Breakfast Burritos

Okay, I’ve been absent due to needing time off for various reasons, but here I am again! And since this is Monday, I have a new recipe for the Gourmet…Way Before Payday series. I’m going to slow it down to the first Monday of the month now. With the summer coming up and my sons out of school soon, I’ll be even busier than ever.

Anyhoo, here we are with this recipe that I’ve been making for a long time, decades. It’s just something I threw together one night and everyone loved it. Yes, it’s Breakfast Burritos, but I don’t think we’ve ever eaten them at breakfast! It’s usually something I make for supper when I need something quick, easy, and inexpensive. And the kids and grown ups love them! At $1.04 per serving, it’s a deal!

So, let’s get cooking!

First up, dice the onion and pepper. I’ve made this a boatload of times with no onion and pepper in it and it’s still yummy as anything!

Break the eggs into a medium bowl. Poke the yolks with a fork and whisk together until solid yellow. Add in the milk and mix thoroughly.

In a skillet, melt a little butter, and pour in the egg mixture. Add the onion and pepper, and cook, stirring and scraping with a spatula, until cooked solid. There will be liquid from the milk you can either drain with a strainer, or use a slotted spoon to scoop the eggs when it’s time to serve.

Now to assemble: Lay a tortilla wrap on the plate or table. Using the spatula, cut through the cooked eggs as if slicing a pie, dividing them into eighths. First you halve it, then halve again. Now you divide each quarter in half, so you end up with eighths. If nothing else, you’ll at least be able to see the outlines of the division lines. Scoop out the egg mixture and lay it onto the tortilla wrap in the very middle, from the top to about ¾ down.

Sprinkle on about ¼ c of the grated cheddar cheese.

Then scoop on ¼ c of the salsa or picante sauce.

Some variations of the cheese that we’ve tried and liked: sprinkle on shredded Fiesta Cheese blend. Or how about sharp cheddar cheese and some mozzarella for that stringy cheesy goodness?

Then simply fold up the bottom flap of the tortilla, and fold one side over, then the other.

Serve and enjoy! ~TMMF

Breakfast Burritos

½ green bell pepper
½ Vidalia onion
10 eggs
2 c milk
2 c cheddar cheese
2 c picante sauce or salsa
8 lg flour tortilla wraps

This cost me $8.35 to make the way I did and serve 8 people. :)

My Enchilada Casserole

Well, well, well, Monday….we meet again. You do realize what that means, don’t you? Another installment of my inexpensive family recipe series Gourmet…Way Before Payday. This recipe is a throw-together, and very easy to adapt to what you have on hand. When I give the ingredients and amounts, it’s always with the idea that if you have it, use it, but if you don’t have all of it, use what you have. The way I made this, it serves 8-10 people and costs $7.99. At $.80 to $1 per person, that’s not bad at all.

So, let’s get cooking!

If you don’t have 3 c of rice already cooked, get it going now.

Dice the bell pepper and onion. Peel and mince the garlic. I mince mine with my handy dandy garlic press when it’s time to add it.

Shred the cheddar cheese with a hand grater and set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté the pepper, onion, and garlic in the oil, until just tender, about 6 minutes.

Add the cooked rice and drained/rinsed black beans, as well as the chili powder, ground cumin, and about 1 c  of the enchilada sauce, leaving the rest for the top.

In an 11 X 15” baking dish, spray liberally with cooking spray, and spread about 1/3 c of the canned enchilada sauce.

Cover with 2 ½ of the flour tortillas, ripping into small pieces.

In the baking dish, spread half of the rice/bean mixture. Sprinkle half the cheddar cheese on top evenly.

Spread the remaining half of the rice/bean mixture. Rip up the other half of the flour tortillas and cover the top of the casserole.

Pour over the remaining enchilada sauce in the can. Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar cheese on top.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, until bubbly. Serve and enjoy! ~TMMF

Enchilada Casserole
   (serves 8-10)

2 cans black beans,
   drained and rinsed
3 c cooked rice
1 green pepper
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbl oil
1 28 oz can enchilada sauce, divided
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
5-6 medium flour tortillas
1 ½ c cheddar cheese

Creamed Tuna on Toast

Oh, Monday, Monday, how do you come around again so quickly? Yes, today is Monday, and that means it’s Gourmet…Way Before Payday day! Well that sounded weird. At any rate, this is a dish my mom prepared whilst I was growing up, and I really have no clue how she made it, but this is how I make it, haha!

