Easy like Sunday morning (breakfast)

My mother-in-law came for a visit this weekend. As I was lying awake in my bed in the wee hours of Sunday morning feeding my little baby, I kept thinking, "what the heck are we going to eat before church?" (Food consumes way more of my thoughts than it should.)

So this is what I came up with: Cheesy, sausage, biscuit cups. So easy, a sleep deprived mother could do it and it came to a grand total of $2.38 for 16 biscuits (that's only $.15 a biscuit).

What you'll need:

1 can of biscuits (I used Pilsbury Grands)

4 large eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheese

1 cup cooked sausage

Seasoning to taste

A muffin pan

Preheat the oven to 350 and open that can of biscuits.

Tear each biscuit in half and place in the bottom of a well greased muffin pan.

In a bowl mix together the eggs, cheese and seasoning. I used dried onion, garlic salt and paprika.

Chop your sausage into bite sized pieces and whisk into the egg mixture.

Spoon the mixture over the biscuit dough and place in the oven for about 12 minutes. Quick and easy and can be eaten in the back of the car while you calm a crying infant and put on mascara!

Check out Life As Mom, where others are sharing some great recipes for Frugal Friday. 

Dinner in 15 Minutes: Beef Fajita Bowl and tips to make cooking faster and easier

One thing I hear time and time again from a lot of busy moms is that they don't have time to cook. They have jobs and children and spouses and homes to maintain and obligations and it just gets to be too much. The last thing they want to do is spend an hour in the kitchen. 

Got it. I hear you. I do. 

Last week I took a break from meal planning. I realized later that this was a BIG mistake. 

The week got busy and I was running around at supper time like a mad woman. 

I had a general idea of what we were all eating until Thursday... and then I just ran out of ideas. 

I asked everyone on Facebook what they thought and I got some pretty good ideas. 

Then I came up with dinner. It was a beef fajita bowl and you can watch that recipe in the video below. 

If you're reading this in your email browser: click here. 

But I have some tips for making dinner time faster, smoother and easier. 

1. Prechop your vegetables. Okay, so I told you a few weeks ago I got a BUNCH of bell peppers for just $.10 each! I chopped them up and flash froze them. Then when I want to cook with them I just pull out as many as I need and I am good to go.  

2. Precook your meat. Have some meat already cooked and waiting in your freezer to be thawed and thrown in a dish. This is by far the best thing I could have done! A few weeks ago I bought 40 pounds of ground beef (more on that another day) and I cooked some of it in the slow cooker. Then I stored it in 1/2-pound increments in the freezer. It takes little time to thaw.

Of course, this can also be done with chicken. I have cooked chicken in the slow cooker, shredded it and froze it for later use. 

3. Keep your basics on hand. Brown rice, a few cans of beans and some tomatoes in canned in my freezer. That's pretty much the basics to build about 20 different recipes that I already have in my brain. 

Of course the best thing to do is meal plan. But no one is perfect. So if you have a backup plan and know you can get dinner on the table in under 20 minutes you won't be hitting up the drive through. 

What tips do you have for making dinner easier? 

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken in Three Simple Steps

There is something just so grand about throwing something in the crock pot, coming back later and it being done!

I love to cook a whole chicken in there. It's so easy and tasty. And ECONOMICAL! 

I wanted to break it down to for you in THREE simple steps that will MAXIMIZE flavor, juice and tenderness. 

What you'll need:

A whole chicken, with any giblets and neck removed

Your favorite seasonings, for this I used kosher salt, pepper, paprika and celery seed

One medium apple, chopped

one onion, chopped

Step 1: Line the bottom of your slow cooker with your apples and onions. 

Step 2: Shove some apples and onion pieces into your bird. 

Step 3: Place your bird in the slow cooker and rub down with your spice mix. 

Set your slow cooker to low for six hours. 

Done! That's it. You're done. 

Come back later to a beautiful roast chicken. 

What slow cooker treats have you made lately? 

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Almond Crusted Tilapia

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I love fish. And the summer is just the perfect time to eat fish, right? It's too hot to really cook and it's too hot to eat a heavy meal. So what is light and filling and healthy and easy to cook? Fish!

