Budget Meal Recipes

While some people love to spend a ton of time in the kitchen cooking, I am not one of them.  I'm all about cheap and easy - definitely the easy part.  That being said, I found some great videos on Youtube for One-pan Dinners.  Because nobody really ever wants to do a ton of dishes but we do want to look like gourmet chefs.  Most of these recipes were made using a aluminum sheet pan . I personally love these types of pans and use ours a lot.  I found the Winware Aluminum Sheet Pan on Amazon that is the same size that we use and it cheaper than buying it at the local stores.  I really like the larger size as it is more versatile.  That being said, two sheet pans is probably plenty to have for most families. Winware 18 Inch x 26 Inch Aluminum Sheet Pan Easy one-pan or one-dish dinners are also a great cooking method to teach your kids before they move out.  For us, our oldest leaves this fall and he will definitely be learning these methods along with myself.

   Many of you have probably noticed that I haven't posted for a bit.  We've been on vacation at our house plus lots of other things going on!  I hope everyone else has had a great two weeks as ours has been very fun and productive. For one of these trips we wound up eating on the go in the van.  Definitely not our favorite way to do dinner but we needed to leave then or wait until the next day.  I didn't want to spend $20-$30 hitting the drive through so I made a cheap and fast homemade lunchables to tide us over.  (I'll admit I even had to put them together in the car with the pre-sliced toppings.)  Right about then I realized what an absolute rip off store bought lunchables are. Videos How to live on $3 a Day - Day 4 Cucumber Tomato Salad Recipe Recipes One Pan Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Quinoa Hilaria Baldwin's Shrimp & Quinoa Paella 20-minute Chicken Fajita Quinoa Dinner Skillet Slow Cooker Cheesy Enchilada Quinoa Bake Tortill

Magnetic Dry Erase Weekly Menu Planner -  75% OFF SALE ! One of our posters shared this  Magnetic Dry Erase Weekly Menu Meal Planner  with us and I love it! I definitely am getting me one.  My hubby works with computers all day and the last thing he wants to do when he gets home is be on another electronic device checking the family menu.  I'm hoping this will be a good help to him and the kids so they know what to help with.  (Or, what not to eat because it is planned into a meal). I checked today and this is 75% OFF right now so I figure I'd better share it again!  Regularly priced at $59.99, the  Magnetic Dry Erase Weekly Menu Meal Planner  is  on sale for $14.99 !  I suggest getting the deal before it is gone.  It looks like the same company also has several other type of dry erase home planners on sale, too. Magnetic Dry Erase Weekly Menu Meal Planner - BUY HERE

Happy 4th of July to our U.S. readers!   We are on vacation,  too, and hope you all have a safe and happy Independence Day.  If you are in need of a last minute and inexpensive dessert try these festive looking red,  white,  and blue 4th of July cupcakes. If you have a chocolate cake mix on hand,  these are so fast and easy. Since I am on my phone today I took a screenshot for you of the absolutely yummy DC Cupcakes vanilla buttercream frosting we use.  Simply split the frosting into 3rds, add dye and mix.  You can use a ziploc bag with a corner cut off if you don't have pastry bags.  Swirl on cooled cupcakes and you are done. Have a great day everyone!