It’s inexpensive, and if you have a few boiled eggs in the fridge, that saves a step. I frequently make up a big pot of boiled eggs because my kids, my sons especially, like to have 2 or 3 for a snack, sometimes twice in one day. Yes, they do eat like that. My sister always told me how her teen boys ate her out of house and home, but until mine were older, I didn’t realize how true it could be!

Anyhoo, I frequently have some boiled eggs around, but if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world to make some. And I have to tell you, my kids love this recipe. They love it. L-O-V-E love it. When I say this serves 6 people, I’m kind of thinking of six regular eating people. Which kind of rules out my sons at this moment in time. I have to make a little extra to satisfy them. The rest of us will have 2 slices of toast with the Creamed Tuna, but they kind of, sort of, okay yes they do have FOUR. Where do they put it all??

So, let’s get cooking!

Set the peas to cook with water in a small saucepan, and drain when done. If you don’t already have some boiled eggs, get ‘em done now! ;)

Drain the tuna and *save the juice!

Dice the celery and onion. If you don’t happen to have onion and/or celery, this will still taste yummy, but with the onion and celery, it’s like Deluxe Yummy.

In a large saucepan, sauté the onion and celery with the butter until translucent.

Stir in the flour and cook a minute to make the roux.

Slowly add the milk and tuna juice, whisking the entire time, scraping the edges of the pan with a rubber spatula as needed, until mixture is thickened. Add the salt and pepper.

Chop up the boiled eggs.

With a wooden spoon, stir in the tuna, drained peas, and chopped eggs.

Place two slices of toast on the plate and top with a generous serving of the Creamed Tuna.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Creamed Tuna on Toast
   (serves 6)

4 Tbl butter                
¼  c plus 2 Tbl flour    
½ small Vidalia onion
1 stalk celery                
3 ½ c milk                                    
½ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 ½ c frozen peas           .
12 oz tuna, drained      
   *save the juice!
6 hard boiled eggs        
12 slices bread, toasted

It cost me $5.32 to make this delicious old fashioned meal.

Hot Dog Creole

It’s Monday, and another installment of Gourmet…Way Before Payday! This recipe is one my mom, Deborah MacDonald, made up when I was growing up. She was always creative, even with cooking, and with five kids, she had to stretch a buck. So this is one of her recipes.

Creole cooking is a style of Louisiana cuisine that combines  French, West African, Amerindian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian influences, according to Wikipedia. A specific dish named Shrimp Creole typically has in it tomatoes, onions, green peppers, celery, and shrimp, and is served over rice. Mom’s Hot Dog Creole is her version with meat that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. ;)

So, let’s get cooking!

Set the rice to cooking according to the directions on the package.

While that’s being done, dice the onion and green pepper.

Cut the hot dogs into slices about 1 inch. This is a great job for younger children.

In a skillet, sauté the diced onion and peppers with a little oil, until tender.

Add the tomato paste, water, ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix together well with a whisk.

Stir in the hot dogs and simmer until thoroughly heated, about 10 minutes.

Serve over rice. Enjoy! ~TMMF

My Megan helping cook. 

Hot Dog Creole
  (feeds 6)

2 12 oz packages hot dogs  
½ green bell pepper            
½ Vidalia onion                  
1 6 oz can tomato paste      
9 oz water (1 ½ cans)
1 c ketchup                        
1 Tbl mustard                  
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½  c uncooked rice  




This recipe cost $3.94 to make it the way I did.                          

Kraft Tuna Casserole

Is it Monday again? Why yes it is, and that means another recipe for the Gourmet…Way Before Payday series. This is a recipe I threw together one night and it turned out so good, I could eat it right now for breakfast if I had some. I hope you’ll like it too. You’re using boxed macaroni and cheese, but the amount of ingredients is changed a little, plus you’ll make it a little differently.

So, let’s get cooking!

