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| Note: the Exquisite presentation: culinary excellence is at least half in 'presentation'. |
Well, the day before payday, even though you may have found a good job, until you get a few paychecks, you have to live on whatever is left in the cabinets. Here is a little wonder that we tried, and even though it sounds horrible, it is actually edible and very good, made out of leftovers. We were going to go for, like , Ramen or something, but I went in to the kitchen and found eggs, leftover shredded cheese, a half a can of beanless chili (hot dog chili will do), a bit of milk and a box of stuffing. Couldn't stand to make scrambled eggs with stuffing, it was well, 'reallypoor' so voile' as with all great ideas, I just combined them in a different way: Here's the recipe:
6 eggs. 4 might work, but, well no guarantees. 2.00/dz that makes it 16.7 cents x 6=about 1.00
1/2 can of chili: free because you included it in your costs last time
1 box stuffing: cheap as .88
most of a bag of shredded cheese: on sale this week, unusual, they were 3 for 5, making the cost 1.67 (alot, but you need most of it)
2/3 cup milk to 1 cup. technically around .21 or less
Easy to make:
Crack 6 eggs in a bowl and stir thoroughly. Pour in 2/3 cup milk or cream, or even sour cream depending on what you have left over. If you pour in sour cream you may have to add water.
Get a long dish, best is pyrex about 13x9 or in that range. Grease the bottom of the pan or glass.
Cook the stove top stuffing either in the microwave or oven according to instructions. Let sit 5 minutes.
Then: the magic
Spread the stuffing on the bottom of the dish.
Then, take a spoon, and spoon on in like 6 glops the rest of the can of chili. (optional)
Then, take the shredded cheese and sprinkle it all over the dish on top of the chili and stuffing.
Then, take the milk and egg mixture, and pour it out over the whole dish.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees. A fork or knife should come out clean in the middle if done. Best to strategically place the baking dish in direct center of the oven for even cooking and not over-browning on top.
This was a real risk: it was the last food we had, so if we ruined it we were back to splitting a pack of Ramen. Maybe we should have called it 'gamble casserole': in any event, it worked, it was wonderful, we ate more than we should, and you can substitute and experiment at all points of this recipe's ingredients. The dish is very filling, and tastes very good: it will however probably horrify social workers and neighbors whose salary has already come in.
Total cost: 3.76
This sounds like an awful lot, but it can easily make two meals for 2-3 people especially if at least one is under 4 feet tall. We had it for breakfast and lunch the next day and it was great as long as the refrigerator is still running. If it isn't, better just eat the one meal the night before. Other wise it really would be a "Really Poor" idea!
