One of the ways we save money here at The Frugal Farmer is by making most everything from scratch. The cost savings is unbeatable, and although sometimes it can be intimidating to throw away your prepackaged foods for homemade, once you get the hang of it, it’s often easier and tastes better than the pre-made stuff.
One area in which I was always intimidated by homemade is the area of pie crusts. A good pie crust is crisp, but not dry, not soggy or undercooked on the bottom, yet not overdone on the edge. We started making homemade crusts purely out of the need to spend less due to our debt situation. We’ve got a long way to go to perfection, but things are coming along. We’ve got the cooking part down well, but we are still working on appearance, so today’s pic is courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens, whose crust recipe we use. Click on the photo credit link and it will bring you to the recipe page.
The thing I really love about a homemade pie crust is the rich, buttery taste it holds if you use real butter. It just can’t be beat by any store-bought imitation. The quiche recipe is one we just kind of made through trial and error.
Single Crust Pie Pastry
1/3 c. real butter, softened (in order to save money, we use 1/4 c. and add an extra T of water. Yes, every dime really does add up. :-)) 32 cents
3 to 4 T. cold water
1/4 t. salt
1 -1/4 c. flour 15 cents
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, mix together flour and salt. Cut in the butter and mix with a fork or pastry blender until thoroughly blended. Sprinkle in the water, and blend well until all flour is moistened, and form the dough into a nice round ball with no “cracks” in the dough. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to form a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap the pastry around the rolling pin and set it over your 9-inch pie plate. Form the dough into the plate, scallop the edges with your forefinger and thumb, and prick the bottom of the crust where it meets the sides, all around the whole crust. Bake the crust for 10 minutes or until lightly golden, and let it cool while you make the quiche “innards”.
Quiche filling
Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, mix together:
4 beaten eggs 52 cents
1 c. milk 22 cents
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese $1.68
1/2 t. salt 3 cents
1/2 t. pepper 5 cents
Total cost: $2.97 for six servings
Pour filling into pie crust, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. **If you notice the edges starting to get too dark, remove the quiche, cover the edges with tin foil, and continue baking. Let stand for 10 minutes, cut into six equal slices and serve.
Want to spice it up? Add 1/4 c. of: diced onion, green pepper or tomato, or diced ham. Or, add a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves, and sprinkle the top with grated parmesan before baking.
Yum! I love quiche 🙂
Me too. Love that buttery crust!
Sounds great Laurie! As a dad who is preparing most meals at our house, I’m enjoying learning to cook more from scratch. And the cost is unbeatable as you mentioned.
Isn’t it fun, Brian? We’re really enjoying enhancing our cooking skills and saving money at the same time. 🙂
I really like quiche, but have never gotten my family to try it. This sounds really good to me! If nothing else, I should make it and freeze slices for my lunches. That would be such a nice change from my quesadillas and peanut butter sandwiches. I eat leftovers when they are available, but I don’t always have them. Not to nitpick your prices, but do you have a Sam’s or Costco available for things like cheese? I buy cheddar and mozzarella cheese in 5 pound blocks at Sam’s and shred it (I do have an attachment for my Kitchen-aide) and my cost per cup is less than $.60. I know prices vary by region, and I’m not sure where you are located. I also buy flour there and my cost is about $.07/cup, but that’s either white or bread ($.075/cup), not wheat or unbleached. OTOH, your egg prices are better than mine. 🙂
Love the idea of freezing it for lunches, Sheila. You could always do some homemade soups and freeze those too for lunch. And, please, do nitpick my prices – I’m always looking to buy things cheaper!! I will check out the prices for those things at Sam’s, although we do try and stick with the unbleached flour. We’re hoping to get chickens soon, keep some eggs and sell others, making the egg price even cheaper. 🙂
I must be the only weird one who has never had Quiche? lol it looks good and the price definitely fits in with my budget.
LOL, try it, Alexa. The girls might like it too! Something different for breakfast. 🙂
Quiche is my favorite meal and I make a pretty damn good one. Simply delicious!
Anytime you want to share your recipe, Grayson, you’re welcome to. 🙂
I think the only time I’ve had Quiche before was when my grandma made it and I really liked it. Maybe I’ll give this a try, thanks for the recipe!
You should Jake! Just take your fave veggies/meat and throw them into the mix. Good stuff!
Oh my gosh. Can I come live with you?! 😉
LOL, if you can handle 4 kids, 3 cats and 2 horses and an almost unbearably cold and long winter. 🙂
Bacon adds some nice kick as well, Laurie! Great recipe on the merits of frugality.
Great idea, Mike! That might go really well with the baby spinach!
Looks delicious! I generally reduce the cheese (your most expensive item, it is even more expensive around here) to put more veggies. That is one of the rare ways I make everyone eat veggies!
LOL, yeah, it works here too. We love our cheese, it’s a bit of an addiction around here. 🙂
I can´t remember the last time I made a quiche, but this looks delicious! And frugal!!
I think I could eat quiche daily, though the kids might disagree with that menu. 🙂
I love quiche, but I never seem to cook it for myself 🙁
I think next week i’ll have to make some.
You should! I bet between you and Alexa you could come up with some pretty terrific recipes!
Looks delicious! I don’t make a lot of pies but the crusts are always the hardest part to get right. And you’re right – nothing beats homemade, especially when it comes to pie crust.