The recipe above is called Beef Pie Encore, but really it should be “Home made TV dinner.” I can remember when TV dinners came in the foil tray, and as an experiment my mom saved a few and made our own TV dinners. It must not have been a tremendous success because we stopped doing it pretty quickly. However, it is no different from some of the “meals in minutes” dinners and premade dinner kits that are on the market today. Frugality gets a new name every few generations, and these days we call it a life hack. Really, it’s just creative use of leftovers, hah.

Here’s the text of the blurb under the recipe:

Using leftover beef to compose and freeze your own TV diners saves money, time and shopping trips. Simply assemble the beef, gravy and cooked vegetables in one sealed package, using a large square of heavy duty foil, and freeze. Place sealed package in a pan in moderate oven (375) and bake until heated through (30 minutes to 1 hour if defrosted; 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes if frozen).

I can’t imagine waiting for 1 1/2 hours for a TV dinner!

Beef Pie Encore

2 1/2 cups bite-size pieces cooked beef

1 beef bouillon cube

1/2 cup boiling water

1 package (10 ounces) frozen succotash (mixed veg)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 cups milk

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Pastry for top crust of 9″ pie

Add bouillon cube to boiling water in saucepan. Add succotash and boil 5 minutes. Add beef and onion and cook slowly, covered, 5 minutes.  Melt butter or margarine in saucepan, blend in flour, gradually stir in milk and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in mustard, salt, thyme and pepper. Combine sauce with meat-succotash mixture and place in 9 inch pie plate. Cover with pastry, crimping edges of pastry to rim of pie plate. Make several slits in center of top. Bake in hot oven (400 F) 35 minutes. 6 servings.