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Meatball Vegetable Soup
This is a basic recipe and easily tailored to suit your taste. The idea behind this recipe is to use canned/dry items and frozen meatballs as quick meal, and is a good way to rotate through your canned goods and if you have 'commodities' in the pantry, this is a good way to use three items then add frozen meatballs. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3 cans condensed vegetable soup, (10.5 oz / 298 g cans)
- 3 cans water
- 1 cup dry ditalini pasta, or any small bite size pasta
- 2 cans beans, rinsed, drained, (pinto, great northern, Navy are good choices)
- 250 grams cooked frozen meatballs, store bought or homemade, (8 oz)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, Shortcut
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
Instructions
- To a large saucepan, add the soup and water, place on medium high heat and bring to a simmer.
- Add the pasta and stir in, reduce heat to a low simmer. There is alphabet pasta in the soup already, adding more bite size pasta bulks up the soup. Cook until the pasta is near tender.
- Add the meatballs, beans, and Italian seasoning and stir in. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. (I used a bag of Kroger Home-style Meatballs.)
- Continue to cook on a low simmer until the meatballs and beans are heated through and the pasta has finished cooking.
- Ladle into serving bowls, top with oyster crackers or sour cream as desired, enjoy.
Notes
This is low cost per serving, if using commodities in the US, then the only expense is the meatballs.
Shortcut: Italian Seasoning.
Variants: 1. Add a can of diced tomatoes. 2. In place of meatballs, use ground beef, pork, or chicken, browned first. 3. In place of meatballs, use canned beef, pork, or chicken.
My own creation with what I had on hand. Lee Thayer.
United States.
United States.
Ham & Beer Cheese Soup
For Christmas 2019 my Mom gave me a cookbook, specifically 'Cooking With Beer' recipe card set and that is where this recipe comes from. This sounds very good, on my to make and taste list.
Ingredients
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 3 cups cooked ham, diced
- 4 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, (1 lb / 16 oz / 450 g)
- 1 bottle beer, your favorite, (12 oz / 330 ml)
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- popped popcorn, for serving, as desired
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan on medium high heat and melt the butter, then add the onion and celery, saute until tender.
- In a cup or measuring cup, add the 1 cup hot water and bouillon cube or powder, set aside to dissolve to make a broth.
- To the saucepan, add milk, cream, ham, cheese, beer, and 3/4 cup of the broth. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted.
- Add the flour to the remaining 1/4 cup of broth and stir until smooth to make a slurry. Stir the slurry into the soup and stir constantly until slightly thickened.
- Ladle into serving bowls and top with popped popcorn if desired. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Creamy Beef Gravy
This is a cheater recipe that appears in one of the meatball recipes on this site, it is so good, I wanted to list it separately and here it is. Link to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup beef broth
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, Shortcut
- 2 tablespoons sour cream, Shortcut
- black pepper, as desired to taste
Instructions
- Add the broth to a small saucepan and heat to a boil. Turn temp to medium low.
- Whisk in the soup, and it it will thicken immediately.
- Whisk in the sour cream. Heat through.
- Serve hot over meatballs, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, egg noodles, etc. Enjoy.
Notes
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup, Sour Cream.
Taken from a meatball recipe on this site.
Mediterranean Rice (Rice Cooker)
This is an easy and tasty seasoned rice. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1½ cups dry long grain rice
- 2â…“ cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder, Shortcut
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 bay leaves
- black pepper, as desired
- â…” cup frozen peas and carrots
Instructions
- Add all ingredients, except the peas and carrots, to your rice cooker. Stir to mix together. Press the Cook button and let the rice cooker complete its cook cycle.
- When the rice cooker switches to Warm setting, uncover and fluff with a paddle, add the frozen peas and carrots, mix in. Cover and leave on the Warm setting for 5-10 minutes.
- When the peas and carrots are heated through and tender, unplug the cooker, fluff again with the paddle.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Chicken Broth (Pressure Cooker).
Hainanese Rice (Rice Cooker)
Sounds like a good seasoned rice, on my to make and taste list.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1½ cups dry long grain rice, rinsed and drained
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon chicken oil, or chicken fat
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients, except the rice and water, to your rice cooker. Stir together to mix.
- Wash and drain the rice, add rice and 3 cups water to the rice cooker. Stir to mix together.
- Press the Cook button and let the rice cooker complete its cook cycle.
- When the rice cooker switches to Warm setting, unplug or turn off rice cooker, uncover, and fluff with a paddle.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal. Enjoy.
Baked Pork Chops
Sounds like an easy and delicious recipe, on my to cook list and real soon. This recipe is geared towards standard size, bone in pork chops. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops, standard size, bone in chops
- salt, as desired
- black pepper, as desired
- garlic powder, as desired
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, (10.5 oz / 298 g), Shortcut
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 165° C (325° F). Lightly grease with butter or spray a 9x13 baking dish.
- Season chops on both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as desired. Place chops in the baking dish.
- Spread the soup evenly over the chops.
- Cover and tightly seal with foil. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the chops are tender and just cooked through.
- Serve with sides of your choice, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Ting-a-Lings II
This is a variant of Ting-a-Lings I, which I normally make, and from what I have researched, this may be the original way to prepare them, with the cornflakes and butterscotch additions.
Ingredients
- 280 grams almond bark, (10 oz)
- 225 grams butterscotch chips, (8 oz)
- 2 cups corn flakes
- 1 1/4 cups whole almonds, roasted and salted
- 1 1/4 cups dried apricots, sliced into 4-5 pieces each
Instructions
- Setup a double boiler on medium heat, add the almond bark and the butterscotch chips. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
- While the chocolate and butterscotch is melting, measure out the corn flakes, almonds, and apricots (after you have sliced them), and place them in a large mixing bowl. Use a rubber spatula and toss them together.
