My Father’s Egg Salad Sandwich

My father didn’t cook very often.  The kitchen was my mother’s domain.   There were a few things that I remember him making.  He often baked bread and made cinnamon rolls in his retirement.   He made large batches of some really good hot dog chili that he would freeze in recycled margarine containers.  He made something that he called Garbage Soup which never turned […]

Dry Beans in a pot waiting to be rinsed.

De-Gassing Beans

We’ve probably all heard the little ditty about beans at one point or another in our lives, but if you’ve never heard it, I’ll give you a sample now. Beans, Beans, the musical fruit The more you eat, the more you toot The more you toot, the better you feel So lets have beans for every meal. There’s also this version: Beans, Beans, they’re good […]

Smothered Sausage and Potatoes

Smothered Potatoes and Sausage

Smothered Potatoes and Sausage is a simple recipe, though it does require some chopping.  Sometimes, simple recipes are the best.  They are tasty, easy to prepare, and easy to eat.  “Plain food” was what my mother always called it.  She would always say that her recipes were “nothing fancy.” It was those un-fancy recipes that she would often rotate through when she was cooking for […]

frozen sausages and hot dogs purchased at the lowest price can help stretch your grocery budget

Finding the Best Price for Groceries

For some people, this may not seem like anything to take time to blog about, but a recent conversation with some coworkers during lunch made me realize that there may be people who need to hear this information.   Shortly after I organized my fridge top freezer, Our upright freezer in the garage started to act up.  While we were waiting for a repair man, we had to rehome […]

bowl of beans and greens

Beans and Greens

Canned beans are a pantry staple in my house.  By adding a few ingredients to a can of beans, you can have a nutritious dinner ready in a snap.  Today’s post isn’t just about a low fat, high fiber recipe loaded with vitamins and proteins.   The story is also an illustration of how a well stocked pantry can help you to manage dinner even when […]

Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce

Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce

In my last post, I reviewed the popular recipe for  pepperoni pizza pull apart bread.   I mentioned that we served the bread with home made pizza sauce and a green salad.  Today, I’m going to give you my top secret recipe for quick and easy home made pizza sauce.  It’s so easy, and tastes so good, that you may never buy pizza sauce again.  This is especially true, […]

Tomato Soup with Lentils

Tomato Soup with Lentils

I have previously posted about how I am becoming better acquainted with lentils.   Since they pack such a nutritional punch, I decided to try adding them to a tomato soup recipe.  My hope was that the resulting soup would pass muster not only in my household, but also with some of my friend’s children. My first attempt at this soup was served “rustic style”.  I […]

Bacon Ranch Pizza Bites

When I was a little girl,  my dad would make little kitchen experiments.  One of those experiments that I have always remembered was his bacon pizzas.  I remember the first time he made them for us.  He invited me into the kitchen to watch him cook.  He took slices of bread and topped them with slices of cheese and sprinkled chopped leftover bacon on top […]

Halloween Treats From The Pantry

Holidays don’t necessarily mean that you have to ignore your grocery budget.  In fact, holiday treats can often be pulled together from things that you already have on hand as long as you have a well stocked pantry and plan ahead. Candy for the trick-or-treaters still has to be budgeted, but fun food for the family is already in the bag.  Lets take a look […]

Red Beans and Rice

My family didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up.  In spite of that, I never felt like I was deprived of anything.  One of the ways that my mother stretched her food dollars was to feed us inexpensive protein such as beans.  She once told me that a doctor told her mother that if she wanted her children to grow up […]