Sausage-tomato pasta

You'll Need:

-1 bottle of spaghetti sauce=$1.72 (I combined 2 different sauces, a garden combination and sauteed onion and garlic-great flavor!)

-1/2 box of pasta=$.50 (bought on sale for $1)

-1/2 tube of 1 lb. sausage(I used sage flavored)=$.93

-1/4 cup mozarella cheese=$.24

total:$3.39 (I doubled this recipe and froze an extra pan for another night. So my acutal total was $6.78--not bad for two meals, including leftovers from both!)

DIRECTIONS:

-Cook sausage.

-Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

-Combine meat, pasta and sauce into a casserole dish (I used a bread pan-either works).

-Sprinkle cheese on top.

-Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

*if you want, sprinkle some parmesan on top the last couple min. of baking. It adds great flavor!

*I served this with a fresh garden salad (my lettuce is still growing, can you believe it?!) and garlic bread.

**This serves 4 adults. Pretty hefty portions too.

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Tomato-Basil Meatballs

*Saw this recipe in the new Kraft foods magazine. 7 people were fed with this recipe, with leftovers! Not one person complained and I received endless compliments on how tasty it was! This recipe is fool proof! You'll love it! (sorry, I forgot to take a pic and the beginning so you get a leftover pic until I fix this again.) :)

You'll Need:

-2 lbs. ground beef=$3.98 (on sale for 1.99/lb)

-1 box of stove top stuffing for chicken=$1.25

-1 jar spaghetti sauce=$1.72

-1-8 oz. cream cheese=$.99 (bought on sale)

-2 eggs=$.12

-2 tbs. basil

-1/4 cup parmesan=$.26

-1 small box spaghetti noodles=$1.00

total=$9.32 (that's $1.33 a serving!!)

DIRECTIONS:

-Combine meat, stuffing, eggs and 1 1/4 cups water into a bowl.

-Mush all together and roll into meatballs. I used an icecream scoop. It's about 1/4 cup per meatball. (makes about 36 meatballs)

-Line two cookie sheets with foil. Spray with a non stick spray. And put meatballs on cookie sheets. Cook on 400 degrees for about 16 minutes, or until done.

-Meanwhile, cook spaghetti

-Also while meatballs are cooking, combine spaghetti sauce, cream cheese & basil. Let cook until cheese is melted.

-Combine sauce and meatballs together, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

**I served this with some breadsticks and fresh garden green beans. Delish!

Sara's Fingerlickin' Breadsticks

*This recipe is from a good friend- Sara. She makes the best breadsticks ever! They are so light, fluffy and flavorful! Thanks Sara!

You'll Need:

-2 tbs. yeast

-1 1/2 cups water

-1 tbs. honey

-1 tsp. salt

-4- 4 1/2 cups flour

DIRECTIONS:

-First combine warm water and yeast in mixing bowl. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

-Then add salt and honey.

-Then add flour. Dough should be a little sticky, not too much though.

-Put in cookie sheet and press down to all sides. Slice however you like to eat your breadsticks. I do sticks about 1 inch wide.

-Spread butter on breadsticks(I use olive oil spray-it works great and cuts out a lot of fat)

-Sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese

-Let dough raise for 15-30 min.

-Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 min.

Rita's Sloppy Joes

I haven't found a better sloppy joe recipe than my mother-in-laws! It is great!! And I haven't found a single person who won't eat this either!!

You'll need:
-2 lbs ground beef=free (we did a beef last year) around $3.00
-1/4 cup chopped/minced onion=free from garden
-1 tsp. chili powder=$.05
-2 tbs. brown sugar=$.10
-1 tbs. vinegar=$.05
-2 tbs. mustard=$.10
-1/2 cup ketchup=$.30 (bought on sale for $1)
-1 tbs. worshetershire sauce=$.10
-1-8 oz. can tomato paste=$.28
-1 can cream of mushroom soup=$1.00
-2 tbs. barbeque sauce for "zing"=free (bought on sale for $1, used a $1/1 coupon!)

total=$1.98 ($4.98 with cost of beef)

DIRECTIONS:
*Brown hamburger in skillet with onions.
*Add all ingredients and cook till really hot, then serve on hamburger buns!!

*I served this with watermelon from our garden and some cooked trumpet squash also from the garden.

**This makes a TON; so we usually eat 1/2 then freeze the other 1/2 for another time, easy dinner prep! Just warm and serve!

Quick Pigs in a Blanket

*These are so fast it's not even funny. This is for when you really don't want to cook or don't have time for an impressive meal on a busy night. Plus what kid doesn't love pigs in a blanket? This also works with lil' smokies! Great appetizer at a football game!

You'll Need:
-1 can Pillsbury Cresent rolls-$.76 (bought on sale with $.50 off coupon)
-1 package of hotdogs (8)-$1.00

total=$1.76

DIRECTIONS:

-Wrap one hotdog in on crescent roll triangle. You should end up with 8 pigs in a blanket.

-Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 min. or until rolls are golden brown.

*If you want more breading on each hotdog, use two crescent triangles to each hotdog.

*I served this with garden fresh veggies.

$5 Chicken Divan

*This meal was dang easy and I got it off of another blog that you should check out here every meal is $5 or less! This is super tasty! My 2 1/2 year old had 3 servings! I know right?! Plus it's pretty healthy for you too. I wanna know how it goes for you guys!

You'll Need:

-2 chicken breasts-free (I used 2 extra that I had marinated from sunday's dinner-so it was included in that meals price)

-2 cups rice-$.50 (I used 1 cup of leftover rice from Sunday's dinner)

-2 cups of homemade whitesauce-free (used leftover sauce from Sunday's dinner)

-1 cup broccoli(or more if you want)-$.50

-1/4 cup bread crumbs-$.20

total=$1.20

DIRECTIONS:

-cut chicken up in cubes and cook in olive oil.

