This tasty blueberry coffee cake recipe makes a delicious breakfast item. Since you can make this recipe the night before you need it, it’s perfect to serve to overnight guests or on a special holiday morning!
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Summer is the perfect time for cool treats! Here are 15 super easy homemade popsicle recipes, most of which have only 2 ingredients, to make your summer cooler! These will save you time and money if you have picky eaters!!! (more…)
This easy pinwheel recipe makes many delicious variations of pinwheel sandwiches, but my favorite variation to make is pizza roll-ups! You will find 13 easy variations below. Choose the one that sounds perfect for you and feel free to modify it if you like!
Finger foods like these easy pinwheel recipes work perfectly for quick dinners or party food. Make these easy pizza roll-ups or try different variations of the pinwheel recipes to change things up to keep things fun and interesting.
One of the things that makes these easy pinwheel recipes amazing is that you can use leftovers inside the roll-up. For instance, I will sometimes sauté an entire container of sliced mushrooms and only use half. Or dice an onion and only use half. With this recipe, you can grab all those little baggies of sliced and diced veggies, sauté them, and put them in a pizza roll-up!
When I make a big ham, I will often dice up the leftovers to use in omelets or the ham and Swiss roll-up recipe.
Left-over tri-tip would work perfectly for a Philly Cheesesteak variation. Using leftovers in this way will help you save money and get the most bang for your buck.
The easy pinwheel recipes could not be easier. All of the variations start with an unbaked pizza crust dough. Roll the pizza dough out to form a large rectangle. Next spread the dough with pre-cooked toppings for the variation of choice. Once the pinwheel toppings are all spread evenly across the crust, you roll it up just as if it were a cinnamon roll dough. Crimp it at the ends, bake in one big piece, and slice to serve at the table.
Pizza Crust. You can buy already made pizza crust or make your own pizza crust. Use a half recipe of our 90-Minute Amish Bread Dough recipe from our Dining on a Dime Volume 2 Cookbook. Store-bought pizza dough is so handy! Sometimes you can even buy dough from your favorite pizza restaurant.
Pizza Sauce. A homemade sauce or store-bought sauce will both work equally well. Store bought sauce is fast and easy.
Cheese. Mozarella and Provolone are a good mix, but any cheese you would use for pizza will work perfectly.
Pizza Toppings. Any toppings you would enjoy having on a pizza will be amazing in our easy pizza roll-up recipe. All of your ingredients need to be pre-cooked for this recipe.
On the side, try the Tomato Basil Salad or a Wedge Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing. A zesty salad makes the perfect contrast.
For dessert enjoy this delicious and fast Apple Fritter Bake or Easy No-Bake Millionaire Pie.
If you have leftovers of the pizza roll-ups recipe or other easy pinwheel recipes, you can keep individual slices in baggies to reheat later at work or at home. If you’d like to freeze a slice or two, make sure to use freezer-quality zipper bags or other airtight containers. In the refrigerator, pizza roll-ups will keep for up to three days. In the freezer, you can keep slices for up to three months.
If you love the sound of easy pinwheel recipes but don’t have the supplies you need on hand for any of the variations, try one of these other quick meals instead. Weeknights have never been easier.
Chicken Alfredo. Your meal will be on the table in the amount of time it takes to cook diced chicken and boil pasta.
Easy Enchilada Casserole. Why not throw pizza roll-ups in the oven and walk away to get other things done.
This easy pinwheel recipe is called 13 Easy Rollups in the Volume 2 book and is on page 224.
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Try these easy 2 ingredient ice cream recipes you can make at home without a machine! You’re going to love how easy, creamy and delicious they are!
Here are 12 easy 2 ingredient ice cream recipes to help you keep your cool this summer! They’re cool and fruity and you can make them easily in just minutes without needing an ice cream machine!
You can start with a basic homemade vanilla ice cream recipe. This one is our youngest son’s favorite ice cream! It is delicious and creamy as-is, but you can also add any of our suggested tasty optional toppings or any other sweet topping you can imagine!
If you prefer another flavor, you’ll find lots of great flavors of ice cream recipes in this post including banana, chocolate banana, strawberry banana, coconut and lots more! Craving peanut butter? One of these ice cream recipes is a tasty peanut butter banana!
