Stretched out beans and rice with neck meat

Stretched out beans and rice with neck meat.

Pork Neck Bones $1.39 @ Food4Less

Leftover beans from yesterday- No cost

2 cups uncooked rice out of a $2 5-pound bag from Big Lots = $0.40

Total: $1.79

You want to get started early to achieve maximum flavor. Set the neck bones in a stockpot and cover with water. Turn heat to high and walk away.

Starting stock

An hour or two hours later, stir and check on the tenderness of the meat and the color of the water, which should look opaque. Remove from heat and cook rice according to directions with the stock you just made instead of water. No salt is necessary because neck bones are salty. While the rice is working, pick all the meat you can off the bones and set aside. Discard the bones.

When the rice is done, microwave the beans to warm through. Toss beans, meat, and rice together until well incorporated. Dinner’s ready! I like to pass hot sauce at the table.

Chili Tamales over Ramen

Chili Tamales over Ramen

I forgot to take pictures because I had to head out and I threw this together for lunch in minutes.

2 pkg ramen noodles (a 12-pack costs $2= $.017 ea) $0.33 @ WalMart

1 can hot dog chili $0.33 @ WalMart

1 can beef tamales $0.88 @ WalMart

½ cup shredded cheddar- $1.58 for 2-cup package @ Food4Less = $0.40

Total: $1.94

Cook the ramen noodles according to directions. Drain the noodles and arrange in a microwave safe platter, dump the chili over the noodles, arrange the tamales over the chili, and scatter the cheddar over this. Zap in the microwave for 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve.

Tootin’ Stuffin’

Tootin’ Stuffin’

¾ pound pinto beans – a 2 pound bag for $1.69 @ ALDI= $0.56

1 teaspoon baking soda – always on hand

1 box stuffing mix $0.79 @ ALDI

2 tablespoons margarine – always on hand

¼ cup vegetable oil – always on hand

2 ½ cups cooking liquid from beans – no cost

Cost to me: $1.35

The evening before, take 1/3 out the 2 pound bag of pinto beans, rinse the beans twice, place in the slowcooker and fill with water and the baking soda to leave overnight. I’ve found that if I use baking soda in my soaking, my husband doesn’t chase me out of the room with his tootin’ as much.

In the morning, the water will be murky and the beans paler- drain off the soaking liquid and rinse the beans once again. Put them back in the slowcooker, fill with water to ½ inch above the beans. Set the slowcooker to low and let it cook six hours. It can go as long as eight, but the beans will be mushier.

When the beans are still firm, but beginning to split, they are perfectly cooked to my preference. I like them tender, but not soft.  Grab the box of stuffing to dump into a bowl with a cover, add the 2 Tablespoons margarine, ¼ cup vegetable oil, and 2 ½ cups cooking liquid from the beans. Stir to soak all the crumbs through and cover immediately to trap the steam inside. Leave it alone for 5 minutes. That’s it.

During those five minutes, I divide the beans up and put half aside to use in tomorrow’s dinner and drain off the liquid for another use and scooping some beans onto small plates so they can cool for the children.Now the stuffing is done. That’s right, you didn’t even need to cook it! The hot liquid did it all for you.

Put some stuffing on a plate and mound some beans on top. Dinner’s served.

When my budget allows, I also add garnishes of cheese and chopped onion, mmmmm!

Gingered Pork Satay

Gingered Pork Satay

Here are the ingredients.

pork tenderlion $1.46 @ Food4Less

spaghetti 1/2 of a $1.69 box @ Aldi= $0.85

peanut butter- 1/2 cup out of a $0.89 16 oz jar @ Aldi= $0.23

minced ginger- 2 teaspoons out of a 4.25 ounce jar for $1.29@ Big Lots= $0.20

soy sauce- 2 Tablespoons out of a 18 ounce bottle for $0.88 from WalMart= $0.10

chili powder- 1/2 teaspoon (always on hand)

garlic powder- 1/4 teaspoon (always on hand)

black pepper to taste (always on hand)

Total: $2.84

First, you want to hunt through your grocery store’s bargain meat bin for the best buys or become friendly with the store butcher for select cuts at a lower price. I scored a small tenderlion for less than two bucks and I snapped it up. It’s too small to make a meal by itself, but it is more than enough meat to fill out another dish, such as satay. The peanut butter will pack the protein punch to fill you up with the pork there to give visual appeal and boost flavor. It’s a behind the scenes player in this dish.

Okay, let’s get started! Find your biggest deepest pot and fill it with cold water. That is the secret to perfectly cooked pasta! Set the pot full of water on the stove and turn to high. You want the water to come to a furious boiling that splatters anyone near the store. It will take a bit for the water to start boiling, just walk away. Don’t watch it, the water is shy and won’t boil with an audience, besides we have other things to do.

Now, you want to chop the pork into small bite sizes. The smaller the pieces, the further it will stretch out.

Now you want to saute the pork in a small skillet to cook through. Just toss the pork as it cooks and it won’t stick to the pan and you want to scrape up those yummy stuck on bits into the satay afterwards. Mmmmm….

Meanwhile, you want to add an handful of salt to the water to make it boil faster…..

Now let’s make the sauce. Place half a cup of peanut butter into a microwave safe container…

….and zap that sucker for 30 seconds to slightly melt the peanut butter into an ooey texture that is much easier to stir – now that it’s soft, add the 2 teaspoons ginger, two tablespoons soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Stir through.

It should now look something like this…

Now the water is boiling… add the spaghetti .

Cook the spaghetti for just 8 minutes. Drain immediately.

Simply toss the hot spaghetti, the pork and all pan scrapings, and the satay sauce. Voila, dinner is served!

This made enough for my family to eat their fill and we will have more of this for lunch tomorrow. I think that’s an excellent deal for less than 3 dollars to feed a family of four twice. Yeah!

Croissanizza

Croissanizza

1 tube croissant rolls $1.09 @ Aldi

1 can tomato paste $0.39 @ Aldi

1 12 oz bag “mozzamelt” imitation cheese $1.49 @ Food4Less

salt, pepper, and green seasoning you have on hand No cost

Total: $2.97

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully unroll croissants into triangles and point all long ends to the center of a pizza pan. Spread with tomato paste. Shake salt, pepper and herb (I used oregano and thyme) to taste over the tomato paste. Shake out the imitation cheese over all and shake the pan to spread out the cheese evenly. Bake for 15 minutes. Take out of oven and let rest 2 minutes before cutting and serving in slices.

The Purpose of This Blog

Cheap Chow will be a place where I share what I come up with on a small food budget.  With so many of you also in economic distress, I thought that I would share how I do it. I do make a lot of repeats because it is so frugal to do it this way.  Also be prepared to see just how I s-t-r-e-t-c-h it all out into more than just one meal.  I hope you all enjoy what you see me come up with and most of all, I’m hoping this shows you it’s possible to really squeeze every cent out of your food budget.

We are a family of four- two adults and two toddlers. If you have a family of four, but yoru children are school-age, you may want to double what I make because your children will be older and will need more.  If your family has six, you will need to triple my recipes. You get the idea.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!