- When the chocolate and butterscotch is fully melted and mixed together until smooth, remove from heat, no need to let this sit as we are not worrying about anything melting into the chocolate mixture.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl of other ingredients.
- Use the rubber spatula again and toss everything together. What works really well is using the spatula with one hand and a large spoon with the other hand. Toss until everything is coated with chocolate.
- Drop by tablespoons on the prepared baking sheets. Set the sheets aside to cool.
- When the candies are cooled and solid, remove from the parchment and place on a serving tray. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Use almond bark only, or milk chocolate chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips, or any combination that equals no more than 10 oz / 280 g. 2. For the almonds, just keep that amount to 1 1/4 cups and consider using roasted peanuts, cashews, mixed nuts, or trail mix. 3. For a Christmas theme, use vanilla almond bark and lightly sprinkle each candy with red and green candy sprinkles.
Fried Egg Sandwich II
This is an excellent egg sandwich to enjoy for dinner, two variants, one with fresh bread and the other with toasted bread.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, chicken or duck
- 2 slices bread, white, wheat,whole grain, your choice
- salt and pepper, as desired
- mayo, as desired
- butter, as needed
- 1 slice Cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Heat a small non stick pan on medium heat, many people use a dedicated pan as their 'egg pan', with 1-2 teaspoons of butter. When hot, crack in the eggs and poke the yolks to break them. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Fry the eggs until the bottom is set as well as the top is starting to set, then turn the eggs over. If using a small pan, you may be able to flip the eggs in round shape like the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes or until the whites are no longer runny. If using duck eggs, ensure they are cooked completely through.
- While the eggs are cooking, place the bread on a plate and spread some mayo on each slice, using as much mayo as you like.
- If using toasted bread, just toast the slices then spread mayo on each piece of toast.
- If the eggs are separate when cooked, place one fried egg on a slice of bread or toast. If the eggs cook in a circle like the pan, use the spatula to cut the circle in half, then place one half of that on a slice of bread or toast.
- Top the egg with a slice of Cheddar cheese.
- Top the cheese with another fried egg or the other half if you cut the two in half.
- Top the sandwich with the other slice of bread or toast, mayo side down. Cut the sandwich in half diagonally, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Been making fried egg sandwiches like this for years, very common method.
Fried Egg Sandwich I
This is the basic egg sandwich I grew up with, two variants, one with fresh bread and the other with toasted bread.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, chicken or duck
- 4 slices bread, white, wheat,whole grain, your choice
- salt and pepper, as desired
- mayo, as desired
- butter, as needed
Instructions
- Heat a small non stick pan on medium heat, many people use a dedicated pan as their 'egg pan', with 1-2 teaspoons of butter. When hot, crack in the eggs and poke the yolks to break them. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Fry the eggs until the bottom is set as well as the top is starting to set, then turn the eggs over. If using a small pan, you may be able to flip the eggs in round shape like the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes or until the whites are no longer runny. If using duck eggs, ensure they are cooked completely through.
- While the eggs are cooking, place the bread on a plate and spread some mayo on each slice, using as much mayo as you like.
- If using toasted bread, just toast the slices then spread mayo on each piece of toast.
- If the eggs are separate when they cooked, place each fried egg on 2 of the 4 slices of bread or toast. If the eggs cook in a circle like the pan, use the spatula to cut the circle in half, then place each half on a slice of bread or toast.
- Top each egg with another slice of bread or toast, mayo side down. Cut each sandwich in half diagonally, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Been making fried egg sandwiches like this for years, very common method.
Ting-a-Lings I
I remember my grandmother and my mother making these, so after reading through several recipes on the internet, this is what I put together. Lots of variables to make this your own signature candy.
Ingredients
- 500 grams almond bark, (1 lb)
- 2 cups chow mein noodles
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 3/4 cup roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Setup a double boiler on medium heat, add the almond bark or a combination of bark and chocolate chips. Line two baking sheets with parchment. (I had half a bag of chips on hand so I used those with the almond bark.)
- While the chocolate is melting, measure out the noodles, marshmallows, and peanuts and place them in a large mixing bowl. Use a rubber spatula and toss them together. (I used trail mix in place of the peanuts.)
- When the chocolate is fully melted and smooth, remove from heat and let sit about 5 minutes to let it cool just a bit.
- Pour the chocolate into the chow mein noodles.
- Use the rubber spatula again and toss everything together. What works really well is using the spatula with one hand and a large spoon with the other hand. Toss until everything is coated with chocolate.
- Drop by tablespoons on the prepared baking sheets. Set the sheets aside to cool.
- When the candies are cooled and solid, remove from the parchment and place on a serving tray. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
For pricing in Thailand, I have never seen US made "chow mein noodles" as they are different than Chinese noodles which is a type of ramen. So a good alternative, and the original way ting-a-lings were made, is with corn flakes. With the corn flake alternative, this would be low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Use almond bark only, or milk chocolate chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips, or any combination (I used 8 oz almond bark and 8 oz milk chocolate chips). 2. For the roasted peanuts, just keep that amount to 1 3/4 cups and consider using roasted almonds, cashews, mixed nuts, or trail mix (the trail mix I used was walnuts, dried apples, cranberries, and raisins). 3. For a Christmas theme, use vanilla almond bark and lightly sprinkle each candy with red and green candy sprinkles.
Adapted from several similar recipes.