Thanks to Passionate Penny Pincher for passing along this yummy recipe for Cheesy Baked Spaghetti.  She says it is to good enough to eat the whole pan, and she does not even like normal spaghetti I am thinking it is worth a try since I am not a huge spaghetti fan either.  Sure does look good!

If you would like to be a featured guest post on Look What I Made, watch for our weekly post each Tuesday called A Thrifty online craft fair, link up and you may be selected for our weekly feature post.

Cheesy Baked Spaghetti (aka Scooter’s Spaghetti, adapted from Salad in a Jar)

Ingredients

1. 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti hopefully in your stockpile!
2. 1 pound ground beef Ground Round On Sale at Publix, $3.99/lb
3. 1 large can spaghetti sauce (26.5 ounces) Ragu BOGO $2.20, Use $.50/1 Ragu pasta sauce 1/29/12 RP
4. 1 tablespoon butter
5. 1/2 cup chopped green peppers optional, we did not use them
6. 1/3 cup chopped onions Sweet Onions On Sale, 1.29/lb at Publix
7. 8 ounces softened cream cheese
8. 2 tablespoons milk
9. Fresh grated Parmesan cheese we substituted with mozzarella because I didn’t have any Fresh parmesan
10. French Fried Onions (small can) Use $.30/1 French Fried Onions

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to directions on the package. Cook to al dente, drain and set aside.
2. Brown ground beef, and drain grease.  Pour spaghetti sauce into ground beef and heat.
3. While spaghetti & ground beef are cooking, combine onions, peppers & butter in microwave save bowl.  Cover and heat on high for four minutes.
4. Add cream cheese and milk to microwaved onions & pepper mixture and stir (you may need to warm the cream cheese up a few seconds in the microwave to make it easy to mix together.)
5. In a 10×6 oval pyrex dish (or similar size), put a thin layer of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the dish.
6. Then add all the spaghetti noodles.
7. Next add cream cheese mixture, and then the spaghetti sauce.
8. Sprinkle parmesan cheese (or mozzarella) over the top of the casserole.  (I added about 3/4 cups of mozzarella, but I think fresh parmesan would ahve been fantastic!)
9. Bake at 350 for twenty five minutes. Add can of fried onions, and bake an additional five minutes (be careful not to let them burn!)
10. Garnish with grated parmesan. . . yummmmmmm!

Related posts:

1. Oven Baked Cheesy Nachos- Recipe
2. Spaghetti Pepperoni Pie – Recipe
3. Cheesy Cauliflower Recipe

 Cream of Asparagus soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalks celery, chopped
• pinch of garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and  chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Wash and dry your vegetables. Peel the tough skin off the bottom of the asparagus.

Chop into 1 inch segments

Steam or boil till tender. Normally about 5-7 minutes.

In a 3 quart sauce pot, add 2 tablespoons butter, chopped onion, garlic powder and celery. Cook over medium heat till onions start to turn translucent (normally 4-5 minutes).

Add 3 tablespoon of flour into the pot. Stir around and let cook to get rid of the “raw” flour taste . Cook about 2 minutes (medium/ low heat) stirring to prevent clumping or burning. Add chicken broth and milk at the same time, stir and bring back to a boil. The flour mixture will start to thicken the broth.

Add onion/ broth mixture along with your steamed asparagus to a blender. Save a few of the asparagus tops for garnish. ONLY FILL THE BLENDER HALF WAY and do not put the cover on tight. Just cover with a towel and mix. Blend till smooth and creamy (about 1-2 minutes). Salt and pepper to taste…. enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Cream of Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
2. Recipe Grandmas Beef and Vegetable soup ~ with a twist
3. Thrifty Recipe for Olive Garden Toscana Soup

Roast Beef Potato Rolls

You will need

• Deli style sliced roast beef 6-8 large slices or 12-14 small
• 3-5 cups mashed potatoes
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (save 1 cup for top)
• 2 cups brown gravy
• 9×13 pan, buttered to prevent sticking.

