Low-Cost Recipes

Ingredients: 

Daughter here. Years ago, Mom was at the end of her pantry, the grocery money would not drop into the account for a couple of days, but we still needed dinner. She rifled through her collection of recipe books and magazines and found a casserole recipe that she actually had all the ingredients for. She made it. It looked weird. Smelled kind of funny. Everyone (including stepdad and baby bro who would eat just about anything) poked at their food for a bit before trying it.

It was Awesome. It kind of made layers when it baked, but it worked. We all wanted seconds and we're bummed when there were none. A rare 6 out of 6 (3 of us kids, both parents, and a guest who was visiting from out of town.) on Mom's rating scale.

And then she promptly lost the recipe. We knew it involved broccoli, cheese, rice, cream of something soup, and corn flakes. She thinks it was from Taste of Home. We have scoured the Taste of Home website, Pinterest, and friend's recipe stashes, to no avail. It has been almost 20 years, and we have finally found something similar in taste, smell, and appearance. It is under development to get to what we like.

 Daughter checking in again. Mom put a version of chicken pot pie (which we often use the day after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey instead of chicken to use up some of the leftovers) on the blog years ago. It's tasty, it's comfort food, it's fairly easy. But, unfortunately, our local grocery store chain (Giant Eagle) has chicken pot pies in their hot food counter that has such a good flavor to the, for lack of a better word, gravy inside, topped with a circle of puff pastry. We have been trying for years to mimic the taste of it, and despite being given false leads from some of the staff at our local store, we think we have come pretty darned close. To keep with the theme of Low Budget, most everything you could get at a Dollar Tree if need be, but if you want to get the same experience, two items (the fancy cream of chicken soup and puff pastry topping) were bought on sale at Giant Eagle.

Ingredients:

1 can of Swanson's Chicken a la King

1 can of Cream of Chicken with Herbs (regular cream of chicken will work, but the additional flavors takes it to the next level. Store brands don't typically make this flavor, so we get them when on sale)

1 large can of chunk white chicken or 2 small cans

1 can mixed vegetables

1 can peas

1 can sliced carrots

1 roll of puff pastry, or biscuit like topping of your choice (like sheets of crescent rolls with the perforations sealed or biscuit mix poured on top)

If using puff pastry, 1 egg

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a 9x13" baking dish, mix the Chicken a la King and cream of chicken soup. Open the cans of vegetables and chicken, draining off the liquid. Layer the three cans of vegetables in the baking dish, distributing evenly. On top, layer the shredded chicken evenly. You can mix it together or leave as a layer on top. Top with puff pastry or biscuit topping of choice. If using puff pastry, wisk one egg and use as an egg wash over the top of the puff pastry. 

Bake at 425 F for 30 mins or until topping is fully cooked. Makes 6 servings.

 We found a recipe with this same name, but it was so bland when we tried it. It was disappointing, but had promise as a base. Taking it as inspiration, we came up with our own version, and it does not have many ingredients, so is good for a quick "I can't think of anything for dinner" kind of night.

Ingredients :

1lb ground beef, crumbled and drained

1 15 Oz can of either Southwest corn (with the peppers) or Fire roasted corn, drained.

1 10.5 Oz can Cheddar cheese soup

1 10.5 Oz can Golden Mushroom soup

Frozen French fries 

French fry seasoning 

In a standard casserole dish (13x9 in), mix the ground beef, soups, and drained corn until homogenous. Smooth evenly through the pan. Spread a layer of the French fries across the top. You should still be able to see the mixture through the fries. We have found that about 3/4ths of a bag will be almost too much. Sprinkle a little bit of the French fry seasoning across the top.

Bake for 40 minutes at 425, or until fries are done. Makes about 6 servings. 

 This is a recipe I (oldest daughter) modified from a recipe that is on the side of a box of Jiffy baking mix. Just a small tweak that I think adds to it. It makes 6 good sized portions, but could make 8 slightly smaller portions, depending on how you divide the casserole dish. The topping is similar to the one that is used in the pot pie recipe, but is both fluffier and more custard like in texture. It's odd to describe, but there have been no complaints. I've actually gotten requests for it, now that we've added it to the recipe rotation. 

Ingredients:

1 10 Oz bag of frozen broccoli

1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded (about 1 1/2 cups), or 1 10 Oz can of white chicken, drained

1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

1 10 or 14 Oz can of Cream of something soup. I use Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Celery

1 cup Jiffy baking mix or Bisquick 

3 eggs

1 cup of milk

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven at 400°F

Spray or lightly grease a 13x9 casserole dish. 

Mix together the can of soup, the chicken, cheese, and broccoli, then evenly distribute in the casserole dish. 

In a bowl, mix together the baking mix, eggs, milk, and salt and pepper. For a kick, you could replace the salt and pepper with a peppery seasoning salt, like Tony Chachere's. Mix well. It should seem runny and have very few lumps.

Pour the baking mix over the filling. Some of the broccoli might peek through. That is fine. Just try to get the crust part as even as possible. It will seep down into the chicken mixture. If you have ever made Cheeseburger In Paradise, it is kind of like that. 

Bake for 35-40 mins. 

All of the recipes, that I will share on this blog, were tested on my family of five prior to posting. In leiu of 'stars' you will notice that I went by 'head count' based, simplistically, on how many of the family members enjoyed the recipe.

For example:

• 5 out of 5 wanted seconds (highest rating awarded to a recipe)
• 4 out of 5 wanted seconds
• 3 out of 5 wanted seconds (borderline in my household)
• Recipes earning less than 3, with my family, will not be posted for sharing with others.

As a side notion of thought, although I used the phrasing "... wanted seconds" this does not mean they literally went back for more during the meal. The first serving may have been quite sufficient in satisfying our taste buds and hunger. So "... wanted seconds" simply boils down to that they approved of the recipe and would eat it again.