Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Poor Food

When I was growing up, my mom and I lived with my grandparents. They still had a house in Florida and we were living with them in their new house in Huntsville. This two house/freshly moved scenario had happened to them many times before because Papaw was transferred often for his job. Mamaw knew from her own childhood and young adult life how to stretch a meal..so she had her go-tos when things were tight. But when you're 6, you don't really know what's poor food and what isn't. So I would beg for things like chicken and rice, and I just couldn't understand why they thought it was so funny! Tonight I made one of my favorite poor foods, fried potatoes and smoked sausage. Pretty easy, really cheap, feeds a lot of people AND it's amazingly delicious. Not much falls into all those categories. Here's what to do when you're over budget:

Fried Potatoes 
Ingredients: Potatoes (about one big one per person or two littles), one package of smoked sausage, 1-2 onions depending on how big of a batch you are making

Peel your potatoes. Congratulations, that's literally the most difficult step.You are now halfway done. Cube your potatoes-I normally cut them in quarters long ways, then slice those strips into cubes. But it's really not that important as long as they are about the same size/thickness. Dice up an onion. Slice your smoked sausage into about 1/2 inch thick chunks. The thinner you slice them the more pieces you get so it's really up to you.

Put a little oil in a non stick skillet over medium high heat. Let it get hot for a minute or two, then throw in all of your ingredients. Salt and pepper them. The potatoes can take a good bit of salt, but just taste as you go to check. Once you have it in the skillet, don't stir it too much. Let a little golden brown color develop on everything. Stir and cook for about 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Remember, just taste as you go so you can adjust your salt/pepper. You're done! One skillet to wash, not very many dollars spent, delicious flavors produced.

I love this meal. Mamaw and I especially like greens and cornbread with it, if you're into that I'd recommend it. Otherwise any veggie will do.

What does your family make when you're pinching pennies?

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