The "I'm poor as hell recipe collection"

I was just viewing another thead in this forum for a low cost deer chili recipe, and someone suggested that we create a thread dedicated to low cost meals.

I'll start this off with my recipe for Grant loaves.
Grant loaves were created in the 1940's by Doris Grant (hence the name) and are a no knead bread that costs practically nothing to make and are soo delicious you'll never go back to crappy wonder bread again.

12 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tblsp salt
1 Tblsp dried yeast ( I use Fleshmann's but any brand is fine)
1 Tblsp brown sugar
5 cups warm water (divided)

preheat oven to 400F

grease 3, 81/2 x 41/2 x 21/2 loaf pans and set aside.
sift flour and salt together in a large bowl (the biggest one you got)

sprinkle the yeast over 2/3 cup of the warm water and after a minute stir in the brown sugar, leave to "proof" for 10 min

Make a well is the center of the flour and stir in the yeast mixture and remaining water, mix for about a minute with a heavy spoon, (the dough will be very soft almost like oatmeal)
spoon even amounts into loaf pans and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or till the dough has risen to about 1/2 below the lip of the pans.

Bake for 40 minutes or till bread sounds hollow when tapped, remove from pans and let cool.

a reply to: Daavin

I may need this I may be getting fired tmr .

My thoughts are if we can ease the stress of being able to put low cost food on the table of stuggling families even just a little than it's well worth a few minutes to type out a few low cost recipes.

My daughter wanted to make medicinal Chicken soup and called me from California where she was working for the recipe. I told her the ingredients and how to make it and it cost us about ten bucks to make a huge pot of the soup. She had to buy everything, soy sauce, tabasco sauce, celery, carrots, onions, garlic, sage, chicken, cabbage, veggies, noodles, lemon juice, and some white wine. She had none of these and it cost her sixty bucks to buy all the stuff we usually have in stock in the fridge. On top of everything she was in California where prices are high.

She did knock the flu out of her with the soup though within one day.

A ten buck pot of soup can feed seven people for a dinner if you have some rolls with it. You can get chickens around here for five bucks for a big chicken. If you stock all the ingredients for soups in the crisper, you don't waste too much if you make soup once a week. Frozen veggies work just fine for the mixed veggies added in the end.

Since the holidays are upon us I thought I would share my favourite crock pot stuffing recipe. I bake the bread the day before greatly reducing the cost. this recipe was given to me and I unfortunately don't know who to credit for this one. If you can and you buy your bread from the store, cube the ends and save them in the freezer untill you have enough.

Cube one loaf of bread and put into a large bowl toss with:
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp majoram

using 1/2 cup butter or margarine saute:
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
until onions are soft but not brown
let cool a bit and stir into seasoned bread

wisk two eggs till well beaten and add 4 cups milk to the eggs wisking to incorporate.

put bread mixture in crock pot, then pour egg/milk mixture over top. turn crockpot to high and cook for 45 min then turn down to low for 4-6 hours.

a reply to: boymonkey74

keeping my fingers crossed that you don't

a reply to: boymonkey74

Merry Christmas mate ... Bastards !

Let us know how it goes ... both bread and jobwise .

a reply to: Daavin

Starred and Flagged as this is a thread that folk can benefit from ...

Hope it gets plenty of traction .

a reply to: rickymouse
the best medicinal soup I ever had was tomato soup.I went to my GF's with some kinda flu symptoms.She made a can of tomato soup,and seems like she dumped in as much black pepper as a human could tolerate! Literally,not a teaspoon or such,but a scoopfull! I could barely gag it down....but I was fantastic the next morning!!! Never heard of it before,or since,but if I ever feel that bad again,it will be my first choice.

Thanks for the recipe.

I think when we post recipes that focus on low expenses that we just put a [Low Cost] tag in front of the title or something

I would like to see a more in-depth price on the recipe though.

a reply to: Daavin
no dis respect,but your recipe for a loaf of bread costs 10 bucks! The best thing low income people need to do is to learn how to shop properly!My ex wife's kid,he has a drug induced mental retardation due to huffing paint...has no "life skills".He gets hungry,spends 10 bucks at burger king 4 times a day.IF he knew how and where to shop,and learn to cook,he could live on 50 bucks a week!
Honestly,IF I could get thru to him how to shop,where to shop,how to budget his money,he'd be fine.A bag of potato's at the 99 cent store is the same as a bag at wal mart for 4.99. 3 bell peppers for 99 cents is the same as 1 for 1.29 at wal mart!
Fast food is not cheap food! You have to pay for the convienence.Go into a circle k sandwich cooler,you can get 2 egg mcmuffins for 3 bucks...can you get that at the drive thru? NOPE!
My budget menu idea's?
1. learn to cook
2.learn to shop
3.learn to cook with cheap foods
4.buy day old or discounted items and cook them first
5.learn to re use leftovers
6.make only what you can eat to avoid leftovers

