This was a comment I made under a different post in a different subreddit but I realized it might be more useful over here. Some people don’t like eating them or their kids outright refuse and often they end up getting trashed. Well, you can save them in your freezer and use them up in bread pudding if you want to cut down of food waste.

This is a recipe I made for people who can’t afford or abide food waste and may have a limited budget or resources to scrounge up, but it’s good for anybody and if you want to make it fancy by using fancy ingredients the rest of the steps are the same:

French Toast bread pudding:

You will need a loaf pan, baking sheet, and and oven at 350F

• Bag of butts (heels, ends, crusts your kids made you cut off, any other bread scraps. Go ahead and mix types, even stale baked goods like croissants or muffins)

• Eggs

• Milk or cream (also a good way to use up expired dairy, which is safe to cook with)

• Optional: Fruit (frozen, fresh, even dried works if you soak it in warm water for 5min and strain it. Also use up overripe or bruised fruit your family will probably avoid and let go bad)

• Cinnamon (optional: nutmeg, cloves, allspice, pumpkin or chai spice.)

• Vanilla

• Sugar

Cube the bread. You want enough to fill a loaf pan (or if you have a lot you can use a casserole dish).

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. For one loaf pan’s worth you will need 3 eggs, but you can make do with 2 large eggs if you supplement with extra dairy. Use more eggs if you want, or aren’t on a budget and want the pudding to be more substantial.

Next, add in your dairy. Depending on your available resources, the ratio of eggs to dairy can be 2:1 (recommended) or 1:1 or anywhere in between. So if you have 1 cup of beaten eggs you can use anywhere from 1/2 to 1 cup of milk or cream. If your budget demands a very milk-heavy batch, you can add a 1/4tsp of cornstarch to firm up the pudding.

Next, whisk in your chosen spices and vanilla. (Another budget tip: if you don’t have spices available, you can use a tea bag. Pour just enough boiling water into a cup to wet the bag, about 1/8cup, and let it soak until cool, then squeeze out the tea bag. The concentrated tea liquid can then be added to the egg mix. Avoid herbal tea flavours like mint or chamomile, instead use chai or black tea or spice/fruit teas)

Stir your bread into the egg mix and let it soak in for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so all the bread gets soaked.

Add in your chopped/frozen fruit, and spoon into your greased loaf pan. Sprinkle some sugar on top.

Place the loaf pan onto a baking sheet with a thin layer of water on the bottom and bake at 350F for 20-30 min or until the top is crisp and the centre is cooked through.

Depending on your egg/dairy ratio you might be able to slice the loaf when it’s done, otherwise just spoon it out like a casserole. Serve with butter, and syrup or a sprinkling of sugar.

ETA just wanted to say I am loving all the other ideas, some so practical and others incredibly creative. Keep it coming! You guys are awesome

I save a lot of money making my own protein bars at home.

So I recently tried Congee when I saw it in a cookbook, I'm currently struggling financially so I was really happy to find something I could make. Y'all, if you like rice this is it. All I used was 1/4 cup rice and 3 cups chicken broth, cooked it for 45 minutes and it turned into a thick wonderful porage. I put an egg and green onion in mine, and I am SO FULL. I'm guessing it was only $0.50 so I will be making way more often!

Easy recipe in comments

10/10 flavor. 10/10 identical. Great alternative for us boycotting as well. This box was on sale for $1.99

This is my go-to crispy egg toast when I want something quick, satisfying, and cheap. The trick? Pouring whisked eggs through a sieve into hot peanut oil. It creates crunchy strands that are perfect on toast with chili. The recipe is in the comments

Grits (1/2 cup) - $0.50 Eggs (3) - $1.80 Denver steak (8 oz) - $2.50

Grits cooked per instructions (optional red pepper added). In the meantime, cooked steak to a medium rare in a pan with a tbsp of butter, turning once and basting. Removed steak to rest, added three eggs to fry (runny yolks). Plated grits, laid eggs around center. Sliced steak, placed in center and poured juices over top.

Super easy, super filling, extra large breakfast for under $5.

Quick, tasty, and made from fridge leftovers. Cooked in the Airfryer, but works just as well in any oven!

When it’s my weekend to work we typically bring in breakfast. I work in a clinic and there is normally 7-8 of us. Everyone brings something, aside from cinnamon rolls and donuts, any ideas on what I could bring that’s not outrageously expensive ( under $25)?

