Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

I got his recipe from Taste of Home magazine. I tried it on spaghetti first, but didn't care for it. Now I just use it for lasagna meat or as a manicotti filling. It makes a huge batch. I can only fit a half batch in my crockpot, but I will write the regular recipe out below. You can always just half it, if you need to. A half batch makes plenty. I have enough to make 4 dishes with just the half batch. I use what I need and then freeze the rest.

Step 1: Cook the beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, drain.

Step 2: In crockpot stir together tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, worcestershire, and seasonings.

step 3: Add the meat.

Step 4: Cover and cook on low for 8 hours until bubbly. Remember to discard your bay leaves.

Step 5: Freeze your leftovers. Stamp of Approval Spaghetti Sauce ( Taste of Home Feb/Mar 2009 issue)

2 lb ground beef

1/4 c. minced parsley

3/4 lb bulk italian sausage

2 t. dried basil

4 medium onions, finely chopped

1 t. dried oregano

8 garlic cloves, minced

4 bay leaves

4 cans (14.5 oz ea) diced tomatoes

1 t. rubbed sage

4 cans (6oz ea) tomato paste

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. water

1/2 t. dried marjoram

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. pepper

1/4 c. worcestershire sauce

Bacon Cheese Dogs

Step 1: Slice your hot dogs about 1/2 way thru and pull them open a little.

Step 2: Cut a block of cheddar into strips and push the strips into your hot dogs. Place your hot dogs on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until the hot dog is heated thru and your cheese is melting.

Step 3: Add a strip of pre-cooked bacon to the top during the last few minutes of cooking. I use the pre-cooked stuff that you just pop in the microwave, only you don't need to microwave it for this.

Brined & Roasted Chicken Breast

This is something new I just tried about a month ago. Every few weeks Meijer has been running their split(bone in, skin on) Chicken Breasts on sale for 99 cents a pound. So I bought some and tried a couple different things with it. With grocery prices rising and kids eating more and then the talk of an economic collapse in the future, I figure we can start learning now to survive on less. Yes, depressing I know, but it's better to be prepared, just in case :)

Making your brine. The brine makes the chicken super moist. I never thought I could make chicken as moist & tender as this turns out. You need to do this ahead of time. I put my chicken in the brine overnite, but it needs at least 12 hours to soak.

Step 1: Boil 4 cups of water.

Step 2: Stir in 1/4 cup of kosher salt. (I just used the sea salt I had for my grinder) Once the salt is dissolved, add about 12 peppercorns and 2 cloves of smashed garlic. Now remove it from the heat and let it cool.

Step 3: Once your brine is cooled Pour it over your chicken in a large bag. Put your bag in a bowl or dish first, cause it could leak. Mine has leaked everytime I have made it, it's alot of weight in that bag. Now just stick it in the fridge.

Step 4: The next day take your chicken out of the bag. Discard your brine. I put my chicken breast on a rack on top of a cookie sheet. Then I rubbed some olive oil over the top and sprinkled some chicken something(montreal????) spice on it that I had. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 mins to an hour. Use a thermometer to check temps. It should be 170 in the center.
And of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! But it is really good. We like to dip it in a little bbq.

Another idea for the cheap split chicken breasts that I tried, was to cook them on low in your crockpot and then shread the meat. Use it for whatever you like. I did chicken quesadillas with mine. And also some buffalo chicken wraps. There's lots of things you could do with it, and for 1/2 the price of boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can cut the meat off the bone yourself and then you will have the same thing, but I'm too lazy for now :)

Chicken & Stuffing

Well my pregnant brain forgot to take pictures as I was making this, but it's a pretty simple recipe.


Step 1: Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Step 2: Put stuffing in bottom of a glass dish. Place chicken breasts/tenders (whichever you prefer) on top of the stuffing. Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and paprika.

Step 3: Pour a can of gravy over the top of the chicken.

Step 4: Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

See, I even forgot to take a finished picture until after we had already started eating!

Laundry Soap

I used the recipe from the duggars website:  http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/Homemade%20Liquid%20Laundry%20Soap-%20Front%20or%20top%20load%20machine-%20best%20value
Colby was my handy spoon holder. Cheese!

Step 1: Grate a bar of fels-naptha soap.

Step 2: Add soap to 4 cups hot tap water. Heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Step 3: Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with hot water, add soap to it.

Step 4: Stir in 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax.

Step 5: Stir until dissolved. Then fill bucket to top with hot water. Stir. Let sit overnite to thicken.
Then you can fill a laundry jug 1/2 full with soap, then fill the rest of the way with water. Shake before each use. A top load washer takes 5/8 cup per load, but the front load washer only uses 1/4 cup each load. 10 gallons of detergent should last us quite awhile.

This is super cheap too. I spent 1.39 for the fels-napatha, 2.79 for the washing soda and 4.29 for the borax. I have enough washing soda and borax to make several batches. I will just have to pick up a bar of soap each time. So 10 gallons =$2 or $3. Way cheaper than anything you'd buy in the store.

Peanut Butter Pie

This pie can be made several different ways, you can use a real pie crust and bake it ahead of time, or just buy a graham cracker crust like I did here. You can put a layer of chocolate (melted chocolate chips) on the bottom or on top or both. Or if you're lazy like me, just squeeze some chocolate syrup on the top of your pie when you eat it.

Step 1: Melt 1 cup butter

Step 2: Stir in 1 cup brown sugar until dissolved and well mixed

Step 3: Set your pan of butter & sugar in the fridge for 10-15 mins to cool off. Then measure out 1 cup of peanut butter.

Step 4: Once your mixture has cooled some, add it to the peanut butter.

Step 5: Stir in a container of cool whip. I used a 8oz package for my single pie. But I have also used a larger container and had enough filling for 2 pies.

Step 6: Pour into pie crust. Store in the fridge.

Chicken Quesadillas

Step 1: throw some chicken in your crockpot and let cook on high for 3-4 hours. I always use frozen chicken breasts. Then once cooked, shred and add water and taco seasoning.

Step 2: On a flour tortilla, sprinkle some cheese, top with chicken, then add some more cheese.

Step 3: Place in an ungreased pan. You don't need oil or anything. brown each side.