I love clam chowder, the white and creamy New England style, so the beginning of winter weather this weekend was a great time to make up a batch. Now it happens that I also have lots of butternut squash and am always looking for ways to add this sweet, high vitamin and fiber ingredient to…
Spinach Artichoke Dip–Frugal?
Over the years there have been recipes I have not even tried because they contained ingredients that didn’t fit my tight budget. That wonderful spinach artichoke dip, as delicious as it can be, was full of too expensive things like artichokes, sour cream, and “real” Parmesan cheese, so I just enjoyed it when it was…
Bean Flat Bread
Our local Aldi started carrying dried kidney beans, at a very attractive price, so I bought a few pounds and then cooked up two pounds of them for a weekend of chili making–two large crowd events with three batches of chili would call for a lot of beans. Not, however, quite as many as I…
Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole
Several of us were asked to bring a Chicken Enchilada Casserole for a large gathering recently, so I volunteered to make a vegetarian version. The organizers wanted all the casseroles to have the same appearance so they had provided a recipe to follow and asked that I make my vegetarian contribution to look as much…
Busy Day Three Ingredient Meat and Potato Main Dish
Sometimes there are times when you get home late from work or kids’ after school events or meetings, and the refrigerator just doesn’t have a lot of ingredients for a “real meal.” Before you reach for the phone to order take out, what if you could put together some home-cooked food in less than…
Pumpkin–Turning Jack-o-Lanterns into Frugal Meals
Have you ever wondered how to use those jack-o-lantern pumpkins after they have served their purpose as decorations? Do you want to avoid having THIS happen to your perfectly good pumpkins? (Thanks, friends, for allowing me to share this.) Even though the “jack-o-lantern pumpkins” may not be as sweet as “pie pumpkins,” they still can…
Apple Raspberry Cupcakes…or Muffins? You Decide
Many years ago, muffins were pretty straight forward, basic quick breads with relatively small amount of fat and sugars, good while warm but quick to dry out after the first day. In these “olden days” before cake mixes were widely available, there were also a lot of basic cake recipes (often categorized as “one egg…
Applesauce Oatmeal Cake with Orange Glaze
This is an old-fashioned cake that is just right for a chilly autumn evening or weekend dessert. It goes together pretty quickly, all in one saucepan, and the fragrance it will bring to your house–amazing! As I’ve noted before, I like to keep orange juice concentrate in the freezer for recipes like this. The…
Crunch-Top Applesauce and Apricot Bars
Many years ago I found a recipe for some simple applesauce bars that were pretty basic. Adding dried apricots and almonds adds a special burst of flavor. The topping is a little messy, but that never seems to keep these cookies from being perenially popular. Cornflakes are an inexpensive way to stretch the crunch of…
Rice and Bean Salad
There has been a lot of well-deserved attention lately to the amount of food wasted in the US, from the farm fields all the way to grocery stores, restaurants, and our own homes. With this in mind, I started considering some of the ways that I have found uses for relatively common leftovers. When I…