Kid Tested, Mother Approved Hot Chocolate Mix

November 24, 2017November 25, 2017 / Frugal Fish / 1 Comment

How are you spending Black Friday? Have you been up for hours? Did you stand in line in the cold?

I’m decorating for Christmas! I chose this year’s theme last December! There is no way you will guess it! (Actually, in the last three years, only one person guessed my theme correctly and he found a clue I left in a pretty obvious place. Go, Luke!)

Whether you are just getting home from shopping or are in the middle of your decorating, you need a cup of hot chocolate!

I have a recipe for “Hot Chocolate Mix” that every kid will love and every mother will approve. My kids still love it!

“Hot Chocolate Mix”

7 Cups Nonfat Dry Milk
2/3 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 1/4 Cups Dry Coffeemate
1 – 2 pound can of Nestle’s Quick

Mix all ingredients together and store in a sealed container. Use 1/3 cup of mix for each cup of hot water.

Mothers love this mix because each cup is a cup of milk! Kids love it because it is sweet from the powdered sugar and creamy from the Coffeemate!

You can top the hot chocolate with one of the following:

Marshmallows
Crushed Peppermints
Whipped Topping
A Scoop of Ice Cream

My frugalfish tip is – homemade is always better! Make your own!

Next week I will reveal my “2017 Christmas Theme.” I’m so excited!

No Oven April to October

July 21, 2017September 4, 2019 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

Tomorrow is a big family reunion. David’s mother had 9 brothers and sisters, who married and had a few kids, and those kids are now grandparents. It’s a pretty big reunion! One cousin always brings homemade berry pie. (I try to get a piece every year.)

Since he has the pie covered, I bring a different dessert. One of my favorites is “Cherry Delight.” The only problem is, you bake the crust in the oven and I don’t like to use the oven from April to October. The last time I made it, I experimented baking the crust in the microwave.

Normally, I cook it for 20 minutes in a 350° oven. This time I cooked it, on high, 30 seconds at a time in the microwave for a minute and a half. It didn’t get brown but the flavor was the same.

Cherry Delight

1 Cup Flour

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1 Stick Butter, cut up

1 – 8 Ounce Cream Cheese

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

2 Cups Frozen Whipped Topping, thawed

1 Can Cherry or Blueberry Pie Filling

Stir flour and sugar together. Cut butter into mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives. Press firmly into 9 x 13 glass pan. (I used and 7 x 11 pan because my microwave is smaller.) Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or 30 seconds at a time in a microwave on high for a minute and a half.

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and whipped topping together. Spread over cooled crust. Spread pie filling on top of cheese mixture. Chill and serve later. It is best made a day ahead.

I may try lemon bars in the microwave next. Has anyone else used the microwave for their baking?

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Green Bean Casserole Dinner

June 21, 2016August 4, 2017 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

I shared earlier how I added meat to my favorite corn casserole and made a dinner out of it. I did it again with Green Bean Casserole.

Green Bean Casserole Dinner

1 can of green beans

1 large can of Chunky Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 large can of milk

1 large can of French Fried Onions or 2 small cans

1 can mushrooms or fresh mushrooms

7 ounces of noodles

1 pound hamburger

1 Tablespoon minced onion

Cook noodles according to directions. Cook hamburger with salt, pepper, and minced onion. Mix green beans, mushroom soup, milk, and mushrooms. Add hamburger and noodles. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Top with French Fried Onions and bake for 5 minutes.

The casserole tasted great, but it made way too much for three people. Next time, instead of baking it in a 9″ X 13″ pan, I am going to make it in two smaller pans: 11″ X 17″ and 8″ X 8″. I will use only half of the large can of French Fried Onions, (or one small can), and freeze the second pan after it cools. I can top it with the onions when I warm it up.

Any ideas of what I can add to candied yams?

pamela.frugalfish@gmail.com

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Easiest Fruit Salad Ever

June 7, 2016August 11, 2017 / Frugal Fish / 5 Comments

My cousin’s wife, Sue, used to bring the best fruit salads to the family reunion…in November! I finally got up the nerve to ask her how she made it. She used frozen fruit.

