean grund beef
1 tablespoons cooking iol
warmed catsup

Combine egg, milk, 1/2 cup crumbs, onion, chilipowder, salt and Worcestershire. Add beef;; mis well. Shape into 6 patties, 1//2 inch thick;, coat wit remaining crumbs. In skillet cook the patties in hot oil over medium-high heat about 3 minutes on each side. Server with catsup. Makes 6 servings.

That's how the recipe reads, but since its a mock chicken fried steak, it may well work to serve with country gravy and mashed potatoes.

I chose this recipe because it's a way to stretch a pound of beef. Powdered eggs can be used as well as powdered milk and instant potatoes as a side dish with the country gravy masking those nasty instant potatoes!

I am trying to put up recipes that one might use when down to the nitty gritty in the preps dept.

When I am in 'survival mode' i have a formula that i use.

I don't wait till "all the good food" is gone so that i have to subsist on beans and potatoes, or even just frybread alone. I learned the very hard way that it's way to rough to do that, physically AND emotionally.

What I do is have several meals of the "crappy stuff" that one tires of very quickly like beans and cornbread, or bean burritos, or beans and ham, or beans and fried potatoes, or beans and cheese on crackers, or spicey ranch beans, or chili beans, or baked beans refried beans...getting sick of beans yet????

I do that right in the beginning of the 'crisis'. Start serving those things that I KNOW would be sickening and tireing if it had to be eaten daily. I do NOT save that bean can till there's just nothing left. I already know that in a 'survival situation" some things tend to get saved toward the end because we DO want to eat the "good stuff" that we don't tire of as quickly. But those things tend to be more expensive, and hard to come by like meat or seafood, or even cereal (at 5 bux for a 1lb box).
Sometimes all you have if it's really destitute are the ingredients for cookies or pancakes and you begin to get hungry and crave vegetables and meat after 2 weeks of a poor diet, or a tedious diet.

So, i disburse those kinds of meals right from the start. If i am going to have to subsist on nothing but beans or oatmeal cookies, I don't want to wait till that's ALLLLL i have left. Make sense?

Serve those meals now. Eat those beans and potatoes for 3 days running NOW. THEN pull out a "good meal" so you CAN have a break from the monotonous foods that sit like cement in one's gut after a fashion.

If you are going to have to skimp on ingredients later..as you run out...start skimping NOW so that the good you have will last longer.

So, the recipes i have here hopefully willl allow you to make some transistions from say name brand mixes and processed pre-cooked means, to "scratch cooking" while providing some good meals and treats.

The above recipe is one that I would use as one of those "breaks" when you NEED to have relief from beans while stretching the hamburger. Most of us are accostomed to that "quarter pounder" of 100% beef. There are only 4 servings to that beef in a pound. This recipe allows for 6 servings...therefore you can feed 2 extra people, or have 2 extra meals for 2 people.

 

[Prairie Lady]

Denver Sandwich

1/4 finely chopped onion ( or rehydrated dried onion bits)

2 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper (or rehydrated pepper bits)

1 tablespoon butter or margerine

4 slightly beaten eggs (or powdered egg mixed with water to rehydrate)

1/4 cup finely chopped fully cooked ham

1/4 cup milk (or reconstitued powdered skim milk)

8 slices of bread, buttered and toasted or split buns buttered and toasted. IN skillet cook onion and green pepper in butter till tender. Combine eggs, ham, milk, salt and pepper. Pour into skillet with onion mixture, cook slowly lifting and folding occasionally just until set. Spoon mixture between toast slices or onto buns.

serves 4

 

[Prairie Lady]

Yankee Red-Flannel Hash

1/3 cup finely chopped onion (or reconstituted dried onions)
1/4 cup shortening
3 cups diced, peeled cooked potatoes (or canned potatoes)
1-16 ox can beets, drained and diced
1 1/2 cups diced, cooked corned beef (or canned corned beef)
1/3 cup milk (or reconstituted powdered skim milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 or 2 drops bottled hot pepper sauce

Skillet cook onion in shortening till tender but not brown. Toss with rmaining indredients, spread evenly in skillet. Cover and cook over medium heat till brown and crusty. Makes 4 servings.

 

[Prairie Lady]

Red Cabbage and Apples

This one is one of my favorites...i love this!

