Cooking the Frugal Way

As we have gone to a more frugal life and really implement the changes we wanted to make our biggest issue was our food budget. Before we would make meals that were elaborate and super yummy, but really expensive if you did it too often (and that is what we did). We have learned how to stock up on meat and it not cost too much money (read this post I wrote a few months ago.), but we were still spending so much money on food. I am learning how to use coupons to stock up on things we use all the time like deodorant and toilet paper, but other things that cost money and we use often like mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. I don’t want a stock pile of 45 ketchup bottles because I don’t even think I would use that in my life, but a few bottles here and there at a great price would be nice.

The last few weeks we have been getting back to frugal cooking and I LOVE IT. I did not grow up with a lot of money and I remember always having yummy meals on the table and I never knew how much it cost to put on our table. Now as an adult I knew they were meals that were filling but less expensive to make.  Here are a few of the recipes I LOVE and have been go to meals the last few weeks.

I have a family of 5 so my recipes are set for approx. 8 helpings. You can cut it in half if you would like, or add to it if you know you need more to feed your family.

Hamburger Rice

2.5lbs ground hamburger

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 cup milk

3 cups of uncooked rice

Brown the hamburger and add seasoning if you want. Once your hamburger is cooked add the cream of mushroom soup and milk and mix it all together. While you are browning the hamburger you will want to cook your rice per the directions for your rice. We use a rice cooker so that makes things easier for us. When rice is done you will scoop the hamburger over the rice and your dinner is served. This is one my children’s favorite meals and they go back for seconds each time.

Poor Man’s Pie (Sheppard’s Pie)

2.5lbs ground Hamburger

2 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 Cup Milk

2 cans Corn

5 cups mashed potatoes.

2 cups shredded cheese. We use Colby Jack or Cheddar Cheese

Brown the hamburger and add seasoning if you want. Once your hamburger is cooked add the cream of mushroom soup and milk and mix it all together. Layer this on the bottom of a casserole (baking) dish.  Drain the corn and layer this over the hamburger mixture. We use instant mashed potatoes in our house for meals like this, but you can make “real” mashed potatoes if you want. When you have your mashed potatoes you will layer over the corn and top with the cheese. Place in the oven at 370 for about 30 minutes. Make sure the cheese is melted and let your dish continue to cook for a few minutes; just don’t let the cheese burn.

You can use green beans in place of the corn.

Poverty Hamburger

I got this recipe from Pinterest, so here is the pinned post.