And if you’re in the mood for something cool besides ice cream, check out the refreshing pineapple whip or the homemade popsicle recipes!
This easy 2 ingredient ice cream recipe is perfect when you want to serve a basic vanilla ice cream and then let the kids or your guests add their favorite toppings from a selection you lay out. It’s perfect when you expect to server it to a group of people with varying tastes.
Before we get into all of the delicious ice cream recipes, here are some easy homemade popsicle recipes you might also like, perfect for the kids and their friends on hot summer days. Cool, healthy and delicious!
In addition to the ice cream recipes, here are 15 homemade popsicle recipes, most of which have just 2 ingredients, too! Find them here.
Here’s a basic banana ice cream recipe that makes the perfect healthy snack for hot days! Made with real bananas, you can feel great about giving this to your kids and know it’s so much better than the convenience snacks from the store!
Here’s a tasty banana ice cream recipe with chocolate chips so you can have the taste of chocolate in a healthy snack that is especially refreshing on hot days! Made with just 2 ingredients including real bananas, you can have a healthy and delicious snack fast!
This 2 ingredient coconut ice cream recipe makes a cool coconut flavored dessert you can make in just a few minutes! It’s perfect as-is, but you can also add some chocolate for a mounds like flavor or add some pineapple for piña colada ice cream!
To see how easy it is to make easy recipes with 5 ingredients or less that taste GREAT, check out our 5 Ingredient Recipes YouTube Channel here!
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This easy 3 ingredient parmesan chicken tenders recipe makes light and crispy fried chicken tenders perfect for families! This is a quick and easy chicken dinner recipe you can make fast. Our teenagers love this recipe and often request that I make it for dinner! In this post, you’ll find this recipe along with an easy meal plan!
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This easy meal plan includes only 3 ingredient recipes you can make in a snap, including the Parmesan Chicken Tenders recipe, Mozzarella Cheese Salad and more!
Parmesan Chicken Tenders
Boiled Potatoes
Mozzarella Cheese Salad
Garlic Bread
Frozen Yogurt
This best homemade bug repellent recipe is easy to make with simple ingredients you have at home and can save you money over the store bought kind.
Homemade bug repellent is a good way to avoid chemicals but still keep mosquitoes, flies and gnats from bothering you. It’s best to spray it on your clothing instead of on your skin.
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Love easy desserts? These crockpot cake mix recipes are just what you need! With minimal prep, you can whip up delicious crockpot desserts that are perfect for any occasion. Simply prepare your crockpot, mix a few ingredients, pour them in, and let it work its magic—no oven required!
These dump-and-go crockpot desserts are ideal for busy days, especially during the summer when it’s too hot to bake. Great for potlucks, picnics, or an easy weeknight treat, these crockpot cake mix recipes make dessert effortless and fun.
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This quick and easy cottage cheese salad recipe is a tasty and colorful way to take a break from regular veggie salads and sweet salads. Even though it has a pretty Christmas look to it it is great all year long.
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This super easy apple spice cake recipe makes a delicious spice cake perfect for get-togethers or sharing around the family table!
When the weather starts have a chill in the evening, its the perfect time to start making this super easy apple spice cake recipe for a delicious Fall dessert.
To me, nothing says Fall like the beautiful apples ripening and falling from each apple tree. I don’t just love the taste of apples, I love the smell of apples, and the crunchy texture, and all of the oh-so-yummy apple desserts. I even enjoy using apples for savory dishes like this porkchop recipe!
Whether you need to make an easy dessert for an event, or just want a cozy dessert for sharing around the family table this cake is a crowd pleaser.
This apple spice cake recipe is super easy to make because you literally just dump all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix it at medium speed for two minutes. Then you put it in the greased pan and bake it. Once it is finished and cooled, you can add the topping of your choice and serve.
To make an apple spice bundt cake, just bake your easy apple spice cake in a bundt-shaped pan. Bundt pans make the presentation a little bit fancier. You could also split the cake mix evenly between two or three round pans and create a layer cake with caramel frosting between each layer. For fast and simple, just put it in your 9×13 baking dish and keep it in that pan to frost and serve.
