Family On A Budget

My daughter loves the chicken noodle soup at our local Eat N Park restaurant. It contains a thicker chewy homemade noodle that is really good. I have found a similar tasting noodle that we used to make an inexpensive Chicken soup. It really hits the spot on a cold winter day and costs approximately $.25 for entire the batch (noodles only). I will post my soup recipe soon.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon oil
1/3 cup water

In a bowl, mix the flour and salt together.

In another bowl beat the eggs, oil, and water together. Form a depression in the flour mixture and add the egg mixture. Mix well.

Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop. Knead for eight minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Divide the dough in half with a knife. Roll each dough piece out with a floured rolling pin until it is 1/16 to 1/8-inch thick. Place the pieces on waxpaper and cover the dough and let rest for 20 minutes.

Using a knife or a pizza cutter, slice the dough into strips 1/4-inches wide. Drop the noodles one at time into simmering soup. Cook until tender. Approximately 10-15 minutes.

Baking your own bread is a great way to save money and have a fresher product. Below is the recipe I use for sandwich buns. I use my bread machine for this recipe. It makes the recipe easy and less time consuming. I estimate these cost approximately $.40 a batch which is much less than the 2.98 in the grocery store and bakery. We use them for sandwiches and for burgers. There is nothing better than fresh bread.

1-1/2 cups of warm water
1/4 cup oil
2 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add the items in order or in the order recommended by your bread machine maker. Set using the Dough setting and start it. My machine takes an hour and a half to mix, knead and proof the dough.

Once the dough is done, separate into 12 to 16 equal pieces of dough. Roll the pieces into balls and place on a greased baking sheet approximately 1/2 inch apart.

Cover the rolls and let them rise until they are double in size. About 30-40 minutes. Sometimes I will proof them in the oven with a pan of hot water placed on the bottom rack.