Lay your roast beef  flat, in the middle of each one add a row of mashed potatoes and top with cheese.

Wrap and overlap the ends of the roast beef to create a tight roll, place in a buttered baking dish.

Sprinkle the top with 1 cup cheese, cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.  If the mashed potatoes are hot when you make them it will only take 15-20 minutes to cook.  But if they are cold you will need to the full 30 minutes cooking time.

Top with brown gravy and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Shredded Beef and Cheese Biscuit Rolls Recipe
2. FREE Roast Beef Sandwich from Arby’s – Hot Freebie!
3. BBQ Chicken Potato Bake recipe

Related posts:

1. Thrifty Recipes for Super Bowl
2. Free work week recipes
3. Free baby food recipes

Bread Sticks ~ thick and chewy

You will need

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 egg yolk (save the whites to brush the bread sticks with before baking)

In one bowl add 1/2 your flour, add Yeast and Salt  mix well and set aside.  In another bowl ( I used my kitchen aid) add water, oil, sugar and egg yolk, mix a few times then slowly add in the flour, yeast and salt mixture.  Once it is well blended stir in the rest of the flour.  If you use a kitchen aid make sure you have your dough hook on and mix till stiff dough is smooth and elastic…. if not mix by hand, knead on a floured surface 6-8 minutes.

Cover bowl, and place in a warm spot to rise, till it has doubled in size.  Normally takes about an hour.  Punch down dough to get the air out, and turn out on a floured surface.

Have your little helpers roll out 8-10 bread sticks….  OR if you like them a little thinner and crisp make 16 thinner bread sticks.

Place on a greased baking sheet, and cover.  Once again  they need to rise in a warm spot.  I normally let them rise in the oven, that is just warm (NOT HEATED)  Let them rise for an hour, or till doubled in size.

Once the have doubled in size take the cover off, brush tops with egg whites mixed with 1 tablespoon water.  You can top with a bit of garlic salt, or parsley or leave plain.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-11 minutes

Once they are cooked you can also add a little shredded cheese on top for Cheese Bread Sticks, 30 seconds – 1 minute in the oven should melt the cheese.

Bread Sticks ~ thick and chewy

2 hours prep time, 10 minutes baking time

Makes 8-16 bread sticks
You will need

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 egg yolk (save the whites to brush the bread sticks with before baking)

In one bowl add 1/2 your flour, add Yeast and Salt mix well and set aside. In another bowl ( I used my kitchen aid) add water, oil, sugar and egg yolk, mix a few times then slowly add in the flour, yeast and salt mixture. Once it is well blended stir in the rest of the flour. If you use a kitchen aid make sure you have your dough hook on and mix till stiff dough is smooth and elastic…. if not mix by hand, knead on a floured surface 6-8 minutes.

Cover bowl, and place in a warm spot to rise, till it has doubled in size. Normally takes about an hour. Punch down dough to get the air out, and turn out on a floured surface.

Have your little helpers roll out 8-10 bread sticks…. OR if you like them a little thinner and crisp make 16 thinner bread sticks.

Place on a greased baking sheet, and cover. Once again they need to rise in a warm spot. I normally let them rise in the oven, that is just warm (NOT HEATED) Let them rise for an hour, or till doubled in size.

Once the have doubled in size take the cover off, brush tops with egg whites mixed with 1 tablespoon water. You can top with a bit of garlic salt, or parsley or leave plain.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-11 minutes

Once they are cooked you can also add a little shredded cheese on top for Cheese Bread Sticks, 30 seconds – 1 minute in the oven should melt the cheese.

Related posts:

1. Baked Zucchinni Sticks with Progresso Bread Crumbs Recipe
2. Cinnamon Roll Bread recipe
3. Scones Recipe (also known as Fry Bread)

Matts Mom makes this and I love it, hope you enjoy it too.

