Can we have a page, or thread devoted to this?

[jshhmr]

Thanks, I like having links like that to refer to.

So far my husband has not lost his job. He works for a fabric wholesaler (know those quilt shops in your areas? That fabric likely was unloaded from a truck by my husband) and the owner said although things have slowed down and sales slipped, he guarantees no one will lose their jobs. Although he was recently promoted to supervisor of the receiving department, no one got raises, and his should have been somewhat substantial. So we will wait it out and if things improve, the boss will certainly reward those who stuck around despite the inability to have their raises, we at least can look forward to that.

However, the insurance offered by his work is too expensive for us. The kids did qualify for the state coverage due to the lack of affordable health care, and barely by our income standards. However, I am uninsured, and have asthma (I recently had a cold go straight to my bronchial tubes and wound up in the emergency room, long story short, ER doctor made my husband believe it was not my asthma, but my heart and convinced him to have me stay overnight, although all tests showed there was no heart issues, and now we have this huge bill to try to handle, in the meantime, they did not take care of my asthma till I made a huge scene).

It is not easy, and we just barely get by. I do feel lucky that we are doing far better than two years ago, and we have hopes to finally get a place of our own, even if it is just a nice manufactured home in a rental space, the place would be ours. I'd rather us do it that way anyways, we would not have to worry about being able to make the payments and know we could afford it.

I have found so many ways to make stuff homemade that usually you buy. One of them is "Nestle's Macaroni and Cheese".....you know Nestle owns the "Stouffers" label (aka: Stouffers Macaroni and Cheese)? I was a bakers daughter and can make my own breads, however we have a bakery thrift store close by (Franz bread, a local company and very good, and very cheap there), so really it is more reasonable to just pick up at that store.

I have two of the books "Top Secret Recipes". The author has more out though, I have the two original. There is a lot of good recipes that are clones of the fast food/convenience foods out there. Although, the Oreo one is just not quite there.

I have made my own mayonnaise, coleslaw dressing (tastes just like KFC's), fried rice, orange chicken (like Panda Express') and....Cinnabons, yes, those can be done at home, it is so much easier than you think, but don't do it, or eat them if you are diabetic (they are loaded with brown sugar and powdered sugar, however, might be possible to make them with a replacement sugar).

I could share some of those recipes here too, money savers so going out is not a temptation to tight budgets.

Hey AE, I would really like that orange chicken recipe! If anyone can suggest cheap meals, please let me know. I'm kinda getting tired of the 3 week cycle of recipes that I go through. I'm gonna love this thread

[AE]

Orange Chicken (aka: Panda Express' Orange Chicken):

4 Chicken Breasts cut into 1 inch chunks

Sauce:
1 &1/2 cup water
2-3 Tblsp. Orange Juice (to your liking)
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 &1/2 Tblsp. soy sauce (use low sodium)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 Tsp. Grated fresh ginger
1/4 Tsp. Grated fresh garlic
Pinch of red pepper flakes
5-7 Tblsp. Cornstarch

Batter:
1 cup ice water
1 Egg
1/4 Tsp. Baking soda
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 &1/2 cup flour

Mix all sauce ingredients over medium heat till it thickens, set aside.

Mix batter, dip chicken and fry in enough oil in a heavy pan to cover till browned. Set aside and drain on paper towels or on elevated type rack. Serve chicken with sauce over, or on hot white rice.

This can and should be doubled for leftover lunches the next day.......

BTW, adjust seasoning, lemon juice, and OJ to taste. This can be very subjective to personal tastes.

[AE]

"Nestles Macaroni and Cheese":

1 &2/3 cup dry, small macaroni
2 Tblsp. Cornstarch
1 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Dry Mustard
1/4 Tsp. Pepper
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 cup water
2 Tblsp. Butter (not margarine)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (medium will work if sharp is too expensive)

Cook macaroni till al' dente. Drain and rinse. Set aside to drain completely.

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 2 qt. casserole dish. In saucepan, combine cornstarch, salt, dry mustard & pepper. Whisk in evaporated milk, water and butter. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil gently for one minute. Remove from heat and slowly add 1 &1/2 cups of the shredded cheese little by little stirring constantly till melted in.

In casserole dish, lay out macaroni and pour cheese sauce over. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Bake 20-25 minutes till the top is browned some and bubbly.

*Again, double this, you know you'll want leftovers for lunch.....

Also, this sauce can make a great cheese sauce to dip in bread and steamed vegetables in (my kids like broccoli with it).