-while chicken is cooking prepare rice according to package instructions.

-also while rice and chicken are cooking, prepare your white sauce. If you don't know how, just combine about 2 tbs of butter with 2 tbs flour in a skillet. Let cook and combine while whisking together. When it is clumpy, add milk until it's the consistency you like it. It will be runny at first and thicken later so wait for it to thicken before you add more milk. Then add a little at a time.

-Combine, rice, frozen broccoli, cooked chicken and white sauce in a 9x9 casserole dish.

-top with bread crumbs.

-bake for 30 min. or until bubbly in the center and at sides. Enjoy!

*I served this with fresh garden tomatoes, and frozen corn from the garden.

Farmhouse Chicken Dinner

*This dinner also came from the food and family Kraft magazine. It was a BIG HIT with the family as I used it for Sunday dinner. This was also super easy to make and it requires ingredients you already have so you can make it when you're running low on groceries. The chicken is underneath all the veggies in this picture-I did extra because we really love cooked onions and carrots. I hadn't spooned the sauce over it. This meal is really flavorful. Loved it! I'm definitely serving this again soon! Let me know how it works out for you.

You'll Need:

-1/4 cup flour-$.05

-1/2 tsp. pepper

-4 small chicken breasts-$2.66

-1/4 cup kraft light done right! Zesty italian reduced fat dressing-$.50

-2 cups baby carrots-free from garden

-1 medium onion, cut into wedges-free from garden

-1 can fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided-$.58

-2 cups minute brown rice-$1.00

-4 oz. (1/2 8-oz. pkg.) fat free cream cheese-$.62

-2 tbs. parsley

total=$5.41

DIRECTIONS:

-mix flour & pepper in shallow dish. Coat both sides of chicken with flour mixture evenly.

-Heat dressing in a large non-stick skillet on medium heat.

-Add chicken; cook 5 to 6 min. or until golden brown. Turn chicken over.

-Add carrots, onions & 1 cup of the chicken broth. Cover and reduce heat to meduim-low; let simmer for 20 min. or until veggies are tender and chicken is done.

-Meanwhile...prepare rice as directed on package. Spoon onto serving platter. Use a slotted spoon to remove chicken and veggies from the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Place them over the rice and cover to keep warm.

-Add cream cheese & remaining chicken broth to the liquid in the bottom of the skillet. Increase the heat to high. Cook until cheese is melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 3-5 min. or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spoon over chicken and veggies. Sprinke with parsley.

-Eat up!

*makes 4 servings.

Marinated Steak & Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

*I found the cheesy mashed potatoes in my food & family Kraft magazine. It looked super simple & way yummy so I had to try them. Plus they're pretty healthy too! I thought steak would pair very nicely with it. Enjoy!

You'll Need:

-any kind of steak (I used filet mignon from last years beef we did) free

-1 tbs A1 sauce-$.10

-1 lb. potatoes (about 3 small ones) cut into chunks- free from garden

-1 cup bite-sized cauliflower florets- free from garden

- 1/4 cup sour cream (I used light to cut down fat) $.30

-1 cup cheddar cheese-$.75

-green beans-free from garden

total= $1.15

DIRECTIONS:

-Poke steak with fork then marinate steak in A1 sauce for at least 30 min. I like to use a ziploc baggie and pop it in the fridge.

-Place cubed potatoes and cauliflower in a large saucepan. Add enough water to cover them.

-Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 20 min. or until they are tender. Drain; return to pan.

-Start cooking your steaks while potatoes are boiling.

-Add sour cream to potatoe/cauliflower mixture. mash until light and fluffy. Stir in the cheese and enjoy!!

*I served the steak and potatoes with green beans. The potatoes make 6- 1/2 cup servings.

October Meal Plan

So I have been doing meal plans for a while, and I love it. It's so much easier for me to get dinner ready when it's already planned rather than staring into my fridge and pantry thinking, "what am I going to make tonight?" Plus I've been able to make extra's so that I can freeze some meals for later on down the road for when I don't feel like cooking! but I thought I would start posting them on here as a motivation to post more recipes. I will try to post each night after I have made a new recipe. Do you do meal plans? How do they work for you? If you have any wonderful fun recipes that you would like to share, or if you want a certain recipe before I post it just email me and I can share it with you that way as well! I will try and post the cost of the meals too. I have found from another blog $5dollardinners that it is awesome to know how much your meal costs! And it's even more fun to try and see if you can make it for a really cheap amount! Check her out, she's awesome!

Here's this month's meal plans:
1 soft tacos
2 tinfoil dinner cookout
3 chili & cinnamon rolls
4 MIL's house (every other Sunday my MIL & I switch off cooking for the fam-it's fabulous!)
5 easy chicken parmesan
6 easy casserole
7 leftovers
8 steak and cheesy mashed potatoes
9 soup and sandwiches
10 7 layer dip
11 farmhouse chicken dinner
12 cheater chicken divan (make extra and freeze for later)
13 poor man stoup & homemade rolls (frozen from last months meals)
14 4 step chicken
15 pigs in a blanket
16 sloppy joes
17 chicken crescent rolls
18 MIL's house
19 cacciatore chicken bake
20 chile rellenos
21 egg sandwiches
22 chicken cordon bleu
23 tomato-basil meatballs
24 cheesy chicken broccoli
25 crockpot roast, potatoes and carrots
26 leftovers
27 homemade chicken noodle soup & homemade rolls
28 hamburgers, homemade baked fries
29 crockpot teriyaki chicken
30 au jus
31 pizza

if you do a weekly or monthly meal plan, please share; i always love new recipes and everyone else does too. we'll post them on here so you can share your amazing cooking talents! (don't worry proper credit will be given) :)