Recipes

I was thinking I need some new recipes. Money has been so tight we’ve been eating the same cheap stuff for like months now and I’ve had to get creative with a lot of dinners…lol…So, I was wondering if anyone has any cheap and easy recipes to share?

One I came up with the other night that turned out DELICIOUS is this:

Potato Wraps

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Cilantro
Spike
Lemon Herb Mrs. Dash
Bread Crumbs
Butter
Mexican Shredded Cheese
Ranch Dressing
Flour or Whole Wheat Tortillas

Optional ingredients:
Onion
Green and Red Pepper

Preheat oven to 425

Put 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a large baking pan
Cut potatoes into small pieces and place in pan
add diced onion and peppers
Add 2 tbsp of butter
Sprinkle on salt, pepper, garlic, cilantro, Spike, Lemon Herb Mrs. Dash, and bread crumbs (to taste)
Mix ingredients well

Bake in oven @ 425 for about 25-30 minutes (checking and stirring often)

When potatoes are almost done, warm tortillas as directed on package

When everything is done, place a scoop of potatoes on a tortilla, add the Mexican shredded cheese and drizzle on ranch dressing. Fold tortilla as you would a burrito.

I think that’s all of it…lol…I’ve made it only once so far but I’ll definitely be making it again!

I always do creative “stuff” with boneless, skinless chic breast…chicken salad, grilled chic over salad fixins, fajitas, my favorite, I call Angels Special and on and on…I do not eat red meat (although my family does and I cook eat) I do lots of pasta and veggies!!! If you want any of my chic recipes pm me:hug:

This is not a recipe really, but I do love buying those roasted chickens at my local Super Target. You can’t beat five dollars for a whole chicken. I make chicken salad with it or sometimes shred the meat for tacos or mix it with pasta.

Tuna casserole is also a cheap way to eat a fairly nutritious meal.

I love recipes…my fave site by far right now is Recipezaar. There is so much there…just type in your main ingrediant and off you go…

I have hit a few not so good ones…but non the less…

It is nice cause ppl leave feedback, so you can see some recipes for being highly rated…sometimes reviews will have handy substitutions too…

There is this one by Martha Stewart Everyday Food, also. It’s pretty good and Allrecipes.com.

If you have a crockpot, this site might help. I find I can create almost anything in a crockpot with a couple cans of something and a hunk of some sort of meat. :teehee: http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm

Oh, I thought of something else. In Rachael Ray’s magazine, she has a section that lists several meals which are all under ten dollars for four people. If you already have some of the ingredients in your fridge or pantry, most of them could be made for less than $10.

My favorite dump and go, not too expensive recipe is for bean soup.

4 cans of 4 different beans (your choice, ex: pinto, black, navy, great northern) do not drain
1 can diced tomatoes - do not drain
4 cans chicken broth
1 med. onion diced
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup split peas
1/2 cup brown rice

Mix all ingredients together in a big soup pot. Bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 30 min.

This can also be made in a crock pot. 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

This is my go to recipe when we haven’t made it to pay day yet, but we still have to eat. We usually get two meals out of it, or at least one dinner then lunch for two of us.

I just discovered wikirecipe by accident a week or so ago (it was a “hmm, i wonder if this exists” moment). It’s kind of bare, right now, but it has potential… I tried the apple latkes recipe and they were fantabulous!

Now this I’ll be eating tons of once it cools down here a bit. Thanks.:happydance:

  1. Open can.

2, Pour into bowl

  1. Place in microwave

[B][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]I made this tonight and it was super good. I substituted canned shrooms for fresh and red wine for white since I had those in the pantry already and used a little red onion instead of the green onions. It made a lot so it definitely does serve 4-6 as I have leftovers. [/SIZE][/FONT][/B]

[B]Chicken with wine and mushrooms[/B]

[B]Ingredients:[/B]

[ul]
[li]4 to 6 chicken breast halves, boneless[/li][li]6 tablespoons flour, divided[/li][li]1/2 teaspoon salt[/li][li]Dash ground black pepper[/li][li]2 tablespoons olive oil[/li][li]2 cups sliced mushrooms[/li][li]1 clove garlic, minced[/li][li]1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained[/li][li]1/2 cup dry white wine[/li][li]1/2 cup chicken broth[/li][li]4 green onions, sliced[/ul][B]Preparation:[/B][/li]
Wash chicken and lightly pat to remove excess moisture. Combine 4 tablespoons flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Dredge chicken pieces, coating thoroughly.

