Frugal Cooking Series: Taveran Stew

 

After the pandemic, we all experienced the sticker shock COVID left in its wake. You may be wondering how you will prepare a healthy meal for your family and still manage to stay in budget. One way to go is with canned food. Not only will you be able to feed yourself, you will feel satisfied, and you will be able to begin a stockpile without going off your budget.

Ingredients

1 can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup

1 can of whole potatoes

1 can of mixed vegetables

Milk

Seasonings (I used paprika, salt, and pepper)

Cooking Pot

Directions

Open all three cans of food.

Drain the vegetables and the potatoes.

Empty the 3 cans into a cooking pot.

Place pot over high heat.

Add one can of whole milk.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium low. 

Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Add cheese or bacon bits (optional)

Serve with toast or french bread.

This meal serves 3-4 people. You can garnish it any way you would like or at meat and vegetables to your taste.

The Recipe Box: Cast Iron Pizza

One of our budget cuts was eating out and that meant no more delivery or carry out pizza. At first we were buying pizza from the store, but that can cost as much as $8 or more depending on the brand. We have tried Aldi, and they have great pizza, but sometimes our local store selection just hasn't been great.

While browsing through my Facebook threads the other day, I came across a deep dish pizza recipe in a cast iron cooking group. I did have to make a few changes to it, because let's face it letting dough rise for 15 hours before using it is just a bit much. After the changes, we arrived at the most amazing deep dish pizza and it costs very little to make.

What You'll Need:

A cast iron skillet
Oil (any kind will do but I used the Soy/Olive mix from Dollar Tree)
Pizza Dough (if you don't have a recipe, try my Homestead Yeast Dough recipe. It makes 2 pizzas.)
Sauce (one jar of Prego will cover 4 pizzas!)
Cheese
Toppings of Your Choice

How to do it:

This couldn't be easier. Just take your pizza dough and place it in an oiled cast iron skillet. Set your oven to 425. Let the dough rise while your oven preheats. When the oven is ready, put as much or as little sauce as you want on the pizza. Spread the sauce and add cheese and your toppings.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.


Freezer cooking note:  This recipe is perfect for freezer cooking or for once a month cooking. I usually have our toppings ready to go and freeze the dough. That way we can add the toppings we want instead of having to choose from an already done pizza. It takes just a few minutes to add the topping so it's not really a time crunch issue.

To freeze the dough just separate it out, let it rise, then place in a floured freezer bag. Take it out the morning of pizza day and let it thaw. Bake as per instructions.

Frugal note:  Try to buy your flour and yeast at Aldi. It works great and saves a ton of money. Get your toppings at Dollar Tree (for pepperoni) or make your toppings ahead by using unflavored shredded chicken, sausage, bacon, or any topping you'd like.

Freezer Cooking Meals: Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Buffalo chicken pasta can be a quick, filling, and flavorful addition to your monthly freezer meal menu. This recipe makes four large batches and can easily feed a family of 4 to 6. Here's what you'll need and how to make it. (Remember, this recipe makes 4 large dinners. If you want to do it for one night to give it a try, you'll need to adjust the ingredient amounts.)

Ingredients:

• 4 bottles of Louisiana Supreme Chicken Wing Sauce (you can find this at Dollar Tree)
• 2 family size (4-5 lb trays) of boneless skinless chicken breast
• 4 boxes of bowtie or penne pasta
• Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing (this is used on top of each serving, so the amount you need depends on your family size and dressing tastes)

1) Put your boneless skinless chicken into your crockpot. If you only have one standard size crockpot, you may need to cook up one tray of chicken at a time. If you have two crockpots, like we do, then you can put one tray in one pot and one in the other. 

2) Cover your chicken with the Louisiana Supreme Chicken Wing Sauce. We use two bottles per crockpot or tray of chicken.

3) Cook the chicken on low for 8 to 9 hours or high for 4 to 6 hours. The chicken needs to be tender enough that you can break it apart with a fork. 

4) Place the cooked chicken on a serving platter or in a large bowl and begin shredding the chicken. 

5) Place your shredded chicken equally into 4 quart size bags and place in the freezer.

6) Take the frozen chicken out of the freezer to thaw the night before or morning of the day you plan on serving the pasta.

7) Cook your box of pasta as normal, drain, add the shredded chicken, and serve.

The shredded chicken also works great for crockpot shredded chicken sandwiches or sliders! Just follow steps 1-6. After the meat has thawed, warm in the microwave and serve on buns. 

Aldi Find: 3 Bean Chili Dry Soup Mix

I don't usually go for the all in one soup mixes for stews or chili. Mainly because they tend to leave something out or the flavor just doesn't seem right. Well, I have been proven wrong by Aldi. We found a 3 bean chili dry soup mix and decided to give it a try. It was $2.49 for the mix and we got the 4 pound roll of hamburger for $8.99. We only used 1 pound for the chili and it was amazing. We added nothing to it but the hamburger. So, we are using this again as a January meal. 

I did do a few things that were not shown on the package instructions that may have added to the flavor. Here is how we did it.

• Brown the ground beef in the stockpot you'll be cooking the chili in.
• Add the can of tomato paste to the beef as it cooks.
• Do not drain off the hamburger!
• Add 6 cups of water instead of 7 and add it directly to the cooked hamburger and tomato mix
• Bring to a boil
• Add the chili mix
• Turn the heat down to simmer
• Allow the chili to simmer for one hour on low stirring occasionally.

That's all there is to it. I served it with cornbread but you could use biscuits, crackers, or anything else really. We also added cheese to each bowl.

It made enough for us to have dinner and 2 lunches. Not bad. 

***picture from Pillsbury and does not reflect the actual chili that was made*