GLP Recession Proof Meals - Cooking goes a long way in lieu of buying crap

Egg bake

(can be prepared the night before for breakfast or lunch)

2 eggs per person
2 baguettes sliced thickly
Bunch of Scallions
Black pepper

optional:
pieces of chopped: cheese, ham, bacon, tomato, anything you like.

Line the bottom of an oven proof dish with the bread rounds. Mix the eggs, and add the pepper, Scallions with whatever else you like into the egg

Pour over the bread and refrigerate for 1-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180° and bake for 40 minutes or until cooked in the middle.

Yesterday I bought grapes in my fruit/vegetables store and I paid $5.00 per pound. I used to pay $3.50, so I asked the cashier why it's so expensive? She replayed: "Just wait till summer. Most of our imports are from California". Of course, the drought and on top of that Florida had very cold weather with fountains freezing!

My grandmother had very big garden with vegetables and fruit trees. She used to marinate everything in jars and stored in the basement, like for example: Compotes, jams, fruits in syrup, tomato sauces, cornichons, carrots, green peas, small white onions, sliced cucumbers with salt/vinegar in juices, dill, green parsley, etc.

When you don't go to the store often, it's a real sticker shock when you do go! I see you're in Ohio. Meijer has strawberries 2.50 a lb. Ad says 2 for 5.00 and each is a lb.

Vala, you got me with this one. LOL. I was thinking about posting pot of barley to be a good idea for recession meals. Fulfilling, healthy and tasty. In Canada we cook it without potatoes and add some green celery, and I cook my pot with chopped and fried onions inside.

I also cook barley soup the same way but with less barley and with potatoes. I like to add fried smoke bacon instead of beef but barely soup taste well with any meat inside. Once I made with turkey and it was good as well.

I love barley and lentils. I had a great lentil and barley soup in a restaurant when I was pregnant and I can't replicate it. It was mildly seasoned but perfectly tasting. Healthy and cheap too.

Vala, especially for you my favorite Lentil Soup receipt. I have it for years and it’s delicious. And perfect for cold winter days.

LENTIL & BEEF SOUP:

1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium white onions, chopped
2 Ib. lean stew beef, cut in 1-inch chunks
2 medium carrots, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 large celery ribs, sliced
28-oz. can peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
9 cups water
1 Ib. lentils
5 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large bay leafs
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander seeds
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. saffron
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup lemon juice

- In large pot combine oil with beef and onions, cook stirring until onions are translucent and meat loses its raw colour, 8-10 minutes
- Add carrots and celery and sauté another 3-4 minutes, tossing constantly
- Stir in tomatoes with juice, water, lentils, garlic, bay leafs, parsley, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, saffron and salt
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer in partially covered pot, stirring occasionally for approximately 1,5-2 hours until lentils are very tender
- Add pepper and lemon juice
*Add more water during cooking if necessary but this soup supposed to be dense

Enjoy it!

I always have a garden, unfortunately this past summer the yield was small. I plan on making it much bigger this year.

I don't have a Meijer near me, but I'm always looking at the local ads. You'll notice that there is a cycle that things go on sale. I try to stock up when the things we use the most go on sale.

Most of the meat we eat are from the buy one get one sales. Or from my monthly trip to Costco. Which carries excellent products by the way.

You are a legend in the making.

Thank you

easy chicken parm.

1 pck of 4 boneless chicken breast.
1 can italian style bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
1 pack noodles of any type i prefer linguini
2tbsp italian herbs
1 bottle olive oil


add egg milk garlic powder and pepper and mix for batter
let sit for 20 min or so as batter is waiting preheat oven to 400 and put frying pan with oil on stove on medium-medium high heat(be carefull olive oil can become carcingenic if burned)take the chicken breast and slice from the side down into 1/4 to 1/2 in slices i prefer quarter inch.

mix breading materials onto a flat large plate i/4 cup parmesan italian herbs and around 1 cup bread crumbs stir with a fork to blend it well.

take a piece of chicken dip it into batter mix then drop it onto plate of breading with the hand you didnt pick the chicken up with flip the chicken over and the frying pan should be hot enough to set it in (never drop anything into a pan with hot oil or water because it will splash)
fill the pan with chicken and fry on med-med high heat for around 3 min on each side.

after chicken is done put it into a oven dish and cover with sauce recipe for sauce will follow.after sauce is on the fried chicken cover with one layer of parmesan cheese then mozzarella cheese cover with alum foil and bake for around 20 25 mins.