Cucumber Salad

• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 2 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
• 3/4 tsp Dill Weed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 Medium cucumbers sliced (as thin as you can get them)
• 1/2 slices onions ( as thin as you can get them)

In a bowl combine the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, dill, salt and pepper.  Add cucumbers and onions, toss till well coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Related posts:

1. Garlic Parmesan Italian Salad Dressing recipe- look what I made
2. Recipe: 12 hour Salad
3. Thrifty recipe – Chicken and Cabbage Salad

Start by making your biscuit dough or used premade dough.

Baking Powder Biscuits ( from Clabber Girl site)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Clabber Girl Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening, margarine, or butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, Clabber Girl Baking Powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center; add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just till moistened.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for 10 to 12 strokes or till the dough is nearly smooth.

For this recipe you will want to roll the dough out as thin as you can get it.  Then top it with 2 cups of shredded beef and 2 cups of shredded cheese ( I used mexi-style).  Leave one end topping free so when you roll it closed you can get a good seal on the end.

 Start rolling into a roll ( kind of like Cinnamon rolls)

 Use a sharp knife to cut into 1 inch segments.

 Place into a greased baking dish.  Bake at $450 degrees 12-16 minutes till edges have started to brown and middle is cooked well.  Top with brown gravy and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Thrifty Recipe – Egg Rolls
2. Thrifty Cheese Ball Recipe
3. Crispy, moist, sweet homemade cornbread recipe

Pineapple Sweet and Sour Chicken

You will need:

• 1 large carrot peeled and sliced thin (about 1/2 cup) You many save a few peels for garnish
• 1 small onion diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 of a 20 ounce can of Dole Pineapple Chopped (save the juice for the sauce)
• 1 stalk of celery chipped  (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 large Chicken Breast boneless skinless sliced into thin slices
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons corn starch
• 3 tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 3-4 cups cooked rice

 Cut up veggies and set aside.

Slice chicken into thin strips, and then place in a bag.  Season with salt and pepper, then add corn starch and flour to the bag. Twist the bag shut, try to trap air in the bag so you can shake the chicken and get an even coating of flour and corn starch.

Add the chicken to a hot skillet, with 1/4 of a cup olive oil.  Cook over medium high heat till it is almost done, and starting to brown.  Then add in veggies, let cook an additional 3-5 minutes.

Add the brown sugar,  white vinegar, soy sauce and  ketchup  to the pineapple juice left in the can (20 oz can).  Stir and then add to the chicken and vegetables. Continue to cook,   It will thicken within a few minutes, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over rice.

To make it look fancy you can add a few carrot peels (use a peeler) and a few spinach leaves on top.

Related posts:

1. Thrifty Recipe- Sweet and Sour Sauce
2. Apricot Almond Chicken recipe
3. How to make Chicken Gravy from drippings

Meal #1 Oven baked ham, with potato casserole and rainbow carrots.

Piggy Back Meal Ideas~ Cheesy Ham and Potato Chowder 

Or Pork and Veggie Stir Fry with Pork & Seeds with hot mustard.

Click here for Piggy back meal ideas with Roast Beef.

Related posts:

1. French Dip turns into Crisp Meat Burritos ~ Piggy Back Meals
2. Recipe: Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole
3. Oven Baked Cheesy Nachos- Recipe

For example this week I make a small  beef roast into French Dip sandwiches,  (for recipe click here)  But we ran out of the dipping sauce.  Which left me about 3 cups of shredded beef.

I then took the 3 cups of shredded beef, chopped it up real good added a can of refried beans, and a dash of hot sauce.

Stirred it all up till it looked like a nasty brown ball of muck …lol.

Then I rolled them into small  burritos.  You know kind of like the ones you buy at Taco Time… But they call them a Crisp Meat Burrito and charge you $2.25

I fried mine in a skillet with a bit of olive oil… but you could bake them in an oven as well.

Finished product is a totally different taste, and look (which keeps the menu plan new and fresh, and the budget happy)

What are your favorite meals to Piggy Back?

Related posts:

1. Thrifty meals: French Dip
2. Local Deal: Wanchai Ferry Meals spicy sweet shrimp $1.50
3. Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals APP for FREE 7/28 only

Top or Bottom

One looks like it came from an upscale restaurant, and the other greasy napkin looks like gas station food.

