I”m sure that you have watched the news at least once in the last couple of months and that you are well aware of the economic crisis that we are now in. And if you are a follower of this blog ( and I actually have some now!) you are probably feeling the pinch. With all of this talk about money and how people are cutting back, I went in search of what the average person spends on food every month to see how I measured up. What I found was the Official USDA Cost of Food at Home for 4 different Income Levels. This is a chart that shows the average cost of food alone ( no soap or cat food) that it takes to feed a person for a week/month on 4 different income levels; thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal. If you haven’t seen this before, go and visit and see how you measure up. Me? I come in at about half of the thrifty plan and that includes cat food, laundry detergent, toilet paper and the odd pack of diapers.
So in celebration of this occasion I went in search for a really cheap meal. For me, the best place to look is grandma’s recipe box. And I found it…Quiche. She must have had 10 different recipes for quiche, but I picked this one because I wouldn’t have to defrost any meat. Quiche is great. It’s filling, it’s fluffy, and it has the ability to completely clean out the scraps in your fridge. And this recipe cost me about $3 to make.
1 – 10 oz. package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 whole chicken breast cut into pieces ( about a cup, feel free to use dark meat)
1 cup grated cheese ( granny said Swiss, I used Cheddar)
1 pie shell
3 eggs
1 c. heavy cream ( or milk or half and half)
2 T lemon juice
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. In pie shell, sprinkle broccoli, then chicken, then cheese. Beat eggs, cream, lemon juice and s&p until mixed. Pour into shell. Jiggle the pan to evenly distribute egg mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until center is firm. Stir lightly half way through cooking to ensure even cooking. Cover edges of pie crust with foil if it gets too brown while baking.
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