Pallet for Home: Baby It's Cold Outside!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

We're having temps in the teens, and with tomorrow's high expected to be 11 degrees, I'm glad for opportunities to run the oven to keep the house feeling toasty warm. Tonight's Pantry Challenge dinner was Any Meal Cheese Pie, Garden Salad, and grape juice.

I was in a hurry to get the pie made, so I decided to skip the crust. I'm glad I did! It turned out great, and I really needed the shortcut, as I'm washing and packing all my serving dishes to use at a wedding we are attending this weekend.

I've done much better this week with my $30 budget, and was even able to stockpile a few items.

The Mrs. Renfro Peach Salsa was clearanced at $0.50 a jar, the carrots $0.49 and the peppers were free after coupons. If your store has clearance items that are marked lower than the value of a coupon, and they are leery to give overage, ask if they will adjust the price to the coupon value. I do that with the manager at my local store, which makes him happy and I still get to pay for the item with my coupon. My total for everything above was $1.77. It's a win~win.

Since one person in our family doesn't eat quiche, I also made Pigs in Blankets with homemade biscuits, which will be great reheated tomorrow for lunch. Served with salad and cottage cheese, we have a great high protein meal from what we have on hand. (Use only high quality beef franks. We prefer Kosher.)

Here's the recipe for the pie:

Any Meal Cheese Pie (makes two, but see note at bottom!)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced and browned

1/2 pound ground meat, browned and drained (I used leftover turkey sausage)

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp sage

2 pie crusts, unbaked (or use a stoneware pan sprayed with cooking oil)

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, (DO NOT SKIP THIS! It really makes a difference.)

1 tsp. salt

1 cup shredded cheese, any flavor

3 eggs, slightly beaten (I used 5 because I skipped the crust & needed a thicker pie)

1 cup milk, any (I used slightly soured milk, too blinky for cereal, but just right for baking!)

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos (I used Braggs)

Saute the onions and meat. Let cool. Add other ingredients in batter bowl. Spray pan and pour (if going crustless) or pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees until set and golden on top. Serve with salad and fresh orange juice, if you can!

This is supposed to make two bottom crust pies, but to me they are a little thin, so you can add two extra eggs if you want a little thicker pies!