ThriftyFun Recipes - October 21, 2009

Are you doing any entertaining for Halloween? If so, be sure to take a picture of your spooky food creations and share them with the rest of the ThriftyFun community. Thank you to thriftsavvy, mlina, metroplex, Virginia P., Raymonde G., tami333, Deeli and Dorty for today's tips and recipes.

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Recipe Requests:

• Making Apple Butter
• Making Liquid Glucose
• Best Apples for Pie

Today's Food Tips:

• Halloween English Muffin Pizza
• Reuse Produce Bags For Food Storage
• Link: Ask Uncle Phaedrus

Today's Contest Recipes:

• Bumpkin Pumpkin Bread
• Ham and Spinach Soup
• Pinto Beans and Potatoes
• Parmesan Chicken Wings
• Fruit Scones

Robins's Recipe Corner:

• Beef Supper
• 24 Hour Fruit Salad
• Stuffed Pasta Shells
• Deluxe Pecan Pie
• Tuna on a Shoestring

Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

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Making Apple Butter

What apple is best to make apple butter?

By Sandra

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Making Liquid Glucose

Does anyone know how to make liquid glucose?

By Karen from England

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Best Apples for Pie

What do you consider the best apple to use for a really good Apple pie?

By Deborah S. from Temecula, CA

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Halloween English Muffin Pizza

This is a great lunch, dinner or snack for kids, and makes an ordinary little pizza special. Lightly toast an English muffin. Place a little sauce on the muffin. Use a Halloween or holiday cookie cutter to cut a fun shape out of a cheese slice. Place cheese shape on top of sauce. Place English muffin under a broiler just until the cheese begins to melt. Cool before eating.

By thriftsavvy from West Dundee, IL

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Reuse Produce Bags For Food Storage

The clear fruit and veggie bags that I get at the grocery store (the ones in the fresh produce section that are on a roll) make excellent freezer bags. Because they're thin, I double them up. And because they're usually too long for my need, I simply tie a knot where I need it and snip off the remaining tail.

These bags can also be used as an alternative to Saran Wrap when putting away leftovers. They will stretch and fit around average sized dinner plates and bowls.

Whenever I need a plastic bag for something, my first thought is to go to my supply of produce bags. They've been used for so many things and best of all, they're free. If and when possible, I don't use purchased heavier duty bags for anything.

Source: Living on a tight budget

By mlina from Amherstburg, ON

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Link: Ask Uncle Phaedrus

While trying, unsuccessfully as it turns out, to find a recipe for someone at ThriftyFun, I did find this very unusual website:

Uncle Phaedrus Consulting Detective and Finder Of Lost Recipes at

• www.hungrybrowser.com/

They find videos, albums, trivia, books, hard to find items - it's really a fun site. They have a section called 'back of the box recipes', for example.

Hope you have as much fun as I did exploring. I love the web; you never know what you're going to find!

By metroplex from Houston, TX, USA

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Bumpkin Pumpkin Bread

This has been one of my favorite fall recipes for years that I got out of my White Trash Cooking cookbook that my daughter gave me.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cloves
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 can of canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup nuts
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients. Butter and flour 3 clean coffee tins. Fill each tin halfway and bake the bread at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour. Let cool slightly and turn upside down to slide out. Let cool and slice as thick or thin as you want.

Note: Clean coffee cans can also be used for cake mix cakes. Just bake, cut in half and you have 2 small personal cakes.

Source: White Trash Cooking cookbook

By Virginia P. from Evington, VA

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Ham and Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. margarine
• 1/2 cup ham, julienned 2 inches long
• 1/2 cup carrots, julienned 2 inches long
• 1/2 cup turnips, julienned 2 inches long
• 1/2 cup leeks, julienned 2 inches long
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup potatoes, julienned 2 inches long
• 1/2 cup water chestnuts, drained (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 package spinach, washed and blanched
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

Melt the butter in a saucepan and saute the ham, carrots, turnips and leeks over low heat.

Pour in the chicken broth and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and water chestnuts. Continue cooking for 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

Add the spinach and green onion just before serving.

Source: Classic cuisine

By Raymonde G. from North Bay, Ontario

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Pinto Beans and Potatoes

Cook dried pinto beans in a crockpot on low all night. This is really good.

