Cheap Bastid's Mac & Cheese

It seems like every time there’s some cooking show on or one of the chef’s competitions like Top Chef or Next Food Network Star, someone always does Macaroni and Cheese.

If you check out recipes like I do, you’ll find a whole bunch of different recipes for Mac & Cheese. And there’s a lot of “foo-fooing” going on. Exotic cheeses, different ingredients—even truffles!

It’s always seemed to me that Mac & Cheese is a family dish. It’s supposed to be a simple dish—and it’s evolved to one which is most usually prepared out of a box. (I’ve had it many times out of a box and never thought twice about it). And, it’s associated with “soul food” which is usually home cooked, inexpensive cooking that has 2 main elements—it tastes great and it’s inexpensive.

So, Cheap Bastid set out to make Mac & Cheese that will fulfill these 2 critical “soul food” criteria. To make it taste great and to make it as inexpensively as possible. (Notice I didn’t say cheap. I quickly discovered that this isn’t necessarily a cheap dish at all). And, if I were going to do it, I vowed to use that most American of cheeses—Velveeta.


So here’s what I came up with. It’s simple, but it takes a bit of time to prep and make. It’s reasonable, but by no means “cheap”. And it’s thoroughly customizable.

Cheap Bastid’s Mac & Cheese

• 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 1 lb Velveeta Cheese
• 1 8 oz. bag shredded cheddar (or whatever shredded is on hand or that you like)
• ½ lb bacon cooked
• 2 tbsp chopped jarred jalapeno peppers
• 1/3-1/2 cup milk (skim, 1%, 2%, whole—it doesn’t matter)
• 4 slices bread (white, wheat—whatever)

First of all, notice that some of these ingredients are based on what you have on hand or what you prefer. That’s the way cooking is. Cook what you like. Substitute for what’s in the pantry—for example if you don’t have any bread, use saltines or Ritz or even hamburger or hot dog buns. This ain’t rocket science.

If you don’t want to use bacon, leave it out. If you don’t have any but want a bit of meat use spam or ham or bologna or hot dogs. Like the homegirls say: “Whatevah”.

So, let’s cook. Prep first! Get out your pasta pot, a small skillet, a casserole dish, cheese grater (don’t have a cheese grater? Just cut the cheese into small cubes), 1 gallon freezer bag, rolling pin (or meat tenderizing mallet or the bottom of a sauce pan), a big mixing bowl, a medium bowl, cutting board and a small baking sheet.


Turn the oven on to 250. Put the 4 slices of bread on the baking sheet and then put it in the oven for about ½ hour.

Put the skillet on a burner turned to medium and put the bacon in it to cook. Start grating the Velveeta into the mixing bowl.

Remember to check the bvacon while it’s cooking—don’t get too focused on grating the Velveeta. We’re multi-tasking here! When the bacon is browned, put it on a plate covered with a paper towel to cool. When cool, chop it into about ½ inch or smaller bits.

Put about a gallon of water into the pasta pot and put it on the stove turned to high. Bring to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt and add the pasta. Cook for about 8 minutes. Keep grating that Velveeta! Cook about 8 minutes—just a bit “al dente”. Pour the cooked pasta into a colander and shock with cold water to both stop the cooking and cool it down. And if you’re an anal retentive foo-foo foodie who would say that rinsing the pasta removes the starches, just go ahead an have an ice bath set up an put the drained pot full of pasta into a bowl and then into the ice bath.

When the bread has been in the oven long enough to thoroughly dry-out, take the pan from the oven and let it cool When it’s cooled you’re going to put it 2 slices at a time into the freezer bag and then use the rolling pin to turn it into crumbs—if you’ve got a bit of hostility to release, feel free to use the bottom of a sauce pan and whomp it into submission and crumbs. (When my wife does that I know without asking who she is metaphorically “whomping” if you get my drift).