Make this cake with just five ingredients. Here’s what you need to grab at the store.
A cake mix is nothing more than the dry ingredients of a cake already mixed for you. Grabbing cake mixes at the store when they are on sale gives you an easy way to make dessert for your family with minimal effort. Dressing up cake mixes is fun and tasty. Variations on this recipe can be made with almost any pie filling for variety, too!
I like to use our caramel frosting for the apple cake topping. As an alternative, you can use caramel sauce like you would put on ice cream or you can make a cream cheese frosting. Even a simple glaze drizzle will work. Sometimes, I like to just sprinkle powdered sugar on a cake like this and keep the topping light. It could also be served hot with vanilla ice cream and be lovely.
A typical spice cake mix includes cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, ginger, and possibly a tiny bit of clove. In fact, if you have a yellow cake mix in your pantry, just add these spices and it will work just as well as a spice cake mix for this recipe. In a pinch, you can even substitute a chocolate cake mix and add the spices.
Keep any leftover apple spice cake you have in an air-tight container for up to a week or freeze individual slices in freezer bags to thaw as needed. If you know you will have extra, freeze slices without frosting before you frost the cake. Thaw at room temperature and add caramel frosting or your topping of choice before eating. You can also freeze extra cake that has already been frosted. In general, cake tends to dry out when frozen, so I don’t recommend keeping the cake in the freezer for more than a couple of months.
Apple Fritter Cinnamon Roll Bake. A delicious gooey dessert that is super easy to make when you need a fast treat.
Easy Apple Pie Recipe. Nothing says summer like a hot apple pie with ice cream, and this one’s easy to make.
Easy Homemade Fried Apples Recipe. A wonderful side dish for any grilled meal.
Homemade Hot Apple Cider Recipe. Hot cider is the taste of Fall!
Caramel Apples. Blow your kids away with this delightful treat.
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How long does food last in the freezer? Our handy freezer guide gives guidelines to how long food can be stored in the freezer.
How long will groceries stay good in the freezer? Here is a brief freezer guide to help you know how long food lasts in the freezer. This is a guide to how long foods can reasonably be stored in the freezer under normal circumstances when packaged properly.
To ensure that your food lasts as long as possible in the freezer, make sure that it is sealed in airtight packaging and that you keep the freezer door closed as much as possible so the freezer temperature stays constant.
I generally freeze meat in the freezer in the original store packages because that is the easiest way to do it. Then, when I know I will need it, I defrost it on a plate with a couple of paper towels in the refrigerator. If you happen to buy a bulk package of meat for only one or two people you might want to repackage the meat in smaller portions so you only have to grab the amount you need to use.
If you have cooked meats, you can freeze them in portion sizes you expect to feed your family so you can easily grab them and warm them up. Here’s how long meat lasts in the freezer:
Generally, I put these items in the freezer in their sealed store packaging.
I usually throw bread in the freezer in the sealed store packaging. If you do, make sure there are no holes in the bread bags and they should be fine.
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Here are 10 quick and easy crockpot recipes you can make for under $8! Crockpot recipes are great because you can just toss the ingredients into the crockpot in the morning and then, when it’s dinner time, your meal will be done!
Summer is the perfect time to break out the crockpots because most of us are busy running around and it’s not only convenient, but won’t heat up the house!
There’s a reason crockpot recipes are so popular—they save time, save money and make busy days so much easier! On those mornings when life is hectic, there’s nothing better than spending just a few minutes tossing a handful of ingredients into the slow cooker and knowing dinner will be ready when everyone gets home.
One of the biggest secrets to keeping grocery costs down is using simple ingredients you can stock up on when they go on sale. We always recommend buying extra meat when you find a good price, freezing it, and then serving it with inexpensive pantry staples like beans, rice, pasta and canned tomatoes. A crockpot is perfect for stretching those ingredients into hearty meals that feed the whole family without stretching your budget.
These cheap easy crockpot recipes are some of our favorite “real life” dinners because they don’t require fancy ingredients or a lot of hands-on cooking. Whether you’re craving tacos, chili, stuffed peppers, barbecue beef stew or a comforting chicken dinner, you’ll find recipes here that are easy enough for weeknights and delicious enough that your family won’t complain.
