Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Cheap Recipes
| Cheap Recipes My absolute favorite "recipe" is Fried Dough - more like a calzone, and you simply add whatever fillers you want. We recently tried Canadian Bacon, Mozzerella cheese, and eggs...it was DELICIOUS! Some of our other favorites are, of course, pizza, BBQ chicken, and rice with peas and chicken. The basic dough recipe came from a bread machine recipe book, but I don't use the bread machine to mix it anymore. Dough Recipe: 3/4 cup warm water 1 tsp. yeast ($1.06 per 3 pouch packet - each pouch yields 2 tsp.) 1 TBSP oil (we use the fat free butter spray rather than oil - $1.67 per bottle) 1 tsp. sugar ($4.98 per 10 pound bag) 1 tsp. salt ($.33 per box) 2 cups bread flour ($2.24 per 5 lb. bag) Mix ingredients. Roll the dough out to the thickness desired. (This recipe makes more than enough for a family of 3 to have a medium to large calzone each). Stuff with desired contents. Calzone can be fried (we use an electric skillet) or baked in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. The cost to make the dough is not much. Depending on the contents you use to stuff the calzone, this could be a cheap dinner for your family! Labels: calzone, cheap recipe, dough |
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Frugal Recipes
| There's a lot to be said for convenience, particularly in this day and age when everyone seems to be living in the fast lane. However, saving money (and at times a great deal of money) is oftentimes more of a motivator. I have found that although I may be tempted to buy a packet of pizza dough mix for $.78, I can make my own for around $.10 - $.15. This may not sound like a great deal of money, but if I can save that amount of money on many items I have found a way to substantially save on my grocery budget. Last week, I posted a 1 week menu with a total cost for 7 dinners of $26 and change. Below are some of those recipes: 1) Homemade Pizza Dough: 3/4 c. warm water 1 Tbsp. butter/oil (I use the "fake" butter - the Parkay spray/fat free and have NOT noticed a difference in taste) 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 1/4 c. bread flour (when using all-purpose or self-rising, the taste is AWFUL) 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. yeast You can use a bread machine for this, setting it for dough only. Place the wet ingredients in the bowl, then the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork. Let the dough rise (anywhere from 10-30 minutes). I like to roll the dough out with a rolling pin; it seems to work better. The dough will be somewhat stretchy. There is enough for 2-3 medium pizzas, or several calzones. If you have enough left over, you can use it for the topping on the Chicken Pot Pie. 2) Chicken Pot Pie Crust - I use the same dough recipe (#1). 3) Homemade Condensed Soup Mix (this is used in the Tuna & Rice dish, as well as the Chicken Pot Pie): Non-fat dry milk (about 1 c.) Chicken powder or bouillon (about 2 tsp.) Spices (you can use basil, salt, pepper - I use whatever I have handy in the cupboard) Cornstarch (about 1/4 c.) Mix the above ingredients, then place in pan on stove with water. Start with about 1 1/2 c. water on medium heat. Mixture will thicken and if too thick you can add more water. It should be the consistency of store-bought condensed soup. If it is too runny, you can add more cornstarch (HINT: I've learned from experience that if you add cornstarch after adding water, you'll get clumps. You should put a little cornstarch in a separate cup, mix in about 1-2 tsp. of cold water, stir, then add this to your mixture). Labels: condensed soup, dough, Frugal recipes, homemade |
