Money Saving Recipes

Even the most financially stable person wants to save money where they can.  Why pay $7 for milk when you could get the same milk for $1.99 and spend the remaining $5 on something else?  Or stick it in your savings account. Five dollars here and five dollars there, really adds up quicker then you would think. It is just five dollars, right?  Yes, but by the end of the week you have "just five dollared" your self into fifty dollars. I feed my family of four breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks on roughly sixty dollars a week. Sometimes less and sometimes more.


Here are a few of my grocery saving tips. 


1.  Be ok with buying the store brand (generally it is the same you are just not paying for the Brand name)
2.  Look for sales
3.  Make a monthly menu and shopping list for two weeks at a time, BEFORE you go to the store (this alone saves more then you would think)
4.  Target and Tom Thumb are generally the most expensive stores, at least in the DFW area.
5. Wal-Mart will meet or beat any competitor price, just tell them or show them at the register and they will handle the rest.
6. Be ok with eating left overs.  Most food is better re-heated anyway.


I have more but I will start you with those. :)


So here is a recipe that is really cheap, quick, my family LOVES, it is a good make ahead and freeze meal, and it feeds my family of 4 TWICE!

You will need
1 jar of Great Value Italian Garden Spaghetti Sauce ($1.28)
1 box of Radiatore pasta ($1.00)
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey which ever you prefer ($1.5)
1 2 cup bag of mozerella cheese ($1.96)
Total $5.74


Bring a large pot of water to a boil and throw the entire box of pasta in.  While the pasta is cooking brown the ground meat of your choice in a skillet. When the meat is cooked through pour the entire jar of sauce over the meat and simmer uncovered, on low until the pasta is done cooking.  Drain the pasta and return to the pot.  Pour the entire contents of your skillet into the pot and mix well. Pour pasta mixture into a baking dish sprayed with Pam. I use a short and tall dish versus a long and skinny. Cover pasta with entire bag of chesse, and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. About 5-8 minutes.



**If you are going to prepare ahead and freeze: Cook pasta until it is almost done. Allow meat to cool completely before adding jar of sauce, and allow pasta to cool before adding meat mixture. Make sure everything isc completely cooled before adding cheese. Cover and freeze. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and pasta is heated through.