Philly Cheese Steak Mini Pizzas

Image via Wikipedia

Contributed by Sheila Buck

My children and I love to make English muffin pizzas. My oldest son and I like to try different toppings on our mini pizzas. This is a new one that we tried recently and really enjoyed.

Ingredients:

1 Package of English muffins

Alfredo cheese sauce

Steak

Medium green pepper

Medium onion

Mozzarella cheese

Canned or fresh mushrooms (optional)

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the fat from the steak. Cut the steak into small cubes. Chop the onion and green pepper. Coat a medium frying pan with cooking spray. Add the steak, onions and green pepper to the pan and cook until the vegetables are tender. If you want mushrooms, add them as well. While the meat and vegetables are cooking, halve the English muffins and place the halves on a cookie sheet. Spoon some Alfredo sauce onto each muffin and spread it. Cover each muffin with mozzarella cheese. When the meat and veggie mixture is done cooking, top each muffin with the mixture. Bake at 425 degrees until the cheese is melted and the muffins are crisp.

We always use store brand English muffins and mozzarella cheese for this recipe. The least expensive Alfredo sauce we have been able to find is Ragu brand.

***

NOTE: (From the administrator) To save even more money on this recipe, use fresh produce from your own organic garden.

Frugal Recipes Happenings for 5/31/2011

Image via CrunchBase

I have decided to try a new venue for posting the Frugal Recipes Happenings newsletter. It is now going to be published on a LiveJournal.com blog. This weeks newsletter can be found at http://shannonbuck.livejournal.com/726.html.

Enjoy!

Shannon

Related articles

• Frugal Recipes Happenings for 3/19/2011 (frugalrecipes.wordpress.com)
• Frugal Recipes Happenings for 5/11/2011 (frugalrecipes.wordpress.com)
• Frugal Recipes Happenings 4/2/2011 (frugalrecipes.wordpress.com)

Sweet and Sour Chicken Bake

Image by animakitty via Flickr

I love sweet and sour chicken. It is one of my favorites, and can be made in a variety of ways. I made this one recently.

Ingredients

chicken strips

sweet and sauce

canned pineapple, with liquid

1. Place the chicken in a baking dish and cover with sweet and sour sauce. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

2. When ready to bake, uncover the chicken and pour the pineapples and liquid over everything.

3. Put this in the oven on 350* for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken and cook about another 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Tips

• Use chicken from a previously cooked roast to save money.

• Store brand sauce and pineapple will save money as well.

• If using fresh pineapple, be sure to add ¼ to ½ cup of water to the baking dish before placing it into the oven.

 

Serving Suggestions

 

• Serve with mashed potatoes, a side salad and bread with butter.

What can I do with taco fixings?

Image via Wikipedia

If you want to save time by preparing meat fillings, cheeses and toppings ahead, you might choose to have a few days where you make taco type meals.

Taco Dinner

The first night, you might choose to make a taco dinner. Do this by breaking some of the hard taco shells into bite size pieces and placing them in the bottom of a pie plate. Add taco filling, and sprinkle the top with cheese. Once the cheese melts, split the dinner between everyone and allow each person to add their own toppings.

Nachos

For lunches, you may want to have nachos. Tortilla chips are placed on a baking sheet, and filling and cheese are sprinkled over the top. These are done when the cheese is melted, and may be topped shredded carrots and diced tomatoes.

Tacos

The second night would be taco night. Let cheese melt on the filled taco shells then add shredded lettuce and cabbage, and diced tomato and cucumber.

Flour Tortillas

These are filled with warmed meat and are then sprinkled with grated cheese. Shredded cheese may also be added before your choice of vegetables. Try shredded spinach with diced tomato and cucumber, topped with shredded zucchini.

What other things can you think of to do with taco fillings?

Taco Variations, with Options for Picky Eaters

Image via Wikipedia

There are so many different things that you can do with taco meat as a base. Or, if you (like me!) do not like taco seasoning, with plain ground beef as the base. Yes, I am a picky eater. If you’re not, then you likely have a child or partner who is, or at least know of someone else who is picky about what they eat.

Meat

Beef is not the only choice for tacos. Try new things to see what you will like. Ground turkey or chicken may also be used. Pork is another option. Using a combination of different ground meat leftovers is as well.

Cheese

We tend to stick with the basics in our home. Shredded mozzarella and mild cheddar are our favorite choices for cheese. I sometimes add grated Romano or Parmesan as well. There is also a Mexican shredded cheese mix that I am sure would be good. Think outside the box here. What other cheeses do you normally like?

Seasoning

I do not eat taco seasoning, though I do purchase it sometimes for my daughter. There are both mix and sauce types. I also wonder what else might work, in place of the seasoning. Maybe soy or another sauce…

Vegetables

We usually stick to the basics here as well, such as lettuce and tomato, but there are so many more food choices that would work. Shredded cabbage or spinach, rather than lettuce. Diced or shredded carrot, mixed with shredded zucchini or cucumber. Even shredded carrots. Peppers and onions are used on tacos in many households, and I have witnessed some people using mushrooms.

