Budget Recipes

Salsa Soup aka Chili Soup

• 1 can refried beans
• 1 15 oz can black or pinto beans, undrained (I used pinto beans)
• 1 15 oz can corn, undrained
• 15 oz salsa
• 1 15 oz can broth (I used a chicken broth and the hubby thought there was chicken in it he was sad when there wasn't)
• 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

 

Pour all ingredients into large pot, heat over medium until refried beans and cheese have both melted thoroughly. Enjoy!
 
 
Manicotti

• 12 LG manicotti shells
• 4cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)
• 2 cups ricotta (or one container)
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce (26oz) (I buy the kind with the meat in it for this...I think it's by Ragu)
• 1/2 c grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

 

Preheated oven to 350. Spray a 13X9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

 

Cook pasta according to directions on pkg. Rinse, drain (be careful they tend to split open but you can still use them. Place them seam down in pan once you stuff them). Lay them out on paper towels to dry.

Mix 3 cups mozzerella with the ricotta. Use a teaspoon (or I make small balls) and stuff the shells.

 

Pour 2 cups (or 1/2 the jar) of sauce into bottom of pan. Lay stuffed shells on top. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzerella over top.

Bake 15 mins. Add parmesan and bake additional 10 mins. Serve immediately.

**The hubby loved the manicotti and it makes a lot so I freezed half for a later date.**


Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 8-oz package elbow macaroni
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 8-oz block sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Keep warm. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in salt, black and red pepper, 1 cup shredded cheese, and cooked pasta. Spoon pasta mixture into a lightly greased 2-qt baking dish; top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

**This is one of the best mac and cheese recipes we've found so far! You must try this!**

Yummy Dogs

• 1 package crescent rolls
• 1 package hot dogs
• Potatoes boiled & mashed (instant if you prefer)
• Velveeta cheese

Take the crescent rolls, unroll one, place hot dog on top, top with mashed potatoes, a slice of Velveeta, roll it up an place on cookie sheet. After they are all done, bake around 350 (I think, whatever it says on the crescent roll can) and bake until everything is golden brown.

**Not really a fan of these put people with kiddos who love hot dogs may enjoy them :)**


Spaghetti Pie

 

Ingredients:

• 1 box spaghetti noodles boiled and drained
• 1 pound browned ground beef or turkey
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce 
• garlic powder, minced onion, pepper
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese 

Brown meat and boil noodles. In a large pot mix together all the ingredients except the mozzarella cheese. Pour spaghetti mixture into a 9×13 baking dish. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Add mozzarella cheese and bake another 5 minutes uncovered. If you are freezing this dish let it thaw completely before baking and add about 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time.

 

 
**I don't follow the recipe really. I just make our normal spaghettie and meat sauce and thought this was a neat idea for our left overs since there are always so many. I also froze this for a later date and just thawed it and popped it in the oven. We sliced it like a pie and enjoyed!**
 
 
Mexican Beef and Bean Casserole

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 cans pinto beans, drained ( or cooked dried beans)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• ½ cup salsa
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 

Cook beef in skillet until brown, then drain.

 

Mix beef, beans, tomato sauce, salsa, and chili powder. Place into a 9×13 pan.

 

Sprinkle with cheese.

 

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

 

**We used this for burrito filling and it was super yummy. This will def be made again!**

 

Manicotti

This is super simple to make and oh so yummy :)

 

Ingriendents:

• 12 LG manicotti shells
• 4cups shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)
• 2 cups ricotta (or one container)
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce (26oz) (I buy the kind with the meat in it for this...I think it's by Ragu)
• 1/2 c grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions:

 

Preheated oven to 350. Spray a 13X9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

 

Cook pasta according to directions on pkg. Rinse, drain (be careful they tend to split open but you can still use them. Place them seam down in pan once you stuff them). Lay them out on paper towels to dry.

 

Mix 3 cups mozzerella with the ricotta. Use a teaspoon (or I make small balls) and stuff the shells.

 

Pour 2 cups (or 1/2 the jar) of sauce into bottom of pan. Lay stuffed shells on top. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle remaining mozzerella over top.

Bake 15 mins. Add parmesan and bake additional 10 mins. Serve immediately.

White Chili with Ground Turkey

I really thought I had posted this, but I guess I didn't. I just recently made this and thought it sounded odd, but it actually turned out much better than I had thought it would. I will say that I only used half the recommended cinnamon (which I'm glad I did), I didn't quite use all the chicken broth it called for, and I thickened it a little with some corn starch because we didn't want to eat bean soup! I served this with a sweet corn bread that my hubby loves and everyone loved it! Oh and I use great white Northern beans or whatever they're called because its what the commissary had so I made do.

White Chili with Ground Turkey

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
• 2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chile peppers, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ground cayenne pepper to taste
• ground white pepper to taste
• 3 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

 

1.In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and ground turkey and saute for 10 minutes, or until turkey is well browned. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne pepper to taste and white pepper to taste and saute for 5 more minutes.

 

2.Add two cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.

 

Nutella Cookies

So We Love Nutella and so I thought it would be awesome to find a cookie recipe that had nutella in it and this recipe had a few good ratings but man was it bad! Even the hubby didn't care for it all and he loves just about anything and everything I bake for him! Maybe it will be something you like and this will prob get added to the not so good recipes here in the near future!

**Maybe there was something wrong with our taste buds but I sent them all to work with the hubby the next day and he said they were soooo good and so did all his co workers. Hmmm...maybe I'll have to try them again!!**
Thick and Chewy Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled until warm
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup nutella
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup choppedwalnuts or 1 cup pecans

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 20 x 14 baking sheet without sides with parchment paper.

2. Mix flour, salt and baking soda together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

3. With electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in Nutella, egg, yolk and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

4. Form 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough's uneven surface. Place formed dough onto sheet, about nine balls per sheet. (Smaller cookie sheets can be used but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and the time may need to be adjusted).

5. Bake until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden, yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on sheets. Store in an airtight container.

6. NOTE: I used a large cookie scoop to portion out the dough instead of shaping it by hand as described above. The cookies came out a little smaller than the giant 1/4 cup size, but they still looked great. They will deflate a little as they cool so keep that in mind when determining baking time. I baked mine for the full 18 minutes, or just until the centers were soft but not squishy. The cookie scoop method yielded 17 large cookies.

Taco Pasta Casserole

We tried a new recipe last night. I didn't care for it. I personally thought it was kinda bland, but the hubby enjoyed, so maybe next time I'll mix in some green chiles and maybe a can of tomatoes? I'm not sure yet I just know it needs something, but who knows maybe you'll enjoy it as is.
Taco Twist Casserole
•1lb ground beef

•1 packet taco seasoning

•1 jar taco sauce

•1 16oz box rotini noodles

•bag of shredded cheddar cheese

•sm thing of sour cream

brown the ground beef, drain, add the taco seasoning and 1 cup of water.. let simmer.. also cook your noodles.. when all thats done. mix sour cream and a cup of shredded cheese in with your noodles.. then line a casserole dish with the noodles. put a layer of taco sauce.. add the ground beef, do another layer of sauce. top with cheese, bake until cheese is melted.

so I'm not sure if I didn't put down a temp or if there just wasn't one at all but I stuck it in the oven at about 350 degrees and waited for everything to melt together and it was fine....