Frugal Feeds | List of Recipes and Guides Posted So Far

Here is the complete list of recipes and ingredient guides posted so far. If you want to find a specific recipe type the name into the search field in the upper left-hand column. Many of them are also hyperlinked in the Recipes section.

Croutons
Stuffing
Bread Crumbs
Crispy Topping
Bread Pudding
French Toast Batter
French Toast
Custard Dip
Green Apple French Toast
Maple Banana Pecan French Toast
Berry French Toast
Cinnamon Raisin French Toast
Monte Cristo Sandwiches
Croque-Monsieur Sandwiches
Bread Crumbs
Meat Extenders
Mexican Style Meat Extender
Stroganoff Style Meat Extender
Italian Style Meat Extender
American Style Meat Extender
SOS Style Meat Extender
Casserole Style Meat Extender
Sloppy Joes Style Meat Extender
Lean Meat Solution
Meat Cakes
Pan Cakes
Fridge Pudding
Pie Crusts--Sweet Version
Pie Crusts--Savory Version
Crumb Topping for Desserts
Chilaquiles
Tortilla Strip Casserole
Biscuits and Gravy
SOS
Chicken and Biscuits
Biscuit Shortcake
Chicken and Dumplings, Biscuit Style
Personal Pizzas
Tortas
Sloppy Joes
Sauces
White Sauce #1
White Sauce #2
Thin White Sauce for Chicken
Cream of Something Soup
Cream of Veggie Soup
Cream of Broccoli Soup with Cheese
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of Tomato Soup
Cream of Potato Soup
Creamy Wine Sauce
Creamy Bechamel Sauce
Brown Sauce
Mushroom Sauce 1
Mushroom Sauce 2
Cheese Sauce
Mock Hollandaise Sauce
Chowder
Creamed Dishes
Au Gratin Dishes
Cream Gravy
Foamy Egg Sauce
Veloute Sauce
Chaud-Froid Sauce
Poulette Sauce
Bechamel Sauce
Onion Sauce
Sauce Supreme
Amaranth Flour
Atole
Blue Corn Flour
Barley Flour
Brown Rice Flour
Buckwheat Flour
Cake Flour
Corn Flour
Gluten Flour
Graham Flour
Kamut Flour
Millet Flour
Oat Flour
Quinoa Flour
Rye Flour
Semolina Flour
Sorghum Flour
Spelt Flour
Teff Flour
White Whole Wheat Flour
Whole Wheat Flour
Bean Flour
Cassava Flour
Tapioca Flour
Yuca Flour
Manioc Flour
Chestnut Flour
Nut Flours
Pea Flour
Potato Flour
Chuno Flour
Seed Flour
Hummus
Almost Instant Pea Soup
Nut Butter Bean Spread
Quick and Easy Bean Soup
Pea Soup
Refried Beans
Budget Guacamole
Breakfast Parfait
Breakfast Pudding
Breakfast Burritos
Breakfast Burritos for a Crowd

Frugal Feeds Begins

Lets start off with an oldie but goodie that really takes little effort and will give you a dish full of food at the end of the month.

Get two gallon sized zippered freezer bags. Label one Sweet Bread Ends, the other Savory Bread Ends. Put today's date on it--or just an indicator like First Monday of the Month. Put it in the freezer. Now, for the next 30 days every time you get to the end of a loaf of bread, add the ends to the bag. Have hot dog buns that didn't get used up? Add them to a bag. A bagel gone stale--Bag it. Italian bread from Spaghetti night? Just make sure that if it has any garlic that it goes into the Savory Bread Ends bag, not the Sweet Bread Ends bag. Any bread part, piece or more that is in danger of being thrown out for not being used--put it in the bag. Raisin bread to the sweet bag, Cheese bread to the savory, etc...


30 days have passed and you have 4 cups or more of bread and no idea what to do with it.

(You can scale this easily--if you have one cup just use 1/4 of the recipe quantities. If you have 2 cups, use 1/2. 3 cups, 3/4ths.)

Here are some starters:

Take it out of the freezer in the morning and let it sit on the counter, in the bag, until it defrosts. Usually about an hour. Once it is defrosted cut it all up into cubes. Big or small is up to you and how you want to proceed with it.

I am going to give you two recipes. Very simple recipes that you can build on.

Recipe #1 Croutons

The first is for croutons--now, don't go running off just yet. The croutons are made so that you can make other recipes with them too, not just for crunchy salad stuff.

Place your oven rack squarely in the center row of your oven. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Take two cups of the savory bread cubes (or half), place in large bowl and toss with salt, pepper and a bit of dried herbs to your taste. You can also add 2 Tablespoons of oil for crispier croutons, but it isn't necessary. Spread one layer thick on a walled cookie sheet. Straight edged cookie sheets will cause them to slide off after baking. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. If they are small croutons 15 minutes may do the trick. Larger ones may take 30 minutes or more. Check that they are crispy all the way through. You want them to be thoroughly dried because you want to be able to keep them on hand in the cupboard for an easy dish without thawing.

Now, they are ready to be used for your salad--but they are also ready to made into stuffing, bread crumbs and crispy toppings for casseroles.

To make into Stuffing take 1/4 cup celery, 1/4 cup onions and a teaspoon of dried sage and saute in 3 Tablespoons low sodium broth in a medium sized pot until the celery and onions are glossy and a bit soft. Add 2 cups of Savory croutons and 1/4 cup low sodium broth, stir well, put a lid on it and remove from heat. It is ready to be served in five minutes.

OR

To make into Bread Crumbs, pulse the croutons in a food processor.
To make the bread crumbs into Crispy Topping, just before use, add 1 Tablespoon dried Parsley and 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on top of the casserole 15 minutes before casserole is to be finished baking in the oven.

Recipe #2 Bread Pudding

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a small casserole with cooking oil or grease with butter or coconut oil.

Add 2 cups of sweet or plain bread cubes to the casserole. In a large bowl make a custard slurry. 

Combine: 
1 1/2 cups 2% Milk
2 beaten Eggs or 3 beaten Egg whites
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Pinch of ground Nutmeg
1/2 cup of leftover fruit. 

Mix together thoroughly. Pour slurry over the bread cubes. Make certain that the cubes have all been doused with the slurry and press down top edges slightly so that the surface of the bread is fairly even.
Bake for 45 minutes. Tips should be browned, center set.
 
The fruit can be over ripe bananas, frozen berries, raisins (soak raisins in hot water or hot juice or hot brandy for 10 minutes), peaches, pineapple or a mix of leftover fruit. Melons need to be seeded, cubed and pureed and then cooked until half of the liquid is evaporated and it is more like a jam that you swirl into the slurry after you have added the slurry to the cubes. If no fresh, frozen or canned fruit is available, a few Tablespoons of preserves works too, but I recommend swirling that over the top after you have added the custard slurry as well. (You can add it to the slurry but the fruit flavor is constant that way, while if you add a swirl it is a nice contrast from bite to bite).

The slurry above, minus the fruit, also makes a decent French Toast Batter. Although adding over ripe Bananas is yummy also. Just make sure they are pureed before hand.

Here is the best thing about these recipes. They are plain Jane, simple. Easy to remember but also easy to modify. Too sweet? Change the sugar. Too little fruit? Add more. Want more spices, you know what to do... It really is difficult to make these not turn out right because they taste pretty good just by themselves, so if you add to them it helps. And, it makes them yours. Just don't add too many things too fast or you might increase your cost of the item and make it taste too mixed up.