Put the bread crumbs into a medium bowl and mix them up with a generous handful of shredded bagged cheddar (or other cheese) and then sprinkle about 1 ½-2 tbsp of your favorite green herb (parsley, cilantro or basil—and if you use another “medicinal” herb add an extra tbsp, but I don’t want to know about it).

OK, so now all the prep work has been done. Pasta’s cooked. Bacon’s cooked and chopped. Jalapenos are chopped. Cheese is grated. And the oven should be pre-heating to 350.

Take all the ingredients (pasta, bacon, jalapenos, rest of shredded bagged cheese and grated Velveeta) and dump them in the big mixing bowl. Add the milk. Stir everything together in the casserole dish. Smooth it out and then evenly spread the bread crumb mixture over the top.


Pop this into the oven at 350 for about a half hour. Take a peek—has the top browned up? If not, turn your broiler on for about 2 minutes (do NOT leave the room when the broiler’s on!), then take another peek and see if it’s browned. But remember, under the broiler anything in the oven can go from toasty golden to charcoal in about 14 seconds if you’re not paying attention. If it’s starting to brown at 2 minutes, turn the oven off and just leave the casserole in the oven for about another minute. Then remove. Let it cool for about 10 minutes and then dish it up and enjoy!

The Cheap Bastid Test: So how’d I do? Well, the pasta was the cheapest part. It cost me fifty cents (on special at the grocer). The bacon was about a third of a pound at $1.99 per pound for a total of $.67. The jalapeno was out of an open jar in the fridge and I used a couple of tablespoons that cost maybe a quarter. The cheese, that’s the big ticket.

I used a pound of Velveeta which cost me $4.50 and about 1/3 bag of shredded cheese (that’s all I had) which cost about $.80. So the total if my math is right is about $6.75 (I had to add a bit for the milk and 4 slices of bread). We got about 8 servings which means that they cost $.84 apiece. The bottom line is that’s not bad! Not bad at all for 2 dinners for 3 and a couple of lunches.


Next Time: We went to Fraiser’s Farms the other day and checked out the cheeses. I really want to get under $4 a pound for cheese. I can get a 2 lb block of mild cheddar for $3.29 a pound and Mozzarella for $3.99 or real American (not the crappy stuff that’s individually wrapped) for $3.79 a pound. So, next time I think it’ll be Cheddar and American mixed together.

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!

Cheap Bastid Buys Meat Cheap

Over the last year or so, Cheap Bastid has shared a number of recipes and cooking ideas that do two things—reduce your grocery expenses and help you make tasty, nutritious meals. And, you know what? Once you get into the “Cheap Bastid Way”, it becomes almost like a sport.

Many is the time when Cheap Bastid has written about cuts of meat, and what I try to keep stocked in the freezer. I’m always looking for the best deal, waiting for meats to come on sale and then stocking up. It’s a rare occasion indeed when Cheap Bastid will pay more than $2 a pound for meat. Now sometimes that limits me a bit but 90% of the time it’s easy and with but a tiny bit of creativity you can feed a family really, really well.

Cheap Bastid's freezer. And yes, it's organized. Kinda.

This isn’t anything new. Shows like Top Chef have conditioned us to shop at places like “Whole Foods” with almost unlimited “foodie” budgets. But that’s not the case with most of us. We have to follow Gunny Highway’s mantra of “improvise, adapt, overcome”. And there’s one really easy way to do it. Do just a little bit of planning for what you stock up on and what you’re going to cook. Heading home after work with no idea of what you’re going to have for dinner is the surest way to kill your food and family budget. Spending a few minutes a day or per week planning some meals means that you spend less and eat better.

We have to look at the weekly specials closely and sometimes take a pass on an item until it’s at a cheaper price. And that’s getting tougher because this year, prices have been going up. Our favorite bacon at Stater Brothers has gone from $1.99 a pound to $2.99 a pound (all the other bacons have gone up to $3.49-$3.99). That means that we’re eating less bacon—and that’s a “sacrifice” because we love bacon.

