Budget Friendly Recipes...

Easy crock pot Chili:

This recipe is great for a busy night, put it in the crock pot in the morning on low and it will be ready to go for supper! You do not need a crock pot for this recipe, if your not in a hurry just put all ingredients in a pot and cook till desired doneness! (the chili seasoning melds better into the Chili the longer it cooks)

Meat: Anything you have. I have used hamburg, sausage and ground turkey. You can also combine them. Approx. 1 1/2 lbs. Depends on how meaty you want it!


2 big cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans of kidney beans or any you have to use up.
Chili Powder, as much as you like
Salt and Pepper

We put shredded Cheddar cheese on the top of it!

Brown the meat and drain any fat. Put in crock pot, add all the other ingredients, mix and put crock pot on low.



Delicious corn bread:

Mix in a bowl:

2 1/2 cups flour, I usually use 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp. salt

In a separate bowl mix:

1 cup of milk
1/2 cup veg. or canola oil
2 eggs, beaten (i usually beat them in the bowl first and add the other wet ingredients, as not to dirty another dish!)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix, don't over mix. Then the secret ingredient. Fold in a whole can of cream corn!

Pore into a greased 9X13 pan and cook for 25 min. at 400*F

This whole meal cost around 15.00 and the next day we have the left over chili over tortilla chips with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

YUM!

Quick and easy Pumpkin muffins:

Mix in one bowl:

1 cup of a solid fat such as butter, margarine or Crisco (I get the best results from Crisco)
2 cups sugar
Cream together then add:
3 eggs mix then add:
1 can of pumpkin

In another bowl mix together and whisk or sift:

4 cups of flour, I usually do 1/2 whole wheat flour.
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. You can add anything you want such as Chocolate chips (my kids fave!), raisins, nuts or mix of each! I've also added chopped apples!

Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes, depending on size of your muffins. You can also make it into quick bread, just keep and eye out for doneness.

Healthy easy homemade pancakes:

In a bowl beat up 2 eggs, then add:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

In another bowl mix and sift or whisk (i always just whisk)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white (I use unbleached) flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp of salt

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet and whisk just till combined.

You can add anything you like. Such as:

Blueberries
Strawberries
Mini Chocolate chips
Raspberries
Mashed bananas
Flax seed
Wheat germ
chopped apples (I add a pink of cinnamon also)
The possibilities are endless!

Easy Cheese Raviolis:

1 pkg. of cheese raviolis
1 can Hunts Spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese

Mix the raviolis and sauce in a casserole dish (no need to cook them first, although you could if you wanted) and top with he Parmesan cheese and bake about 30 min. at 350.
I served these with Brussel sprouts and homemade garlic toast.

Easy inexpensive Garlic Toast:

Anything you have for leftover bread, such as sandwich bread, hamburger rolls, hot dog rolls, bagels, english muffins ect.
Margarine or butter (softened)
Garlic Powder (as much as you like for flavor)
Salt, couple pinches

Mix the butter with Garlic Powder and salt in a dish. Spread on your choice of bread and broil for just a few minutes. (watch closely, you don't want it to burn).

hint: you could use Garlic Salt if that's all you have, I do not because I find it to salty!

Quick, easy and cheap American Chop Suey:

1 lb of Hamburg
1 onion
1 large can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of tomato soup
Salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like.

Fry the hamburg and onion, drain off fat, and add all other ingredients. Mix with aprox. 2 cups (before cooking) of macaroni, or other noodles you have.

This recipe makes enough to feed my family of 8 of a cost of about 6.50!!!!! I serve it with green beans and buttered bread. And its one of the few meals my whole family loves!

Quick and easy Reduced Fat Strawberry muffins:

I 1/2 pint Apple Butter or the equivalent apple sauce (If using apple sauce you will need to add about 1/2-3/4 cup of sugar)
2 eggs
1 Tsp vanilla
Mix this till blended.
add:
1 container of frozen strawberries, about 2 cups
Mix and then add:
2 cups flour ( I use 1/2 whole wheat/white)
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix till combined. cook at 350 for about 12 min.
ENJOY!

Easy Muffins:

1 cup of a solid fat, such as Crisco, margarine or butter. I almost always use butter.
2 cups sugar
Cream together, then add:
4 eggs (you can get away with 3)
2 tsp. of vanilla
Beat to combine, then add one of the following:
Bananas (6 crushed)
or 2 cups the following:
Apple Sauce
Pear Sauce
Crushed Strawberries
Pumpkin or squash puree
Then add:
4 cups flour
4tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
and 1/2 to 1 tsp. any spices you like. such as cinn, all spice, ginger, nutmeg ect.

Bake at 350 for about 12 min, watch different ingredients cause different cooking times. This recipe makes at least 24 muffins. You can scale it down by 1/2 if you don't need that many.

Note: You can also add any extras. Such as diced apples, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, nuts, ect. Just fold them into the finished recipe.