Ingredients:

• 1 32 oz. bag of dry pinto beans.
• 4-5 slices of turkey bacon
• 4-5 medium sized white potatoes, (I use russet)

Directions:

Cook pinto beans in a crock pot over night on low. Turn off when done. About 2 hours before serving, add turkey bacon and peeled, halved, potatoes.

Source: Me

By tami333 from Auburn, GA

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Parmesan Chicken Wings

Mmm, mmm good! You can also opt to not separate at the joints and remove wing tips if you choose.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs wings, separated at the joints and tips removed
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 4 tsp. minced garlic, or more if you love garlic
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt butter in small saucepan, add garlic and stir. Turn off heat.

Place wings in a large enough baking dish or baking pan that the wings are in a single layer. Evenly coat wings with butter sauce and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, turning once after 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven, place on a platter using tongs. Immediately sprinkle cheese evenly over wings and serve.

By Deeli from Richland, WA

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Fruit Scones

Scones can be served at breakfast or a tea time treat.

Ingredients:

• 500 ml cake flour
• 15 ml baking powder
• 3 ml salt
• 3 ml cream of tartar
• 80 ml sugar
• 125 ml butter
• 125 ml raisins or mixed fruit
• 2 large eggs,separated
• 125 ml milk
• 15 ml castor sugar (super fine)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 390 degrees F. (200 degrees C.) Sift dry ingredients. Add sugar and rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add raisins.

In a separate bowl whisk the yolk and milk. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the liquid. Mix to form a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and press out to 2 cm thickness. Cut with a scone cutter. Place scones on a greased baking tray.

Beat the egg white and brush over the top of the scones. Sprinkle with castor sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with butter and jam with a hot cup of tea.

Source: from a friend

By Dorty from SA

Editor's Note: Here is a Wikipedia entry on cooking weights and measures, with some conversion charts that may be helpful. There are also several other conversion websites online:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_weights_and_measures

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Beef Supper

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. shortening
• 2 lb. stew meat in 1 inch cubes
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 large potatoes, pared and thinly sliced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/4 cup Wheaties cereal, crushed

Directions:

Melt shortening in large skillet. Cook and stir meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Add water; heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 50 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour meat mixture into 9x13 inch ungreased baking dish. Arrange potato slices on meat. Stir together soup, sour cream, milk, salt & pepper and pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese and cereal. Bake, uncovered for 1 1/2 hours or until potatoes and meat are tender. 6-8 servings.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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24 Hour Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix (3oz.)
• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped
• 1 can fruit cocktail
• 2 med. bananas, sliced
• 1 can mandarin orange sections, drained (11oz.)
• 1 jar maraschino cherries, drained (4oz.)
• 1 pkg. mini marshmallows (6oz.)

Directions:

Prepare pudding mix according to package directions. Fold in whipped cream. Fold in drained fruits, marshmallows and bananas. Makes a large salad. More fruit can be added as there is plenty of sauce.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. hamburger
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 pkg. spaghetti sauce mix
• 1 pt. size cottage cheese
• 1 reg. can French-cut green beans
• 1 box lg. macaroni shells
• 1 lg. jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 pkg. Mozzarella cheese (4oz. size)

Directions:

Brown hamburger, onions, and spaghetti mix. Mix in cottage cheese and beans. Boil macaroni and rinse in cold water. Stuff shells and arrange in baking dish and pour spaghetti sauce over all. Sprinkle cheese over all. Cover with foil and bake at 350 F. for 45 minutes.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Deluxe Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9inch)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. margarine, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 cup pecans

Directions:

Beat eggs slightly. Mix in remaining ingredients, except pecans. Then add the nuts. Pour into unbaked shell and bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking 30-35 minutes or until done. Filling should be slightly less set in the center of the pie than around the edge.

Test for doneness. You can put foil on the edge of your crust so that it does not brown too much. Remove it the last 10 minutes. For a 10 inch pie, double the recipe.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Tuna on a Shoestring

Ingredients:

• 1 can tuna, drained
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 3/4 - 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 can shoestring potatoes (4oz.)

Directions:

Add all ingredients except potatoes, toss until all are well coated. Cover and chill. Just before serving, fold in the potatoes. Great lunch-time dish!

By Robin from Washington, IA

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