So today, let me just show you how I go about shopping for just a few meat items. Maybe you’ll pick up an idea and maybe you can give me an idea or two or maybe you’ll think I’m full of crap. That’s OK, you’re still reading aren’t you?

Let’s start with pork. We love pork loin chops. But, their price has increased this year too. Now, the least I can find them is $2.89 a pound and that’s stretching the limit even though they’re pure meat and leaner than most beef. Plus grilled to a perfect well—cooked through and juicy—I’d just as soon eat one of these as a steak. So, recently pork loin roast was on special at the grocery store—it was $2.49/lb. So I bought 2. One to cook as a roast and the other to slice into chops. At the time, pork loin chops were $3.29/lb.

Like anything, it’s pretty simple as long as you’re willing to spend just a few minutes when you get home repackaging. I took one of the roasts out of its shrink wrap, got out my meat cutting board and a sharp knife and it took me all of 1 minute to slice the roast into nice 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inch thick chops. Then I put them into smaller freezer bags and popped them in the freezer.

And that’s kind of my theme throughout this piece—spend just a few minutes when you get home prepping the meat you’ve bought into family sized servings. Plus we also like to individually wrap a couple of chops in plastic wrap because sometimes there’s 3 of us for dinner and we can just take out an extra or sometimes we want to do something like pork fried rice and one chop is more than enough to make fried rice for 4.

Cheap Bastid loves beef. But I can’t afford my favorite cuts anymore—cuts like New York strip and flank steak. They’ve gotten just too expensive for my wallet. I love tri-tip and wait for it to come on special, then buy a couple of them. Otherwise, I buy a lot of bottom round (sometimes called London Broil) and sirloin when it’s on special for $1.99/lb.

Ground Beef. Now, my grocery store will grind meat for free. So when bottom round or boneless chuck or sirloin is on special I’ll buy a package and have it ground up. That accomplishes a couple of things. One, is that I spend a lot less even on ground beef. Bottom round is about 95% lean. I buy it for $1.99/lb. Ground 95% lean beef is usually about $4/lb. Ground chuck is about 85% lean and is the tastiest but I spend $1.99 rather than $2.99 or more already ground up.


When I get home I repackage it into meal size bags. Now here’s another trick that I pull on myself. I make 4 packages out of 3 pounds of ground beef. That means that each package is about 12 ounces. So we trick ourselves into using ¾ pound rather than 1 lb. We eat less and spend less and get the same benefit. Besides, a 6 ounce hamburger patty is enough. You don’t need a half pound patty.

Last Friday, I bought 2 London Broils. I had one ground and the other left whole. I’ll use the whole one to make 3 totally different meals for my wife and me. That’s 3 dinners for 2 for a total of $6 for meat.

As for steak—you can do all kinds of good things with sirloin. I’ll buy a 3 or 4 lb. package and divide it into 2 major meals on the grill or use it in any number of different ways and have lots of left over meat that I can use for hash or put into fried rice or slice thin for sandwiches. It’s not going to go to waste. Right now I have a grilled half pound left-over chunk in the freezer which will soon be turned into either “Grish” or fried rice.

So there’s no recipe today. Just a little “practicum” on how Cheap Bastid tries to stretch the food budget. But there’s lots of recipes and there’s also your creativity. The economy still sucks and it’s going to be a while before things start to get better. Lots of people are unemployed. And that’s why Cheap Bastid pounds the food pulpit.

You can eat good. You can eat frugally. You can do both with just a bit of planning, and a bit of common sense. And then you can also do what we do, put your feet up on the coffee table, balance your plate with shredded BBQ beef or pork sandwiches and homemade oven fries that you cooked yourself for about $3 for 2 people and watch the “action” on “Top Chef” or “Next FoodTV Star”. And feel smug because you’re smart, thrifty and eating good.