2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
4-5 whole cloves
1 small onion, peeled
1/2 medium head red cabbage shredded (4 cups)
2 cups peeled sliced apples

In medium skillet heat the bacon drippings. Blendin brown sugar, vinegar, water, salt and pepper. Insert the whole cloves into onion. Add onion, stredded cabbage and sliced apple to skillet. Cover; reduce heat. Cook, stirring occaisionally till cabbage is tender 25-30 min. Remove the onion.

I really love to serve this with porkchops.

 

[Prairie Lady]

White sauce

A simple white sauce goes well over mock chickenfried steaks, or even over tuna or salmon pattys. It can take the dry out of a bland meal and make the meal seem like gormet in a survial situation!

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash white pepper
1 cup milk

in small skillet melt butter over low heat. Blend in flour, salt, and peper. Ad milk all at once. Cook, stirruing sonstantly (best to use a whip) till mixture thickens about 5 minutes. makes 1 cup.

for a thin white sause, use only 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 table spoon of all purpose flour.

Thick white sauce: use 3 tablespoons butter and 4 tablespoons all purpose flour.


If You can find a GOOD paste beef bullion...there ARE some out there that you would swear was real beef (lil brave brand maybe?) you can add that to this sauce and have a truly delicious "beef gravy". Throw in a can of drained mushrooms, serve over what ever your mock meat might be, light the candles and enjoy!

 

[Prairie Lady]

Multi-Purpose Baking Mix

2 lbs (about 8 cups) all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups instant ninfat dry milk solids
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) baking powder
1 Tablespoon salt
1 cups shortening

1) Combine flouur, drymilk solids, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2) Cut shortening into dry ingredients with pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles course cornmeal
3) Store in tightly covered container in a cool place
4) Before measuring for use in recipe, lighten mix by tossing wit fork. Do not pack when measuring
about 12 cups mix

note: you can enrich this mixture by using i cup of wholewheat flour in place of 1 cup of allpurpose flour.

 

[Prairie Lady]

Pie Crust Mix

For years I could NOT make a piecrust to save my soul. I always bought the frozen ready-made ones, or the ones already in the pie plate. But this recipe has proven over and over again to be the best pie crust ever for folks like me, who couldn't make decent crust.

First the recipe, then the secrets


Pie Crust Mix

6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups shortening or lard

1) Mix flour and salt. Cut in 1 cup shortening until the texture is like cornmeal. Cut in remaining cup of shortening till the pieces are the size of small peas.
1) Store mix in tightly covered container such as two-pound coffee can or two-quart canister.


Pastry for 1 Crust Pie

2-3 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 cups Pie Crust Mix (above)

1) Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons cold water over 1 1/2 cups Pie Crust Mix, a teaspoonful at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition. Add only enough water to hold pastry together. Do not over handle.

2) Shape into a ball and flatten on a lightly floured surface.

3) Roll from center to edge into a round about 1/8 inch thick and 1 inch larger than overall size of pan.

4) Loosen pastry from surface with spatula and fold in quarters. Gently lay pastry in pan and unfold fitting it into pan so it is not stretched.

5) trim edge so pastry extends about 1/2 inch beyond edge of pan. Fold under at edge and flute.

6)If baked shell is desired, prick in several places with fork.

7) Bake at 450 degrees f 10-15 minutes, or until crust is light golden brown. Check pastry frequently during baking. If blisters appear, prick with fork to flatten, and return crust to oven.
One 8 or 9 inch pie shell.


OK, the tricks:

First, follow the directions for making the mix. This disburses your shortening through the flour in such a way as to ensure a crispy, flaky crust.

Invest in a good pastry blender. They are worth their weight in gold making all flour/shortening mixing a breeze..with good results. Saves time, saves work too.

Water measurements in this recipe are approximates, but are close. Flour moisture levels vary depending on humidity. If the air is very humid, say, 80%, the flour is going to be more moist so the amount of water you use when making a crust is going to be less than if the flour was stored in 10% humidity. Keep that in mind anytime you make a pie crust, or even bread and bisquits from other recipes even.

From my experience, the amount of mix used in a recipe isn't quite enough. I think pies do better with a thicker crust. It means getting them out of the pan in one piece as opposed to having the crust stick to the bottom of the pan as it cooks. A thinner crust is going to tear easier if it sticks than a slightly thicker crust will. A thicker crust will hold together better when you remove it from the pie pan. That means you need to use a little more mix. I like to use 2 cups or more for a single crust pie.