Another bonus? Most of these meals make fantastic leftovers. Cook once and enjoy lunch the next day, or freeze extra portions for those evenings when you don’t have time to cook at all. That’s one of the easiest ways to save both time and money in the kitchen.
If you’re looking for simple, budget-friendly dinners that practically cook themselves, these cheap easy crockpot recipes are a great place to start. Pick one to try this week—you may find yourself reaching for your slow cooker a lot more often!
Here are 10 quick and easy crockpot recipes you can make for under $8! Just toss the ingredients into the crockpot in the morning for an easy meal at dinner time!
Most of these recipes are in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1, but if you want more ideas check out our 100 Crockpot Recipes eBook Bundle!
Tip: For the best prices, it’s all about shopping the sales and ONLY buying your meat on sale or on clearance. When meat is on sale, buy extra and freeze it so you don’t have to buy it when it is expensive. Then use what is in your freezer until the next sales comes along.
This quick and easy crockpot bean goulash recipe is tasty, will get you in and out of the kitchen fast and is ideal for when you’re having a rough day!
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If you are a chili connoisseur this recipe may not be for you but if you have picky eaters or children this chili recipe may be be a life saver. You can adjust the amounts of the ingredients to the size of your family without doing much harm. This is also a perfect recipe to make the day before and just warm up when you need it.
Virtually everyone loves baked potatoes. With toppings, baked potatoes can be a meal all by themselves. Prepare your toppings the night or morning before and you can have a quick and easy dinner.
Tomatoes, chopped
Broccoli, chopped
Peppers, chopped
Cheese, grated
Bacon, crumbled
Ham, cubed
Chili
Onion
Olives
Mushrooms
Ranch dressing
Sour cream
Yogurt
Taco themed baked potato: everything you would put on a taco including hamburger with taco seasoning
Pizza themed baked potato: pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, sausage
For lots more cheap and easy crockpot recipes your family will love, check out our 100 Crockpot Recipes eBook Bundle Here!
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This easy Popeyes biscuit recipe copycat makes delicious buttery biscuits like the ones at Popeye’s chicken restaurants. Just 4 ingredients!
This easy Popeyes biscuit recipe is a homemade copycat recipe that tastes just like the buttery flaky biscuits at Popeye’s chicken restaurants! We absolutely love Popeye’s chicken and I think we might love their biscuits even more! If you have ever eaten at Popeye’s you know what I mean!
If you have never eaten Popeyes biscuits, you’re in for a treat! These biscuits are so yummy! They are a taste explosion of buttery goodness with salt and a light flaky texture everyone loves!
Biscuits are one of the most versatile food items because they go with almost any meal! They’re perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Don’t be afraid to make these biscuits because they are made from scratch. This easy Popeyes biscuit recipe is really very simple with only 4 ingredients and they literally take only 5 minutes to make!
If you’re at all hesitant about your baking or cooking skills, biscuit recipes are the perfect place to start! If you follow the instructions, biscuit recipes are almost no-fail recipes! I have known many inexperienced cooks who had great success with biscuits.
If you don’t have Bisquick baking mix on hand, you can find our easy Homemade Bisquick Recipe here!
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After you mix the Popeyes biscuit dough, you will need to roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick before you cut it into biscuits. The biscuits will rise as they bake so this is the perfect thickness for amazing biscuits.
Once you roll out the biscuit dough, you will cut the dough into biscuit shapes using a biscuit cutter or glass. If you use a glass, it is helpful to dip the glass in a bit of flour or coat the rin in some flour so that the glass does not stick to the dough.
When you have cut biscuits from all of the dough, there will be some dough left. Don’t let it go to waste. Gather the remaining dough and roll it out to 1/2 inch again and cut biscuits from the remaining dough. Once there is no longer enough dough to cust biscuits from, pat the remaining dough into a rough biscuit shape and bake with the biscuits.
Unlike a lot of other biscuit recipes, this Popeyes biscuit recipe calls for melting butter in the bottom of the 9×13 inch baking pan. Then, once the biscuits are cut, you will place them in the pan and coat well with the butter so that the outside almost fries in the butter while the biscuits are baking. This gives them the nice crunchy texture just like the ones at Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurants.
