slummin' it!

[Jensen]

Chip butty

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I see your chip butty and raise you a bacon butty...ahhhh, the food of my youth!

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what is it?? i'm ashamed to say i have NO idea

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In our house, we liked toast for the butties/buttys (what is the correct plural for butty???) so a bacon butty was toasted bread, bacon, and ketchup.

Heaven...

Edited to add that it just occurred to me that the foreign term might be "butty"...it's a sandwich.

Edited August 17, 2005 by Jensen (log)

[dvs]

Chip butty

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I see your chip butty and raise you a bacon butty...ahhhh, the food of my youth!

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what is it?? i'm ashamed to say i have NO idea

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In our house, we liked toast for the butties/buttys (what is the correct plural for butty???) so a bacon butty was toasted bread, bacon, and ketchup.

Heaven...

Edited to add that it just occurred to me that the foreign term might be "butty"...it's a sandwich.

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thanks!! everything's better w/ bacon... even ketchup

[viva]

So a chip butty is....

a chip sandwich? Potato chips? Cow chips? Eh?

[Terrasanct]

I don't eat too many of these things anymore, but when I was growing up/when my kids were little:

ketchup and mustard sandwiches on white bread

tuna casserole with cream of mushroom soup

biscuits and gravy--when we were really broke, the gravy was made with powdered milk and dried onions (surprisingly good)

fried bologna--it turns into little caps if you fry it long enough

pizza made on white bread--sometimes with ketchup and velveeta. I think this one should win a prize.

My mom used to make something she called "Montana Dinner" that had macaroni, canned tomatoes or sauce, hamburger, canned green beans, and maybe cheese on top. Cheap and filling. Sometimes without the hamburger.

My favorite used to be ramen with salsa or mac and cheese with salsa. Even better, saute some onions first and have with the ramen.

[Jensen]

So a chip butty is....

a chip sandwich?  Potato chips?  Cow chips?  Eh?

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Chips are "chipped potatoes" (as in "fish and chips"). They're not really "French fries" but it might help to think of them as such.

[jackal10]

You can make chip butties with potato crisps, which the Americans call chips, but it is not the same.

A proper chip butty has:

Thick white soft bread (wonderloaf, Mothers Pride or equivalent)

Salted butter, spread thick. It is called a butty, short for butter.

Chips (fries). No Vinegar.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup (or HP Sauce)

The heat from the chips melts the butter that combines with the ketchup and drips down your arm as you eat it.

Bacon butties have been known to be in a hamburger bap (big roll).

[SuzySushi]

My favorite used to be ramen with salsa or mac and cheese with salsa.

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Oh, yeah! Mac & cheese with salsa. Gotta be the Kraft blue box or a cheap supermarket brand.. none of that Annie's healthy stuff!

[Carrot Top]

Please remember, while you are doing all this sort of activity, to save the plastic packages from your loaves of white bread.

When you have collected a goodly pile of them, you can then make an appropriate and home-crafted piece of art decor for your home, to match the mood.

Braid and then sew them into a large rag rug. Hang it on the wall in a place of respect to gaze at while you eat.

(Yes, I have seen this. And actually, the thing was beautiful! )

[DeVeaux]

Canned corn beef hash slathered in ketchup

Grilled Peanut butter samwiches

Fried balony & cheese samwiches (cut a slit in the side of the balony and it won't turn into a cup shape)

Mock chicken legs - some sort of mystery meat breaded and on a stick that Mom used to get at the butcher shop.

[tryska]

Coronation chicken

Meat paste sandwiches

Anything with tinned corn or tinned pineapple or tinned peaches

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umm....what is "meat paste", please?

[tryska]

Oh! You get fancy with the turmeric, cayenne, onions, and salsa. A week or so ago I did the mac 'n' cheese but the gooey one and fried some Hillshire farms turkey kielbasa. No dressing up except some paprika on the macaroni 'cause I like paprika with mac 'n' cheese.

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wow - i never thought to combine kielbasa and mac'n'cheese! i'm going to have to try that - bet that would taste good with frank's hot sauce too!

who am i kidding? dvs is right - EVERYTHING tastes better with Franks. (btw - you should try franks tossed with some nacho cheese doritos - nirvana)

and katie - i think kielbasa is only ghetto when you buy the plastic wrapped kind, and then do stuff to it to make it stretch to feed a family of four - twice. or use it as a substitute for other kinds of meat that you can't afford.

i've also sexed up cans of beans - i prefer heinz Vegetarian or Bushs baked beans for this purpose. normally i use hot sauce and brown sugar until i've got the appropriate hot/sweet ratio.

then I eat it with a buttered kaiser roll.

Edited August 17, 2005 by tryska (log)

[jackal10]

umm....what is "meat paste", please?

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http://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/britishfood.asp?id=TJ1012

Shippams is now part of Princes Foods.

Some of their spreads are quite palatable: Chicken is the classic and it used to be the tradition (no longer) that they stored the wishbone from every chicken, after a customer complained they did not use real chicken.

They should be spread very thin on thick withe bread for the classic sandwich. Even better if left until the edges dry and curl. Or so it seemed some of my elderly aunts thought, as they offered the sandwiches as though they were a treat.

Edited August 17, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[MarketStEl]

Coronation chicken

Meat paste sandwiches

Anything with tinned corn or tinned pineapple or tinned peaches

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umm....what is "meat paste", please?

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Speculating: might this be something like deviled ham?