I didn’t want the expense of frozen fruit. I make my fruit salad with whatever fruit is in season. What makes this salad so easy is the juice is already made.

Easiest Fruit Salad Ever

1 can of Fruit Cocktail, in heavy syrup

1 can of peaches, in heavy syrup

Any fruit!

The syrup keeps the apples and bananas from turning brown.

I made this when we grilled out and used the leftovers for stuffed French Toast. I just put yogurt and fruit salad on it.

The Best Leftover Soup Ever!

November 19, 2015November 20, 2015 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

Last week I made a big meatloaf with baked potatoes and corn casserole, see here. I baked enough potatoes for two meals, but somebody didn’t like baked potatoes. The second night I planned on meatloaf sandwiches, and both males rejected that idea.

It’s no fun cooking for these two.

I ended up with four baked potatoes. I went online and found a recipe for Baked Potato Soup, see here. It was so good!

The meatloaf was gone, and the potatoes were used. That left a few servings of the corn casserole.

******

We decided to go to Pizza Ranch for lunch on Friday for the Veteran’s Day half price buffet. After throwing his dog tags on the counter as ID, Mr. Frugalfish loaded up his plate with pizza and chicken. I headed for the salad bar.

Their soup of the day was Potato Chowder. I thought, “What if I mixed the leftover corn casserole in with the leftover Baked Potato Soup?” Sunday night I combined them and we each heated up a bowl.

It was fantastic!

We are hitting the busy time of year. Let’s get creative with our leftovers.

Note: I never reheat all of the leftovers at once. I reheat one serving at a time.

I mixed corn casserole with my baked potato soup.

Easy Peasy Macaroni Salad

June 23, 2015June 9, 2015 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

I have 2 salads I make when we grill out in the summer. We grill out about once a week and I end up alternating between potato salad and macaroni salad. I know there are a million other recipes I can use, but I know I will always have the ingredients for these 2 salads on hand.

Easy Peasy Macaroni Salad

7 Ounces Elbow or Shell Macaroni

8 Ounces Frozen Green Peas

1 Cup Cubed Cheddar Cheese

1 Cup Sliced Pickles

3/4 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Dry, Minced Onion

Salt and Pepper

Cook macaroni. Mix macaroni, peas, pickles, onion, salt and pepper together. (The heat from the macaroni will defrost the peas.) Add mayonnaise and cheese last. Cover and refrigerate two hours.

Easy Peasy Macaroni Salad.

Ham with Pasta for the New Girlfriend

May 28, 2015May 29, 2015 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

I woke up at 4:15 am and could not get back to sleep.

(Thanks a lot Prednisone.)

I’ve been fighting an infection for a few weeks and just finished the second round of antibiotics. On Memorial Day, I didn’t lift a finger and just rested up.

That meant I needed to do my writing and clean the house before my friends came over on Tuesday evening.

I spent the morning writing and then decided to skip cleaning the basement today and pace myself.

(Yeah, right.)

As he was leaving, college boy said, “By the way, Mom, my new girlfriend will be here for dinner tonight and we will watch a DVD downstairs while your friends are here.

(Yep, cleaning the basement went back on my list.)

I had thawed out ham and planned on making “Ham with Pasta,” which happens to be one of his favorites. I decided to cut up fruit, candy a bag of baby carrots and rip up lettuce for a green salad.

I was finishing up with the vacuum, when he called to say she might beat him here. I started the sauce and made my first mistake.

I doubled the recipe.

While it was warming up, I set the table, cut up cantaloupe, added fresh blueberries and frozen raspberries to some dessert bowls. I hoped they would thaw before we ate.

The dryer stopped. I shut the sauce off, and folded the last load of laundry.

Back upstairs, I turned the sauce back on, started water for the pasta, mixed the ingredients to candy the carrots, and ripped up some green leaf lettuce.

The sauce would not thicken. My friends would be here in an hour and I turned up the heat. It started to stick and I worried it would scorch.

I shut it off and got out the soup bowls.

My husband teased me…asking where the croutons were…but besides that, the dish was a success. It had all of the flavor, but was runny.

(In desperation, I even tried adding 1/2 cup of corn starch to it, to no avail.)

