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College budget, bachelor ease recipes, please!


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How cheap you want?

 

EGG DROP SOUP

1 qt water, 2 eggs 28 cents, 3 chicken bouillon cubes 24¢, 2 TB soy sauce 10 cents

Boil water, dissolve bouillon in it. Add soy sauce, return to boil. Remove from heat, stir in eggs all at once, stirring constantly. Eggs will make long threads. Serve at once.

62 cents total; 15 1/2 cents per cup.

 

HOT & SOUR SOUP

1 qt water, 4 bouillon cubes 32 cents, 1/2 tsp ea Tabasco sauce 5¢, 1/2 tsp vinegar 3 cents, 1 egg, beaten, 14 cents, 2 TB soy sauce 10 cents, 2 TB cornstarch 20 cents, opt – minced cooked leftovers

Combine all except eggs. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring until slightly thickened. Stir eggs in 1 way, add gradually to make threads. 84 cents total, 21 cents per svg

 

 

Chicken fried (or whatever kind of meat you have, even bacon) rice: Heat some margarine in a skillet, crumble in cold rice. Stir around and it thaws quick, so add some chopped up meat asap. Keep stirring around until it heats through. If meat is skimpy, break in an egg and stir it to coat the rice, then cook until the rice isn't wet anymore. Good with leftover veggies, too; if you are extra handy (and have some extra cash) saute some chopped onions, garlic, green peppers (any or all or none) in the margarine before ading the rice. Serve with some soy sauce (often available in the condement section of student cafeterias for the taking, or saved from a chinese dinner delivery). You can even get the soy sauce lower in salt, if that bothers you.

 

Stir-fried Whatever: Microwave the rice to thaw it and heat it. Melt some margarine in a skillet, and saute some onions until soft. Add some shredded cabbage and carrots (some frugal folks rinse off leftover coleslaw, that will work just fine, though the texture may be different) and about 43 TB water and steam until the cabbage is cooked. (oh yeah...some folks buy broccoli slaw mix and use it, its even easier and the broccoli is tasty). When the veggies are soft, stir in some cooked, diced meat (leftovers, some chopped sausage, whatever you have on hand) if you have it, if not you can toss in a scrambled egg or some beans. Stir around until they are cooked/heated through, and the water is gone. Finally combine 1 cup of broth of your choice, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and 1 TB of cornstarch and stir them around until the cornstarch 'melts'. Pour this into the mixture of meat & veggies and stir around until it becomes gravy and coate the veggies (you can double the broth, soy sauce and cornstarch if you like it saucier). Pour over the rice. Stir fry!

 

Kitchen Sink Curry: In a measuring cup, combine 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup milk and 2 TB cornstarch and mix until cornstarch is blended in. Set aside. Raid the refrigerator, or the pantry for any oddiments of vegetables and meat. Saute 1 chopped onion, the chopped meat & veggies until they are cooked. Stir up the milk mixture, pour into the skillet and stir around to make a white sauce. Season with curry powder to taste - it will give it a golden color and amazing flavors. Serve over some of that reheated rice. Garnish with some thinly sliced green onion (both white and green parts are very pretty) if you want to show off.

 

Wal Mart Spanish Rice: Walmarts hot dog chili sauce is very cheap. One can just happens to be perfect to add to 4 cups cooked or re-heated rice to make some respectable spanish rice in about 5 minutes! My late DH was crazy about this stuff and it was a time and budget saver.

 

CHILI CHEESE SPUDS

1 can chili dog sauce (walmart 50 cents, 4 baked potatoes $1.48, 1/4 c shred cheese 30 cents

Total $2.28 or 57 cents per potato.

 

 

FRIED RICE CAKES (makes 4 lg cakes)

2 c cooked rice, cold 34 cents, 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 cent, 1 egg 14 cents, 3 TB oleo 9 cents,

Mix rice, pepper and egg thoroughly. Mold in flat cakes, fry in melted oleo. If you add 2 TB soy grits per cup when you make the rice the protein level soars. Minced leftovers are a free addition. If budget allows, gravy or ketchup are good with these. Makes 4 1/2-c cakes, 8 small ones. recipe equals 58 cents. One lg cake 14 1/2 cents

 

BEAN-RICE BURRITOS

1/2 svg beans (2 TB raw or 1/4 c canned)7 cents raw; 16 cents canned; rice, 3/4 c cooked 12 cents; 2 homemade tortillas 8 cents (12 cents bought); strips lettuce, 7 cents; 1 TB taco sauce 12 cents

Mix, roll and eat. Add cheese if you are flush. 46 cents for recipe without cheese using homemade beans & tortillas; otherwise 59 cents.

 

Brunch Strata:

12 slices day old white bread, crust removed, 1/2 lb. sliced cheddar cheese, 4 eggs, 2 1/2 c. milk, 1 tsp. mustard, 1 tbsp. chopped onion, 1 tsp. salt, Dash of pepper, Crumbled cooked sausage or crumbled bacon

Arrange 6 slices bread in the bottom of a buttered baking dish. Cover with meat if desired. Place slices of cheese on top of this. Cover with remaining bread slices. Beat eggs until light and foamy; add milk, mustard, onion, and seasonings. Blend using blender if available. Pour over the bread, saturating all. Refrigerate at least 1 hour-overnight. Bake uncovered in 325 degree oven for 1 hour. Cut into sandwich triangles for serving.

 

Rice for breakfast: cooked rice, warm or cold; add milk & sugar to taste.

 

MAIDRITES

1 pound ground beef (85/15 or higher, 1/4 chopped fresh (or frozen) onion (save a little to top your sandwich off with), 1/2 T. brown sugar, 1 T. white vinegar, 1/2 T. worcestershire sauce, 1/2 t. beef boullion granules, 1 T. soy sauce, 1/2 c. water

Chop onion. Brown your onion and ground beef together, making sure to break up that ground beef as you go in to as small of pieces as you can. Add all of the remaining ingredients and simmer for atleast 30 minutes. The liquids will soak in to the hamburger meat as it simmers. Lay your mixture on a hamburger bun and top the loose meat with all of the regular fixins’ that you would a hamburger. This sandwich does have a sweetness to it, so keep that in mind as you’re throwing those toppings on.

 

Ghetto Pizza (don't look at me, I didn't name it....)it came from a poor mans' recipe site

2 tbsp spaghetti sauce from a 26 oz. $2 jar — $0.07, 1 slice of white bread — $0.10, 1 slice cheese (mozzarella, swiss, etc.) — $0.15, optional pepper, dried oregano — negligible. Total: $0.32

If you can’t figure out how to make this, then I don’t know what to say. Put the sauce on the bread and cover with the cheese. Optional dried oregano and pepper on top. Put it in the toaster oven and toast it until the cheese is bubbly. That’s it.

 

Wrap a cheese sandwich (buttered on the outside, too) in foil, then iron it to brown the bread and melt the cheese (a dorm trick that is older than dirt...)Add a deli slice of ham if you want to get fancy, one thin slice only costs about 3 cents.

 

Dont forget about mulitasking with your appliances...you can cook soup or make hot dogs in a hot-pot; bake taters in a slow cooker; cook darn near anything in an electric skillet (anything you would fry, stew, braise or bake, anyway); Make quesadillas in a pizza oven (along with tostadas, paninis, etc); and make lowfat bacon in the microwave.

Of course, once those luscious smells start wafting around, you realize that your friends will drop by to eat, too!

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