Sauce

2 Cans diced italian style tom.
1 large onion or 2 medium
1 tsp garlic powder or 3 cloves of garlic
pepper
1 tsp sugar or red wine sweeter the better
i can tomato sauce

add all canned ingrediants to large pot cook on low heat and cover.then dice onion and garlic cloves(when you peel the cloves take the flat edge of large knive and smash the cloves of garlic to release the oils for flavor)add both to pot as well as either the sugar or wine 1/4 cup should do for wine let cook on low for around three to four hrs you dont really have to watch it just let it slow cook so everything blends well.


Well it doesnt sound easy but it is and it is good food!healthy and filling !you can add whatever veggies you like for a veggie kick i often add carots and mushrooms to the sauce!this will feed a family of two adults and two children for two days at least if not more.hope this helps It is one of my fav foods !and besides the cheese everything ingrediant wise can actually be made at home!

Here is another inexpensive, fulfilling and easy dish. It may seems like a lot of ingredients but if you read the receipt actually is not – spices, but of course, it’s up to your taste. The best part is that you may use left over cold cuts like in Sauerkraut Stew.

BRETON STYLE WHITE BEANS:

1/2 kg dry white beans (I use Lima beans)
1 large white onion, chopped and fried in little bit of oil
1-2 cloves garlic
3 tsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 large bay leafs
1 tsp. dry marjoram
1/2 tsp. red paprika
salt and pepper to taste
dash of each: All spices, nutmeg, cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. flour (optional)

*Option No. 1
smoke bacon and Polish sausage, cut in small pieces and fried in oil
*Option No. 2
sliced hot dogs and any leftover cold cuts, ham, etc.

- Soak dry beans in cold water overnight or at least for 5-6 hours, drain and rinse
- Put beans in a large pot, add fresh water to cover them, bring to boil and cook for approximately 30 minutes on small heat, stirring time to time and adding little bit of water during vaporization
- Add meats, onion, garlic and spices and cook till the beans become tender
- You may thicken the beans with mixing together 2 Tbsp. of flour and little bit of water and add at the end to the pot, stirring and boiling for another few seconds
*Tomato paste, ketchup and salt should be added at the end because it would harden the beans during cooking. Also it is recommended to add marjoram just 3-5 minutes before turning the heat off.

:GHPLAW: :OEASC:

MAMA’S APPLE CRISP:

6 apples
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

- Peel, core and slice the apples, and place them in a bowl with cold water
- Blend together butter, flour and sugar until crumbly
- Drain apples and mix with cinnamon
- Pour apples into a square 7-inch (18 cm) baking dish and cover with flour mixture
- Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 30 minutes

5 star thread

Spicy Bacon Popcorn

Ingredients
Popped corn, organic 4 quarts
Bacon strips 2 each
Bacon, med diced 2 cups
Aleppo pepper 1/3 cup
Salt to taste
Brown sugar 1 cup
Corn syrup, light 1/4 cup
Salt1/2 teaspoon
Butter 4 oz
Baking soda ½ teaspoon

Render fat from bacon strips over low heat in medium saucepot. Remove strips from fat and discard. Over medium heat pop the corn in bacon fat.

Once corn is fully popped remove from heat and place in mixing bowl. In a separate pot over medium high heat combine sugar, corn syrup, salt, and butter and stir constantly, allowing it to boil for two to three minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and stir thoroughly. Stir in bacon, Aleppo pepper, and salt.

Spread evenly on sheet pan and place in 250 degree oven until bacon is rendered (appx 35 minutes), rotating the pan and stirring throughout the cooking process. Remove from oven and once cooled, store in airtight container.