I remember eating this stuff as a kid. I haven't touched it in decades.

[lesfen]

We knew when it was getting ghetto at my house...

Suppertime Signs That Mom & Dad Are Broke This Week:

1. Tuna Patties

2. Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup (crusts mysteriously missing or made with heels)

3. Pancakes or "Omlettes" for supper

4. Johnny Marzetti (sp?) (made in bulk so that we could eat it a few times)

[tryska]

thanks jackal. does it smell like dogfood? (i find all canned and or bottled meat products in the US smell like dogfood. even some baby foods)

[tryska]

We knew when it was getting ghetto at my house...

Suppertime Signs That Mom & Dad Are Broke This Week:

1. Tuna Patties

2. Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup (crusts mysteriously missing or made with heels)

3. Pancakes or "Omlettes" for supper

4. Johnny Marzetti (sp?) (made in bulk so that we could eat it a few times)

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*lol* you're clues sound like mine - tuna patties figured in broadly at my house too.

and of course kielbasa, mac'n'cheese and large pots of ramen noodles.

[Terrasanct]

What is Johnny Marzetti?

Oh, yeah, the tuna patties. I made those for dinner the other night after not eating them for thirty years, and hey, they weren't bad!

[lesfen]

What is Johnny Marzetti?

Oh, yeah, the tuna patties.  I made those for dinner the other night after not eating them for thirty years, and hey, they weren't bad!

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Johnny Marzetti is/was just macaroni with meat sauce. I still make it.

I've been tossing around the idea of making tuna patties again too. Mmmm... I've got some albacore somewhere...

[tryska]

alright y'all - how did your broke parents make tuna patties?

my mom - well they were called Tuna Cutlets in my house (leftover from British Raj days) did them like this:

take one can tuna - add 1 chunked boiled potato, and softened onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Add one beaten egg, mix to combine.

Form patties, dip in more beaten egg, fry.

[Carrot Top]

White middle-class American ghetto: (Yeah, I think there is such a thing ):

Tuna-Noodle Casserole made with Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup

Devilled Ham (from a can) Sandwiches on Wonder Bread

Grilled Bologna Sandwiches on Wonder Bread (grill with margarine, not butter )

Salmon Cakes made with canned salmon. Pour gloppy white sauce over top and serve with canned peas, if you wish.

My mother made something called "Hamburg Casserole" which was about 1/4 lb. of ground beef, a bunch of Minute Rice, and a can of stewed tomatoes. . .combined and baked. Not bad, actually.

Has anyone mentioned canned cheap sardines in any way?

[lesfen]

Wow... that sounds so much better than what my mom made. Ask your mom if I can stay for supper!!!

[mjg]

Growing up, we would on occasion have a dinner we dubbed "Slum Dinner."

White rice, ground beef, brown gravy = Slum Dinner

[tryska]

Wow... that sounds so much better than what my mom made.  Ask your mom if I can stay for supper!!!

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*lol* really? actually nothing that passed my mom's stove missed the cayenne pepper/garlic powder/soemtimes turmeric treatment. i think it's how she got everything to taste vaguely "indian" for my Dad's benefit.

So how did your mom make hers, then? just tuna?

[Terrasanct]

I think our tuna patties were made with tuna, egg, maybe some flour, and chunks of cheese. Maybe some chopped onions or onion powder. When I made them recently, I also added dried dill. They stuck together pretty well when I fried them, and tasted good with tartar sauce. My finicky husband even liked them.

Most parents become expert in throwing together something cheap that will feed the whole family. In my family cookbook, my Uncle John describes his "feed the family" meal. It will probably sound familiar to most of you.

I JUST GOT HOME, THE KIDS ARE HUNGRY, START COOKING, ONE PAN DINNER

Defrost a package of meat (if you don't have a microwave , start frying in skillet on hot (350 degrees) and keep scraping softened, cooked meat from outside.) Peel and chop a large onion, when the meat has cooked enough to have all the grease, salt and pepper it and throw in the onion.

While this is cooking , check out refrigerator for leftover vegetables and other things that might taste good. If you're lucky, there'll be something to snack on while you cook . If the refrigerator has just been cleaned out (i.e. the teenagers were bored the night before and ate everything but the bottle of pickles and whatever it is in the Tupperware on the bottom shelf that doesn't look like it would go in a casserole - what is it anyway), go to the cupboard , stopping on the way to check the skillet.

Pick out a couple of cans of vegetables that will go good together, today it is whole corn and stewed tomatoes. After draining grease off the meat, drop in vegetables...juice and all into pan. Open the spice drawer and add small amounts of anything that looks like it will taste right with what you've used so far, in this case I will add garlic powder, marjoram and rosemary. Add enough water to cover and then some. Use the vegetable cans to do this...it will get the last little bit of nutrition/flavor from them and you aren't dirtying any dishes. Let it come to a simmer, taste and balance spices.

After it tastes good add about a teaspoonful of salt (trust me!) Then put in some dry noodles, macaroni, shells or such. How much? a cup or two , whatever's in the bag or bags that are open, the more you add the more people it feeds. Just make sure there's a little room in the pan, because its going to expand. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and stir occasionally until noodles swell and become soft, probably about 15 minutes.

While it's cooking, put together a green salad and set the table.

If the kids ask what it is, make up a good, but simple name. If it gets praises, try to remember what you used. If it gets complaints, tell your wife it is her turn tomorrow.

[viva]

Ahhh - Jackal and Jensen - thanks. Those chips.