It wasn’t the prettiest dinner I have ever served because the frozen berries stained the cantaloupe.

The next time your entrée fails, don’t call for pizza, just call it soup!

Ham with Pasta

1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

2 Cups Milk

1/8 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 Cups Cubed Ham

1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese

2 Tablespoons Parsley

4 Ounces Pasta

In medium saucepan, blend cornstarch and milk until smooth; stir in garlic. Over low heat bring just to a boil. Stir in ham, 1/2 the cheese, parsley, and a dash of pepper. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss with pasta and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Ham with Pasta

The Thing I’ll Miss the Most

March 26, 2015May 8, 2015 / Frugal Fish / 2 Comments

My husband was offered the perfect job!

(Insert party here)

It’s perfect for him, not because there is more money, but he will be doing what he loves!

I should be ecstatic.

I should be over the moon.

But I am going to miss having him around all of the time.

We will have had 3 months together…24 hours a day…7 days a week. He did not sit around all day watching TV and playing Spider Solitaire on the computer. He helped out around the house. (I never would have been able to wash the windows in an hour without his help.)

What will I miss the most?

Breakfast.

Many days, he made breakfast and it was not pouring cereal! He even experimented with new recipes. One recipe I plan to repeat is his Vanilla Pancakes!

Vanilla Pancakes

1 Egg

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Milk

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/4 Cup Vanilla Yogurt

3 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Mix all ingredients together. Cook pancakes on griddle until puffed and dry around the edges. Turn and cook other side until golden brown. They are really thick. You can add more milk to thin the batter.

Mr. Frugalfish’s Vanilla Pancakes.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal

February 19, 2015May 8, 2015 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

Many I talk to agree the quickest way to increase cash flow is to stop eating out. I have found that to be true and I have many posts about different, inexpensive dishes.

I like to be creative at breakfast and have shared many different ways to serve Malto Meal. Today I want to share how I made my oatmeal last week.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal

3 Cups Water

1-1/3 Cups Oatmeal

1 Apple, Diced

Caramel Ice Cream Topping Syrup

Bring water to a boil. Cook the apple with the oatmeal for five minutes. To serve, sweeten with caramel syrup. Makes 4 servings.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal.

Can’t Eat Just One Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

February 17, 2015May 8, 2015 / Frugal Fish / Leave a comment

I love telling the story of my husband and my sister making chocolate chip cookies. She was spending the weekend with me…and it was rather late…but I didn’t think he could ever top this story.

When they made the cookies, they put in two 1/2 cup measuring cups of flour in the batter instead of two and a half cups of flour! Then they wondered why the cookies were running all over my oven!

Last week my husband decided to make cookies because we had friends coming over. He had just started when I came in the kitchen and told him I bought the chocolate chip cookies to make fudge for him on Valentine’s Day.

He decided to go ahead and make the cookies because one of our friends likes them without chocolate chips.

I returned to the office, and a few minutes later, I heard him exclaim, “Oh, no! I’ve ruined them.”

Instead of putting in 2 tablespoons of water…he had added 2 cups!

I refuse to waste good food and it looked like cake batter to me. We decided to bake them in a 9″ x 13″ pan. He watched the “cake” closely and removed it from the oven after 25 minutes.

He frosted it with Betty Crocker’s “Quick Fudge Frosting.”

I could not believe how good this cake was! We ate two pieces before our friends ever arrived. Each of them ate 2 pieces.

Have you ever eaten just one chocolate chip cookie? Well it is the same with this cake.

“Can’t Eat Just One Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake”

2/3 Cup Butter, Melted

2 Cups Lightly Packed Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Cups Hot Water

2-2/3 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1-12 ounce package chocolate chips, (optional)

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Combine melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and hot water; mix well. Stir in remaining dry ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Betty Crocker’s Quick Fudge Frosting

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 Tablespoons Cocoa

2 Tablespoons Butter

1/4 Cup Milk

1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

Dash of Salt

1/2 to 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

Mix granulated sugar and cocoa in saucepan. Stir in butter, milk, corn syrup and salt; heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil vigorously, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes; cool. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla.

When he wasn’t looking, I took a picture of the cake. It was great even without the chocolate chips!