So,learn to cook,learn to shop,buy only what you can eat,buy only what you like...
I can eat like a king for 20 bucks a week at the 99 cent store.

a reply to: Daavin
RE; low cost recipes....you're spices cost more than my daily meals.

a reply to: blkcwbyhat

I could eat for 20 bucks a week at the 99 cent store too, but it would all be nearly expired, incredibly unhealthy, extremely questionable food.

Your best bet is to grow your own vegetables as much as possible, and try to exclusively eat food that is home made from scratch.

Just had a 6" turkey sub that cost me $1.89 simply because I made the bread myself

It most certainly is all about how much effort you want to put into your own food. The less the effort, the more you'll likely pay

a reply to: blkcwbyhat

I hear you ... my spoilt 18 yr old is too silly to suggest to friends that they pitch in, buy a bunch of stuff for a cheap BBQ

pool their limited entertainment budget yeah sure booze?

Pitch in and buy a slab ... ( or home brew )

Life can be expensive ... unless you learn the age old concept of - wait for it ...

DIY !

Even grow your own herbs ( super exxy at the supermarket for fresh ) and veggies, even fruit , if you have the space and climate ...

1 package bacon
1 large head of cabbage

Chop up your bacon into small bite size pieces, shred your cabbage.

In a super large fry pan, fry up your bacon until crispy. Toss in your cabbage (with the bacon and bacon grease still in the pan), toss to coat the cabbage. Put on a tight lid to hold all the moisture in and cook over medium low until cabbage is soft and cooked through, stirring every once in a while to keep the cabbage from browning/sticking to pan. Add salt & pepper to taste if desired.

For a little extra added flavour, you can also add a cup or two of chicken stock... the cabbage really sucks up the chicken broth and gives it a nice additional flavour boost, and it also helps the cabbage to cook through faster.

You can also experiment with other seasonings/herbs according to your own taste pallet. But quite frankly, even just the bacon and the cabbage without anything else will still be a very tasty dish.


If you want to bulk up your bacon/cabbage to stretch it out even more:

Peel and cut up a couple of potatoes into small bite size pieces and add them in when you add your cabbage... the spuds will fully cook at the about same amount of time it takes to cook the cabbage.

Or

Add in some cooked noodles near the end of the cabbage/bacon cooking process, you'll end up doubling the amount of food.


The important thing is to cook everything with the lid on, you need that moisture to cook the cabbage without burning it... you may find that you might need to add a bit of water to the pan every now and then to keep the moisture going. This is where chicken broth would be a great replacement for just plain water... but if your budget is that tight, plain old water does the trick too.


Either way, you'll end up with at least 3-5 good sized meals out of this dish.

Spaghetti is pretty cheap. The noodles don't cost a lot, and canned sauce isn't to expensive.

Grilled cheese is cheap too. Buy generic kraft singles, generic white bread and a jar of generic mayo. Yes, mayo. Mayo works better actually than butter for frying/grilling the sandwiches. It's cheaper than butter, coats the bread more evenly, and actually tastes better IMO.

My cheap and easy go to meal.

1 [per person] frozen chicken kiev or cordon bleu $1.00 - $1.30
1 [per 2-3 people] package(s) rice sides of whatever flavor $1.00 - $1.30
1 [per person] hand full of greens for color $ varies by location and season
I usually go with string beans or broccoli
When available cornbread goes really well

Follow directions on package
Start the rice when the chicken is about half way done
Steam the greens just enough to heat but preserve the crunch.
The packaged rice has plenty of salt in it so use black pepper on the greens.

1 x 5 pack of beef 2 minute noodles $0.99-

a reply to: PLAYERONE01

Boil some veggies - mash them - instant bubble and squeak ! ( add your own spice /condiments )

Filling AND importantly - nutritious.

a reply to: boymonkey74

I sure do hope not! No one needs that, not at this time of year or any time of year.