Make Money and Save Money

I hate to cook, I am not sure what about it makes me detest doing it, I just don’t care to spend my time at the stove for long periods of time. I however get tired of eating the same set of meals repeatedly, and love him as much as I do, my hubby only has so many meals he can whip up. I learned a long time ago that just a little extra tweak, or love, put into a meal can make it seem like an extravagant difference.

My children love cold sandwiches, they request them often in fact. Two or three days later they will pick at the sandwich they so eagerly requested days before. If I want to keep to something easy and cheap I whip out my Forman grill and treat them to a gourmet sandwich (at leaste they think so). I am not sure if it is the melted cheese or the fact that it is warm, either way they eat every bite and savory it while they are eating it.

Turkey Melt

Take two pieces of bread and lightly butter the outside of them. Heat your skillet or in my case Forman grill and warm the meat for about a minute depending on thickness. Lay the bread on the surface and put a slice of cheese on each one. Let it melt into the bread and add the meat. Put the top piece of bread on and continue to cook until the breads turns a nice crunchy (not burned) golden brown. Add a dill pickle spear and some cottage cheese as side dishes and you have a filling and tasty meal.

This thread of posts is quickly becoming my favorite, I never thought of cooking as a way to save until I started here on Today.com. I just planned my meals according to my budget and didn’t realize I had started budgeting the meals themselves. Lets go vegetarian today since I have been preparing more of them for my now non-meat eating husband.

Dairy Salad

1. Head of Iceburg Lettuce
2. Large Red Onion
3. Medium Cucumber
4. several small green peppers(or an assortment of colored)
5. Bag shredded carrots (or shred your own)
6. 10 radishes shredded
7. 8 oz. Large Curd Cottage Cheese
8. 4 oz. Four Cheese Blend Shredded Cheese
9. Red Wine Vinegarette Salad Dressing
10. Chopped walnuts

Prepare the veggies as you would for a typical tossed salad and refrigerate until ready to serve. Keep several large leaves of lettuce intact and set aside. Lay the lettuce leaf in the bottom of your salad bowl and scoop in a generous amount of cottage cheese. Add the salad mix around the sides of the bowl covering the cottage cheese slightly. Top it all of with the chopped walnuts, shredded cheese and drizzle the red wine vinergarette over it all. This is a tastey little salad, on that you have my word.

Here’s an oldie but goodie from my one pot meal recipes; cheese and spinach casserole (yeah I know it sounds nasty but its yummy!). You need a large rectangle casserole dish for this one (you can make it on the stove top but it is so much better if you bake it) and a little Pam so it does not stick too much.

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream of cheddar soup
• 10 oz cubed cheddar
• 2 boxes of frozen spinach
• 2 lbs of uncooked pasta (any kind)
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 sleeves of Veggtable Ritz
• Mrs. Dash Table Blend for taste

Pre-heat your oven at 350 for fifteen minutes. Cut the cheese into 1 by 1 in cubes. Crush the crackers and mix it with 2 tbsp of Mrs Dash.

Cook your pasta until it is limp yet not fully cooked, 10 minutes on full boil should be enough. Soften the cream cheese with a fork and mix it into the noodles. Take the slightly thawed spinach and break it up throughout the noodle mixture and add the soup. Pour the noodles into the dish and spread it evenly.

Cook for 20 minutes. Pull the dish and place the cheese cubes evenly on top of the noodles and cook for another 15 minutes. Spread the cracker crumbs over the top and cook for another 15 minutes. Pull, cool and serve.

Your times may vary just keep an eye on the top of the casserole; you want it to cook evenly as well as melt the cheese completely. The crumbs should darken in color but never appear burnt. Hope you like.

Meals are one of the biggest money suckers in my family, with ten people under one roof it is no surprise that I watch what I spend for each one. Ove the years I have experimented and honed the cooking craft, all the while looking for healthy, tasty yet cheap meals. My best friend in the kitchen goes hands down to my CrockPot, not only does it save me time it also saves me money.

Beef Stew

• 2 pounds of stew meat
• 10 medium potatoes
• 2 bags of peeled mini-carrots
• 2 large onions
• 1 stalk of celery
• Mrs.Dash Table Blend
• Seasoning Salt/Black Pepper

Add the stew meat to the CrockPot and add enough water to submerge the meat entirely. Cook on low until the water is mostly cooked off, add the seasonings, more water and set it to high. Once the meat is tender yet now falling apart add the carrots and celery, cook for another hour on high and add the potaoes and onion. Once the veggies are tender set to low once again, lift the lid slightly or remove it and let the water cook down.

Chili

• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 3 large green peppers
• 2 large onions
• 2 cans of kidney beans
• 2 cans of red beans
• 3 large cans of Mild Chili beans
• 1 can V-8 Spicy

Pre-cook the ground chuck on the stove-top, rinse with warm water and drain. Set aside. Cut your veggies and add them to the Crockpot along with the cans of beans and bottle of V-8 spicy. Cook on medium until green peppers are soft and add the meat. Cook for another thirty minutes and serve.