Easy Recipe for the End of the Month Stretch

I received an e-mail from a friend earlier this week who is expecting her third child in November:

"I am trying to meal plan for November and I am bored with all my recipes. Since I don't plan on leaving the house much, there are a lot of days to plan for! If you get a chance, can you send me your favorite easy recipe?"

I have been wanting to post this recipe for some time, but her e-mail motivated me to share it now.

I threw this together one night when I was first married and not feeling well. I was looking for something easy that I could make with what I had on hand and had minimal cleanup because our apartment didn't have a dishwasher. The bonus is that it is a very inexpensive dish to make, so if you are looking for a nutritious meal to help stretch your budget at the end of the month this is it! My little experiment was successful, and it has remained one of our favorites!

Beans and Rice

Serves 3-4 main dish servings. This recipe can easily be multiplied for larger families or if you are having guests. If you have leftovers you freeze it in individual serving containers for when you are too busy or tired to cook.

I strongly recommend canned beans instead of dried beans for this dish. In my opinion, the flavor is much better with the canned beans.

1 can corn (.42 can Wal-Mart)
1 can black beans (.49 can Aldi)
1 can kidney beans (Even though it is more expensive than Aldi or Wal-Mart, I like the Kroger brand best for this as the syrup is thicker .56 can)
long grain white rice (Amount will vary based on your family. Price has been about .66/lb lately)
shredded cheese for topping
salsa (optional)

Open all the cans.
Drain retaining a thick coating of juice on the beans. Do not rinse the corn or beans.
Place corn in pot and turn burner to medium heat.
In a separate pot put water in pot for rice turn on high.
Cook corn for a few minutes, while water for rice is preparing to boil.
Stir corn so it doesn't stick to bottom. You want to place the corn in the pot and start to cook them before the beans or they will be undercooked and crunchy.
Place rice in water once it is boiling. Cook as directed.
Place both cans of beans in with corn and stir.
Continue to stir mixture periodically to avoid having beans stick to bottom of pot. If the mixture is cooked at a temperature too high or not stirred they will burn!
Mixture will become thicker as beans start to become mushy. You can have either moist where basically the beans are just heated or you can have it a bit drier and the beans are mushier.
In general, I use the rice as the timer at my house for when the beans should be cooked.
Turn off rice and bean mixture when cooked.
Layer rice then bean mixture.
Top with shredded cheese.
You may also top with salsa (My husband prefers having this addition.)

I have occasionally used the mixture as a baked potato topping, but I like it better served over rice.

If you have a favorite easy recipe to share with us please leave a comment. If you have a blog you can provide a direct link to the recipe. You can find some other recipes that I have shared here.

Question from the Inbox Powdered or Fresh?

got milk?

I received this question in my inbox this week. I decided to make it the topic of my Frugal Friday post so that my readers could also benefit from the answer.

[My one year old] is drinking 2 gallons of milk a week . . . I was wondering if you
have ever done a nutrition/cost comparison between powdered and fresh
milk? . . . Really, I'd just do it to save money, but not at the expense of nutrition.

Before my Little Man was drinking milk I almost always used powdered milk. This was definitely more economical for us because we did not use very much, could make the amount that we needed, and not have to throw away a large quantity of unused fresh milk that had become expired. (Frugal Tip: Don't justify buying more than you can consume just because it is on sale. You are literally pouring money down the drain if you buy more than you can use and have to throw it away. Fresh produce is another place that this often happens.) A couple of years ago the price per gallon for the store brand nonfat powdered milk was comparable or even a little better than the sale price of fresh milk. So I believe powdered milkcan be a cost effective alternative to fresh milk for singles, couples, or families with older children.

However, most powdered milk available is nonfat milk. Because of the lack of fat content it is generally not recommended for children under the age of 3. With a little research, I found a whole milk product called NIDO that is made by Nestle. The nutritional panel is almost identical to the gallon of whole milk currently in my refridgerator. The ingredients differ: Whole Milk, Soy Lecithin, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3.

When I purchased NIDO at Wal-Mart in June it cost $3.97 for a container that makes approximately 3 quarts of milk. Fresh milk prices were higher then so it was slighly more expensive, but a comprable cost for the same quantity of fresh milk. If the price is still $3.97 for that size container it would be almost 35% more expensive than fresh milk! So this is not a cost cutting alternative to fresh milk.

Personally, we have a can of NIDO in the diaper bag. This is for convience because it prevents us from having to keep milk cold if we are away from home or worrying about having to find milk if we are away for longer than expected. I recommend having some on hand in the event you run out of regular milk and are unable to go to the store for some reason (i.e. you aren't feeling well, you spilled the last serving on the floor and its time for the baby to eat, or in your bad weather emergency kit). I guess even The Deal Lady is willing to pay for convience sometimes.

If you decide to try NIDO make sure that you buy the original. The Kinder 1+ contains honey which should be avoided until age 2. At Wal-Mart it is located in the Ethnic Foods Aisle not with the nonfat powdered milk located on the Baking Aisle.

Another way to get milk less expensively is to look for coupons on specific brands of milk. For example, Horizon Organic has a $1/1 printable manufacturer coupon that can be used in conjunction with the Target $1/1 printable coupon. Often Publix will accept competitor coupons so you could look for sales for this brand at both stores.

If all else fails, maybe Amy will share some of the milk she got.

Metro Atlanta Whole Milk Prices for this week:
Kroger: $3.38/gallon - Sale Price
Wal-Mart: $3.48/gallon - Regular Price - May Price Match Kroger
Ingles: $3.49/gallon - Regular Price
Publix: $3.59/gallon - Running Sale Price
CVS: $4.50+/gallon, but if you build your scenario with $/$ or use ECBs you may come out cheaper.
Aldi: Prices vary by location, but it is often less expensive than larger chains. Still hoping to get one closer to where I live.

Please be sure to visit my blog again for more frugal tips and sale updates.