How to Make Frugal Bread Pudding

 

A Frugal Food Recipe

Frugal bread pudding is made from a frugal food recipe. The two main ingredients are stale bread and sour milk. This is what differentiates the recipe from regular bread pudding. In other words, they are ingredients that Middle-Class people would normally throw away. As part of The Former Middle Class, we make frugal family food. We work with what we have and we do not throw usable food away. In addition to that group, I have started another group that will increase and reiterates helpful information from the first group. Th new group is called, Healthy Frugal Food Resources & Recipes.

frugal bread pudding
Raisin bread pudding from ‘The Very Best Baking by Nestle’ Recipe
Why Frugal Food Recipes?

We were victims of The Poor Middle Class Crisis resulting in our becoming One Day From Homeless in 2009. This was a result of the 2008 stock market crash. My husband lost his job the same week as the crash. By 2009, we had depleted all our equity and savings. We had to turn to the social services system for help. This meant we had to learn to live a very different way from the past. This is where frugal food recipes eventually came into the picture.
 

Frugal Bread Pudding

The second thing that makes a recipe frugal is that as many ingredients as possible come from a food pantry or other donated source. In the case of this frugal bread pudding recipe, most of the ingredients are from our food pantry.

Let’s compare the ingredients in the regular recipe with my frugal bread pudding recipe:
THE ORIGINAL INGREDIENTS
16 slices bread, cubed
1 cup raisins
2 cans (12 fluid ounces each) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Caramel sauce (optional)

frugal bread pudding
The ingredients for raisin bread pudding from The Very Best Baking by Nestle®

MY FRUGAL INGREDIENTS
2 loaves of whole-grain bread* (I got 4 loaves so I made double the recipe)
a cup of raisins*
one can of condensed milk*
1 can of coconut milk*
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup packed sugar (a mix of brown sugar/stevia)*
ghee
cinnamon
nutmeg
*ingredient is from a food pantry

frugal bread pudding
My frugal bread pudding made with stale sourdough bread and sour milk. What a treat! It sure looks a lot more rustic than the original recipe photo.
Comparing a Regular Recipe to a Frugal Recipe

What makes a regular recipe different from a frugal recipe:
1. using what is at hand only
2. making no store purchases for the recipe
3. relying upon food pantry or other donated items
4. making a recipe as healthy as possible

Conclusion

Our lives have changed dramatically since we became members of The Former Middle Class. Actually, in many ways, these changes are for the better. We do not rely as much on consumerism for joy and entertainment. Instead, we focus on simple, cost free pleasures. Life itself has more meaning and more value. We appreciate and have gratitude for all the miraculous things that constantly happen in our lives. This is not to say that it is easy or without major challenges at times. But we have become much more self-sufficient, less wasteful and more resourceful.

Healthy Frugal Food Resources and Recipes

We know how important it is to ask for help and participate in giving it in community. Learning to make cost effective food like frugal bread pudding is the proof that we are living a blessed life. Frugality is not a punishment. It allows us to see and experience life in a very different perspective. It is a perspective that has much more room for what is really of value in life.

frugal bread pudding
Frugal Family Food, the helpful Facebook group
Sources and Resources

Frugal Living to a Rich Life
The Former Middle Class Facebook page
Frugal Family Food a helpful Facebook group
The Original Raisin Bread Pudding Recipe
A Savvy Savings Survivalist
101m 101 Ways to Prepare Canned Chicken
Frugal Living Guide and Tips from Money Hacks
How a Year of Extreme Frugality Changed Us
Frugal Living 101 from TheBalance.com
The Cheapskate Guide to 50 Tips for Living Frugal from zenhabits.com
Frugal Living from MorningChores.com
Frugal Living Rules from Time.com
Frugal Living from My Money Wizard

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101 Ways to Prepare Canned Chicken

 

Introduction

Canned chicken has become a staple for those of us in need of nutritional assistance. The only canned food that sounded less appetizing gis canned tuna in water. In fact, it smells like cat food and is nauseating. But given the options of the few available sources of protein, we could eat, I had to choose one of them. So I chose the first, chicken.

canned chicken
Canned chicken from Kirkland foods and RecipesDaily.net
How The Former Middle Class Eats

The decision to incorporate this newly discovered canned food into our meal planning did not come quickly or easily. In fact, it was a humbling even painful experience. The only thing I ate out of a can before now was by choice. I could always afford fresh, whole food. Chicken never came in a can. But something had changed. We had become part of The Former Middle Class.

canned chicken
Two published eBooks and a third on the way in the 3 eBook series about ‘The Former Middle Class’
Being A National Nutritional Statistic

Not only had we become part of The Former Middle Class, but we also had become part of the Poor Middle Class Nutrition Crisis. Feeding the poor and making sure that people who need assistance can get it is a national crisis. As rich as our country is, we have a serious problem with enough food for some while there is food waste by many. Good supermarket food is dumped because of imperfections in appearance or expiration dates. According to Sustainable Table | Food Waste, “In the US, we throw away 40 percent of our food supply every year.”

canned chicken
Food Waste According to “Sustainable Table | Food Waste” SustainableTable.org
redduce foo waste
Top Practical Ways To Reduce Food Waste from Practical Ways To Reduce Food Waste
How Did This Happen to Us?

I could become historical, philosophical, and even sociological about why there is a National Nutritional Food Crisis and how we went from being middle class to part of this crisis. But that is besides the point of this post. Our story is available on another post. This is not a theoretical treatise. This is our lives. So here I am with a substantial collection of chicken in a can piled high on our cupboard shelf. I say it is there for emergencies. But the truth of the matter is, it is there because I need to learn 101 recipes for this newly discovered food if I want to eat every day, stay healthy, not go hungry, and survive.

chicken in a can
Chicken in a can recipes from LiveLikeYouAreRich.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources and Resources

Practical Ways to Reduce Food Waste
289 Recipes for Canned Chicken from RecipesDaily.net
Kirkland Foods Canned Chicken Facts
Swanson Canned Chicken Recipes
The Poor Middle Class Crisis: Introduction
The Former Middle Class
One Day from Homeless
The Poor Middle Class Crisis eBook
Survival Comes First
Savvy Saving Survival
A Savvy Saving Survivalist
Frugal Meal Planning
Meal Planning with Friends!
Sustainable Table | Food Waste
Canned Chicken Dishes on Pinterest

9 Delicious and Quick Chicken in a Can Recipes
21 Delicious and Quic Chicken in a Can Recipes
Chicken in a Can Recipes from AllRecipes.com
32 Canned Chicken Recipes for Delicious Meals You’ll Use Time and Again from MorningChores.com
Start With Canned Chicken 10 Quick and Satisfying Meals from the spruce.com
Canned Chicken Recipes from Pinterest.com
Hormel Chunk Chicken
Canned Chicken Recipes from SparkPeople.com

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