Buffalo Popcorn

Ingredients:

8-10 cups popped popcorn (1/2 cup pop corn kernels if you're making it the old fashioned way like I did + a couple tablespoons of olive oil)
3 TBSP buffalo wing sauce
2 TBSP butter
salt to taste



Preheat oven to 325(F).
To make the popcorn the old fashioned way (via Simply Recipes), simply heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a 3-quart saucepan on medium high heat. Add a couple kernels to the pan & cover.

When the test kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn kernels in an even layer. Cover, remove from heat and count 30 seconds. This method first heats the oil to the right temperature, then waiting 30 seconds brings all of the other kernels to a near-popping temperature so that when they are put back on the heat, they all pop at about the same time.

Return the pan to the heat. The popcorn should begin popping soon, and all at once. Once the popping starts in earnest, gently shake the pan by moving it back and forth over the burner. Try to keep the lid slightly ajar to let the steam from the popcorn release (the popcorn will be drier and crisper). Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid, and dump the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl.

Melt the butter and buffalo wing sauce together in the microwave, approximately 20 seconds.

Drizzle wing sauce mixture over popped corn and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt.

Pour coated popcorn onto 2 baking sheets.

Place baking sheets in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp, stirring half way through for even baking.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Popcorn crisps as it cools.

It would never before occur to me that Potato Cake could be recession meal, simply because this is sooo goood! I couldn’t wait till my mom took it from the oven... Very cheap and tasty meal for the whole family for 2 days, if there will be anything left for the next day, lol... Ok, just slice left overs next day and fry in frying pan with little bit of oil.

POTATO CAKE:

2 kg potatoes
1 cup flour
1 egg, bitten with fork
1 large white onion, chopped and lightly fried with 3 Tbsp. oil and 3 Tbsp. margarine
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
150 grams ham, bacon or sausage, chopped and lightly fried (optional)

- Peel potatoes and grate on finely grater or in a mixer and add: onions with oil and margarine, meat, egg, flour, salt, pepper and mix everything together
- Pour the batter into large greased square baking pan and bake in preheated oven at 390 F (200C) for approximately 1 hour till the top become golden in colour and crispy
* If you wish, you may just add finely grated onion (without frying it) and oil with melted margarine to potato batter

:LPEDAS:


Here is another version...


POTATO BABKA:

1,5 kg potatoes
2 eggs
2 white onions (1 whole and 1 chopped)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. dry marjoram
200 grams smoke bacon (optional)
oil and bread crumbs for spring form

- Peel potatoes and grate on finely grater or in a mixer
- Peel and finely grate one onion, add to potatoes
- Cut bacon in small pieces and fried together with another chopped onion till golden in colour, add chopped garlic one minute before turning off the heat and add to potatoes
- Add all other ingredients to potatoes batter and mix together
- Grease with oil and spring with bread crumbs 20 cm spring form and pour potato batter inside
- Bake in preheated oven at 390F for 1 hour and then turn the heat down to 350F and bake for another 30 minutes

:JUESA:

Those paninis look good. I made some a couple of weeks ago i added some banana peppers, mozzarella, and lettuce to a marinaded grilled chicken.

Well then, you can always try eating pita or tortillas made of masa with warm salted milk.

Here is my receipt for warming and healthy soup. When I said warming I really meant it and you will know why when you eat the soup. Perfect if you are felling under the weather or have cold/flu but in this case you may consider replacing bacon with chicken broth or chicken cubes and puree the soup if you wish.

GARLIC SOUP:

10-15 garlic cloves, sliced few times long side
1 white onion, chopped
4-5 large potatoes, cut in small squares
1/3-1/2 cup sour cream
1 large bay leaf
dash of each: all spice, nutmeg and cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. dry marjoram
1 Tbsp. lemon juice or 1 tsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. each: green parsley and dill, chopped (optional)
1 Tbsp. oil for frying
smoke bacon, cut in small pieces

- Fry lightly bacon together with onion, remove to pot with boiling water, add garlic, bay leaf, salt/pepper/all spice/nutmeg/cayenne pepper and boil for approximately 1 hour
- Add potatoes with marjoram and boil 5-8 minutes longer till potatoes are tender, turn the heat off
- In a small bowl mix sour cream adding slowly little bit of soup, this way sour cream will not go bad
- Pour sour cream/soup mixture to the pot with soup stirring it together
- Add lemon juice and parsley with dill

You are posting on the wrong thread! The last thing we need now is to have Jerusalem Russ spamming here with his calendar...