First, set a pot of water on to boil for the pasta, and after cooking the macaroni from the 2 boxes for about 7 minutes, drain and set aside. While that’s heating and all, dice the onion, celery, and carrots. Set the frozen peas and the diced carrots on to cook until both are just tender, then drain.

You can use frozen peas and carrots (the kind sold in one bag); just use 2 cups of it. I didn’t have that on hand. Well, I don’t even buy the peas with carrots in it anyway. ;) If you’d like or need to, a can of each of them will do. I don’t like canned peas or carrots, though I do keep canned peas on hand for a quick stew or whatever. They usually sit in the cupboard for a while. ;)

Also, now would be a good time to drain the tuna, setting the juice aside to use in this recipe.

In a large skillet, sauté the onion and celery in the 6 Tbl of butter until translucent. With a whisk, stir in the flour to make a roux, and let cook, bubbling, for a minute. Slowly add the milk and the juice from the tuna, whisking the whole time, until thickened.

Turn the heat down to low and add the 2 packets of cheese sauce mix. I know, I know, look at the day-glo bright color! I'm pretty sure it's not radioactive. Almost. ;)

Now add the peas and carrots and the drained tuna. Mix in the cooked macaroni, and you’re ready to roll. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Kraft Tuna Casserole

2 boxes mac & cheese
1-2 cans tuna, drained
   *save the juice!
½ small onion
1 stalk celery
2 carrots
1 c frozen peas
3 Tbl butter
2 Tbl flour
1 c milk
3-4 oz cheese
   (optional)



This recipe cost me $5.37 to make it the way I did.

Cheesy Dipping Bread & Pizza Boats

Ahtza lahtza mozzarella! It’s Monday again, and that means another recipe for the series Gourmet…Way Before Payday. This time it’s kinda sorta okay it is two recipes, not just one. ;) The Pizza Boats I’m sure most everyone remembers from their days at school back in the 60s and 70s. Do they still make them in school nowadays? At any rate, they’re a very inexpensive meal to make for the family, and we’ve used any kind of leftover bread product we’ve had, which usually is bought at the thrift bread store and low cost anyway. It’s a good way to use up bread or rolls that are well on the Highway to Stale.

The second recipe is what I always called Cheesy Dipping Bread. Years ago I was thinking of garlic bread and how good it would taste with melted cheese on top, and of course you have to have some sauce to dip it in…and voilà! Cheesy Dipping Bread was born!

So, let’s get cooking!

We’ll start with the Pizza Boats. First pick your bread. Usually they are made with a loaf of French or Italian bread, but I use whatever I happen to have on hand. I buy my bread at a local thrift store or I check out what I call the Dead Food rack in a grocery store, the one with items reduced for quick sale. The night we made this, I had some hamburger buns and wheat sub rolls that were dodging the Grim Reaper.

My beautiful daughter Megan was my number one helper with this. Open everything up and place on a sheet pan. Put a spoonful of spaghetti sauce on each and spread it out.

Sprinkle on a handful of cheese. You can sprinkle on a little bit of parmesan cheese too if you’d like, which is what I did this night.

Now they’re ready for the oven. Megan says, “Get away, Timmy!”

Maybe if I close my eyes, he'll disappear...

Oh forget your photo-bombing brother; smile Megan!

Bake for 15 minutes at 350° and they’re done!








Now for the Cheesy Dipping Bread: You can do this two ways, one being a little more work. I’ll show you both ways:

Mince the garlic and mix into the softened butter. Spread over the quartered loaf of bread. Sprinkle on the mozzarella. You can even use a little parsley on top to make it pretty. ;)

The quicker way is to simply spread butter on top of the bread and sprinkle on garlic powder. You can even toss on some Italian seasoning if you’d like. Then distribute the mozzarella cheese on top.

Both ways of doing it are good, and I’ve done it each way, but using the fresh minced garlic is fantastic. Now bake in a 350° oven for 15 minutes. You can also broil it to make the cheese browned on top. Cut into slices. Serve with spaghetti sauce in a small dish. My kids love dipping it into the sauce!

