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. 

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? 

Homemade Butter in 2 Minutes with video tutorial

Do you love creamy, rich butter? I know I do. Which is why I wear giant stretchy pants. We actually don't eat an inordinate amount of butter at our house, usually just Saturday mornings when we have our weekly pancake breakfast. 

I have wondered for a long time how to make butter at home using fresh cream. I decided to give it a try. 

Boy, it was easy and it only took on ingredient. Cream. And it only took 2 minutes!

What you'll need"

4 cups cream

1/8 tsp sea salt or Kosher salt (optional)

A food processor

Let your cream rise to room temperature. 

Then pour it in your food processor. Hit on and let that thing swirl and swirl for two minutes. 

When it is finished you will need to separate the butter solids from the butter milk.  Just strain through a cheese cloth or tea towel. You can store your buttermilk for later use to make cornbread.

 The butter will only keep in the fridge for a week or two. But you can keep it in the freezer for a while. 

For more fun ideas visit Betsy at Romance on a Dime for Take it on Tuesday. 

Pesto Pizza With Cream Cheese

I love pizza, yes I do! I love pizza, how about you? I am not overly picky about where my pizza comes from. I just love it.

Way back in 2011 I went with some friends to Big Pie In The Sky Pizzeria in Kennesaw, Georgia. You might have actually heard of it if you watch the show "Man Verses Food." They have a HUGE pizza called the Carnivore. It weighs like a 11 pounds and if you and a friend eat it in under an hour it's free. However, if you do eat that pizza, I recommend you get your stomach pumped because you just consumed 5.5 pounds of pizza. Gross.

At any rate, back to my story, Beardface and I went to eat with our friends Tricia and Sarah. We had the most delicious pizza ever. It was made with pesto, a blend of Italian cheese and topped with creamed cheese.

I've been hankering for that pizza. But alas, Kennesaw is now an eight hour drive away.

So what's a girl to do? Make it herself!

What you'll need:

A pizza crust, click here my recipe

About a cup of pesto sauce. If you're feeling particularly ambitious you can make your own. But if you're like me you can just buy the Classico brand at Publix and call it a day.

1 - 2 cups Italian blend shredded cheese

Eight tablespoons cream cheese (I recommend creamy goat cheese if you can find it)

Spread out your crust in a pan. I sprinkled mine with parmesean cheese, minced onions and basil.

Bake at 350 for about eight minutes.

Add your pesto.

Sprinkle with cheese, yo.

Dollop with cream cheese.

Pop in the oven and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Then fall in love with the greatest pizza ever.

Don't forget to head over to Romance on A Dime for Take It On Tuesday.

Ranch Shrimp, the easiest recipe ever

I love shrimp. Love, love, love it. It's one thing I like about living so close to the gulf. Shrimp!

I was hankering for some shrimp Friday night. So I decided to go to my easiest shrimp recipe ever. This is even easier then my Idiot Proof Shrimp.

Just combine the little guys with a little dry ranch mix and olive oil and in a flash you have dinner.

Let me be clear about one thing. I actually hate ranch dressing. It's slimey and smells bad and I think it is gross. But dry ranch mix for dips and such? I love that stuff. Love it!

What you'll need:

1 pound shrimp peeled and deviened

1 pack dry ranch powder or 3 tablespoons dry ranch mix

If you don't have any dry ranch mix click here make your own.

Extra virgin olive oil

Heat up your oil in a pan over a medium heat.

Add your shrimp.

Sprinkle with ranch mix.

Cook until super pink.

And that's it. It takes about 8 minutes from start to finish.

We paired our with an apple and walnut salad over romain lettuce. For a great dressing, click here.

Don't forget to visit Betsy at Romance on a Dime for Take It On Tuesday.

Garlicy oven roasted corn on the cob

Is there anything better in the summer than fresh corn on the cob? Maybe water melon? Maybe. 

I was looking for a new way to cook corn on the cob this weekend and I think I found it. It was amazing, it was delicious. It made me weep. (Not really.)

Also, it combined all of my husbands favorite things, butter, garlic and corn.

What you'll need:

Four ears of corn, shucked

2 Tbsp melted butter

4 tbsp minced garlic

That is all.

Preheat your oven to 350.

Drizzle the butter over the corn.

Rub with garlic.

Roast in oven for 30 minutes.

That's it. You're done.

Homemade yogurt- easier than it sounds

I love yogurt. My baby loves yogurt. We all scream for yogurt! Okay, we don't scream. It's not like it's Ben and Jerry's but whatever.

We have been eating so much yogurt that it gets expensive. Also, it has a lot of sugar in it. So I decided to make my own, plain yogurt.

It turned out pretty good and I was able to make a gallon for around $4.50! That saves me $.07 an ounce, or 50 percent off. Yes. I did the math. I love saving money that much. Of course, if I hadn't used organic milk and starter yogurt it would have been cheaper.

What you'll need:

A crock pot

1 gallon 2 percent or whole milk 

1 cup plain yogurt (you need it for the cultures)

Jars, etc. for freezing

Turn your crock pot on HIGH and pour all the milk into it. (I lost my crock pot, so my mother gave me her old one. The lid broke so now I use aluminum foil. It's a bootleg crock pot.)

Let it sit for 2 hours, until it reaches a boil. Then take that weird membrane off the top and throw it out.

Once it has boiled and killed off all the germs, let it cool down until it is about 115 degrees. Add your cup of yogurt. (Note: If you are using whole milk you do not need the powdered milk.)

Then cover your crock pot with a towel and stick it in a place where it won't be deserved. Some people stick it in their oven. I just put it on the counter and left it alone.

About 8 hours later I had yogurt!! If you want a thicker yogurt you can strain it through a cheese cloth or coffee filter.

I poured mine into Ball jars and stuck what I didn't need now into the freezer.

Save a cup of your homemade yogurt and freeze it so you have the cultures later. 

If you liked this recipe and you want more DIY ideas, then you really should check out Romance on a Dime. Betsy hosts a great Tuesday link up with lots of projects.

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.

Two ingredient peach frozen yogurt

The peaches are here! The peaches are here! Alabama's glorious plump peaches have finally arrived.

I lived in Georgia for six years, and while it is known as the peach state, have you ever had a Chilton County peach? I think Alabama is edging you out Georgia!

The Chilton County peaches came rolling in to town this week. Baby boy and I went to the farmer's market and loaded up.

Last night I pealed them, pitted them and put them in the blender to make two ingredient frozen yogurt!

What you'll need:

About two cups pealed peaches (you can use frozen or canned)

Two cups vanilla yogurt. I used Stonyfield.

Put your peaches in the blender or food processor until they are liquid like.

Add your yogurt. Then blend some more.

Place in a freezer safe container and let chill for about two hours.

It is so good. I ate it for breakfast!