[AE]

"Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls"

Rolls:
1 &1/4 ounce package active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (105 to 110 degrees F)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted margarine
1 Tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour

Rolls: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Add the sugar, margarine, salt, eggs and flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball using your hands lightly dusted with flour. Dough should not be too sticky, but do not knead as long a bread dough, about half the time. Put into a lightly (very lightly) oiled bowl and cover in a warm place to rise, about one hour. In the meantime prepare:

Filling:
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 &1/2 Tblsps. Cinnamon
~set aside 1/3 cup margarine to soften, do not add to above mix~

Icing:
8 Tblsp. margarine, softened
1 &1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1/8 Tsp. salt

In mixer blend all of the icing ingredients till fluffy. Refrigerate

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On lightly floured surface, roll out doubled dough to a 21 inch by 16 inch rectangle, should be 1/4 inch thickness. Spread the 1/3 cup softened margarine, then spread out the dry filling of brown sugar/cinnamon onto this. Working from the 21 inch side, roll the dough down to the bottom edge. Cut the rolled dough into 1 &3/4 inch slices and place 6 at a time, evenly spaced in a lightly greased rectangular baking pan (cake pan). However, I set them side by side so they rise/bake upwards instead of spreading as the authors instructions seem to do. Bake for 10 minutes till lightly browned on top. Immediately spread some of the icing on top of hot rolls, and keep some extra aside for later. This should make 12 rolls.

~And, of course, I double this....my husband takes some to work for his crew~

[DearsisterAnise]

Thank you for these recipes AE! I will cut the Cinnabons recipe in half when I make them. This way we won't go overboard induging! It's ok to eat sweets being diabetic with descretion, but only when our sugar count is low. And that happens at least once every other day over here. The mac & cheese sounds good too. But I will have to use grain pasta because white pasta turns into carbs= sugar. Thank you so much!

[chloe24]

Someone else posted about the following low-cost food provider here earlier. This is my summary from their website:

ANGEL FOOD MINISTERIES:
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

They provide people with what they describe as "quality food at low cost". They buy in bulk and distribute the food through local sites, usually churches. You just sign up for their service - you do not have to apply and be approved. You pick up the food yourself.

Each box of food is $30. They claim it is the equivalent of $65 worth of groceries at a supermarket and that it should provide for a family of 4 for 1 week. They also have "speciality boxes" of meats and fresh fruits and vegetables. You can order unlimited numbers of boxes. I believe you may order directly from a local site in addition to online. They post a "Menu" describing the foods to be included in their box each month on their website.

Please note that I only read about this on the internet and have no personal knowledge of the quality of food they provide. However, here is their link to "HOW IT WORKS':
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/abou ... _works.asp

AE, this organization began in the South, and I don't know if it is available nationally. However, if there is no distribution site in your area, perhaps you could help organize one. Hope this helps! Thanks to the person who posted the information here the first time; that's how I learned about it.

WORD OF WARNING:
I recommended this group to my pastor and he was all set to contact them for our church to possibly become a host site, until he read a recent article where they were in trouble with the IRS. I was really disappointed because it could have done some real good in my area:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... tml?cat=62

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/news ... .asp?id=57

[Texas2step]

chole24,

Thank you for your warning about angelfoodministeries.com. I repeat from my posting of the site:

"Please note that I only read about this on the internet and have no personal knowledge of the quality of food they provide." (or anything else about the organization itself)

tx2st

Below is the original thread where I read about this: "Inexpensive Food for ALL of Us - NO income Limit"
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-147936-angel.html

There were some negative comments posted there about the service.

[vortex]

Having never been to a Panda Express, I will try to adapt the recipe to the pork chops I am defrosting.
Everything I fix for my mom has to be low sodium or no sodium, even though she loves salt. Will let you know if I ended up feeding this creation to the dog.
As for your electric bill, I would guess this house is badly insulated. And I would also check the windows and if the glass is cold, it means the outside temperature has already entered the envelope of the house. I would cover the windows, especially at night. Even if you have gas heat, the system still needs electric power to blow warm air. Home Depot sells styrofoam for fairly cheap.

[AE]

Vortex, if you bread the pork in cut pieces, it should taste good (sweet and sour pork..).

I think our problem has more to do with some issue with wiring. For example, if I am using my blow dryer, and one of the kids turn the vacuum on, it will shut the whole box down. My brother, who is a gas contractor, said he thinks that the city let the builders get away with too little on the electric (that was in 1980). He thinks the box cannot handle too much at once.

There is no fixing that for us. I also know that as I sit here, in the small, and crowded living room, although it is about 50 degrees outside, I can feel the cold floor through the carpet and my socks, so that does not help things, makes the heaters work too hard, and with the box not big enough to handle it all.

I have noticed a difference in our ability to have us all shower in the morning, with our low flow shower head though. We used to have to wait a while between showers, and now we don't have to, and this translates into less hot water.

I'm still hoping for a move and to have a wood stove, there is nothing like wood heat, it warms you, even when you are outdoors and it's really cold, stand in front of a fire and you feel warmed so fast.....

We're getting out to the mountains tomorrow (allow the kids some space, they are making me insane) and have a nice fire to do hot dogs and hamburgers on, it is supposed to be really nice out (around 60 degrees with no rain!) and just be away from the revving engines and "bump-bump" of the "musica". At least we'll be warm by the fire instead of cold at home LOL.

AS for those cinnamon rolls. I can bet it could be adapted to use wheat flour (knead it less) and use replacement sugars. This way you can enjoy without as much worry, besides, according to Prevention mag, they said studies have shown a teaspoon of cinnamon a day, in anything, has been shown to reduce the need for insulin and boosts the bodies ability to deal with sugars. So, use that cinnamon (in anything, tea, oatmeal, etc.., in fact, use more, even better for you).