This recipe calls for 1 stick of butter, but if you want an even more buttery flavor, you can pour a little melted butter over the top after the biscuits are in the baking pan just before you pop them in the oven.
This sounds like a lot of process, but it really only takes about 5 minutes. Try this easy Popeye biscuit recipe and I KNOW you won’t be disappointed!
The BEST Slow Cooked Roast Recipe – Super Easy And Delicious!
Mike’s Biscuits And Easy Sausage Gravy Recipe
2-3 Ingredient Biscuit Recipes! Quick and Super Easy!
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The perfect side for any BBQ, my easy vinegar coleslaw recipe will delight your family and guests alike. A quick and easy vegetable serving, coleslaw adds the perfect tangy contrast to meats in a rich sauce. Make this Coleslaw recipe any time you need that contrast with your meal.
One of our favorite ways to serve coleslaw is as a topping on bbq pulled pork sandwiches. The acidic crunchy coleslaw is a perfect sandwich component.
Start by shredding your cabbage and carrots either with a food processor or a box shredder. Next, mix the dressing ingredients with a whisk to get it thoroughly emulsified. Give the dressing a taste to determine if you need more sweetener. Finally, stir half the dressing over the cabbage and carrots and stir well. Taste and add more dressing as needed.
The word coleslaw is a descendant of the Dutch word “koolsla” which means “cabbage salad”. Sometimes it is mistakenly referred to as “cold slaw” because it does indeed need to be kept refrigerated and served cold. For this reason, people sometimes think it is actually supposed to be cole slaw (two words) and it is often spelled that way on recipe cards handed from person to person. VInegar coleslaw is a cabbage salad made with either vinaigrette or mayonnaise dressing.
Coleslaw doesn’t keep really well in the fridge because the liquids will wilt the cabbage over time. You can usually keep it for a couple of days in an airtight container. You cannot freeze coleslaw. Because this coleslaw recipe is made with a vinaigrette dressing, it will keep better than mayonnaise-based variations.
Having a food processor definitely helps make shredding the vegetables for coleslaw easier. You can shred the cabbage and carrot all at the same time and it’s significantly faster than shredding by hand with a box shredder. However, a box shredder will work so you do not have to have a food processor to make coleslaw. Sometimes I will even make coleslaw just by rough chopping everything with a knife.
Food Processor. This food processor is like having sous chef you can do so many different cuts with it.
Box Shredder. Perfect for quick and easy tasks and small recipes, a box grate will work for coleslaw and is significantly cheaper.
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You can serve coleslaw with any meal to provide a nice contrasting acid. It works particularly well as a sandwich topping for barbecue sandwiches. Serve with brisket, bbq chicken, or hotdogs for a traditional summer meal.
Honey Baked Chicken. A sweet and tangy baked chicken provides a nice compliment to coleslaw.
Bacon Cheese Meatloaf. Rich and delicious meatloaf.
Peachy Pork Chops. A sweet and fruity pork chop preparation.
2-Ingredient BBQ Chicken. Tasty chicken with a homemade bbq sauce.
Garlic Salad Recipe – Creamy And delicious with lots of garlic flavor!
The BEST Cole Slaw Recipe Ever! Sweet and creamy coleslaw
The BEST Homemade Potato Salad Recipe EVER!
Zucchini Slaw Recipe – Great Way To Use Garden Leftovers!
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These easy 2 ingredient cake recipes are proof that you don’t need a long list of ingredients to make an incredibly moist, delicious homemade dessert! Whether you use soda or ice cream, you’ll have endless flavor combinations and a fresh-from-the-oven cake in just minutes.
If you’ve never tried a 2 ingredient cake recipe, you’re in for a treat! These cakes are almost too easy to believe. With just a box of cake mix and one other simple ingredient, you can have a homemade dessert in the oven in just a few minutes.
These recipes are perfect for busy weeknights, last-minute company, or those days when you’re craving something sweet but don’t want to make a big mess in the kitchen. They’re also great for kids to help make because there are so few ingredients and hardly any cleanup.