Oh my. This sounds delightful. I'm printing it now. Thanks. (It may keep Dracula away, too.)

Last Edited by Ms. Superduper on 03/09/2014 03:52 PM

You have no idea how hard you made me laughing:)) Thanks!

10-15 cloves of garlic would not even keep our Dr. Acula away, so unless those cloves are very large, I would suggest 20 cloves! That's what I do, but I didn't want to scare people in here...

Dr. Acula...




I am still laughing Ms. Superduper...

Folks, take a look at KIMCHI here...

Thread: Have you ever tasted Kimchi ? (Page 2)

There are few things as recession-proof AND as good for your health as Kimchi and sauerkraut.... and not hard to prepare at all. No need for complicated recipes !

My two favorite receipts for tomato sauces with meat. I like to use “Catelli Onion and Garlic” jars and just add 1 dash of dry basil per jar while cooking, but Ragu jars are fine too and you can buy them and spaghetti packages on sale for $1.00 each. For “Ragu with Garlic” add 1 dash of dry basil/jar and for “Ragu with Basil” add 1 chopped clove of garlic/jar. Green pepper goes very well with tomatoes and adds nice flavor. I use deep pot for cooking tomato sauces to avoid “tomato mess” in the kitchen.

TOMATO SAUCE WITH MEATBALLS:

2 jars Ragu sauce (garlic or basil)
3/4 jar water
1 Ib ground beef or chicken
1 large green pepper, cut in small pieces
1 egg
3 Tbsp. bread crumbs
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
dash or two of cayenne pepper

- Pour tomatoes sauce and water into deep pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low
- In a bowl mix ground meat with salt, pepper, egg and bread crumbs. Form medium size balls and add slowly to pot one at time
- After 1,5 hour of simmering add green peppers
- At the end add Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper

*IMPORTANT: The sauce should NOT boil only MINIMALLY simmer in opened pot for approximately 3 hours being stirred delicately (to not break meat balls) time to time. It will change its red bright colour to light brown and loses acidity – That’s the secret to this sauce nice taste! You may add little more water during simmering to not burn the sauce but all the added water should evaporate till the end of cooking.
*If you have more time, you may lightly brown/fry meat balls first with little bit of oil in frying pan before adding it to the pot with tomatoes. They will be even more tender this way.
*If you wish then besides meat balls, 20-30 minutes after simmering the sauce, you may additionally add package of “Johnsonville” regular or cheddar sausages sliced first in 2 cm pieces. If you do it, you should use 3 jars of Ragu sauce. This sauce freezes well.
*Serve with pasta or spaghetti. You may add cooked spaghetti to the pot with the sauce and mix everything together, but then, do not freeze it.

2 jars Ragu $2.00
ground meat $4.00
spaghetti $1.00
other $2.00
____________________
TOTAL $9.00

2 days dinner for family of 4-5 = 1 dollar meal per person!


HOME MADE TOMATO SAUCE:

2 cans peeled tomatoes
1 can water
1 Ib ground beef
1 large white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 dash of each: dry thyme and nutmeg
3 dashes of each: dry oregano, basil and red pepper
salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. sugar (added at the very end)
2-3 Tbsp. oil for frying meat

- In a frying pan, fry lightly onion with oil, add ground beef and fry together till the meat loses it’s red colour separating “lumps” with spoon
- Remove meat with onions to a large pot, add tomatoes, water, garlic and spices
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on very law heat till the added water evaporate, approximately 1-1,5 hour, add sugar

*I use this sauce for baking lasagna, cannelloni and rigatoni but you may also eat it with whit spaghetti, pasta and penne.

I like cabbage rolls but there is lots of work with doing them, especially with separating all those cabbage leafs, simmering them first and then stuffing/folding, so I “developed” my own receipt and call it “lazy”, LOL. Different look but the same taste and you have there full dinner with cabbage/tomatoes/carrots for vegetable, meat for proteins and rice for carbs. if you are on really very tight budget, you can replace meatballs with package of hot dogs sliced in 1 inch pieces and don’t add optional ingredients. And if you are vegetarian, then you can replace meat with sliced mushrooms or just cook the cabbage this way on its own. Ok, here goes another easy and cheap meal...