I like deep dish pies and I don't have any deep dish pie plates. My pie pans are all small 9 inch pans. Yet all my pies are deep dish pies. What I do is add an additional cup of pie mix to accomodate that deep dish pie for a total of 3 cups of mix for a single crust. This lets me have the thickness I need (ever notice how some pies leak to under the crust? This doesn't happen with a thicker pie crust) AND lets me build my crust to nearly 2 inches above the rim of the plate without falling over. That means i have to rollout the dough so that it is more like 2 inches to 2 1/2 inches larger than the pie plate.

When I put the dough into the plate, i then trimm the raggedness off only. I fold the excess under and then flute it with my fingers to make it stand up nice and tall.

When adding water to the pie mix i have this neat little trick. I like to use a 60cc srynge without a needle. If you have a turkey baster bulg thinggie that actually holds water, that will work too. Mine never seem to hold water after i pullem apart to wash them by the third use...therefore, i like the srynge.

Squirt the water evenly over the surface of the mix AS you shake the bowl. See what happens? The moistened dough makes big balls. It looks different from the dough underneath that hasn't been moistened yet. Clear that moistened dough off the top, put it on your rolling surface. Add more water to the mix in the bowl, remove the moistened dough. Do that till all the dough has been moistened.

What you did was moisten without handling the dough. Handling the dough works up the gluten and you end up with tough crust. You aren't making bisquits here, so you don't need to handle the dough.
Another reason this works well is because it prevents OVER moistening the dough which results in a Rubbery crust, or one that's too sticky to work with. Wants to stick to everything and not release so you can get it in the pan.

You want your dough to be JUST wet enough to hold together, no more, no less. Ignore the amounts of water listed in recipes. Those amounts never work (due to variable humidity) as explained above.

Now, cup your hands and draw the dough together and squeeze so the dough forms a ball. DO NOT KNEAD THE DOUGH. Just squeeze it to pack it together. You can spin and turn the ball on the flat surface as you form a nice neat round disk, but dont knead it. I like to flatten the top too so it's a round disk rather than a round ball.

You want to SPREAD the dough OUTWARD EVENLY from the center of the disk. If you roll back and forth, you are stretching the dough. If you put the pin in the center and roll one stroke out, you are spreading the dough. Pick the pin up and spread it in the opposite direction. Work it like a clock. Spread to 12 noon, put pin in center of the disk and spread to 6 o'clock. Back to the middle and spread to 3 o'clock, back to center spread to 9 o'clock, back to center spread to 1 and 2 o'clock, back to center spread to 7 and 8 o'clock, back to center...

Pick the pin UP to go back to the center.

This little formula for rolling lets you spread a fairly even dough cemitrically. It prevents over working of the dough. Lets flakes form because it doesn't mash all your shortening together. Helps to prevent splitting.

Splitting is usually the result of not quite enough water, while sticking is usually the result of too much water. Practice does make perfect and it won't be long till you develop an "eye" for the dough.

Bon Appetite!

 

[Prairie Lady]

helpful hints:

Both the baking mix and the pie crust mix store well in a gallon size freezer bag in the freezer, and will keep for literally months. I just used a piecrust mix I'd had stored since Christmas last year. It was still fresh and good after all that time. That means you can make up a whole bunch and just pull it out when you want it...very convenient! Cheaper that bisquick and even jiffy mix, definately tastes better without the bitterness of preservatives, and the use of real ingredients.

One other hint. I use Lard only in pie crust mix. I learned long ago that manufactured food is NEVER better than true food, while manufactured foods can pose health risks as well. It's been discovered that palmseed fats, cottonseed fats..such as you would find in solid "vegetable shortenings" are just as problematic with regard to cholesterol as Lard, so why pay more and sacrifice flavor?

If we end up in a famine type situation, the fat from anything will be needed. So, if this goes toward your famine preps, you won't be worrying about cholesterol problems lol!

 

[Prairie Lady]

Basic Oats Mix

6 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) baking powder
4 teaspoons salt
1 13 cups shortening
2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats uncooked

1) sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into large bowl.
2) Cut in shortening util mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in oats.
3)stor mixture in air-tight container in a a cool dry place until ready to use.
9 3/4 cups Mix

 

[Prairie Lady]

French Dressing Mix

This is not THE best french dressing I've ever had, but it's good in a pinch. Maybe you can find ways to doctor it to make it better. Here is the recipe anyway:

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Combine ingredients in har with tight-fitting lid for storage.