One of our favorite versions uses a pint of softened ice cream mixed right into the cake mix. The ice cream adds all the moisture and flavor the cake needs, and the possibilities are endless! Try chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake, butter pecan ice cream with spice cake, or strawberry ice cream with white cake. Every combination creates a completely different dessert.
Another favorite is our soda cake, also known as 7-up cake. Just stir one can of soda into a box of cake mix, pour it into a pan, and bake. That’s it! The carbonation helps the cake rise while the soda adds sweetness and flavor. Lemon cake with 7-Up, chocolate cake with Cherry Coke, or white cake with orange soda are all delicious combinations. You can even experiment with your family’s favorite flavors to create your own signature cake.
Once the cake has cooled, you can enjoy it just as it is or dress it up with frosting, a simple powdered sugar glaze, whipped topping, fresh fruit, sprinkles, or even a scoop of ice cream. These cakes are simple enough for everyday desserts but can easily be made special enough for birthdays, potlucks, and family gatherings.
In addition to being quick and easy, these recipes are also budget friendly. Instead of buying several baking ingredients, all you need is a cake mix and one inexpensive item from your refrigerator or pantry. They’re also wonderful to keep in mind when you realize you’re out of eggs or oil but still want to bake.
Don’t be afraid to experiment! Try different cake mixes, different ice cream flavors, and different sodas. You might discover a new family favorite that everyone requests again and again. Sometimes the simplest recipes really are the most delicious.
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This easy pepper steak recipe makes a tasty home cooked meal! Savory and delicious, you can serve it over rice or noodles, add an easy vegetable and you will have a simple no-fuss dinner! You can find this recipe in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook Volume 1.
This pepper steak recipe makes it easy to enjoy a restaurant-quality meal at only a fraction of the cost! It only takes about 10 minutes to prepare this recipe and then you will need to check it every so often as it simmers to perfection.
I prefer making this recipe in a frying pan on the stove, but if you like, you can make it in a crockpot or instant pot instead.
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This lemon cream cheese bars recipe is a yummy variation of a lemon bars recipe using lemon cake mix. They make an easy treat, great for any get-together!
This lemon cream cheese bars recipe is a super easy twist on a regular lemon bars recipe that uses a lemon cake mix. These lemon cream cheese bars are cool and delicious. With a slightly crunchy bottom crust layer and a sweet and creamy lemon layer, they are virtually irresistible wherever you serve them!
You can easily make this easy lemon cream cheese bars recipe with 5 minutes’ work, then bake and chill. This lemon bars recipe makes a great cool and delicious summer dessert. They are great for any get-together, ladies’ tea or church potluck. They’re also a great summer snack for kids!
You can also find our regular Lemon Bars Recipe From Scratch here!
They are packed with tasty dessert recipes and lots of other super easy recipes to make your life easier!
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Easy Hershey Brownie Recipe! Super Simple Chocolate Brownies!
Easy Pound Cake Recipe – Moist And Delicious Pound Cake!
Green chile is a tasty light meal when eaten with tortillas, but can also be used to top a lot of different Mexican-themed dishes! Try this easy homemade green chile recipe and you’ll have an easy meal for your family!
I absolutely love green chile! Being from Colorado, it’s pretty common to find green chile at Mexican restaurants. It can be eaten as a soup or it can be used to pour over the top of smothered burritos, enchiladas and more.
I like to serve my green chile wrapped in tortillas. Then I smother the tortillas with more green chile and then top with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.
If you like, you can make up the green chile and pour it over your favorite Mexican dishes like burritos or enchiladas. You can also pour it over chicken or pork chops.
For hundreds of delicious recipes like this for quick and easy meals, check out our cookbooks!
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Here are some of our homemade seasonings recipes our Dining on a Dime Cookbook, Volume 1 and a few other seasoning recipes thrown in just because I love them. :-)
I love homemade seasoning mix recipes! I frequently make my own seasonings because they are a lot cheaper and it usually only takes a few minutes’ work to mix them. Here are some of our homemade seasonings recipes from our Dining on a Dime Cookbook, Volume 1 and a few other seasoning recipes thrown in just because I love them. :-) They are easy to make and can save you a lot of money.