I love tilapia, which has really grown in popularity recently because of it's reasonable price. It's the fish I use in my tacos. 

Saturday night I wanted some fish, but I didn't feel like turning on my oven. So I decided to whip this up and it turned out great!

What you'll need:

Four tilapia filets

1 cup roasted almonds

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup flax seed (optional)

One egg

Cooking spray or EVOO or butter

Throw your almonds, cheese and flax seed (if you're using it) in the food processor. 

Preheat your skillet to a medium-low heat. If your burner has numbers put it on number 4. 

Next beat your egg and dredge your fish through it. Then press your fish into the almond mixture. 

Then place your fish in the pan and sear it on both sides for 3 three minutes each side. It's important to make sure the fish is thoroughly cooked before you flip it or it will fall apart. 

Voila!

This would be perfect with a quinoa salad or roast vegetables or both! 

Dinner in 20: Tortellini, sausage and edamame

Hungry? Tired? Busy? I often find myself all three. 

This is my go to recipe. It requires little time and little effort and I can have it on the table in 20 minutes! Plus it is SUPER frugal. 

And it's so good my husband will ask me to make it. Just 4 ingredients! 

What you'll need:

1 package cheese tortellini ( I recommend Buitoni)

1 pacakge turkey sausage

1 package edamame (shelled)

1/2 bottle of Italian dressing

Get your water boiling and warm up some olive oil in a skillet. You will want to chop and brown your sausage until it is crispy. 

Once your water is boiling throw in your pasta. You won't need to cook them long, just until they plump. 

Throw your edamame in the microwave, in the bag, to steam for about 4 minutes. 

Once your pasta is plump throw it in a bowl. Add your crispy sausage and your edamame. Then pour that Italian dressing over it. 

Voila! You're done in under 20 minutes. 

What's your go to for quick cheap recipes? 

Quinoa, apple and kale salad- fancy!

I love apples. I love kale. I love quinoa. Why not put them in a salad?!?

I do love kale I have made kale chips and I have made pasta with kale. But what about just raw kale? Yup, that's good too?

Friday I made fish tacos. I wanted something to go with them and I had just purchased some kale earlier in the week to make some more kale chips. So I went to Google. (What on earth did we do before Google?)

I found a great recipe for Quinoa, apple and kale salad. But I also had a cucumber I needed so use and some Feta cheese and my husband isn't crazy about lemon juice dressing, so I needed to make it my own.

The great thing about this salad is it is pretty healthy. Quinoa is a complete protein and very filling. Kale is believed to be an anti cancer vegetable and is loaded with calcium and vitamin k and vitamin c.

What you'll need:

2 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup uncooked quinoa cooked with two cups water)

4 cups kale, washed and pulled from stem

1/2 a large apple, cored and chopped

1 large cucumber, chopped (you can peel if you so desire)

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup low fat balsamic vinegar dressing.

Cook your quinoa according to the package instructions and let cool in the fridge for a couple hours.

In a bowl combine your kale, apple, cucumber and quinoa. Then drizzle with dressing and stir a little.

Sprinkle with your feta cheese and you are done.

Three ingredient energy bar

I love Larabars. I love, love, love them. But I don't love paying for them. On a good day they are $1 a piece and I am just too cheap for that.

I scoured the internet looking for recipes and I found several. But some of them turned out too sticky and some of them turned out too crumby. So I just kept playing till I found a take on a recipe I liked.

What I love about this recipe is that there is nothing in this that will hurt you. No sugar, nothing processed, nothing you can't pronounce. And even better it only cost me about $3.00 to make 10 bars!

What you'll need:

1 cup almonds

10 oz. pitted dates

1/4 cup cherries

1/4 cup flax seed (OPTIONAL!)

Food processor or blender.

Throw the almonds (and flaxseed if you're using it) in your blender and process them in to small pieces. 

Next drop in your cherries and dates and blend them all together.

Then dump them in a pan and grab a handful and make a little ball.

Flatten and shape that ball into a rectangle. This should yield 10. Should- depending on how big or small you make them.

Store in fridge. Or you can even freeze them for later. Just wrap them all indiviudally in plastic wrap.

