How to create this recipe for almost no cost:
Strawberry Salad:
Serves: 4
1.) Pick a small head of lettuce from the garden, rinse, chop and put into a mixing bowl.
2.) Add halved or quartered strawberries that you obtained for free.
3.) Add 4 or 5 tablespoons of vinniagrette.
4.) Toss it all together and serve.
Price:
Minimal if you grow the lettuce and can find a free source of strawberries. It will only cost a few cents to prepare.
Serve with:
Sandwiches at lunch.
Soup at dinner.
I love strawberries, and I love yogurt. My favorite yogurt is Dannon Low-Fat Vanilla, which I purchase in tubs to save money.
Last year I purchased fresh strawberries at the farm for a good price. Sometimes I find them where I can pick them for free. When I was going to the food cupboard, I would get the there for free as well.
I also like to add things to my yogurt. I do not like fruit or berry yogurts, becuase I only like to eat fruits and berries fresh. Otherwise, I find them nasty. (Of course, I can freeze them for use in breads/muffins and smoothies.)
Strawberry-Yogurt Surprise:
Serves: 1
parfait or sundae cup
long handled spoon
yogurt
3 large sliced strawberries
a sprinkling of chocolate chips
1.) Layer into cup and enjoy!
Price:
One tub of yogurt can go a long way if used properly, so there is minimal cost to this recipe. I will say about .50 per serving. Less if the berries were free.
Great served with:
Toast with peanut butter or oatmeal at breakfast.
A sandwich at lunch.
This would make a great side salad to any meal, or even a wonderful snack. If you can keep it cold, you can even pack it for school or work lunches, or as part of your picnic meal.
This salad is easy to prepare, and can be almost completely free if you grow everything yourself. If you purchase the items needed, you should look at spending about $15.00. You will have leftover ingredients to use with other meals.
Adding salads to an already vegetable rich meal is a healthy way to get in all of your vegetable servings each day. I have read that we should be getting in about 9 servings of vegetable a day, rather than the 4 or 5 servings that we are all used to.
Garden Vegetable Salad:
Serves 4:
4 cups cabbage, shredded
4 cups lettuce, shredded
1 cup snap peas, uncooked
1 cup beans, uncooked
1 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
20 cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, sliced
1) Combine everything into a large bowl.
2) Toss and serve.
Yet another yummy salad from the lover of salads herself, LOL. Yes, I love to create salads. Why? Because I do not like to eat the same thing over and over again. I like to change things up, try new combinations of food.
This salad makes a complete lunch or dinner salad, and would be even better with corn on the cob and some garlic bread. Dressing is not necessary.
Vegetable, Chicken and Egg Salad:
Serves 4
4 cups lettuce, shredded
1 cup Radicchio, shredded
1/4 cup fresh parsley, shredded
1/4 cup fresh chives, shredded
1 cup carrots, shredded
4 pieces cold chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
4-8 hard-bolied eggs, sliced
1) Combine everything in a large bowl and toss together.
2) Serve with dressing if you like
Price:
You could make this completely free if you visited the food cupboard, depending upon what you came home with. The whole kit-n-caboodle wouldn’t cost to much if the herbs and vegetables were grown in your own garden. Expect to pay about $16.00 for ingredients if you purchase everything. You will have plenty of fresh produce left over for other meals.
I love salads during the summer months. They are lite meals, and can be very quick and easy to make.
If you happen to use the food cupboard, then you likely have a lot of produce that needs to be used. Salads are a great way to use these items up, without a lot of fuss and without heating up the house too much.
If you happen to grow some of your own food, then you can utilize this gift by growing salad gardens.
This salad could be eaten with a meal, or as lunch. Why? Because the eggs make the salad more filling and give you needed protein.
Vegetable and Egg Salad:
Serves 2
2-4 hard-boiled eggs, out of the shell and sliced
lettuce, shredded
carrots, shredded
cucumber, sliced
cabbage, shredded
sunflower seeds
1.) Simply toss everything together in a bowl.
2.) Dish this up and add dressing of your choice.
I do not use dressing.
This recipe would be great served with garlic or Italian bread.
Price:
Could be next to free if you grew the food or went to the food cupboard. Otherwise, look at spending about $8.00, which will give you plenty of leftover food for other meals.
I regularly come up with ideas for making soup more wholesome. I do this very cheaply, either by using leftovers or by purchasing items on sale. Sometime, the entire meal is free. This happens when everything has come from the food cupboard and/or friends or my own garden.
Tomato soups are easy to make:
1 can tomato soup
1 can milk or water
carrots
broccoli
You can serve this soup with oyster crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich.
What interesting things do you do with your tomato soup?
Shannon
Here is another snack platter that I used to prepare for the daycare children. They always loved the snack platters that I would prepare for them.
Children don’t care if they share a platter with others. Few of them will even ask for their own plates. It is great.
Remember to have a pitcher of something cold to drink available, as well as some napkins. We used cloth napkins.
Ingredients:
peanut butter stuffed celery
orange sections
grapes
yogurt for dipping, in a bowl
carrot sticks
strawberries
broccoli
cauliflower
watermelon cubes
1. Be sure to rinse all fruits and vegetable before cutting.
2. Prepare fruits and vegetables as indicated.
3. Arrange everything on a platter, with the bowl of yogurt in the center.
Yum!
Shannon
I used to do snack platters when I babysat during the summer months. They are very easy to create, and I would have the younger daycare children help me as much as possible.
They had a lot of fun, and we had the platters ready and on the picnic table for the older children when they got here from their day camp. It was great to have these platters ready for them after they attended sports camp all day, then walked to my home from the bus drop-off location.
To Serve:
Best served outside, and to have a pitcher of something cold to drink available.
Ingredients:
sandwich meat: ham, turkey and chicken
cheese slices: white and yellow American cheeses
melon cubes: watermelon, honey dew and cantaloupe
berries: strawberries and blueberries
yogurt to use for dipping
celery, stuffed with peanut butter
1. Roll the cheese slices and meat slices up and poke a toothpick through each roll. Put on the platter.
2. Add a bowl of yogurt to the platter, then place the melon cubes around them.
3. Add the stuffed celery to the platter.
4. Rinse the berries and sprinkle them around on the platter.
Happy eating!
Shannon
I love berries during the summer months. If you can pick them in the wild, they are free.
Serves 4:
8 learge strawberries
2 cups rasperries
2 cups blueberries
Yogurt for dipping.
This is a yummy one.
I wanted to mention that all three of the snack platters that I am posting are the main tray for the entire get-together, whatever it may be. Your only expense is the platter ingredients and something for everyone to drink.
Ingredients:
crackers
peanut butter
cheese slices, cut into quarters
sliced pepperoni
cream cheese
strawberries
grapes
celery sticks
carrot sticks
1. Make peanut butter cracker “sandwiches” and place them on the platter.
2. Make cheese cracker “sandwiches” and place them on the platter.
3. Make cream cheese pepperoni “sandwiches” and place them on the platter.
4. Be sure to rince all fruits and vegetables, dry them and arrange them onto the platter.
5. Rinse strawberries and pat dry. Add them to the platter.
Delicious!
Shannon