This is one super simple way to cut your grocery bill. Those little packets at the store really add up, and when you start looking at what’s actually in them, you realize you’re often paying more for fillers than actual seasoning. When you make your own, you know exactly what you’re putting in your food, and you can adjust things to fit your family’s tastes.
Most of these mixes use basic ingredients you probably already have sitting in your cupboard, and you can mix up a batch in less time than it takes to run to the store. I like to make a larger amount and keep it in a jar so it’s ready whenever I need it. It makes busy nights so much easier because I can just grab what I need and keep going. I especially like using my homemade seasoned salt, so I keep a separate salt shaker near my stove so I always have it handy for cooking.
I love all of these seasoning mixes, but I use the homemade seasoned salt and taco seasoning the most!
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This Fried Mushrooms, Zucchini, Squash, and Onion Rings recipe makes irresistibly crispy, easy-to-make treats your whole family will love. It’s a great way to use up fresh garden veggies and stretch your grocery budget! You’ll find this delicious money-saving recipe in our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1.
Why pay restaurant prices for onion rings, fried mushrooms, and other veggies when you can easily make them at home—crispy, golden, and absolutely delicious? This easy recipe lets you enjoy your favorite fried treats for a fraction of the cost!
This Fried Mushrooms, Zucchini, Squash and Onion Rings Recipe is a crispy, golden treat that tastes just like your favorite restaurant appetizer—but without the hefty price tag! Whether you’re using fresh produce from your backyard or picking up a few veggies at the store, this recipe is a delicious way to make the most of what you have on hand.
With just a few simple ingredients—like flour, egg, milk, cracker crumbs, and vegetables—you can make a big batch of these crunchy and delicious bites in no time. From savory onion rings to tender zucchini and mushrooms, this recipe is versatile, easy, and perfect for family dinners, game day snacks, or even as a fun side dish.
Instead of spending extra money eating out, fry up your own mouthwatering veggie platter at home. It’s easy, satisfying, and oh-so-yummy! Serve them hot with a side of ranch dressing or your favorite dipping sauce, and watch them disappear fast. This recipe comes straight from our cookbook, where saving money and making great food go hand in hand!
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This Homemade Sloppy Joe Recipe makes a quick and easy dinner that you can make for the entire family for just $8 including the side dishes!
Homemade Sloppy Joe sandwiches make a quick and easy dinner that you can make for the entire family for just $8 including the sides! You’ll find our super easy recipe below!
These sandwiches are known by a variety of names including Manwich. If you see a recipe for a homemade Manwich recipe, it would be essentially the same recipe as a sloppy joe recipe.
Sloppy Joe is a popular classic American sandwich dating back to the early 20th century. Sloppy Joes usually include ground beef, onions, tomato sauce or ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings, but the ingredients can vary.
Sloppy Joe sandwiches are most often served on a hamburger bun, but you can serve them on regular bread, French bread or fancy dinner rolls if you like. If you serve them on sandwich bread, you might want to toast the bread first if you use a lot of the sauce so it doesn’t get soggy.
This easy homemade Sloppy Joe recipe is perfect for families with kids as everyone loves them, even picky eaters! I have served it frequently to my family over the years because it’s so quick and easy to make when I’m not feeling great and it’s an easy meal I can make for the whole family for just $8.
You can make your own Sloppy Joes and it only takes about 10 minutes to make with ingredients you already have in your refrigerator. No need to buy a box mix or a can of sauce. This homemade recipe is just as easy and a lot cheaper than buying a pre-made mix at the store.
I save time by cooking 5 pounds of ground beef at once and then dividing it into freezer bags. I don’t even have to brown the ground beef because I cooked it before I froze it. Then I just thaw the amount I need and throw it into the pan to warm and serve.
My easy Sloppy Joe recipe is made with ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce and these give it a very delicious taste. I don’t like my Sloppy Joe sandwiches too saucy (I think the recipe below is perfect), but if you prefer more sauce, you can increase the sauce ingredients as much as you like as long as you keep the proportion of the sauce ingredients the same.
