Search Results for: blog crockpot meal make over

Quick and Fancy Crockpot Chicken

Have a couple of hours with no idea what to cook for dinner? Try the following recipe. It is easy, inexpensive and taste a bit fancy. Try serving it up over egg noodles, another inexpensive food. You might also try it with regular pasta or rice. To make this dish even less expensive, try purchasing boneless, skinless chicken breasts in an inexpensive family pack. One of these packs usually contain six good-sized chicken breasts. The following recipe calls for four of those breasts. Retain the remaining two chicken breasts for another meal. My suggestion is to take them and place … Continue reading →

Winter Meal Planning

It feels like I am constantly running to the grocery store. If I’m lucky, I only go a couple of times during the week. But more often it ends up being three or four times that I visit. Now that it’s gotten colder and I am thinking ahead to the winter months, my goal is to eliminate unnecessary trips to the store. The only way I can really do that is to improve my meal planning skills. Last year I had this great idea of trying three new recipes every week. I was tired of cooking the same things over … Continue reading →

Crockpot Mac & Cheese II

You can make comfort food, such as macaroni and cheese on a hot summer day. Just use your crockpot instead of your oven. This macaroni and cheese dish can be paired with a salad to make a full meal, or used as a side dish. It will freeze well, too. Just make sure to reheat it and eat it within three to six months for optimal flavor. If you have a food sealer, you can keep it even longer. This variation on the original crockpot macaroni and cheese sneaks in some extra lycopene for good eye health through the addition … Continue reading →

Quick and Frugal Thermos Meals

How can you provide good meals when your busy week means that you are never home to eat, let alone to prepare meals. With kids involved skipping meals is not an option, and the cost of fast food meals would add up quickly. I’ve had to face this situation during the past two weeks. My ten-year-old son is in a big musical production. His rehearsals have been starting after school and going to seven or eight o’clock at night. With the last few rehearsals before opening night (the musical opens this Thursday evening), there are costumes and make up before … Continue reading →

Comfort Food: Crockpot Mac & Cheese

It seems that we have run out of turkey leftovers. I had wondered how on earth this could be possible, given the fact that we cooked a 21 pound bird and only had to feed five adults and five picky kids. Then I realized the answer: our relatives carted away most of the leftovers. Sigh. Well, I am glad that they are going to enjoy them, but as a result, I actually have to cook dinner tonight. Mourning the loss of all of that turkey and mashed potatoes, I thought comfort food would be in order, and the more simple, … Continue reading →

Five Tips for Great Slow Cooker Meals

Using your slow cooker or crockpot is a great money saving idea. You can use inexpensive ingredients and have dinner ready with ease, avoiding the cost of eating out. I often get a lot of questions about using slow cookers, especially from people who find that their meals are dried out, tasteless, over or under seasoned or a strange texture. But most of the time, this can be corrected easily by following some basic guidelines or tips to freezer cooking. Here are five tips for great slow cooker meals. Be careful about opening the lid. While some recipes do benefit … Continue reading →

A Selection of Meatless Meals

Incorporating some meatless meals into your regular menu can reduce your grocery food bill. Most of the commonly high priced items in the supermarket for the average shopper are all meat products. It gets even worse when the meat is part of a prepackaged or pre-cooked meal. But trying to plan out a variety of meatless meals is the key to keeping the family interested and not crying out for steak. Many people envision a meatless meal to be a bunch of vegetables just sitting there on the plate. But there are so many options today for yummy and cheap … Continue reading →

Inventive Meals on the Road

After traveling and lodging, food is the biggest expense while traveling. But you can get in some great meals for $10, $5 or less when you cook them yourself. How can you cook while traveling? There are a few fun and inventive ways to be frugal here. Bring the slow cooker While many hotels don’t allow cooking in the room unless you have a suite that includes a kitchen, you can still use your crockpot in your car! If you have a long trip, at least four hours, then you are all set for a great meal. Add a liner … Continue reading →

Emergency Meal Stretching 2

We are talking about some techniques for stretching meals in an emergency, from hosting unexpected company to having to make due with the food resources that you have. If you missed part one, click here: Emergency Meal Stretching. Vegetables are a good choice when you don’t have time to really cook extra food. Canned or frozen, and even fresh, they are generally easy to prepare. You can have large helpings as a side dish or make the vegetable the main ingredient. And here is a trick to make it seem as though your meal is larger than it is. Offer … Continue reading →

How to Buy a Crockpot

Crockpots (slow cookers) are a favorite tool in a frugal home. Why? Crockpots allow you to put dinner together in the morning or even the night before and have it waiting for you when you are ready. This reduces the chance that you will either purchase expensive pre-frozen or pre-packaged meals for busy nights, or go out to eat. Some studies have shown that crockpots use less energy than does an oven or range, saving you money. Because of the cooking method, crockpots allow you to use less expensive cuts of meat, rendering them tender. There has been a surge … Continue reading →