Simple Inexpensive Meals from the good old days

    Have you ever, in the last 5+ years, gone grocery shopping, picked up something you have bought in the past and the put it back on the shelf because of sticker shock? I have, and walked away mumbling that they were crazy. I have adjusted a lot but I have always been watching my Pennies raising 6 kids on one income.  

I learned how to cook quickly for tasty & nutritious meals that weren’t going to break the bank! I made 2 vegetarian And 1 bean meal a week to start with my scaling down my costs. 

We still eat these meals today. First off. I use dry beans. 1 one pound bag of dry bean, cooked equals 4- 15 oz canned beans. So you get at least twice the amount but depending on brands, 3x  the amount is closer to it. Yes, budgeting usually kills all those convenience foods but $1.50 for a pound of beans that can make at least 2 meals! You can’t beat it. 

A number of ways to cook these. Put them in a pot with cold water over night. Cook these next day for between 45-90 minutes depending on the softness you desire. I use 1-2 cups for a meal and after cooling, put the other two cups either in a freezer zip lock or another safe freezer container

Black Bean Corn Chili

1/4 c dry sherry, apple juice or water

1 T oil      1 large onion chopped

1/2c chopped celery 1/2 c chopped peppers 1/2 c chop carrots 

1 can corn, drained (or 1 1/2 c frozen

2 cups chicken broth, you can use better than bouillon or a couple bouillon cubes

2T tomato paste

28 oz can diced tomatoes

2 T minced garlic 2 tsp ground cumin 3-4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp oregano 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1-2 T honey, salt & pepper hot sauce (optional) 

1/2 tsp liquid smoke or smoked paprika 

In stick pot combine sherry and oil and cook onions , celery and carrots till soft but not necessarily brown. Add all the rest of the ingredients. 

Cook another 30 minutes simmering

I serve corn bread (from scratch) and rice with this. 

Depending on how much you are pinching Pennie’s you can add shredded  cheese ( shred it yourself) and sour cream

You have a complete meal with protein, vegetables and beans to make another meal in the freezer

Another thing I made was loaded baked potatoes. There was actually a place in malls that used to do this same thing.

I buy the 8 lb bags of extra large potatoes, wash and poke holes 2-3x with a fork, it will explode in the oven not doing this 

Oven set at 375 for about an hour

Topping we have used

Butter, sour cream cheddar and Broccoli

Cheesy franks

Package of chicken hot dogs- cheapest and with the cheese sauce no one will tell the difference

1/4 c chopped onion & 1/4 c green pepper and a pound package of hot dogs cut up and sauté in 2 T butter till vegetables are a little soft, add 2T flour. Cook for a minute, slowly add 1 3/4 cups off milk, then 1 c shredded cheddar, 2T chopped pimento ( comes in small cans) salt & pepper. Top your potato with that and sprinkle a little extra cheese

You can also top baked potatoes with anything leftover. 

Chicken Ala king, beef stew, chili 

When we lived in Douth Florida, no air conditioning and too hot to think of cooking I made a huge fruit salad, topped it with a scoop of sherbet, my kids thought I was tricking them lol and served with sides of cottage cheese and some sort of vegetable relish, like corn relish or piccalilli. Some times a light cabbage salad tossed with a little mayo splash of vinegar, a little sugar just to take the sharpness of the vinegar away, chopped onions, shredded carrots.no oven needed for anything and lots of fruit and vegetables is perfect! 

I will share more vegetables and things we did being on a very strict budget  the entire time we raised kids

The 50’s housewife was FRUGAL and hard working. Her childhood consisted of The Great Depression and her teenage years and early adult life was World War 2. Even though the war officially ended September 2, 1945 it took another year before all our guys made it home. The economic recovery was volatile for the first few years after the war and then in 1947, money saved during the war because of rationing and victory gardens made savings on grocery spending. (Average saved was 21% of income) and  the reality hit them,,, no more war… we didn’t go back to the depression like everyone thought and we have $$! And they started spending it. There was finally hope and relief! And with that hope and booming economy came a housing boom, a marriage boom and the famous Baby Boom! But look what they went thru to get there! My mother got married in1950! 23 years old! I was raised by the proverbial 50’s housewife!