But they are both the exact same meal…. the only difference is the  presentation.

First tip is to cut the burrito on an angle and stack them.

It is amazing the difference a white plate, a cilantro leaf on top of guacamole and a few dots of hot sauce will make.

One of my secret kitchen tools is a 1 ml syringe, makes adding dots to the plate super easy!

Takes about 30 seconds longer to plate it this way, but is sure does look pretty… and if you are trying to impress dinner guest this a fun little trick.

Related posts:

1. Free glue Dot sample
2. FREE ebook 9 Thanksgiving Decorations to Make (fixed the link)
3. Survey’s that make a difference

I admit this sounded a little weird when my friend told me about Grape Salsa… but I whipped some up.  Matt did really care of it… but I loved it!  Our friends all liked it too.  Have you tried it before what did you think?

Grape Salsa recipe

• 2 cups seedless grapes , coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup white onion , chopped
• 1-2 tablespoon jalapeno (seeds taken out), diced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro , chopped
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper

Related posts:

1. Broccoli & Grape Salad Recipe
2. Recipe: 12 hour Salad
3. Recipe- Corn and Bean Salsa

Almond Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe

• 1 pound Diced Cooked Chicken Breast
• 3 green onions diced
• 1 cup red or green grapes halved
• 3 stalks of celery diced small
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Combine, salt and pepper to taste, best if it has a few hours to chill, for the flavors to blend.  Keep in refrigerator and serve on a roll, tortilla wrap, bagel…. or just plain bread.  Either way it is fabulous. This my personal favorite, hope you enjoy it too.

You can cook the chicken breast any way you want.  But I prefer to roast it in the oven or do a quick boil…. but if I boil it I always add a little onion, celery, and garlic to the water.  Gives it a much better flavor.

Once the chicken is cooked thru, cooking time will vary on size of breast. I normally cook them 25-35 minutes.  Take them out, and let them rest on a cutting board to cool.

Once they have cooled down some (normally 10 minutes) chop them into small bite sized pieces. Put them into the refrigerator to cool even more.

Chop your veggies, add all the ingredients in a bowl.

Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Apricot Almond Chicken recipe
2. Thrifty recipe – Chicken and Cabbage Salad
3. BBQ Chicken Potato Bake recipe

Veggies Pen Wheels Click here for the recipe

You can make these a little more festive for Christmas by only using RED and GREEN veggies.

• red or green bell peppers
• broccoli
• tomatoes
• green onions
• celery
• sun dried tomatoes

Related posts:

1. Thrifty Finger food – Veggie Pinwheels
2. Cream of Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe
3. Ratatouille Recipe and How to guide

Yes how sad is that I do not even know what the official name for these are… we just call them Granny’s Pecan Rolo Pretzel Christmas Treats.  Because Granny makes them every Christmas and we look  forward to this delightful treat!  I have to admit that most Holiday goodies I can easily eat one and walk away with no temptation to over eat…… BUT these, well they are my weakness, and no joke I am pretty sure I could eat the WHOLE PAN.

The kids love to help make these, and it goes a lot faster with all their little fingers unwrapping the rolos.

To make these you need

• about 50 small pretzels
•  50 unwrapped rolos (one bag)
• 50 pecan halves
• large pan
• preheated oven at 300 degrees

Place pretzel down first, then the rolo, place pecan on top.  Place in a 300 degree oven for 1-2 minutes  NO LONGER as soon as the rolos start to look shinny take them out.  You do not want to melt them, just warm them up.  Once you take them out of the oven push the pecan down to “smoosh it all together”.  Let them cool and enjoy (or you can try one while they are still warm… but watch out you may end up eating the whole pan).

Related posts:

1. FREE Honey Bunches of Oats Pecan cereal
2. Fudge recipe~ Christmas Treats
3. Pecan Sandies .50 at Walgreens

Ingard here, ever since I can remember my mother made fudge. This is the recipe she used EVERY year. Since I have been on my own Christmas just isn’t Christmas for me without this tradition.

