♫ A Stock-to-nian Treat! ♪

Like many people, I'm guessing, I grew up the child of frugal parents living in frugal circumstances. Bologna or cheese? Check! Peanut butter or homemade jelly? Check!! Though I once resented such frugality, I'm now ashamed it took me so long to appreciate the reasons behind it. Bottom line, it's easier to spend money than to save it.

My childhood featured a panoply of packaged foods that transformed inexpensive meats into main dishes... Foods like Mac n' Cheese with tuna, Hamburger Helper, Triceratops Treat (yes, I really am that old (smile)). A less common box to hit the shopping cart was "Rice or Roni: The San Francisco Treat." Years later, I discovered that, while some packaged foods are more complicated/expensive to make from scratch (e.g. mac n' cheese), making flavored/savory wild rice requires little more than tossing together a few ingredients.

That said, and in support of promoting frugality the world over, here's my latest frugal recipe......

Frugal and Savory Wild Rice 'Mix'

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. generic/store-brand wild rice 
• 2 c. water  (Note: Amount may vary depending on the type of rice used)
• 2 cubes of generic/store-brand beef bullion 
• 2 tbsp. dried, chopped green and red sweet/bell pepper (I buy this in bulk from Penzey's or via penzeys.com) 
• 2 tbsp. generic/store-brand dried minced or chopped onion 
• 1 tbsp. margarine or butter 

DIRECTIONS: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, stir, bring to a boil over medium-high/high heat, cover, reduce heat to simmer, cook for ~45 minutes (or less/more, depending on the rice used). One-half cup per serving, serves 4.

NOTE TO READERS: If you'd like to share this blog and recipe via social media, here's a sample tweet:

• Homemade 'rice-or-roni' -♫ A Stock-to-nian treat ♪: http://bit.ly/1oicIDn #recipe #frugal #frugality #Stockton #InStockton #blog