Best food values?

[cata5]

I'm trying to save grocery money by buying food that is cheap, goes a long way, good for you, filling,...

We have just started eating more oatmeal that fits the above description. My kids LOVE cold cereal, but it gets so expensive and really is not good for them. Loaded with sugar! It's easy for me, but it's breaking our budget and I buy the cheapest ones I can find!

What do you buy that is a good food value?

[AndersonGal]

Is a *must-have-on-hand* for stretching those ole food dollars.

*It's healthy.
*Has a variety of ways to use it.
Everything from the main dish to the side dish to the dessert.
*Cheap
*Easy to prepare (don't need a rice cooker)
*Many recipes available.

[cata5]

I'd be interested in rice dessert recipes.

[AndersonGal]

*Regular Rice Pudding (no need to add raisins if you don't have on hand)

*Coffee Rice Pudding: Add 2 tsp. instant espresso powder (I used the free Folgers Latte )to the classic recipe at the same time you add the vanilla extract and proceed with the recipe as directed.

*Berry Parfait Rice: In wineglasses or parfait cups alternate layers of chilled rice pudding and fresh berries of your choice. Start with the rice pudding and finish with a few berries on top.

[lightning1966]

Here is a recipe I cut out from the Success Rice box.

I haven't tried it yet, but it seems really easy.

Creamy Rice Pudding:

1 bag Success white rice
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk, divided
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
Vanilla or cinnamon to taste


1. Prepare rice according to package directions
2. While rice is cooking, in a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup milk, sugar, and salt. Add cooked rice to milk mixture and continue to cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. In a small bowl, beat egg with remaining milk. Gradually pour into hot rice mixture, stirring constantly. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add vanilla or cinnamon if desired. Serve warm or cold. Serves 4.

[tkkmasky]

Potatoes are cheap, good for you, and last a long time if you store them right.

I make a basic white sauce (flour, butter, milk whisked together) add some shredded cheddar cheese and top baked potatoes with it, also adding fresh broccoli from my garden and bacon bits. Very cheap, and good, and as much protein as meat according to my cookbook.

[AndersonGal]

Last night I bought ground turkey for $.79 a pound.

This can be used to replace the ground beef in almost any recipe.
Healthier than ground beef and cheaper.

(I'm sure something else will pop in head later.)

[mama2calli]

I frequent grocery stores that mark their meat/poultry prices down if they are approaching the sell-by date. I've gotten ground beef for $.59 per lb (small packs that had $1 off coupons), then made meat balls or browned it up (for later use in tacos or crockpot tomato sauce or other recipes), and frozen it...

I live by coupons and have a 6 x 6 plastic box full of 'em that I haul with me every time I shop...many sales aren't advertised ("in-store specials" is what many of the New England stores call them) OR sometimes I find goods in the clearance bins for which I can use double or triple coupons to get them cheap or free. If it's something I can't use, I save it for the annual postal collection or holiday donations...

I try to stock up on boneless chicken whenever I can get a good deal (1.49 - 1.79 per lb. ideally)...clean it, trim it & cut into 1" strips for the freezer - we use them for stir fry (great during summer months when veggies are in season & inexpensive!), scampi (brown the chicken in the oven w/pesto sauce & melted butter or margarine), or we bake it or crockpot it with a jar of alfredo sauce and serve it over pasta or steamed broccoli...YUM!

My family is big on meat & veggies so I am forever shopping at stores who have the best deals... Kath

[pheonixxf]

I am a vegetarian, but even before that, we would occasionally mix TVP (Textured vegetable protein) with our meat. It will take on the flavor and you can use up to 1/2 TVP in your meat recipes and hardly tell the difference. It is dried, and you can usually find it in bulk at a whole food stores for 75 cents per pound. That is dried- when you add water to a dry pound it makes 3 or 4 lbs. It really does stretch out the meal, make it lower fat, and add soy protein which is supposed to be really good for people (Esp. women). It does sound like a weird idea but it works. Now that I have been a vegetarian, we skip teh meat, and I use things like sloppy joe sauce with strait TVP. A little bland though =-). TVP has the consistency of meat and will pick up flavor being teh bottom line. a lot of manufacturers use with with their meat...read their labels- check beef burritos for instance.

[mama2calli]

I've used TVP before and it's really good.

I've also made veggie tacos with sauteed diced zucchini, onions & peppers and used the taco seasoning with it...YUM!! Kath

[cata5]

What about dry beans? Anyone make anything interesting with those?

[Lainie_01@msn.com]

Dry beans.......hmmm......I like to cook up a big pot of Pinto beans.
I like to add tomatoes and some hot sauce and eat it like soup, or you can mash the beans and use them for refried beans in mex. dishes or burritos. You could also do a big pot of chili...chili is really cheap to do. Succotash is easy and yummy too!!! Split Pea soup is another great one!! The neat thing about most beans dishes is that they all seem to keep really well in the freezer!!! Good luck

[katy78roo]

here's a Pinto Bean Pie from the Deaf Smith Country Cookbook of 1977 (organic):

a) 1 whole wheat pie shell (9 or 10 inch) partially baked

b) 2 cups, well-cooked unseasoned mashed pinto beans
2-4 Tbsp raw honey
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp cinnamon (or less, to taste)

c) topping: cinnamon sugar, chopped nuts, etc.

Mix (b) group of ingredients in blender until smooth. Pour into pre-baked pie shell. Sprinkle with topping. Bake about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Variations using cheaper fall produce include Carrot Pie (cook & mash 10 large carrots cut into chunks - use less honey)
& Sweet Potato Pie (needs almost no sweetener) Also called Yam Pie, this is an East Texas Favorite - the Yamboree starts here in Gilmer next week!

Helpful hint on yams/sweet potatoes for pies or side dishes - bake in their skins, let cool, then peel. There is a thin layer of "sap" that gets on my hands if I peel them raw to boil.

Oh, and Baked Yams, split and served with butter, cinnamon sugar and/or whipped topping, are another big hit at Yamboree. They are full of fiber and beta-carotene, naturally very sweet and moist, so we just add cinnamon sugar at home.

[tkkmasky]

Homemade baked beans are really good too. Instead of using bacon or salt pork in mine, I use liquid smoke, gives it a good smoky/bacon flavor without the fat, less work too.