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Monday, October 15, 2012

Egg Noodles ($0.64 per lb.)



 $0.64 per lb.          67% savings          save $13.00 yearly


I am a noodle-lovin' girl.

When I was young, my mother would occasionally roast a whole turkey or chicken for dinner. It was amazingly delicious, but if I'm being honest, I was always way more excited about what would happen with the leftovers. 

What happened?

I'll tell you what happened:


Homemade soup is what happened. And with that soup, came homemade noodles.

These noodles were infinitely better than the flavorless, plastic-looking, bagged, store-bought ones, and that's NOT an exaggeration. I think the primary reason everyone in my family looked forward to that soup was because of those long, perfectly thick, delicious noodles. I imagine that when my mom prepared a huge pot of soup, she probably crossed her fingers and hoped it would last longer than she knew it would... Sorry, Mom. 

Those noodles didn't stand a chance. 

I'm the noodle-maker now, and I totally sympathize with my wonderful mother and all her finger-crossing hopefulness... and am unsurprised when my wishful thinking proves to have been in vain. I make these noodles whenever I've got "chicken noodle soup" on my mind. The great thing about this recipe is that I only need a third of the batch for a fully noodle-loaded soup, and I can freeze the rest for another day.

If you've never made homemade egg noodles, please, please try these at least once! They will rock your world! (Or maybe just your soup bowl, but still...)

Egg Noodles
~ adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

*Makes about 1 pound of dry noodles

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling out the noodle dough)
1 tsp salt
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl stir together the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In a small bowl stir together egg yolks, whole egg, water, and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; mix well.


Sprinkle a kneading surface with flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes total). Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.



On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/16 inch. Let stand, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes.




Lightly dust the dough with flour. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips. The original recipe recommends 1/4 inch wide and 2-3 inches long. I cut mine larger, because that's how we like them. How you cut them depends on how you like your noodles. They will expand when cooked.

To serve immediately, cook until tender but still firm, with no doughiness in the middle. Drain.

To store cut noodles, let them dry about 1 hour or until completely dry. I turn them over so that both sides get exposed to the air. Place dry noodles in an airtight container or ziplock bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Or place in a freezer bag or freezer container and freeze for up to 8 months.

~Savings ~

Cost Breakdown:
25 lb. all-purpose flour - $6.78 = 94.5 C = $0.071/C = $0.178
26 oz. salt - $0.42 = 122.75 tsp. = $0.003/tsp = $0.003
1 dozen eggs - $1.78 = $0.15/egg = $0.45
1 gallon vegetable oil = $6.78 = 256 T = $0.026/T = $0.009
Total Recipe Cost: $0.64

The Contender:
Mueller's Medium Egg Noodles (16 oz.) = $1.94

Savings:
67%

"Over a Year" Scenario:
Make Egg Noodles 10 times: $6.40
Buy 10 bags of Mueller's Medium Egg Noodles = $19.40

*Money Saved: $13.00

21 comments:

  1. All of the sisters in my uncle's conservative Mennonite church make their own noodles, and I had them in my first cookbook. I think that they taste better.

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    Replies
    1. I couldn't agree more. There's simply no comparison. Homemade noodles are much better. Thank you for visiting this site!

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  2. You know something? I never thought about what they cost... they are kind of expensive for what they are, aren't they? I love a good chicken noodle soup. The purist in me HAS to try making egg noodles from scratch!

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    Replies
    1. Fantastic! I know you'll love 'em. :) Good luck!

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  3. How long on average do you think the egg noodles need to be cooked?

    Thanks so much!
    Miranda

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    Replies
    1. Hi Miranda,
      It will depend on how thin they are. 1/16 inch thick noodles take about 4 minutes to cook through. 1/8 inch thick noodles take closer to 10 minutes. I hope this helps!

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  4. I just made these today, hastily, after realizing that though my stroganoff was ready to go, my hubby had used up the last of my prepackaged egg noodles from the pantry. I had no time to knead well, to let the dough sit, or to roll it out as flat as stated....BUT they came out perfectly great!!! This is a very forgiving recipe! We liked it so much, I doubt I will ever buy egg noodles again. Another hit! Thank you once again

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    Replies
    1. I love seeing your name again, Mikki. :) I'm really glad they turned out so well for you and that they were a hit. Thanks for taking time to say so!

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  5. I have been looking for a site like yours for months, now. I was excited to find someone trying to serve real food to her family while sticking to a realistic budget. I have made your whole wheat bread recipe and "refried" beans, and they both were sooo good! Now I'm thinking about tackling these noodles. Would it be possible to make these with whole wheat flour?

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    Replies
    1. Yes! You'll end up using a little less flour... closer to 1 3/4 cups. Good luck! I'm so glad you like the bread and refried beans. :)

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  6. Hi there. I made the noodles tonight and the dough turned out very, very tough. Couldn't hardly roll it out. I followed the recipe to a T. Any suggestions?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Katie,

      In all likelihood, you did everything right. This dough IS very, very tough by nature, and you definitely have to put in a lot of muscle to rolling it out thinly. It's definitely not like bread or pizza dough.

      SO... if you made the dough, then started rolling it out, only to have it shrink back to what seemed like the EXACT same size, you are not alone. :) It's normal.

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  7. Do you boil these or bake them? Sorry if this a obvious answer I could not find it. Thanks

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    Replies
    1. You may boil them in water, or cook them in soup until tender. Depending on thickness, they can take anywhere form 10-15 minutes. Hope this helps!

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  8. where can i find a matt like that to roll out my dough and i love the pizza cutter idea. Thanks for taking the time to blog all this good information!

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    Replies
    1. Mine was a Christ5mas gift, but I know you can find them on Amazon. Try searching tupperware mat... Hope this helps!

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  9. Would you recommend these in casseroles or just soup?

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    Replies
    1. They'd be great in a casserole! :)

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    2. Would I dry them before putting in a casserole or use fresh?

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    3. I would dry them first... then boil them till just under al dente and add them to the rest of the casserole ingredients to finish cooking. Good luck!

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  10. I made these tonight! Wow, they were so easy and so yummy! I just need to try rolling them thinner next time I think, but we still loved them :) I used mine for a beef stroganoff. I am definitely going to make these from now on. Thanks for another winning recipe Andrea!

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