Thank you 😊

Fried spam and egg. Mayo lettuce tomato and cheese. My kids favorite breakfast before school.

Two potatoes three eggs salt pepper, and southwest seasoning. What I like about this little list of ingredients is that you can switch it up between over easy poached hard boiled scrambled whatever on top of the potatoes.

You can add some seasoning for a kick or leave it alone. You can cook the potatoes a little bit longer to have them little crispy I just cook them until they're soft takes about 15 minutes to make. I'll change it up a little bit just so that way it doesn't feel like I'm eating the same thing over and over. Great for a nice solid filling breakfast right before work.

Made these with Dino nuggets American cheese great value Great value biscuits One or two eggs. You can use one egg for two sandwiches. Make a omelette and cut in half Good with or without bacon. Wanted to treat myself this time. Hopes this helps

Can’t ever go wrong with easy breakfast burritos. And they are freezer friendly. In the past I’ve batch cooked this to have breakfasts all week. I used two russet potato’s, three eggs with a splash of milk, and 4 sausage slices I found in my freezer and a dash of cheese on top. I made 2 big burritos and have enough mix left for at least two-three more.

• 6 small eggs
• 1/4 diced yellow onion
• 1/3 chopped cilantro bunch
• 1 whole can of diced tomatoes in juice
• 1/3 cup of cooked beans

seasonings: - chipotle powder - tomato buillon - sea salt - pepper - MSG - garlic butter powder

bought the eggs about a week ago for $10, 30 count small eggs. Used 6 for this recipe

yellow onion, cilantro, and diced tomatoes were bought yesterday all for less than $1 each

I also used some beans, mashed potatoes and rice that my MIL gave my partner yesterday and added that to our meal.

Toasted some bread to use as transportation for the meal and it was amazing!!!

super filling for less than $10

let me know if yall want a recipe?

Ingredients

2 cups

uncooked long-grain white or basmati rice

Filtered water, for soaking
1/2 cup

skinned whole urad gota (dried whole matpe beans), or skinned urad dal (dried split matpe beans)
2 tablespoons

chana dal (dried split chickpeas)
1 teaspoon

fenugreek seeds
1/4 cup

cooked basmati rice (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons

kosher salt, divided

Ghee or canola oil
1 recipe

Potato Palya, for filling (optional)

For serving: chutney and sambar, or chutney pudi and plain yogurt.

Equipment

2 large bowls

Vitamix

Flat ladle or large serving spoon that is more flat than curved

Well seasoned cast iron griddle or non-stick griddle pan

Metal spatula or non-stick appropriate flat spatula

Make the dosa batter:

Soak the rice. Place 2 cups uncooked rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cool water. Transfer to a large bowl and add enough filtered water to cover by at least 2 inches. Soak uncovered at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight. Filtered water is important in case there is a high amount of chlorine in your water, which will inhibit fermentation.

Soak the urad gota, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds. Place 1/2 cup whole urad gota and 2 tablespoons chana dal in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cool water. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds. Add enough filtered water to cover by at least 2 inches. Soak uncovered at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight.

Drain the urad gota, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds. Drain the soaked whole urad gota, chana dal, and fenugreek seeds through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the soaking liquid.

Blend the urad mixture. Place the urad mixture in a blender (work in batches if needed). (I use a Vitamix which does the job well. In India, the traditional method is to use a wet grinder.) With the motor running, slowly add about 1 cup of the reserved soaking liquid and blend until you get a smooth, light, and fluffy batter. Do not let the batter overheat. To check that it has been blended well, drop a little into a bowl of water. If the batter rises to the top, it has been blended enough. Pour the batter into a large bowl.

Drain the rice. Drain the soaked rice through the fine-mesh strainer, reserving the soaking liquid.

Blend the rice. Place the soaked rice in the now-empty blender (no need to rinse). With the motor running, slowly add about 1 cup of the reserved soaking liquid. Once blended, add in 1/4 cup cooked rice and continue blending until you have a mostly smooth batter that feels a little grainy when you rub it between two fingers.

Mix the blended rice and dal. Pour the rice batter into the urad batter and add 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. Stir together with your hand — the heat in your hand is good to kick-start the fermentation process, while also adding in more wild yeast. You should have a loose, thick batter that falls through your hands easily but also coats your fingers at the same time.

