FRENCH TOAST MEETS GRILLED CHEESE

What to serve for dinner is as common place a thought in the mind of Old Mother Frugal as what to wear when going to work.

To decrease the clutter in my brain, I’m prone to setting aside time over the weekend on this very topic. It’s usually on Sunday. Sunday is meal prep and cooking day.

It is traditional in some regions of the country to serve breakfast for dinner. It’s not unusual to see some restaurants dedicate breakfast menus for dinner. Two that come to mind are International House of Pancakes and Cracker Barrel.

Several years ago, one night per week at home was dedicated to “soup for dinner” night. Soup is a very economical meal to serve as it usually consisted of refrigerator leftovers and bread. Poultry bones served as the basis for a soup stock. No cost there. If a protein was leftover, it was added to the soup. Leftover carbs such as rice or pasta or potatoes, seasonings, vegetables and beans rounded out the pot.

The “bread” could be leftover hamburger buns or hot dog rolls from the freezer, converted to garlic toast. They could be added as croutons or served on the side as bread.

Another frugal dinner idea is the sandwich.

Our dollar store sells brand name loaves of sandwich bread for $1.00. If I spot a sale on deli meat, I will buy it and store it in the freezer. Turkey deli meat can be used for open-faced hot turkey sandwiches. Ham deli meat can be used for Monte Cristo sandwiches.

The Monte Cristo sandwich has been around since the 1930’s during the Depression Era. This is where French Toast meets Grilled Cheese.

If you have never eaten one or made one, it is two slices of bread filled with deli ham and cheese (most use Gruyere but this is a frugal blog after all so Old Mother Frugal uses Swiss or Cheddar). Take the sandwich and dip both sides into a scrambled egg mixture of milk and egg. Whole eggs or “egg whites only” can be used for this recipe.

Remove the soggy sandwich and cook on a well buttered skillet on both sides, such as one would make a grilled cheese sandwich. Serve with a side of preserves for dipping.

If you like your sandwiches crustless, remove the crusts prior to dipping into the egg mixture and grilling. Of course, you can always skip the egg mixture step and serve grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner too!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: If you don’t have a coupon to buy deli meat on sale, go to the deli counter of your grocery store and buy your deli meat by the slice, not by the pound. This guarantees you will only buy what you need and have no leftovers. To stretch you dollar, ask for your deli meat to be thinly sliced.