Date Night Honey Cilantro Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

Ah, date night. I vaguely remember date night. I can see it now through a fog of diapers, teething and footed pajamas. I remember getting dressed up in high heals (I vaguely remember high heals) and going to a movie.

Now date night is in the living room after baby boy has passed out. I love it. I really do.

A few nights ago I made this Honey Cilantro Shrimp and Quinoa Salad along with these brownies for date night. Then we watched the Sherlock on Netflix.

Make sure you watch the video. Head over to YouTube and leave a comment and give that like button a click.

I made the shrimp with a few things I had in my cabinet. It turned out great. Roasting shrimp makes it sweet and plump and it's so easy.

Honey Cilantro Shrimp:

What you'll need:

1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
A bunch of fresh cilantro - about 1/2 a cup.
2 -4 tbsp honey
2'4 tbsp olive oil (I used Extra Virgin Kalamata Oil)

Combine honey, olive oil and cilantro. Add in the shrimp and mix with your hands.
Place in a greased pan and roast on 350 for about 20 minutes.

Quinoa Salad

What you'll need:

1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa - cook according to package instructions.
2 tbsp dried cilantro
1 tbsp lemon juice
One avocado cubed
2 cups cubed mango
stir together and add some fresh cilantro as garnish

Five Ingredient Fish Dinner

We are keeping up with our simple week of recipes. We had a 3 ingredient dessert, 4 ingredient bread and now a 5 ingredient fish dinner.

I figured out how to cook fish in aluminum foil when I was on a diet last year and constantly exhaused. I learned later my exhaustion was not my diet, I was pregnant. Ha ha!

Anyway, because this recipe was cheap, easy and healthy I began to make it a lot when I was pregnant. I was coming home from work late in the evening and I needed something that could be prepped and cooked in under 30 minutes.

This is very healthy, it has protien, fiber and all the minerals and nutrients associated with squash and zucchini like vitiamin C and magense. And it's so inexpensive I made mine with Tilapia and it costs about $1.90 per person or about $2.06 if you eat over rice.

What you'll need:

Four pieces of tilapia (or red fish or salmon)

Two zucchini

Two squash

Fresh or dried cilantro

Soy sauce

Aluminum foil

**I have also put onion, oranges and lemon pepper. You can use pretty much anything. That's the beauty of this recipe.

Preheat your oven to 350 and let's get started.

Chop your veggies and make certain your fish is fully thawed.

Tear off four peices of foil. Place a piece of fish one each piece of foil. Sprinkle the fish with soy sauce and cilantro.

Cover each peice of fish with a healthy portion of the vegetables. Beleive me, two zuchini and two squash go a long way.

Fold the foil over the veggie and fish like a little envelope. Place all four foil packs on a baking sheet and place in the oven. You will need to cook it about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Mama and Baby cook: Panko Crusted Tilapia Taco

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Want to feed your entire family (4) for less than $10? Of course you do. Try this amazing Tilapia Taco. It's sweet. It's spicy. It's wonderful!

Five4FiveMeals.com presents a cooking show where I show you how to cook a meal for a family of four for less than $5 a person.

Today we make Panko Crusted Tilapia Tacos. This recipe yields 8 small tacos and costs less than $2.00 per person.

What you'll need:

Taco:

Four 4 oz Tilapia filets
1 cup Panko Crumbs
1 tbsp dried cilantro
1 tbsp lemon pepper
Tortillas
1/2 cup cheese

Peanut Sauce:
4 tbsp creamy Peanut Butter
4 tbs hot water
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice

Pico De Gallo:
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
heaping table spoon garlic, minced

Preheat your oven to 350.

Taco:

Mix the panco, cilantro and lemon pepper. Wet your fish and press into the taco. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Pico De Gallo: Mix tomato, onion, cilantro, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1 jalapeno seeded and minced, garlic. Place in fridge.

Peanut sauce: Using a jar, scoop in 4 tbsp peanut butter, add 4 tbsp hot water, brown sugar and lemon juice and shake (with the lid on of course). It will be the consistency of salad dressing so you will need to refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.

Place the fish on your tortilla and cover with peanut sauce and pico de gallo and a little cheese.