In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken to the hot oil and brown for about 3 minutes on each side. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 1 minute longer. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, tomatoes, wine, chicken broth, and sliced green onions; stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour until well blended. Pour the mixture over the chicken and mushrooms; stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked. Serve the chicken with the sauce.
Serves 4 to 6.

:teehee:

[I]Here’s one of my recipes I posted on an English forum I belong to. It’s a traditional Dublin favourite which my father would have been familiar with, growing up there.[/I]

Years ago, Dublin was one of the poorest cities in Europe. Large families lived in old tenements, and what was needed were meals which were inexpensive, filling and nourishing. Dublin Coddle was a great, traditional favourite, eaten on a Friday or Saturday night. It is a sort of stew, using sausages instead of meat. It’s uncritical in cooking, so it doesn’t matter if Himself is a bit late home from the pub.

Utensils you will need:
A casserole pot with a lid (a deep one is best), a frying pan, a pair of tongs, a saucepan and a measuring jug.

Ingredients:
8 plump, good-quality pork sausages
4 rashers of dry-cure bacon
30 grams beef dripping
2 large, strong onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
4 medium old potatoes, peeled, cut in 3 mm slices
180 ml stock, made from chicken stock cube
Pepper, dried sage if liked

Preheat the oven to 180C or equivalent. Place sausages in saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 7 minutes, then allow to cool. If any pockets of excess fat are visible inside the skins at this stage, pierce them and carefully drain it off, or it will spurt out when you brown them. Cut bacon into 2 cm strips.
Heat dripping in frying pan, cook bacon for one minute. Add chopped onions and cook until golden. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Remove bacons, onions and garlic. Cook sausages in frying pan until well-browned and set aside.
Arrange the potato slices in the base of the casserole dish. Add the onions, garlic and bacon. Sprinkle with pepper and dried sage if using. Make up the chicken stock and pour into the dish. Arrange the sausages on top, cover the dish and cook at 180C for about one hour.

For authenticity, serve with Guinness and white or brown soda bread.

I forgot about this, I get a quarterly (I think it’s quarterly) 60 page magazine from Kraft Foods called Food & Family. It’s FREE! It has a bunch of recipes made from just a few ingredients. Some of the recipes aren’t super healthy but they offer ways of lowering the fat content ect. at the bottom of the recipe if you want/need to do that. Some of them are really good. You can sign up at http://www.kraftfoods.com/share

Have you heard of the book “Cheap. Fast. Good.” by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross?

http://www.amazon.com/Cheap-Fast-Good-Beverly-Mills/dp/0761131760/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222169368&sr=8-1

I LOVE this book-it has some really great recipes that have since become staples in my line-up of recipes; here are a few~

Pasta Fagioli Soup
Refried Bean Soup (all the soups I’ve tried are even better the second day!)
BBQ Chicken and Black Bean Burritos
Hawaiian Meatballs
Sausage and Pepper Pasta

There are a ton of recipes in this book-it was worth every penny! If you want me to share any of these, let me know! There are lots of really good tips throughout the book as well. The way they write out the steps is very helpful and makes for quick prep~I usually actually finish the recipes in 30 minutes or so-very cool, as I love to cook, but I love to be done with it quickly too, for regular every-day meals when everyone is waiting (so impatiently, lol) for supper.

They’ve written another book as well, called Desperation Dinners (lol) that also seems really popular~I may have to try that one too :mrgreen: