Mix it up Monday: Festival Sausage Bake

Thought we would try out a bit of a new format that we have been working on and start sharing some of the recipes that we use frequently and not so frequently around here that taste great and aren't expensive to make.

We recently discovered the blog Mr Food. There are great meal ideas here and free Ecookbooks!

The recipe I want to share with you is called Festival Sausage Bake.

We had this last night for a potluck and made enough to have frozen meals for work and school lunches.

From their blog here is the recipe:

What You'll Need: 

1 pound rigatoni pasta 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 

1 1/4 pounds hot Italian sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces 

2 large green bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch strips 

2 medium-sized onions, cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 teaspoons minced garlic 

2 (26-ounce) jars spaghetti sauce 

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese 

What To Do: 

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.   

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage, peppers, onions, and garlic, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through and peppers and onions are tender, stirring occasionally.   Drain sausage mixture, and place in a large bowl. 

Add pasta, spaghetti sauce, and Parmesan cheese; mix well. Pour into a 9" x 13" baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake 20 minutes.   Remove foil; sprinkle sausage bake with mozzarella cheese then bake 10 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted. 

Read more at http://www.mrfood.com/Casseroles/Festival-Sausage-Bake#BsvHftoueopBQkbM.99

We cheated with recipe a bit for time and money purposes. Here's how we cut corners:

We didn't preheat the oven while the sausage and pasta were cooking. We waited until about 5 minutes before we put it in the oven and we cooked it at the same time as our dessert to save money on heating costs.

We used 3 sausage lengths instead of 1 1/4 pounds (We bought from a local farmer to save money. We purchased a large amount and froze them to save even more money).

Peppers (switched one for a jalapeño to add some more spice. Peppers, onions and garlic were used from our garden to lower the cost even more and keep it local.)

Only one jar of spaghetti sauce instead of two (I bought a tonne of it on sale for $0.90 awhile back).

Used less Parmesan cheese and used mozzarella cheese that I had bought and stocked up on when it was on sale last month.

This meal cost us around $5 to prepare, served a bunch of people at the potluck and made 4 extra lunches for the freezer. I had to bake it in the largest casserole dish and it was filled to the brim!

We loved it. Everyone said it was very tasty. I would definitely make this again.

Let us know if you've tried it and what your thoughts are. 

Do you have a meal that is low in cost and high in taste? Share the recipe and the picture with us and we will feature it on a future Monday post.

Enjoy your day!

Salsa Recipe

Here for your tastebuds and garden bounty, is my salsa recipe. I hope you like it! Have a salsa recipe to share? Comment, email, or Facebook us!

Liz's Salsa Recipe:

20 large tomatoes

6 large onions

1 3/4 cup vinegar

6 large peppers

3 hot peppers

8 tsp cummin

8 tsp salt

9 dashes of hot sauce

3 small cans of tomato paste

7 tsp oregano

10 cloves og garlic

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp crushed chillies

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

6 tbsp cornstarch

I cut everything up in my food processor, throw it all in a large stock pot and simmer it for 25 minutes or more, stirring occasionally. This makes a medium hot recipe. Sometimes I switch the quantity around for the hot and sweet peppers depending on what has grown in the garden and if I want hotter salsa or not. Then place it in a hot water bath for 20 mins. Tastes better after it's been stored for a few months and the flavours have had time to set.

What's your favourite salsa recipe? Please share it with us!

Enjoy!

Reducing Your Grocery Bill Through Homemade Goods

Food prices seem to be increasing everyday. Besides shopping for sales, which I highly recommend, another great way to save money is by making your own meals and baked goods.

Store bread is going up in price quite a bit, but to bake your own bread, it only costs a fraction. To make your own bread check out our how to here. I figured out to buy bread in our home it would cost us over $100 a month! Just in bread! It may cost us $17 a month to make it. And, if I do say so myself, it tastes much better, is more filling and healthier.

A great item to go with bread is always jam. Do you have a lot of strawberries, or other fruit, left in your freezer from last summer? Here is a very easy recipe for making jam from frozen fruit with half the amount of sugar. We use this all the time. Last night my daughter helped me make two batches of it and we were done in about 40 mins from start to finish (not including thawing time for the berries). Jam in the store costs about $4-5 a jar. I made 7 large jars last night for about $1.46 a jar. In our family that saves big $$ as we go through 7 jars in 2 months or so. Instead of $32, it costs us around $10 and I reuse my jars so that's even more environmentally friendly and cost saving.

Our latest love is eating English Muffins. I started buying these more frequently when I have found them on sale, but found it hard to justify the cost. Tonight, I made English Muffins for the first time -without cornmeal! (Not a fan here.) It was surprisingly easy and fast. To buy 6 english muffins at the store it's around $2, it might have cost me $0.25 to make 12. That's $3.50 savings for every 12! Try out this recipe here for a first attempt. There are a lot of recipes out there, just search around until you find one that you like.

These are just a few simple things to start with to reduce your bill. They really don't take too much time - just don't try to do them all in one day!

What items do you make to reduce your bill?

Enjoy!

Donair Sauce Recipe From a Reader

I love sharing reader comments and suggestions with you. Here is a recipe for donair sauce with evaporated milk:

Colin C said...

2/3 cup evaporated milk

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix well, than add 2 or 3 tbsp of vinegar and it will thicken up, but don't stir it too much or it will thin out again. Refrigerate for a bit too.

Enjoy!

Cake Mixes

Recently cake mixes have been on sale for half price and we stocked up. Now I don't always make a cake from a mix, but once in awhile, I just love to have them. Plus there are come great recipes out there with them.  One of them is called My Favourite Blueberry Dessert and it's listed below. It's a great recipe to take to a potluck, or whip up quickly when company is coming, or you just want a sweet something.

Need:

one lemon or white cake mix (I like the lemon personally)
one can of blueberry pie fill or 2 cups blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp flour mixed and boiled until thick
one small can of pineapple crushed or tidbits
one cup melted butter
3/4 cup coconut
3/4 cup slivered almonds

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a greased 9x13 pan spread blueberries on bottom of pan evenly
Sprinkle lemon cake mix over top
Sprinkle coconut and almonds over cake mix
Pour melted butter over entire cake
Bake for 30 minutes or until cake is done

Super easy, cheap and delicious.

Enjoy!

Making the most of crumbs

I am amazed that people buy bread crumbs and at a pretty high price also when you consider it's the leftovers from the bakery slicing the bread they bake. I, too, used to fall into this trap.

How many people like to eat the heels of the bread? I know my father does when it's freshly baked, and sometimes my husband, but other than that I am not sure if anyone else does. We also have a bunch that don't like to eat the crusts of their bread either. Then there's always that one piece of stale bread that gets forgotten about. That's a lot of waste that accumulates. My mind thinks of those in this world that face starvation and how they would love to have even the crust of our bread. Since I can't send that to them (we help other ways), I store all of the crusts I remember about before serving the bread, and all of the heels in a freezer bag and freeze them to make bread crumbs.

Once I have the amount of bread that I want to use for bread crumbs, I tear up the bread and place it in my food processor. I blend them until they are at the consistency I like for my crumbs. Then they are spread out on cookie sheets and placed in a low temperature oven (around 220 degrees) and toasted until they are dry. After that they are placed in an airtight container until I need them.

This is a great way to save money, food, and be in control of what goes in your meals.

Enjoy your day!

Frugal Food Recipes

Have you ever splurged on a delicious cinnamon bun from cinnabon? To me, they are the most delicious cinnamon rolls around, but I can't justify the cost of splurging for one of these. I have a recipe for those cinnamon rolls! I found it over at cdkitchen. I adjust it so that it makes close to thirty smaller buns instead.  When it comes to the rolling up part I roll it the long way instead of the short way of the rectangle. You'll understand when you read the instructions. These are so great and save you some dollars.

Another item we make a lot here is jam. I freeze my berries in the summer in resealable bags and then make my jam in the winter. This recipe calls for half the amount of sugar as my normal jam from fresh berries recipe. If you have any berries in the freezer, why not take a stab at this recipe? It ends up making 6-7 jam containers worth. One jar of jam at the store runs roughly around $3-6. This recipe lets the cost come down to approximately $0.96 a jar and it's home made! It only takes about 30-45 mins to make it too!

Strawberry Jam from Frozen Fruit

8 cups of whole unsweetened frozen strawberries
1 box of light pectin crystals (DO NOT TRY ANYTHING ELSE! Trust me, it WON'T work!)
4 1/2 cups of sugar

Thaw berries until just a few crystals remain. Drain, reserving juice; crush fruit (a lot!). Combine fruit and juice to make 6 cups; pour into heavy saucepan. Mix pectin with 1/4 cup of the sugar; stir into fruit. Bring to full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add remaining sugar. Return to full rolling boil, stirring. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir and skim off any foam for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil lids for 5 minutes. Fill 8 sterilized 1 cup canning jars (or whatever size you decide to use), leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rims if necessary. Seal with prepared lids; screw on bands fingertip tight. Process in boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool on rack for 24 hours, inverting jars several times to distribute fruit.

I clipped this recipe out of Canadian Living magazine 12 years ago , so I don't have a link for you, my apologies.

You have jam!

Another recipe that goes over great here are chocolate chip cookies. I double this one! I have tried a lot of recipes, to date, this is my favourite. Tempt me with yours!

Chocolate Chip Cookies


1cup butter softened
3/4 cup each brown and white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
2 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Cream butter and sugars together. Add one egg at a time.

Mix dry ingredients together in a seperate bowl. Mix half of the dry in to the wet at a time. Add as many chocolate chips as you can! The more the better!

Shape into balls and put on cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-12 mins.

Let me know if you try any of these or if you have some frugal food recipes you would love to share.

Enjoy your day!

Frugal and VERY tasty garlic fingers and donair sauce recipe

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyxie/2617365156/

Last night my husband and I enjoyed some delicious (if I do say so myself) garlic fingers. I happened to mention this on a social media site and it was requested that I share the recipe with you. So here, my friends, is our recipe for garlic fingers and donair sauce.

If you aren't from Atlantic Canada or the mid east you may ask what donair sauce is. It's a sweet, tangy sauce that is found on donairs and is used to dip garlic fingers or pizza in to. When we lived out west at the beginning of our marriage, we were served spaghetti sauce with our garlic fingers (not my number one option), no one there knew what donairs were at the time. I guess there weren't enough Maritimers there yet. We quickly called a friend back east to find out how his family made the sauce.

This is a very "to taste" recipe. My apologies.

Dough Recipe for Breadmaker *makes two 12 inch pizza doughs

1 1/4cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups of flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast

Place all ingredients in breadmaker on dough setting and press start.

Garlic Fingers

When dough has finished cycle, remove to a floured surface and roll out to pan specifications.

Mix 1/8 cup softened butter (you may need more, I never measure) with as much garlic as you like. Can be fresh, roasted or powder format. I can't give an exact amount here because I like a lot of garlic. Spread out on dough.

Grate as much mozzarella cheese as you desire and spread out on the dough.

Dice up some cooked bacon (you could  use bacon bits, but I like the taste of this better) and sprinkle out on the dough.

Cook in a preheated oven of 400 F for 10 mins or until cheese is golden.  Cool a bit. Cut in half and then in the opposite direction every one inch or so.

Donair Sauce

Ingredients:
Sweetened condensed milk
vinegar
garlic (fresh, roasted or power)

Mix 1/3 can of sweetened condensed milk with 3 tbsp vinegar (this is really to taste, you want it to have a tang to it) add desired amount of garlic. Mix well.

Dip garlic fingers in sauce and enjoy! Remember, if you don't have your own bowl of sauce, don't double dip!


Enjoy your day!

Breakfast - a must for the day to begin

Ever find your mornings hard and rushed and you think no time for food? How many skip breakfast? How many children miss out on this most important meal of the day?

Breakfast is very important and the more filling you make it, the longer it lasts through the day to engerize your body!

So I would like to offer you some frugal breakfast choices to begin your day with.

Idea number one and most popular here is oatmeal. Remember your mother told you that it would stick to your ribs? She was right.  It lasts longer in your body and keeps you feeling good. Don't like plain oatmeal? Who does? Add some brown sugar and maple syrup to it. Top it with yogurt, dry or fresh berries. Sprinkle cinnamon in it while cooking it for extra flavour. Have it in addition to a fruit smoothie to round out your food groups. Here are two places to get more ideas for oatmeal, one and two. Personally I like my oatmeal cooked on the stove instead of in the microwave. I'm old fashioned :)

Idea number two then would be the smoothie. Although not as filling for children generally speaking, it is a great way to get their fruits and veggies in to them for the day. All children love smoothies and there are many healthy foods that you can hide in there to get them to eat/ drink them.  Looking for some recipes? You get your fill here and here and here! The great thing is that you can even make these ahead and freeze them in popsicle stands and have a great afternoon snack for the children.

Another great and filling breakfast idea would be the breakfast sandwich. It's something that can be eaten on the way out the door as well. There are lots of fantastic options out there that will fill anyone's belly. Check here and  here for some ideas to get you started.

Two more options for you besides the usual cereal or toast. Try out some breakfast muffins! Again, a great thing to eat on the way out the door, on the bus or in the car. Three links for you here as well. One, two and three.

There are also omelettes, boiled eggs and scrambled eggs on/with toast or in a wrap.

One of the favourites in our home are waffles. These you can make ahead and freeze them on the weekend. Then, when you need them, just pop them in the toaster and a nice warm breakfast morning of! Check out one and two links for some ideas.

We also make our "syrup" for our pancakes as well. We like to buy real syrup, but it's not always feasible to pay out for this, or there are times that you run out of syrup. If you buy imitation syrup like Aunt Jemima, or any other brand, try out our recipe for some nice warm syrup made in a few little moments.

Maple Syrup Recipe:

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2-3 tsp of maple extract
2 tbsp honey or corn syrup.

Put all of it in a pot mix together and heat until it's boiling. Voila! Homemade "syrup"!

My one piece of advice; put a list together and see what your children will eat and what they won't. No point to make something that they won't eat, right?

Have anything that you would like to add to our breakfast list? Please email us at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca or leave a comment here.

Enjoy your day!

Exercise Contest and Recipes

I realize that there are some pretty excited people out there waiting to find out who won, however, you will have to wait just a bit longer. Wendy, over at The Whole Way, has been trying out the submitted recipes and will decide on a winner by the end of the week. So stay tuned. To hold you all over, here are the recipes that were submitted. Try them out in our menu when you see the items go on sale.

BROCCOLI RIGATONI BAKE

-12 ounces uncooked rigatoni or large tube pasta
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1/4 cup butter, cubed
-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2-1/2 cups fat-free milk
-5 cups fresh broccoli florets
-2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions
-Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and salt until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; set aside. Drain pasta and toss with oil; set aside.
-In a large saucepan, bring 1 in. of water and broccoli to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.
-In a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray, layer 1 cup white sauce, half of the pasta and broccoli and 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sauce and cheese.
-Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 10 servings.




Lentil Soup/Stew

This is cheap and good for you and EASY and really tasty, and it makes a huge amount--freezes well--reheats well. It doesn't look like it should taste as good as it does--real comfort food--my Mom used to make it when we were little:

2 cups red lentils (washed)
8 cups of vegetable bouillon (or 8 cups of water and 4 bouillon cubes)
4 large potatoes (cubed)
1/2 lb of carrots (chopped) (about 4?)
1 large onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (pressed)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice (stuff from bottle is fine)

1) wash and drain lentils
2) bring bouillon to boil
3) add everything EXCEPT lemon juice
4) simmer 30 mins
5) add lemon juice and simmer 15-30 more minutes ('til veg is nice and tender)
6) taste and adjust seasoning
7) serve in big bowls
8) make appreciative noises while eating :)

**it can be pureed to make a potage (but I like it in its chunks)
*** you can add more potatoes next time if it's too thin




Super Low (everything but taste)
Banana Bread

*1 cup sugar substitute (can use raw or regular sugar or mixture if you wish)
*1/3 cup applesauce (or margarine)
*7 tbsp egg sub (or 1 egg plus two whites)
*1 tsp baking soda
*2 cups wheat flour (or sub your fave flour)
*4 tbsp milk (I use skim)
*3/4 tsp vinegar
*3 bananas, ripe, mashed
**options: cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts, choc chips, carob chips

Blend sugar and applesaue, add egg and mix well.
Add flour and soda and stir (will seem too dry here but don't worry!).
Mix milk and vinegar together and then add to mixture.
Stir in bananas.
I like to add cinnamon, maybe tbsp? and some nutmeg, maybe tsp? and I like to add a couple or three handfuls of choc chips sometimes!!

Bake in a 9x5 loaf in 350 degree oven (I use convection setting) for about an hour (give or take ten minutes)

Cool and serve. If you like, add some maple flavor to some buttercream icing and ice your bread BUT this takes away all the low parts!!


SQUASH MUFFINS KIDS ACTUALLY LIKE!

2 CUPS mashed squash
3/4 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. sugar (or more if U like!)
4 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (I add a little more cause I love it)
1 tsp salt
1+ cup chocolate or carob chips

I use fresh squash (here's a tip: wash a whole squash. Stab it deeply several times with a big knife. This can be fun! Put in the microwave for 10 mins. Remove, split open, let cool, THEN peel and dice, cook in mic til done then mash. If it very dry add up to a cup of water).
Combine the first four ingredients-for fluffier muffins use a hand mixer.
Add dry ingredients, mix, then add choc. chips.
Put in greased muffin tins, bake at 350 for about 15 mins.
Makes 2 dozen small muffins.
They freeze well too!


Veggie Chili

This dish is so easy to make, and perfect for a wintery day!

In crockpot or large saucepan on stove mix:

1 pkg Veggie Ground Round
2 cans stewed tomatoes (approx 3 cups total)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayene
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp sugar or sugar sub.
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup pearl onions, whole (remove outer skin)
Whole garlic cloves, to taste (I use 3-4)

Stovetop:
Bring all above to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally

Crock Pot:
Low for 6 hours, or high for 3.

This is a great recipe to use up vegetables in your fridge! Veggie Ground Round is a great sub for ground beef- I served this dish to my boyfriend and he didn't even notice the difference!

If you like a sweeter taste, add 1/2 c. of organic ketchup during the last hour of cooking.


Enjoy your day!

Frugal Food Recipe

Hello all, I have this really awesome recipe that I want to share with you. Maybe it will help kick start some things for the workout giveaway that is going on. It uses canned goods so it wouldn't qualify, but you could substitute the can of beans and soak some black beans the night before, use frozen corn instead of canned and could make up your own fresh salsa to go with it. Also,  chicken is on sale this week at superstore for less than half price! Fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts for $8.82/kg! Time to stock up!


Salsa Chicken for the slow cooker

Place four fresh or frozen chicken breasts in slow cooker. Pour on one bottle of salsa, one can of corn or two cups of frozen corn, and one bottle of black beans. Mix around and cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Simple. Cheap. Delicious!  Wonderful served with steamed rice and a great salad.

Let me know what you think of it.

Enjoy your day!

Don't forget to enter our two contests: submit a recipe and win free exercise classes, make bread win a cookbook.