Your very favorite as-cheap-as-possible recipe

[pegkerr]

I am starting to compile the grocery list for the week, and since we are retrenching, I am looking for rock-bottom price recipes. Nutritional main dish recipes that you actually like. Kid-friendly and easy a particular plus.

I remember one we ate pretty often when I was a kid, a fondue recipe we called "Blushing Bunny." I think I got it from Camp Fire Girls. Why the weird name? I think it is meant as a sort of sideways joke, a tip of the hat to the better known fondue "Welsh Rarebit," which a child might hear as "Welsh Rabbit."

Take a can of Campbell's tomato soup. Do not dilute it. Stir in one egg, well beaten and shredded cheddar cheese (I think we'd put in somewhere between a half cup to a cup or so). Heat gently until hot and thickened. Serve by pouring over toast and eat immediately. I think this serves 2-3, depending on whether you are serving kids or adults.

Like I said, I remember loving this one as a kid, but when I mentioned this one to Delia, she wrinkled her nose in disgust when I made the mistake of telling her the ingredients list. I know that adding the egg to the soup sounds disgusting, but when it is stirred in and heated up, you really can't tell it's there at all. It just is there to add protein and thicken it, I guess. I might make it anyway and insist that they try it at least. It is certainly dead cheap.

Mom used to serve spam and rice pretty frequently, but I'm not quite tempted to revisit that old memory. Rob remembers dinners of fried boloney when he was growing up, but I don't think he's nostalgic for that one, either.

How about you? My kids are picky, but give me your best shot anyway.

Edited to add: All three hate onions, broccoli and mushrooms. The girls hate potatoes (yes, potatoes!), brown rice, and bell peppers. Delia hates cooked tomatoes, cooked apples and cooked oranges and is very unpredictable about meat. She has tried and rejected a number of meat substitutes--impossible to predict, but she doesn't seem to like tofu-based products very much. She is hit or miss on most other vegetables, but less likely to eat them if they are cooked.

Fiona would eat nothing but carbs (pasta) if I let her. White, of course. I prefer whole wheat pasta, but they are much more reluctant to eat it.

Beans are also unpredictable. Rob will eat lentils, pinto beans and kidney beans (reluctantly); girls will not. The girls adore baked beans, however. Go figure. Rob will eat green beans (even canned!), girls, there is no predicting.

Rob will eat kale reluctantly, girls will not.

Edited to add again: My personal favorite suggestion, among all these comments, is moony's suggestion that I teach the girls basic photosynthesis: "You're hungry? Go stand in the yard for an hour."

Comments

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

All of these aren't really big on vitamins, because I didn't want to write things with lots of vegetables that your kids won't eat. I really liked one-dish all-mixed-up things as a kid, but I bet your girls don't.

Frittata: eggs, potatoes, cheese, and any vegetables or herbs you can get away with.

Scrambled eggs and noodles from Diet for a Small Planet. (basically, dump cooked noodles into frying pan, pour beaten eggs over, stir until eggs cooked, add salt & pepper to taste)

Baked macaroni and cheese. Possibly with a bit of bacon on the side.

Open-faced cheese sandwiches done in the oven (butter the bottom of the bread) with bits of pepperoni or lunch meat on them; we used to have these with sliced process cheese (what you probably call American cheese)

Weiners wrapped up in Pillsbury dough.

Shepherd's pie with frozen veg.

Welsh rarebit: put half a pound of grated cheese in a double boiler, along with 1/4C of milk, a bit of butter, salt, pepper, and a bit of dried mustard, and heat it up. When the cheese melts, add a beaten egg and stir for a minute. Pour over toast (it thickens quickly) and eat with a knife and fork. Serves 4 who are not starving teenagers.

Hamburger stroganoff: fry ground beef, add canned mushrooms, seasonings (supposed to be chopped onion and garlic too), a bit of flour, cream of chicken soup, cook 5 mins, add sour cream, serve over noodles, or if you're making it for my brothers you can skip the mushrooms.

Hickory corn fritters: 3 eggs separated, 3 weiners, 1 short can corn, 1 tbsp flour, salt and pepper. Add everything else to egg yolks. Whip egg whites until fluffy, fold in other stuff, drop by big spoons into oil and fry, turn over, drain on paper towels and serve with maple syrup (or reasonable facsimile).

Chicken thighs cooked various ways. Beef stew. Hamburgers.

Any kind of homemade soup that they will eat. Knorr-Swiss packet soups.