Here are two really easy and cheap meals.

Beef Taco Skillet

1 lb. ground beef
1 can (10  oz) condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup salsa ( I used chunky)
1/2 cup water
6 flour tortillas (6 inch) cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook beef in skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off fat.
2. Stir soup , salsa, water and tortillas in skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook 5 min. Stir. Top with cheese.

French Onion Burgers-(no grilling)

1 lb. ground beef
1 can (10 oz) condensed french onion soup
4 slices of cheese
hamburger buns

1. Shape beef into 4 burgers
2. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add burgers and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove burgers from skillet. Pour off fat.
3. Stir soup in skillet and heat to a boil. Return burgers to skillet. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 5 min. or until burgers are cooked through. Top burgers with cheese and cook until cheese melts. Serve burgers on buns with soup mixture for dipping.

Pork Chop Supreme

Yum, this is one of our all time favs and an easy, easy recipe that doesn't have a lot of ingredients.
Here's what you'll need
-Pork Chops
-Salt
-Onion
-Brown Sugar
-Ketchup
-Lemon Juice (optional)
-Casserole Dish
-Aluminum Foil

First things first, set your oven temperature to 350 degrees

Then, line your casserole dish with aluminum foil. I do this so the clean up is easier at the end :)

Put a little bit of salt on both sides of your pork chops.

Cut up some onion and lay them over the top of the pork chops.

Sprinkle brown sugar on the pork chops. I do about a spoon full on each one.

Coat the chop with ketchup.
This is where the lemon juice is optional, you can squirt some juice on them at this point. I could never taste a difference so now I skip that step.

Cover your dish with aluminum foil

Cook them at 350 for 30 minutes.

When the timer goes off, take the foil off

Cook it for another 30 minutes.

Ah waaaalaaaa, Pork Chop Supreme. No finale pictures here. I was too hungry :) We like to have ours with mashed potatoes.
Hope you enjoy!!!

Cake Pops!

I love cake pops! So I decided to try it out for Lori's B-day. It is a great little treat, especially for kids.

I found several recipes on line. So you can look up one if you want to.

Ingredients:
cake mix (any kind you want... I used chocolate fudge)
frosting (any kind.... I used cream cheese vanilla something)
chocolate almond bark
lolly pop sticks
styrofoam

Bake cake and let it cool
crumble cake in a big bowl and add 3/4 frosting container
mix it with hands until it is like playdough
roll into balls and put in fridge for at least an hour
melt the chocolate and dip the tip of the stick in the chocolate and then into the cake ball... let sit for a few minutes
dip the cake pop into the chocolate and decorate with sprinkles if desired, tap it to get extra chocolate off.
stick in styrofoam

Meatball Sandwich

 

This isn't a picture I took because I didn't think to take one, but I thought I would put it on here to remember. Can you tell I am into sandwiches lately? There's nothing special about this sandwich it is just good, easy, and cheap. I just bought a bag of frozen meatballs at Walmart, some buns, marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. I was lazy and used the microwave but the oven would be even better I bet. We still have a ton of meatballs left for whatever we want (probably more meatball sandwiches or spaghetti and meatballs). Anyway, just something to consider.

French Dip

Sorry I don't have a picture for each stage, but I did get the final product.

Ingredients:
3 lb roast
2 cans beef broth
2 packets onion soup mix
hoagie buns
provolone or mozzarella cheese

Put roast, beef broth, and onion soup mix in crock pot for 8 hours. Shred. Put on bun with cheese and put in the oven for a couple of minutes to toast the bun and melt cheese. Use the remaining juice for dipping.

Grilled Chicken Parmesan

When it is 98 degrees outside, the last thing I want to do is turn the oven on to 450... and add to the heat.
I LOVE to grill and make it a daily routine in the summa time!
But... we were craving some yummy Chicken Parmesan, so I was determined to stick with routine, and turn on the grill!
Boy was it a success!

Ingredients: 2 Chicken Breasts, Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs, One Egg, Spaghetti Sauce, Spaghetti Noodles, Mozzarella Cheese
Tools: Wax Paper, Meat Pounder, Knife or kitchen scissors, 2 Pots, 1 Grill
Turn the grill onto high
Put a pot of water on the stove to begin boiling

Trim the breasts of fat, gross

Pound the chicken. It cooks faster and evenly on the grill if this is done. You can use a rolling pin if you don't have a meat pounder

Whisk up the egg in a bowl

Dip the chicken into the whisked up egg

Sprinkle bread crumbs on both sides of both chicken breasts.

Turn the grill down to medium heat

Place each breast on the grill

Cut thin slices (or thick if you prefer) of the Mozzarella cheese. I cut them the long way down the cheese so they'd fit nicely on the chicken breast

Prepare sauce to brush onto the chicken.

Bring a spoon and a brush out to the grill with the sauce, but DO NOT put it on until you've checked that your chicken is done.



Once your water starts boiling, put your noodles in.
Also start a pan of the rest of your spaghetti sauce, turn on low just to heat it up.

Move the chicken to the top rack and turn the heat back up to high. Place a spoon full of sauce on each breast and spread with the brush.

Place one slice of cheese on each breast and let melt.

Serve it up! I put it on the noodles and poured

Add a little parmesan

Delicious with a side salad and a big glass of water :) Or thats how I had it anyway!

What Are Your Staples?

We all have our staples that we fall back on, so I will post mine and then I want to know what yours are. You know... your easy, cheap favs. Sometimes I just need something else to come to my mind.

Ours are:

Spaghetti (with ground beef and peppers or just different kinds of pasta with different types of sauce)

Pulled pork- boneless country style ribs cooked all day in a crockpot with a chopped onion. Two hours before I add 1 cup bbq sauce and 1 cup apricot jam. We just eat it by it self but it's good on buns or just bread.

French Bread Pizza- French bread, pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. Toast it in the toaster oven.

Enchiladas- brown 1 lb ground beef and add 1 can of red enchilada sauce with a handful of cheese. Spoon into tortillas and spread another can of enchilada sauce and cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Directions are on the back of the enchilada sauce can too.

Chicken Pot Pie- cook 3 chicken breasts. ( I just do it in the microwave) Dice into little pieces. Microwave a bag of mixed frozen veggies (carrots, peas, corn, green beans) with 2 cans of cream of chicken soup for 6 minutes. Mix chicken with veggies and soup and put into a deep dish pie shell. (Deep dish pie shells come in two) Put the other pie shell on top and poke holes. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  It lasts a couple of days too!

Grilled Chicken or BBQ Chicken- I just get a seasoning packet and marinate chicken before grilling.