Because, that’s the Cheap Bastid Way:

Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful

Cheap Bastid's Cheap Utensils--Ode to Bakelite

I didn’t know Bakelite from an Easy Bake Oven when I first met my wife Carolyn. But, she has long had a passion for this early plastic, especially when it comes to jewelry. Over the past several years our knowledge has dramatically increased and we’ve accumulated quite a collection.

Carolyn’s passion is for the “prettys”. She loves Bakelite jewelry and has an online store (CitrusAvenueCollelctibles.com) where she sells vintage costume and Bakelite jewelry.

Bakelite was invented more than a century ago by Leo Baekeland. It was arguably the first of the modern plastics. It was used for all kinds of industrial applications and eventually for both home products and inexpensive jewelry. The jewelry and home products part of it was a way to make inexpensive consumer goods. Today, some Bakelite jewelry pieces sell in the five figure range and it’s not uncommon to find simple bangle bracelets for over $100.

Bakelite jewelry was often sold at the classic “Five and Dime” stores especially in the 20’s and 30’s. It was cheap stuff that has ended up in estate sales and flea markets until it started to become increasingly rare and fashion recognized the value and beauty of “art deco” types of jewelry. And interestingly, the use of Bakelite for jewelry and other consumer goods by and large disappeared at the outset of World War II when production was converted to wartime purposes.

(I use the salt & pepper shakers daily along with the sugar jar but the anodized grease tin with Bakelite handle is just for decoration)

But that’s Carolyn’s interest. I got involved in researching and buying jewelry with my wife and then discovered the many different kitchen utensil items that had been made from this “magic plastic”. And, like the jewelry, most of it is around 70-80 years old.

Recently, I photographed my “collection” of Bakelite utensils and kitchen gadgets. I use all of it. If I can’t use it, I won’t buy it (that’s the Cheap Bastid Way!). And I thought I’d give you a little bit of a “guided tour” today.

I guess my cooking’s as old fashioned as my utensils. Take a look.

A simple ladle and serving spoon

Here’s a bullet handled spatula and frosting knife and then a spatula and potato masher

Bakelite handled Handmixer, and yes I use it!

Serving Utensils

These are all items which were originally sold inexpensively to housewives as single pieces or sets. Most of it I bought on eBay, carefully monitoring auctions and making sure to get good, serviceable pieces inxpensively (just like the original owners did). We’ve been to antique shows and antique stores and have been amazed at the prices being charged for identical items.

But, I’m the Cheap Bastid and I’m buying them for their original purpose—to be used for everyday cooking. There’s a lot of utensils I’ve passed on buying because, while collectible, it just wouldn’t be used that much. And, when I’m mixing a cake batter or mashing potatoes, I take added pleasure in knowing that someone else 60 or 70 years ago did the same thing with this mixer or masher or bowl. I think that’s kind of cool.

Yeah, this pizza cutter gets used often and it’s about the most rare piece I have.

Notice the handles. They are Bakelite swirled and carved to resemble bone

These are cool but carving sets generally aren’t a very high quality blade. These sets were made to be affordable so the stainless blades don’t have much heft and don’t hold an edge very well.

These are my wife’s soupspoons and I wouldn’t dare use them! She uses them.

Really simple, “industrial” type design which was probably really cheap. We like it and use it.

We use these knives whenever we have steak and the corncob holders all summer long when we do corn on the cob.

And, we also enjoy old-style TexasWare. The platter is used all the time (it’s been featured many times in Cheap Bastid food photos). The bowls are Texasware and are very collectible—but I use them all the time too (if I couldn’t use them, I wouldn’t have them) and the trays are our favorite and most used “plates”.

So, that’s a quick tour through Cheap Bastid’s kitchen drawers and cupboards. If you’re interested in more information on Bakelite kitchenware check out the book “Bakelite in the Kitchen” by Barbara Mauzy which is available on Amazon. A quick “collector’s view of these items suggests that the “retail” value is somewhere around $1000-$1200. I spent maybe $300 for all of it.
And that’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good! Eat Cheap! Be Grateful!