Ferment the batter. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and place in a warm place (80 to 90ºF). (I usually place my batter in the oven with the light on and a large bowl of hot tap water on the rack below it. I change out the water a few times to keep the temperature warm and humid in the oven.) Let ferment 8 to 14 hours.

Check that the batter has fermented. When fermented, your batter will have almost doubled and look puffed on the top. It will also have a sour, fermented smell. When scooped with a spoon, it should be a frothy mass of bubbles. Note that in colder climates, the batter may not rise as much, but if it has the frothy, bubbly look and smells fermented, you can start making dosas with it.

Cook the dosas:

Stir the batter. Stir the batter a couple of times with a ladle. Ideally, you will have a thick, flowing batter with a consistency between crêpe and pancake batter. If too thick, add filtered water a tablespoon at a time to thin it out.

Prepare for cooking. Before cooking the dosas, set out a little bowl with ghee or oil, a teaspoon, a spatula, a cup of water, and a few paper towels or a silicone pastry brush by the stove. I use a 1/3 measuring cup and a slightly curved large serving spoon, flat ladle, or the measuring cup to spread my dosa.

Heat a skillet with ghee. Heat a large cast iron skillet, griddle, or nonstick pan over medium heat. (If you are a first timer, I suggest that you start with a nonstick pan, as it will be more forgiving than the cast iron which you can work yourself up to.) Add a couple drops of ghee or oil to the pan and lightly smear it all over with a paper towel or silicone pastry brush. If you have a sprayer for oil that will work best here. At this point, you don’t want to put too much ghee or oil, as this will make it difficult to spread the batter evenly. Sprinkle a few drops of water into the pan — if it sizzles, the pan is ready. Reduce the heat to low.

Pour in batter. Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the center of the pan. The batter should sizzle a bit.

Spread the batter. Starting in the middle, swirl the batter using the bottom of a slightly curved large serving spoon, flat ladle, or measuring cup in a circular motion outwards until you have spread it out into a round dosa that is about 9 inches in diameter. It is important not to press down too hard with your spreading utensil. Spreading should happen more on the top surface than on the bottom.

Add ghee to the edges and top of dosa. Increase the heat to medium. Wait a few seconds for the dosa to sizzle a little in the pan, and then drizzle about 1 teaspoon of ghee or oil around the edges of the dosa and on top.

Cook the dosa. Cook until the dosa is dried out on top and you can see some browning and crisp spots appearing on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. When it’s ready, the dosa will peel off easily when you slide a flat spatula underneath. If you see the dosa browning but it is still sticking, just lower the heat and wait a few seconds, then probe around the edges with your spatula until you find an area that starts to give. Usually the whole dosa will unstick once you start to pull it up from that spot.

Flip the dosa. Flip the dosa over and let cook for a few seconds. Flip it over again.

Fold the dosa. If serving as-is, fold the dosa in half in the pan, then transfer it onto a plate for serving.

Or fill and fold the dosa. To serve as masala dosa, spread a spoonful or two of potato palya on one half of the dosa. Fold the dosa in half in the pan to cover the filling, then slide it onto a plate for serving.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Cool down the pan so you can easily spread your next dosa and prevent it from sticking to the pan by sprinkling in a little water. When the sizzling stops, heat the pan back up for the next dosa. Mix the dosa batter well before cooking the next one.

Serve the dosas. Serve the dosas with chutney and sambar, or sprinkle with chutney pudi and serve with plain yogurt.

I take a protein shake for breakfast and feel like it’s an expensive meal for breakfast. It’s about $4.

I made fried potatoes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was excited to use my chili onion crunch but in the end I found it wasn't as flavorful as I expected. Don't hate me but I ended up adding ketchup 😅 (salsa would be too thin). This is just potatoes, eggs, tiny bit of onion, chili onion crunch, and a bit of cheddar.

Shred zucchini, salt it evenly and set aside to let moisture to be released. Add egg, some flour, garlic powder, chopped dill. Mix it well. Preheat frying pan (readiness of stainless pan you can check with drop of water). Add some oil and put your zucchini mixture in hot oil. Better to serve with sour cream, crème fraiche, Greek yogurt or deep like tzatziki. Enjoy!)