Over the years I have found it VERY helpful to get ALL of the ingredients ready to just pour in.

Butter 13×9 baking dish with about 1Tablespoon of butter, set aside.

Take 3 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup evaporated milk

place in 6 quart sauce pan. Gently bring to a boil stirring as you go.

Once it starts to boil let it gently boil for 5 minutes.

Once it has boiled 5 minutes remove from heat and add

1 teaspoon vanilla

7 oz marshmallow creme

1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz)

1 cup chopped nuts ~ optional (due to allergies in my home we leave these out)

Pour into buttered 13×9 buttered dish.

Chill over night in the refrigerator, then cut into bite size pieces.

In the past I have placed cut pieces in quart jars and either frozen or kept in the fridge.

I also add these to goodie plates that I deliver to people in my church.

Related posts:

1. Chewy Chex Mix Recipe
2. Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats ~ Recipe
3. Thrifty Light Recipe of the day

Here is what I remember she did:

• 1/4 cup oats (old fashioned or quick)
• 1 Tablespoon sprinkles
• 1 Tablespoon raisins (I used cranberries)
• 1teaspoon red or green colored sugar sprinkles
• You can even put in the colored paper dots from a hole punch (I didn’t)
• Mix these ingredients together and place in resealable baggie

Print up this poem on your computer or by hand and affix to the baggie:

Reindeer Food

Sprinkle on the lawn at night,

The moonlight will make it shine so bright.

As the reindeer fly and roam,

this will guide their way to your home.

Related posts:

1. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer cupcakes ~ Christmas treats
2. Pillsbury Reindeer Cookies Recipe
3. FREE Reindeer Pocketbac at Bath & Body Works

Well it’s been a long time coming! Say Hello to our Recipe Box! This is an interactive area where you can add your recipes, categorise them by all different types, and archive them away!

You can find it on the top right side of our site. Right under the Home link under our top header image.

There are two different links:

Recipe Archive is where you can search to find just what you want to make and what sounds good.

Add Recipe is where you can add your favorite recipe for others to try! Step by step boxes to fill in and you can even include photos of your meal! Make sure you link it to right categories to make it easy to find!

Related posts:

1. Ratatouille Recipe and How to guide
2. White Chocolate Chex Mix Recipe
3. Dulce de Leche coupon and recipe

Creamy Mexican Corn Dip

• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 can Southwestern Style  corn, drained
• 2 can  Mexicorn, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
• 1 tablespoon  jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and sugar; stir into corn mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle with additional green onions. Serve with chips

Adapted from Taste Of Home Recipe

Related posts:

1. Recipe: 12 hour Salad
2. Recipe- Corn and Bean Salsa
3. Gluten free corn bread recipe

When apples have been setting on the counter and the family won’t eat them because they have lost their crispness.

This is a great recipe to use them in.

First turn your oven onto 350°

grease and flour your bundt pan (I used baking Pam)

 You will need:

• 6 apples (peeled, cored and chopped)
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 5 Tablespoons white granulated sugar

Place these ingredients in a bowl and and toss with the sugar and cinnamon.

Next mix in another bowl:

• 3 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

In another final bowl mix:

• 3 Eggs (beaten)
• 2 Cups Brown sugar (packed)
• 1 Cup Vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Cup Chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix all wet ingredients together

Add the dry to the wet and get ready for a work out as this batter is VERY thick!Put half of the very thick batter in the pan

(I used my fingers to get the batter to cover the bottom of the pan)next layer is 1/2 of the seasoned chopped applesplace

the rest of the batter on top of the apples

and follow that up with the other 1/2 of the seasoned apples

Bake at 350° for at least 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes.

Check for doneness by poking a knife in and it coming out mostly clean or the cake pulling away from the sides of the pan

Related posts:

1. Cream Cheese Apple Dip Recipe
2. Fresh Blueberry Breakfast Cake Recipe
3. Baked Apple Pear Crepe Filling- Recipe