Potato and tuna casserole

Okay, I know this sounds disgusting.  And to be honest with you...it looked horrible when I made it and I was SURE my kids would not eat it.  But, boy was I wrong.  They devoured it and asked if we could have it all the time.  I will be up front and tell you I had to make some adjustments.  It was pretty bland for me!  So this is the recipe with adjustments added:

3 T. butter or margarine
3 T. minced garlic (I used the kind in a spice bottle.  You could also use minced onion)
1/2 t. salt
dash pepper
3 T. flour
2 C. milk
1 6 1/2 oz. can tuna, drained and flaked
4 large potatoes, thinly sliced (sometimes we add a few more if we're feeling hungry)
1 cup shredded cheese

Saute onion in butter until tender.  Stir in salt, peper, and flour; whip in milk to make a sauce.  Continue cooking, stirring constantly until thickened.  And then stir some more just to make sure it's super thick.  Add tuna and heat through.  Layer potatoes in an 8x8 square pan; pour the tuna mixture over the potatoes.  Bake, covered, at 350 for 1 hour.  Uncover, sprinkle cheese on top, and bake 30 additional minutes or until potatoes are tender. 

tater tot casserole

After someone brought over a super spicy tater tot casserole for us when our 4th child was born, I decided to seek out something a little more bland.  I found this recipe online http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/10/tater-tot-casserole.html    It's actually michelle duggar's recipe, and if anyone needs something that will feed a lot of people for a minimum amout of money, it's her.  I love it because the ingredients are simple, but it is so creamy and good and not overly onion-y.  Don't forget to stock up on your cream of mushroom and cream of chicken during the holidays (christmas, easter, and thanksgiving).

Tator Tot Casserole

Recipe by: Michelle Duggar

1 lb Ground Turkey (we just use whatever ground meat is on manager's special.  I got some ground chicken (cage free no less) for $1.87 a pound the other day!  It was kind of a strange color for ground meat (more white than brown) but my kids actually preferred it over beef)

1 (2 lb) bag frozen Tater Tots

1 can Evaporated Milk

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional...but not really.  It's OOOH so good)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and then spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown your ground turkey until thoroughly cooked. Drain the grease, and then pour the turkey into the baking dish. Then pour your bag of tater tots on top of the turkey, spreading them out evenly.

In a medium bowl, mix your soups and evaporated milk all together. After well mixed, pour the mixture evenly over the tater tots. Pop it in the oven, uncovered, and bake for 55 minutes! If using cheese, sprinkle on cheese after 45 minutes of baking, and then put back in oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

New buttermilk pancake recipe!

I found a great new recipe for buttermilk pancakes.  The other one that I have on here is good, but these ones are pretty much divine.  AND they use 3 cups of buttermilk...something I have a lot of.  I got it on allrecipies.com, of course and here it is!  I put the batter into a ziploc baggie this time and snipped the corner.  I then made snakes (a huge hit) and the first letters of the kids' names.  It made a
TON of pancakes, so unless you want some for breakfast, too, you might want to halve the recipe.

Buttermilk pancakes II
by BURYGOLD

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. You can flick water across the surface and if it beads up and sizzles, it's ready!
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together. Do not over stir! Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/2 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Fried Egg Sandwiches!

Fried egg sandwiches are another one of my FAVORITE things to make.  I used to make them all .the time as a college student and I've never gotten sick of them  All you do is fry up an egg or two and slap them in between two pieces of toast.   Super easy.  But THEN you get to add all of the yummies to customize your sandwich.  We usually spread some mayo on one of the slices of toast (but don't put it on for the kids...they don't like it).  We add a few slices of cheddar and sometimes even throw in some avocado or bell pepper slices if they're on sale (like they are at kroger this week).

YUM!!

Strawberry smoothie!

Do you have a whole bunch of buttermilk in your refrigerator like I do?  Up until recently, I've not really known what to do with it.  Then I had the brilliant idea of using buttermilk instead of regular milk in the smoothies that I craved while pregnant.  It worked perfectly and added a different taste with a creamier texture and a bunch of added protein.  This is what I do:

1 cup buttermilk
1 cup frozen fruit (I usually use strawberries.  They were on sale at Kroger for $1.50 last week, so I bought a bunch and flash froze them.  That just means that I lined them up on a cookie sheet and froze them before putting them into a ziploc freezer bag.  The same amount of store-bought frozen strawberries runs about $3).
2 T. sweetener (honey, maple syrup, or even just sugar works).

Blend it all together and voila!  A yummy treat for a pregnant lady.  Or any lady who has a major sweet tooth and is looking for a healthier way to satisfy it.

My five year old's favorite meal

Several people have suggested that I put pictures up. I've hesitated because I don't have a fancy camera and I'm not a great photographer and I don't have fancy dishes. I don't think I have a full set of matching dishes. BUT...this blog is called dinners for poor people, right? So here goes...

While most 5-year olds are obsessed with mac 'n cheese and hot dogs, mine is obsessed with what she calls "corn, rice, and beans."  We call it tostadas.  There are so many different ways to serve this, that we have it a lot.  Yesterday we had tacos.  I don't know about you, but we always have left over lettuce, tomatoes and shells after we have tacos and we never really end up using them unless we plan for it.  I HATE throwing food away, so I always try to think of at least 3 meals that use these ingredients so we don't end up letting it spoil in the fridge. 

Here's the basic recipe:

1 cup uncooked rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, rinsed.

Cook the rice according to package directions.  Stir in corn and beans. 
That's it.  What I love even more about the meal is that it provides you with all of the nutrients necessary to sustain life.  If this were the only thing you could afford to feed your family every day, you could rest assured that their health wasn't being damaged. 

There are a couple of things you can add to this to make it a little more tasty.  You can add sour cream and or salsa or BBQ sauce.  Just whatever you have on hand.  We always top it with shredded cheddar, though.  We like cheese.  And today, because we had leftover perishables from the night before, we added tomatoes and lettuce and taco shells.  My five year old broke the shells into chips and used them as spoons.  Kind of like nachos.  Sometimes we make homemade tortillas, spray them with cooking spray on both sides, and then toast them in the oven.  Or we just wrap all of the ingredients into a tortilla shell.