LAZY CABBAGE ROLLS:

1 head white cabbage, chopped
1 white onion, chopped and fried in oil
1 carrot, cut in small pieces (optional)
1 tomato (optional)
1-2 tsp. tomato paste
4-5 Tbsp. white dry rice
1 Ib ground pork or chicken
1 egg
3 Tbsp. bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
dash of each: Allspice, Nutmeg and Paprika (dry red pepper)
2 Tbsp. sour cream (optional)
2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped (optional)
2 Tbsp. green parsley, chopped (optional)

- Mix ground meat with egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Form small meat balls and put aside
- Place tomato in a bowl and cover with boiling water, after 10 minutes drain the water and peel the skin off, cut tomato in medium pieces
- Place cabbage in a large pot, add 2 cups of water, carrots, fried onion, bay leaf, allspice, nutmeg, paprika, black pepper and bring to boil, reduce heat
- Add meat balls one at time and cook everything together for 20 minutes on low heat
- Add tomatoes and rice, cook for another approximately 15-20 minutes
- Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt to taste and cook for another 5 minutes
- Turn the heat off and add sour cream, dill and parsley to the pot, mix everything together

*If you want to be more “adventurous” you may additionally fry 4-5 slices of smoke bacon cut in small pieces and add at the beginning to the pot for even better taste
*The rice will thicken the cabbage but if you wish, you may additionally thicken it with home made thickener adding it at the very end to still simmering cabbage
*Eat “lazy cabbage rolls” with mash potatoes or with bread

HOMEMADE THICKENER:

4-5 Tbsp. oil
4-5 tsp. flour
*No water

- In small frying pan heat oil and add flour. Mix well and fry till it becomes golden in colour. The mixture should be very dense. If it’s not, add more flour. Do not add water to it because if you do and then add this thickener to the soup, your soup may have dumplings.
- Add very hot thickener at the end to still boiling soups or another dishes, stir and boil for few seconds more. It works all the time perfectly, no dumplings!
- If you have to thicken very large pot of soup then, of course, you need to make thickener with more oil and flour.

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

This is a slow cooker recipe but as I was making it I realized how inexpensive is to make and it will last for more than one meal.

1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef or Turkey
1/2 cup rice
1 onion diced
1/2 of a green pepper died
3 cloves of garlic
1 large can (15oz) of diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 large can (15 oz) of tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 head of cabbage chopped into large pieces (you might not be able to fit all the cabbage depending on the size of your slow cooker.


Directions:

Break up uncooked meat on the bottom of the crockpot.
Season with Salt and Pepper and any other seasoning to your liking.
Next put rice on top of meat.
Add the Onion, Green Pepper, and Garlic.
Add as much cabbage as will fit in crock pot.
Top with diced tomatoes.
Add sugar to tomato sauce and then pour that over the top.

Cook on High for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.

The ingredients cost around 10 dollars and will last for at least two meals. ENJOY!

Last Edited by Do you see what I see on 03/21/2014 03:42 PM

I like this receipt a lot and will do it in the oven using baking dish with a lid. Thanks!

I like how this sounds!

for us low-carb aspirants, it has a lot of good protein.

is that centrigrade or Celsius, not Fahrenheit for the temp?

also good, heavens!

Very simply recession-proof dish : cabbage soup

Cut white cabbage in small pieces or very thin strips.
Put in kettle with a bit of water, some sea salt. Add some olive oil. Lid on kettle.

Heat to boiling temperature, then lower flame to minimum necessary for keeping the cooking going.

Ready after about 20-30 min, or depending on how you like your cabbage. Stir in some flour a minute before finishing, also spice you like. Add water as needed to make a good soup, add soy sauce (natural tamari) after cooking, in bowl or plate while still hot.

Very nourishing, very healthy. Feels good in stomach.

Cabbage is particularly good for stomach ulcers.

Very simple recipe, prepare large quantity and fill in glass pots. Put some oil on top to preserve against mould, if necessary.