At serving time, make 1 cup of french dressing by cmbining 3/4 cup salad oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of the dry mixed ingredients. shake in a jar or whirl in the blender.

Store unused frnech dressing mix in a tightly comvered container.

Enough mix for 8 cups dressing.

 

[Prairie Lady]

Cocoa Mix

This recipe can be adjusted for diabetics. Just use sugar twin in place of sugar. Sugartwin is a free chrystline saccherine that measures exactly the same as sugar and doesn't loose it's sweetness when cooked. If you prefer equal or apartame type sweeteners, do not add it until you have cooled your cocoa just a little because otherwise it will loose it's sweetness. You would just skip the sugar in the recipe, and add your sweetner when you make a cup of coca.

Also, you may find that the proportion of cocoa in the recipe isn't quite to your liking. I tend to add a little more cocoa than the recipe calls for.

4 cups instant nonfat drymilk solids
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until the cocoa is well distributed. Store in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
To make cocoa, stir mix and combine 1/3 cup mix with 2/3 cup boiling water in a cup. Stir well until cocoa powder is completely dissolved.

About 5 cups mix or enough for about 15 cups hot cocoa.

 

[Prairie Lady]

Now I will include some recipes using the mixes.

Chicken baked with Seasoned coating mix

1 cup multipurpose baking mix
1 1/2 tst paparika
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut up and rinsed
1/2 cup undilured evaporated milk or 2 egg whites mixed with 2 tasons water

Combine baking mix, salt, paparika, and pountry seasoning in a shallow bowl.
Dip chicken iin evaporated milk or egg white in a shallow bowl, then in seasoned mix
Arrange ckhicken pieces in a shallow 3 quart baking dish
Bake at 375 for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.

Sounds like using cubed breast meat for chicken tenders might work well with this too.





Pancakes

1 1/2 cups multipurpose baking Mix
3/4 cup water
1 egg, slightly beaten

Blend baking mix, water and egg.

Pour on to griddle and make pancakes!!






Baking powder biscuits

2 cups multi purpose baking mix
3/4 cup water

Put mix into bowl, make a well in the mix, add water and stir until dough follows fork. Form dough into a ball. Tourn onto lightly floured surface. Knead sough about 10-15 times.

Roll dough into a snake about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut off the ends of the snake to the thickness you want..usually 1/2 inch thereabourts. Put bisquits on undreased baking sheet, bake at 450 for 10 min.


Chocolate cake

4 cups multi purpose bakin mix
1 1/2 cups cugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon banilla extract
2 eggs

Stir baking mix, sugar and cocoa together in mixing bowl till even ly combined.
Add water, oil, and vanilla; stir until well combined, then beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer.

Add eggs and beat 2 minutes more. pour batter into 2 greased and floured 8 or 9 inch round cake pans, or a 13x9x2-inch cake pan.
Bake at 375 20-25 min or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

frost cooled cake as desired.




Oat meal muffins

2 cups plus tablespoons basic oats mix
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg, beater

combine oats mix and sugar in bowl. Add milk and egg, stir until just blended
fill 12 greased 2 1/2 in ch muffin pan wells 2/3 full
Bake at 400 aobut 20 min, or until golden brown

Fluffy dumplings

2 cups basic oats mix
1 cup milk

Thkrourghly combine oats mix and ilk. spoon into boiling stew, cook uncovered over low heat 10 minutes, cover and cook 10 min longer.

There are other recipes, but don't be afraid to use your own creative juices with your mixes. If you use mixes anyway, just substitute these for the ones you buy. Or, if like for corn bread use the multi mix with a cup of corn meal and an egg and water.

 

[Prairie Lady]

The recipes above came from The better homes and gardens Easy Skillet meals, and Culinary Arts Institute "The Budget Cookbook".
notes and editorial comments were mine

PL

Edited to add:
I think I'm pooped out for now. I will add cooking substitutions later.
I think I'm having the mock chicken fried steak with white sauce tonight for dinner.

Later,

PL

 

[tropicalfish]

Thanks PL so much for all your efforts typing these recipes out. They look like great recipes. I like the idea of having the homemade mixes available ahead of time. I am printing them out to add to my preps recipes.

 

[Homestyle]

What great tips! Thanks. I have a non roll dough crust recipe for casseroles that I have put somewhere, it is delicious. Your post reminded me of it. I will look for it and post. I love cooking tips that tell you how to cook. If you know how to cook you don't need recipes to have great meals.