Poor Man's Meal

As I started cooking more on my own in college and when I moved out into my first apartment, I would call my mom A LOT for recipes. I mostly wanted to know how to make the things I missed from home.

Usually, I would call and ask, "Mommmm, how do I make ________ again?" and her response would be "Ashley, THAT'S A POOR MAN'S MEAL!"

here's a picture of my mom, the queen of poor man's meals and I :)

I would laugh and say out of all the awesome food my mom would make, those are the meals I missed! Things like halushki, halupkis, palachinkas (crepes), pot pie, shit on the shingles, etc. They might be poor man's meals in my mom's eyes, BUT it's what I loved and wanted to make when I was away from home.

I've learned over the past few years that I'm not the only person missing these! My husband LOVES these so called poor meals and asks for them all the time. If we love them, and they're cheap dinners... why not?!

So, last night I made my best friend Stacy's favorite poor man's meal... Potato Pancakes. They are easy, use mostly things you already have, and after I figured out the cost a batch of 12 pancakes came to $2.03 and we have leftovers for breakfast AND lunch :) gotta love it.

Here's my best recipe:

2 cups of mashed potatoes, prepared (my mom always used left overs, instant were on sale for $.88 last week so I used them. Not a fan of them plain, but in a casserole or batter, save the work!)

3/4 cup flour
1/2 stick softened butter
1/4 cup frozen or prepared corn (left overs)
1/4 cup chopped onion (optional)
1/4 cup shredded cheese (anything in the fridge will do!)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk (add more depending on how thick your potatoes are!)

Season the batter heavily with salt and pepper, I add season salt as well.

Mix everything in a large bowl. It shouldn't be thin like pancake batter, but should be thinner than mashed potatoes. It's not rocket science, so don't stress. They are hard to goof!

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in your largest skillet on medium heat. With a large spoon, drop a scoop of batter into the hot oil and flatten it slightly. Fry each pancake for a few minutes and flip, it should be golden brown. Repeat on the other side. Remove them from the pan and put them on a paper towel to get rid of the extra oil. I add extra salt and pepper at this point since the batter is so thick and sucks up the seasoning so much.

The batter makes 12 pancakes and is enough for 4-6 people. It's cheap, delicious and very difficult to mess up!

 

Soooooooo yummy :)