1 1/2 cups sour milk or buttermilk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup melter butter or canola oil (the original recipe called for
drippings...leftover bacon grease)

Beat together the sour milk or buttermilk, eggs, sugar, salt, and soda. With a few strokes, stir in the corn meal which has been mixed with the flour. Stir in the melted butter or oil and mix well. Pour into a well-greased round pan (8 x 1 1/2) or an 8" cast iron skillet.
Bake in a hot oven of 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

At our house, this is usually served with some kind of beans. Calico beans, boiled beans and bacon or baked beans.

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 of a small carrot, sliced
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 cups chopped celery (I only use 1 cup)
3 cups reconstituted non-fat dry milk powder (1 cup dry milk powder mixed in 3 cups of cold water)
2 cups chopped boiled or baked potatoes (with skins left on)
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery and caraway seeds. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and start to turn color.

Add the milk, cold potatoes, and carrots and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Stir occasionally. Add the dill weed if you like and stir to mix in the seasoning. Do not allow to come to a boil again. Season with some salt and pepper and a little bit of butter or margarine if you like.

Serve with crackers along side the soup cup. This is a low-fat recipe that serves 4 people. This recipe is a great way to use up those 2 extra baked potatoes or the few boiled potatoes remaining after dinner last evening. It makes a hearty soup that costs very little.

1 cup lukewarm water
3 packages dry yeast
6 cups warm water
2 cups non-fat dry milk powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup shortening or oil (I use oil)
1 cup instant potato flakes or leftover mashed potatoes to equal 2 cups
1 cup dry oatmeal
12 to 15 cups all-purpose flour (amount depends on moisture content)

To make: Soften the yeast in the 1 cup of lukewarm water. I always put in about 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar because it feeds the yeast and makes it work faster.

Combine the 6 cups of warm water with the non-fat dry milk powder, sugar, salt, potato flakes, oil, and oatmeal in a large bowl. Add the yeast after it foams up and stir into the milk mixture. Add 4 cups of the flour and beat about 3 minutes with a wooden spoon to develop the gluten. Then, gradually add enough remaining flour to make a dough that cleans the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a floured counter and knead, adding a little more flour if necessary. Knead the dough till smooth and elastic. Put the well-kneaded dough into a greased dishpan and oil the top. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rise till doubled.

Punch down, rest the dough about 5 minutes and make into loaves. Put into greased pans, raise again to double and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 to 55 minutes. The loaves will be a rich golden brown color an dsound hollow when you tap them with your fingers.

Makes 4 large loaves or five smaller ones.

I make up batches of bread and freeze the extra loaves. These cost about 20 cents each to make, much cheaper than the $2.29-$2.79 per loaf charged in the markets.

3 cups cooked pinto beans
(or a 1 pound can of pinto beans)
1/4 cup drippings (bacon)
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup grated longhorn cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack cheese

In an electric skillet, heat the drippings on a low heat setting. Add the beans and mash with a potato masher or fork. Add the seasonings. Add the cheese and stir until melted (omit for burritos).

These can be used as a dip, a side dish, a stuffing for sopapillas, burrito filling, tostados and in combination with many other dishes. (These are really good. I use the dried pinto beans (bought in bulk) and cook a whole sackful at once. The ones I don't use at the time, I freeze in 2 and 3 cup baggies. I also don't use the full amount of cheese because I'm on a low-fat diet.)

2 1/2 cups cream style corn
2 cups unsalted cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted margarine
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste, at least 1/8 teaspoon
4 egg whites
cooking spray or a little bit of cooking oil

Combine the corn, cracker crumbs, milk, melted margarine, sugar, and salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry, and fold into the first mixture. Heat a large skillet until hot and add just a tad of oil. Drop in large spoonfulls of batter and then flatten them out with the back of the spoon to make a thin corn cake about 3 inches across. Fry over medium heat about 3 minutes, turn once and cook for another 3 minutes...about six minutes total. This makes 12 very good corncakes. (This may be one way to get the small fry to eat their vegetables.)

To jazz up that canned sauerkraut, add some chopped apple...about 1/2 cup, 1/2 teaspoon of celery seed and 3 teaspoons of brown sugar

One of the staples in my kitchen is rice. I like to have some cooked ahead and in the freezer for those last minut meals when I've had to work late. An easy way to fix the rice is to use my oven to cook it at the same time I'm cooking something else.

Put 1 cup of raw rice in a metal bowl with a pinch of salt, then add 2 cups of water. Cover the bowl with a piece of aluminum foil and bake it at 350 degrees for about an hour. This makes about 2 1/2 cups of cooked rice which I then refrigerate or freeze for other uses.