Recession Time Spaghetti

I've posted a recipe I've been using for many years. This is a really inexpensive meal and can feed 4-5 people.

There are a few recipes I have for making sauce, meat sauce, marinara, etc. I think this is one of the easiest.

When things get tough you can still eat well. My grandparents came to America during the depression I learned many ways of cooking good meals that are very inexpensive, been doing it since I was 11 years old.

(Is it ok to add the link here? If not I'll come back and just copy/paste the text here.)

Recession Time Pasta

Does anyone make anything similar?

reply to post by Electro38


I do a very similar pasta when I am strapped for cash or when I am just lazy.LOL
My sauce is from a can and I add pepper,garlic and a bit of maple syrop.(gives a better taste I find)
Then I chop an onion and I sautee half of the onion and put it in the sauce.
The other half I chop up and keep raw.
The raw onion is sprinkled on top the pasta and sauce when you are ready to serve it.
I think this topic just made me hungry.

Interesting, I've never heard of anyone adding maple syrup. When I make a sauce with chop meat I do something similar, where I add the chopped onions and green pepper to the sauce as it's cooking, rather than saute them first. This way you have a little crunchiness in the sauce.

My grandmother would hit me with her big wooden spoon if she knew I did that, but since I'm also half Irish some of my mother's cooking style comes out.

reply to post by Electro38


Maple syrup is just for a bit more flavour.
You sound like a good cook.
Cruchiness just adds to it in my opinion.
Rules are made to be broken.
Cheers.

Yeah, I agree about the rules. I would sometimes add a pinch of sugar to certain sauces. The maple sugar is interesting.

My grandmother would wake up at 4am and start her sauce on Sunday morning. She wold make something very similar to what I describe on my blog, but she added beef and sometimes pork and cook it from about 5am until about 12pm.

The meat cooking at such a long time produced its own sugar. he never added any sugar to her sauce and she would again hit me with her big wooden spoon if she knew I added some sometimes!

Her sauce had an orange tint to it (more orange than red) and was thin. The taste was sublime. I and my sisters and cousins, still cannot reproduce it. We get close, but that's it.

Here is a recipe from someone who used to be in the Spanky and Our Gang singing group from a long time back:

Food Stamp Banquet

Variations of the following may certainly be used, such as cheeses, spices, cuts of meat (chicken, ham, or tuna) and types of pasta ... to taste.

2 lbs. Vegaroni macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
2 - 16 oz. cans of peeled stewed tomatoes
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
salt and pepper to taste
garlic salt
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 lb. butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese Needed: a large baking casserole pan

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Start 6 quarts of lightly salted water to boil, in which to cook our macaroni (2 tbsp olive oil in the bottom of the pot helps prevent macaroni from sticking, and enhances flavor). While waiting for the water to boil, coat a 12" skillet with the other 2 tbsp olive oil and place on a cold burner. Chop the onion and pepper and blend them with the olive oil in the skillet on low heat. Season with salt and pepper and/or garlic salt as needed. After approximately 5-10 minutes of sauteeing, add the ground meat and cook until the pink is gone; constantly turn to insure even cooking. Remove from heat and set aside. Add pasta to vigorously boiling water, cook until tender and evenly colored. Taste a cooled noodle to make sure it's al dente (firm but chewable). Then pour the cooked noodles into a colander to drain. Grease the casserole pan and place the noodles into the baking casserole pan. Place butter in a new saucepan, heat the butter to melt In a bowl, add the flour, then add milk to that and stir it until it is lump-free. Then add the flour and milk mixture to the melted butter, stirring constantly with a whisk. Bring to a slow boil. Now add chunks of the cheese and stir until the cheese is liquified and everything in the pan is well mixed. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the cheese mixture to the pasta in the casserole dish and mix well. Add and blend the cooked meat. Add and blend the hand-strained stewed tomatoes with everything. Blend Parmesan cheese with breadcrumbs, and add that dry mixture to the top surface of the casserole contents. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, then turn oven to Broil setting and open the oven door to brown the top of the casserole. Enjoy! Serves 10 to 15, at approximately .35 cents per serving.

(Note: The pricing data is unfortunately from at least 30 years ago!!)


And here is a table of equivalent oven temperatures for the global ATS/BTS community:

Solid fuel...........Electricity...........................................Gas

Slow..................240-310F....115-155C.........................1/4 - 2
Moderate............320-370F....160-190C.........................3-4
Fairly Hot............380-400F....195-205C.........................5
Hot.....................410-440F....210-230C.........................6-7
Very Hot.............450-480F....235-250C.........................8-9

[edit on 3/5/2009 by Uphill]

Pasta is such a great economical food. For literally a few bucks a week it can feed your family. Tomato sauce also only costs a tiny bit to make. All you need is a can of tomatoes, a clove of garlic, salt, and whatever spices suit your taste.

Or you can do it without sauce and just mix the pasta with olive oil, fresh herbs, and some feta or parmesan cheese.

Yummy and frugal

reply to post by Electro38


Hello Electro, there is a website which offers state-by-state information in the USA on "salvage" supermarkets which offer as much as 50% discounts on food items that are overstocks, have been discontinued by the manufacturers, are improperly labeled, are dented, or are about to expire. Here is that link:


www.andersonscountrymarket.net...


Hope this helps

[edit on 5/6/2009 by Uphill]

yep definitely. my handy tip - which i only started doing since money is getting tighter and food more expensive is making mince and potatoes.

1/2 kg mince beef
1/2 can of canned tomatoes
2 teaspoons of red chili flakes
2 teaspoons of garlic minced
2 potatoes peeled and diced
cooriander / cilanto to taste
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1 teaspoon of red thai curry sauce (to taste - optional)

throw everything together in a pot. cover with two cups of water and let simmer for upto an hour. make sure you stir every few mins.

serve over rice or with lebanese bread.

if you want to add more color to the meal, put in half a cup of frozen peas into the rice cooker when you put the rice in.

I use the same as a base for my meatballs.

Big bags of pasta are cheap, it's the sauce that can run up the $$$.

I add 1/4 cup of red wine to my sauce to give it some extra flavor, but you need the right red wine. Not every red wine works, my favorite is Italian wines that are made to be drank with pasta, they work the best.