1/2 stick butter .46 1 jar dried beef 3.86 3-4 C of milk 1.02 2 T cornstarch .15 1/4 C flour .06 salt and pepper to taste Cost $5.55 in 2025 Melt 1/2 stick butter in a large skillet. Add dried beef and cook well. Remove meat from pan. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch, flour, and salt and pepper. Mix well. Add milk, mix well. Use a strainer to remove any lumps and add to butter in skillet and make the gravy. Add meat and heat. Serve of homemade biscuits. Baking Powder Biscuits Laura Lane 4 c all-purpose flour .96 3 T baking powder .37 2 t salt 4 T canola oil .17 1 ½ – 1 ¾ c milk .45 Total 2025 cost $1.95 Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Begin with a large bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients into the bowl and then mix it all together well with a big fork. Combine 1 ½ cups of milk with the oil. Pour it all into the dry ingredients at once. Stir until it’s all mixed in and all the flour is moistened. Add the extra ¼ cup of milk if the dough is too dry. Now, take all the dough in your hands and put it on a baking sheet. Pat the dough into a large rectangle, keeping in mind that you want the dough about an inch thick and you’ll be cutting it into 12 equal pieces. If you prefer, you can drop by rounded spoonfuls. After you cut the dough into equal pieces, separate the biscuits by about ¼ inch. Then put them into the oven for 15 minutes. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter and put them back into the oven to bake until they’re golden brown on top. Makes 12 big biscuits. This is the biscuit recipe that I used while my children were growing up. Number Of Servings: 6 Total 2025 cost for both recipes is $7.50 = 1.25 per serving Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Laura Lane 1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa 1 cup of white sugar 1/3 cup of cold water Enough milk to fill 3 quart saucepan Combine 1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa and 1 cup of white sugar in a three quart saucepan using a wire whisk. I do this while the cocoa and sugar are still dry so that the cocoa will mix in nice and smooth without a bunch of lumps. Add about 1/3 cup of cold water and mix until smooth. Bring to a boil and continue to boil it for about a minute, stirring constantly. Don’t worry if it sticks to the sides, it’ll melt back into the cocoa as it heats up. Fill the pan with milk, It'll be a little more than half a gallon of milk. Stir and heat using medium heat. If you need to walk away from it, just turn it on the lowest heat. Heat to desired temperature, but do not boil. A personal note from 2014: My family just loves the rich flavor of old fashioned cocoa made from scratch. Scratch means you start with basic ingredients and go from there. I love it, because I always have the ingredients on hand. We're always ready for a cocoa fix. My kids will have the memory of Momma over the stove stirring the cocoa. They came running when they heard the scritch scritch scratch sound the whisk makes in the pan. Number Of Servings: 6 The total cost at 2025 prices are: 2.48 for 1/2 cup of cocoa .38 for 1 cup of white sugar 3.07 for 3 qts of whole milk Total is $5.93 $1.00 per serving Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Lowell Lane This is a family favorite and very versatile. This bread is delicious plain, but you can enhance the flavor by adding herbs directly to the dough, such as: Italian seasoning, garlic powder, oregano and thyme, or fresh garlic. It used to be .50. I calculated 2025 prices @ $1.23. Still Thrifty! Ingredients: 2 c water, 105º-110º 2 t active dry yeast 4 c flour 2 t salt 2 t butter, melted (divided) Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, mix the warm water and yeast with a fork until combined. Let it set till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture, stirring until the dough is sticky but not overly wet or dry. Cover the bowl with cheesecloth or a clean dish towel. Let it rest. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1 hour. Preheat and shape: Preheat your oven to 450º Oil a baking sheet, then turn the dough onto it, shaping it into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Bake Place the dough in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, brush the top with half of the melted butter. Continue baking for the remaining time until the crust is golden brown. When finished, brush the top with the remaining butter. Cool and serve Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.