Italian tomato soup

Italian Tomato Soup:
ingredients:
1 can tomato soup
1/2 pound ground italian sausage(or links sliced into small piece)
1/4 of a green pepper
milk

Fix the tomato soup according to the can's directions for 'cream of tomato soup' (in most cases this is mixing one can of tomato soup with one can of milk, stirring frequently as it warms). Set it on low heat.
Cook italian sausage. While sausage cooks, dice the green pepper. When the sausage is fully cooked, drain the grease and add the diced green pepper to the sausage, mix them together and allow to cook for another 5 minutes (if you get more grease here drain it off before the next step). When your tomato soup is fully mixed together (milk and tomato combined instead of separate) pour in the sausage-green pepper mix. Allow to simmer for 15-30 minutes to allow the flavors to mix. Serve.

Alternate methods:
For those who prefer non-meat dishes, this dish can be prepared using additional green peppers, other peppers or onions substituting for the sausage.
Other spicy meats can be used in place of the italian sausage if preferred

3-4 servings

Estimated cost: $2.00-$3.25 depending on local pricing.

Tom...

Baked, stuffed potatoes

Baked Stuffed potatoes:
Ingredients:
1 medium potato per serving being made.
1 tbsp butter per serving
1 large pinch cheese, grated or sliced into strips , per serving
Spices as desired ( I use black pepper mainly here)
meats or fresh vegetables as desired

Bake your potato(es), I recommend 90 minutes at 350 degrees for medium sized potatoes. When the potato is baked cut it in two lengthwise. Scoop the potato meat out from inside the skin, transfer to bowl. In bowl, mix butter and cheese into the potato meat. Spice as desired.

If using optional meats or fresh vegetables, cook meats or saute vegetables while potatoes bake. When mixing in butter and cheese mix in your meats or vegetables (diced down to bite size). I recommend no more than 2 ounces of these additional fillings per potato. For meats I recommend a good breakfast sausage (not link style, patty style chopped up), for vegetables I recommend peppers(sauteed), onions(sauteed) or broccoli(steamed).

Take your potato stuffing you have just mixed and spoon it back into the potato skins. This will leave a moounded top over the potato skin as you've added to what originally filled it. Place potato skins on cookie sheet and place back in 350 degree oven for 15-30 minutes. The stuffing you placed in the skins should be browning, with cheese and butter totally melted, when you remove them.

Estimated cost: Depending on fillings (and potato prices in your area)this dish costs between $0.40 and $1.00 per serving

Tom...

Shopping Tips

My wife recommended that I do some shopping tips on here as well, since eating on a budget is easier when you spend less on groceries. So I figure every 5th post will be shopping tips until such time as I can't think of any to drop in there.

Shopping tip #1: Never shop when hungry! Shopping when hungry leads to impulse buying which can throw your grocery budget way out of whack.

Shopping tip#2: Stock up when possible. If you have some item on your grocery list that isn't perishable that you use frequently. Stock up on it when it is on a good sale. For example, if you use canned vegetables a lot when you find them on sale 4/$1.00, buy as many as you can keep in your cupboard if you can fit it into your budget. I find that this is a good way to stop impule shopping as well, if I stretch my budget to stock up I am much less likely to buy a package of cookies or something of the sort.

Shopping tip #3: Meats - If you have the freezer space available, stock up when the good sales are running. Holidays are a good time for pricing on hams and turkeys, if you have the freezer space you can stock up on them at that time.
Also, many stores will run 'special of the day' or 'cents off stickers' on meat that is within a day or two of its sell-by date. I normally look for the cents off stickers on the meat types that are already on sale, I've gotten pork chops for $0.50/pound that way. Low-grade beef cuts for under $1.00 a pound and things like rib-eyes for about $3.00 per pound with the cents off stickers. When shopping the cents off stickers, look for the smaller packages, this leads to a lower per pound price since most places only have certain amounts for the stickers to be used. $0.50 off a half pound cut of beef equals $1.00 off per pound whereas the same $0.50 off on a pound package is only $0.50 off per pound. The 'special of the day' tends to drop $1.00 or $2.00 off per pound from the lower-end cuts and as much as $5.00 off per pound on the higher end cuts. In both cases, the meat should either be used quickly or frozen since it is close to its date. Make sure to not purchase meats on these specials when they are heavily discolored (my own preference but doing it my way I've yet to buy a cut that wasn't still good).