Shells

Hard or soft are the choices. I prefer soft, though I sometimes consume hard shells. Zowie prefers hard. The soft shells do not hurt my teeth as much.

There are many combinations to choose from, so you could eat tacos twice a week for a month and never have the same combination twice.

What other foods do you use as taco filling?

Related articles

• Taco Meat Burger (frugalrecipes.wordpress.com)

Featured on BlogHer.com

Image via CrunchBase

I recently wrote an article titled 10 Frugal Cooking Tips which I placed on BlogHer.com. This article was featured as an Editor’s Pick on that site this past weekend.

Enjoy the read

Shannon

Related articles

• BlogHer.com’s New Home Page, Taxonomy and Blog Post Pages (blogher.com)

Taco Meat Burger

Image via Wikipedia

People often come up with interesting food combination ideas, either out of boredom, or because they do not have the desired ingredients on hand. Others try a specific recipe while at someone’s home, and decide to make it a part of their menu at home. This idea came from my little brother. He was in the kitchen making a “burger” one day. He may have made his using slightly different ingredients, but the basic idea is the same.

Ingredients

burger rolls

leftover taco meat

cheese

lettuce

tomatoes

1. Warm the leftover taco meat.

2. Scoop some onto a roll, and top with cheese and vegetables.

3. Add roll top.

Tips

• Use other vegetables, such as peppers and onion.

• Use sliced or shredded cheese.

• Mix the shredded cheese in with the taco meat when heating.

• Save money by growing your own vegetables.

Serving Suggestions

• Serve with potatoes or corn cooked on the grill.

Celery Platter for a Crowd

Image via Wikipedia

There are numerous combinations of vegetable platters that people will enjoy at a get-together. This one uses celery as its’ base ingredient. Make the cream cheese filling to taste. My sisters has an actual recipe for the stuffed celery, and makes it for family get-togethers.

Ingredients

celery, washed and cut into thirds or fourths

cream cheese

onion

green olives

peanut butter

1. Mix cream cheese, diced onion and chopped green olives in a bowl.
2. Fill half of the celery pieces with this mixture.
3. Fill the rest of the celery with peanut butter.
4. Place cream cheese filled celery on one half of the platter and peanut butter filled celery on the other half, leaving enough room between the two sides for whole olives.

Serve Along With

• A platter of fruit or berries, and a plate of pepperoni sandwiches.

Fruity Trail Mix

Image via Wikipedia

I love trail mixes. They are easy to make, store and to carry with you for a quick snack anytime. This is the latest combination of ingredients that I have been enjoying.

Ingredients

Chex type cereal

sunflower seeds

yogurt covered raisins

dried pineapple

dried berries

banana chips

dried apple slices

1. Mix everything together in a bowl.
2. Store in serving size containers or quart size canning jars.

Tips

• To save money, use store brand products whenever possible.
• Drying your own fruit will enable you to save even more money.

Frugal Recipes Happenings for 5/11/2011

Cover of Casseroles (Perfect)

You may have noticed that there has been a lack of Frugal Recipe Happenings posts, as well as articles, as of late. I became very busy with a writing project that took up a lot of time, and only had so much online access during that period of time. There have been a couple of posts on the blog as of late: Using Leftovers to Make Chicken Soup and Homemade Chicken Soup, both of which came about because I ended up sick.

All is well, though. I had been without my own computer for months, but recently was able to purchase a new one. Now I have time to catch up on things here, and to share more with you. Thank you for your patience. I notice that my reader numbers have not suffered any. I am grateful for this.

I have not been doing a whole lot of cooking at home these days, and will do even less when the temperatures begin to rise this summer, which means that sandwich and salad recipes will be abundant. I love these types of foods during the hot weather months.

I write for Demand Media Studios, and many of the articles that I have been working on are food related. I want to share them with you:

Dry Milk Tips

How to Use Canned Beef

Tidbits about Snack Foods

One-dish Meals and Meat Casseroles

Cooked Chicken Casseroles

Dry Food Mixes as Gifts

What to Put in a Food Pantry Basket for Christmas

How to Plan a Community Potluck Picnic

Supper Ideas with Chicken

Things to Eat with Peanut Butter

Fast Kitchen Meals

Spaghetti Night Ideas

Emergency Food Supplies & Plant Seeds

My gardening efforts have been null, because I am working so much and because there just seems to be so much rain. I think I am caught up enough to take a few hours away from work the next time the sun is shining bright. My bestest did give me an Easter Lily which I have to plant. I need some raised beds as well. A Raised Bed with no Tools, Designing Herb Gardens and Straw Composting were my last three gardening articles. I hope you enjoy them.

Shannon L. Buck

Related articles

• Frugal Recipes Happenings 4/2/2011 (frugalrecipes.wordpress.com)
• Using Leftovers to Make Chicken Soup (frugalrecipes.wordpress.com)