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Cheesy Dipping Bread 
 
1 loaf Italian or French bread
1 can spaghetti sauce
6 Tbl butter
4-5 big cloves garlic
   (or garlic powder)
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Pizza Boats

1 loaf Italian or French bread
   or leftover rolls, buns, etc.
1 can spaghetti sauce
3 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Spaghetti sauce: .98, mozzarella cheese: $2.97, bread: .60-1.00. To feed 4-6: $4.55-$4.95. Prices may vary where you are, of course.

Angie's Skillet Baked Beans

Here is the next recipe for my Gourmet…Way Before Payday series. This recipe is from my dear friend Angela Heavener Pike. I added a couple squirts of liquid smoke to this because I love a smoky hickory flavor. The first time I made these, I wasn’t sure my kids would like it, and I was right, they didn’t like it. They LOVED it! I’ve made it several times since, and when my kids hear that I’m making Angie’s Skillet Baked Beans, they get excited and thank me. Yes, they are that good.

This recipe is so easy, quick, and costs under $6.00 to make.

So, let’s get cooking!

                           Dice the onion and green pepper.

In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey and diced veggies.

Add the baked beans and the barbecue sauce, mixing well.

Now add a couple of squirts of the liquid smoke if you’re using it. I really like the flavor it adds.

Heat through over medium heat. I usually like to make some cornbread to go with this dish (recipe here), which my kids also love. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Angie’s Skillet Baked Beans

2  28 oz cans baked beans
1/2 Vidalia onion
1/2 green pepper
12 oz ground turkey
½ c BBQ sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Serves 6-8 and cost me $5.73 to make with ground turkey in it.

Leftovers Soup

Okay, so this is the first in a new series that will run on Mondays, called Gourmet…Way Before Payday. We’ll start off with this recipe for Leftovers Soup. It’s simple and easy and you use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge or cabinets. Some veggies go better together than others, but hey, who knows, you may come up with a combination that’ll be your family’s new favorite. ;)

Meat is optional; I’ve made plenty of soups like this with no meat. One trick I use is to use ground turkey: when you brown it, keep cutting at it with the spoon or spatula you stir it with to break it up smaller. You can use less and it spreads further. I haven’t been able to afford hamburg in a long time, and ground turkey is less expensive. I buy the 3 lb pack and use usually around ¾ lb, which is $1.92 for the meat in the meal, for six people, plus leftovers.

Another trick I use is to buy beef, whatever cut I can find, that’s marked down because the last sale date is the next day. I check often, but get it only once in a while because usually there doesn’t happen to be any. If I hit it good, I buy it and portion it out into 2 or 3 bags (about ¾-1 lb each) and freeze it. When I need it, I cut it into very small pieces to spread it further in the recipe.

So, let’s get cooking!

On the day I made this particular one, I had a great looking pepper and onion, some carrots that were beginning to sprout, some wrinkly potatoes, and some very pale looking cabbage. It just may have been the rare and elusive Albino Cabbage in my vegetable drawer. ;)




I almost always have cans of diced tomatoes in the cupboard, and they go excellent with a “beef” based soup. What I would have loved to put in it if I had had it that day are: rutabaga, corn, celery…such is the nature of Leftovers Soup.

First step is to dice the veggies you have to work with. I leave the peels on the potatoes because I can’t peel them, but we all could use the fiber and nutrition anyway, right? I dice the pepper and onion (and celery if I had it) smaller, of course, than the potatoes, and the carrots are sliced into rounds.

In a large soup pot or sauce pan, brown the ground turkey (or substitute) if you’re using some, along with the peppers and onions. If using celery, this is when you’d add it, too. If you’re not using any meat, just use 1 or 2 Tbl oil and sauté the peppers and onions until tender.

       While that's cooking, chop the cabbage.

When the ground meat and/or peppers and onions are done, add the stock, diced tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage.

Add the dried basil and black pepper. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to simmer for at least half an hour; an hour is even better.

Serve and enjoy! ~TMMF

Leftovers Soup

¾-1 lb ground turkey (optional)
½ green pepper
1 Vidalia onion
4 or 5 carrots
4 or 5 potatoes
½ cabbage
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
6 c beef stock or broth
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp black pepper



Serves 6-8 with leftovers. This soup cost me $6.60 to make, with the ground turkey in it.