Enough tips for now, I'll try to note more down when I do my shopping next week and post some more them.
Tom...

Beef stroganoff on a budget

Ingredients:
Low-grade cut of beef, 1 pound.
(recommend the least expensive you can get with no bones that isn't overly fatty)
4 beef-bullion cubes
water
1 can mushrooms (recommend the pieces and stems type as they are cheaper)
8 ounces cream or whole milk
1/4 onion (sliced into long thin strips)
2 tsp black pepper
egg noodles
2 tsp flour
butter

Slice the beef into small strips and cook (with enough water to cover the beef by at least 1/2 inch and the bullion cubes) overnight in a crock-pot on low.
First thing in the morning, add the mushrooms, the 1/4 onion and the black pepper to the crock-pot. One hour before serving add the milk/cream to the crock pot. 15 minutes before serving start the noodles cooking as the package directs. Mix the flour with 2 ounces of cool water, making sure the water and flour mix thoroughly, adding more water if necessary. Add the water-flour mixture into the crock pot and stir thoroughly. Once the flour and water mixture has been thoroughly stirred in turn the crockpot off and let it set until the noodles are done. Place the noodles on a plate, butter them and ladle the mix from the crock pot over them, making sure to get pieces of the beef and onions included on each plate. Add additional pepper to taste if necessary and let set for several minutes for serving (this will give the sauce a chance to thicken).

Estimated cost: $6-$10 depending on the cut of beef used and local pricing. This dish will serve quite a few people or can be stored and rewarmed to be eaten as left-overs. Using the crock pot on the beef overnight allows for even the lowest cuts of beef to be very tender and flavorful.

Tom...

Burkha (A spicey noodle dish)

Ingredients:
Egg Noodles
Salsa (your choice of spiciness)
Butter
Beef, Pork or Chicken (2 ounces per serving, optional)

Cook the egg noodles according to the instructions on the package. Warm the salsa in a saucepan. If adding meat cut the meat into stir fry sized strips and cook them in a skillet, when cooked add to salsa in saucepan.
When noodles are done, drain them and place on plate. Butter to taste. Pour salsa over noodles. Serve.

Alternate options: Instead of salsa use the gravy of your choice.

Estimated cost: $0.50 - $1.50 per serving. Depending on sauce used and whether or not meat is used.

Sheperd's Pie

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (or diced ham, or diced pork)
8 medium size potatoes (russet)
1 can cream-style corn
onion salt
black pepper
4 tbsp butter
splash of milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Peel potatoes and slice them into 1 inch cubes. Boil the cubes for 30-45 minutes (until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoe cubes and place them in an oven-safe mixing bowl, add the butter. Mix potatoes and butter on low until butter is melted and potatoes are broken down. Add the splash of milk and turn the mixer to high to thoroughly whip them. The potatos should get fluffy during this step. Add the cream-style corn and continue mixing on low.
Cook your meat until it is thoroughly done. Add the meat into your potato and corn mix. Spice to taste.
Place mixing bowl into 350 degree oven and leave until the potatoes begin to brown on top. (30-45 minutes)

Alternate options:
If using ham, then diced/crushed pineapple goes well in this dish, skip the onion salt with this option.
If using pork you can add a couple of cloves of garlic into the potato mix.
For any of the meats, grate cheddar cheese over the top before placing in the oven to brown.

Estimated cost: from $3.00 to $6.50) depending on meats used and extra ingredients added.

Meatloaf

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (any grade)
6 ounce can of tomato paste
(may also substitute: spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce or barbecue sauce)
15 saltines
(may also substitue bread crumbs, potato chips or other crackers)
1 egg
onion salt and black pepper (to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Transfer the results into a full size bread pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

recommended alterations:
I use the buttery ritz crackers instead of saltines, it leads to an underlying butter flavor in the meatloaf.
Add chopped mushrooms, green peppers, or onions to alter the flavor and spice up the meatloaf.

Approximate cost: $2.00 - $5.00 depending on the grade of beef used and whether you add the fresh vegetables.

Tom...