The day before payday dinners

[frugaljan]

My sis and I were reminiscing about what our Mom used to make us for dinner the night before Dad's payday, and food was scarce: she would break up a thick piece of homemade bread into a bowl and pour milk over it. Each of us 7 kids got one bowl. That was dinner!


My husband's family used to have vienna sausages (2 per slice of bread), fold the bread in half and eat. That was dinner.


Nowadays, for our family, when budget gets tight, we have baked potatoes with butter or margarine, and salt/pepper.....it will fill you right up.....the guys can have 2 or 3 potatoes, or whatever it takes to fill them up. And a glass of milk to go with it if we have some.

[Niddi]

bringing back some childhood memories.

Mom used to make me green mashed potatoes. (ground up spinach mixed in) and a fried egg. (She said it was the only way she could get some spinach into me)

[DohDohBird]

Ah, yes, cleanin' out the cabinets day! I try to plan so that we don't get too low on things, and it works pretty well, but we've been known to have some...interesting meals right before shopping day, too. Rice & Gravy is one of my faves.

[Archenstone]

One thing my Mom does that has stuck to my family for an occasional emergency/lazy meal is pasta, cheese whiz and tomato sauce....she eyeballs amounts so...

2-3 servings of pasta {elbow noodles, shells, etc}
1-2 small hunts tomato sauce cans
three big spoonfuls of cheese whiz

1. Heat up a pot of pasta...typically enough for two maybe three people
2. drain pasta, leave in the pot
3. dump a small can of tomato sauce...we use hunts usually. You can add another small can or do one regular can instead for a large pot
4. add cheese whiz and mix well. around three big spoonfuls...sauce is orange-red

flavor to taste, my mother never flavored but I use garlic and pepper

[naturalmommy]

mmmm rice and gravy!


We have had fried potatoes with scrambled eggs. If we have onion, we fry that up in the potatoes as well.

[tsgal]

Oh boy, right before payday is always a challenge. I've also been known to be pretty creative with meals too. I always keep extra soup on hand, for just in case.

[mos]

I was lucky that I never had to worry about that growing up. even if we had problems feeding ourselves, we would have eaten well. I grew up in an amazing neighborhood (as some of you know) and everyone took care of each other. ever so often someone would make too much soup or stew or spaghetti or something or other <grin> and would have to take it to one of the neighbors so it wouldn't go bad now when I went out on my own and had to fend for myself, I made kechup soup. could be why tomato soup is not my favorite! LOL!

[naturalmommy]

I was lucky that I never had to worry about that growing up. even if we had problems feeding ourselves, we would have eaten well. I grew up in an amazing neighborhood (as some of you know) and everyone took care of each other. ever so often someone would make too much soup or stew or spaghetti or something or other <grin> and would have to take it to one of the neighbors so it wouldn't go bad now when I went out on my own and had to fend for myself, I made kechup soup. could be why tomato soup is not my favorite! LOL!

I wish neighbors did this more these days. We would have less hungry families.

[brchbell]

When I was growing up we had lots of beans in the lean times! We regularly bartered with our neighbors for different food items and could make things go farther. We'd trade dry beans and eggs for fresh butter and mutton or beef. Later my Mom got into baking and making cakes and the bartering got to be much more interesting in our little corner of the world!

We've had some very tough times and have scavenged off our local country side. We've gleaned miles of fields after they were harvested to feed us and our animals through the winter. this is where I got my education in learning about hard and spring wheat! Spring wheat makes crappy bread but ok for cracked mush or flour for cakes and pastry. That's what we had gleaned one year when everyone in our area was out of work and just barely hanging on. For the last several years we've had a years supply of food stored so we can easily make it at the end of the month should be run out of fresh foods. I replace what we use each month so it stays at a years supply most of the time. I've taught my children to find wild eatables in the areas they live in and to store food for emergency use after they leave home. right now they store a 3month supply. We figure if they needed more than that they'd probably need to give up their apartment and move home. Anyway, I've known true hunger and I pray my children never do!

[montique]

We have end of the month dinners as I get my disability check once a month!
Our lean dinners are some of the kids favorite meals that they ask for, go figure!
We have had baked beans on toast, ( made from leftover pinto beans with any sweetner, I have used pancake syrup)
Fried potatoes with canned vegies, or whatever we have in the cupboard.
sometimes with eggs.
French toast ( one egg, powdered milk and stale bread and my kids beg for this!)
Fried bologna and baked potatoes
Potato skins ( one or two pieces of bacon crumbled, whatever little bit of cheese we have, broil in the oven) Can use ham too. Bake or microwave the potatoes, cool, scoop out a little potatoe out of each half then fill. ( I warm up the scooped out potatoe for breakfast the next day)
I make pancakes out of those cheap little Jiffy muffin mixes, they have all different flavors.
Iced tea, fried hotdogs, and fried ramen noodles.
I fry up onion or celery if I have it, or tomatoes, green peppers, whatever fresh vegie you have will work. Cook the ramen like the directions say, drain off the soup, then saute in a skillet with the vegies. The kids love this.
Any leftover meat, fried in a skillet with onion and celery then add hot cooked rice.
You can buy a package of popcorn shrimp at Wal-mart for $1.99 and generic shells and cheese for $1.50 a box. This is a nice cheap meal.
For $7 ( I get 2 of each) I feed a bunch of hungry teenagers.
I buy a couple of chickens at the beginning of the month and boil it and freeze it and the broth.
I make chicken and dumplings, chicken and rice, and chicken and egg noodles. It is so much cheaper if you buy the whole chickens and do this with it.
Monik

Monika