This Sloppy Joe recipe goes great with a salad or sliced fruit and dinner is fast, easy and cheap! I of the serve them with something simple, like grapes, sliced cucumbers, baby carrots, French fries or tater tots. You can also make a pan of brownies or lemon bars to go with it.
Homemade Sloppy Joe sandwiches are a great dinner to make during the summer and if you are going to a sports event you can make it ahead in the morning and then just warm it up when you get home. You can put this in the crockpot on low for 1-2 hours but it’s so fast and easy that I usually just use the stovetop.
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The BEST Cole Slaw Recipe Ever!
Garlic Salad Recipe – A garlic-themed variation on coleslaw!
The BEST Homemade Potato Salad Recipe
Are you having trouble making a budget? It’s really not that difficult! Here’s a simple sample family budget for you to follow as you make yours!
Here is a sample monthly family budget. It was our actual monthly budget for 2006. It was based on a total after-tax income of $2486.00 per month. At the time, we lived in Wichita, Kansas, and owned our home, a 1600 sq. ft. 3 bedroom, 2 bath bi-level on 1/2 acre with a mortgage.
We’re sharing this sample family budget so you can get an idea about how to structure a budget and how to determine what level of detail and what kinds of categories to include. Since this budget was from 2006, the costs will not be the same as now. The point is to use this sample family budget as an example of how to identify your own income and your total expenses and then make a budget where your expenses are less than your income.
It is important to make sure you don’t spend more than you earn, so when you subtract the expenses from the income, the budget MUST work out with a net positive, which means that the TOTAL income – total expenses is a positive number.
If you want to improve your family’s financial situation, you should make sure that the income is as high as possible above your expenses. You should look carefully at your expenses to see if there are any expenses you don’t really need so you are not spending money on pointless things that are preventing you from getting ahead. Most people at all income levels spend a lot more than they need to, so unless you have more money than you will ever need, I encourage you to carefully evaluate expenses.
Think of budgeting as a loose plan and be prepared to re-evaluate it every so often. Often times someone will budget a large amount for something, like $800 a month for groceries, when they really don’t need that much. If you realize you can spend less on groceries, don’t feel like you have to spend what you budgeted. Instead, save the extra money you didn’t spend and consider changing the budget later to be more realistic.
On the other hand, if an expense is consistently higher than you budgeted, adjust the budget to account for that. If car repairs are always higher than your budget, adjust the budget to compensate. If you have an emergency of some kind come up and then the next month another unexpected cost comes up, consider adding a budget item for unexpected expenses since you can predict that something unexpected usually comes up.
If you have a very low income, you must still be able to fit all of your expenses within the income that you have. You will just have to decide which items are really needs and which ones are just wants.
If you’re using a credit card to cover monthly expenses because your income isn’t enough, stop now. You MUST adjust your budget so expenses are less than income. Carrying a balance on your credit card to cover regular monthly expenses will result in interest and increased debt that will make your situation a LOT worse.
As you move forward, it is also helpful to consider how you can increase your income, not just cut your expenses. Cutting wasteful spending that is not leading you to where you want to be financially is important, but even if you’re very frugal, there is only so much you can cut. Thinking of ways to increase your income is equally as important.
I am sharing this sample family budget with you so you can see how to keep track of your spending and plan ahead so you don’t spend too much, but I don’t actually use a budget anymore. Over the years, I trained myself to spend less whenever possible even if we could afford to spend more. For this reason, our expenses are always a lot less than our income.
Most budget systems fail because people are too rigid with them. For example, some people use an envelope system and keep food money in one envelope, car repair money in another envelope and so on. While this might help if you really have no self-control with regard to your spending, it can cause other problems. For example, many people will buy the groceries they need and when there is $200 extra in that envelope, they will spend all of the extra money that is in that envelope because it is there, even when they don’t need to. Our desire is for you to grow more prosperous, so don’t spend more than you need to spend!
Monthly Budget (from 2006)
| INCOME-after tax | |
| Mike’s check | $2483.00 |
| Tawra’s disability | $348.00 |
| TOTAL INCOME | $2831.00 |
| EXPENSES | |
| Tithe (church donation) | $300.00 |
| Food | $250.00-300.00 |
| Mortgage (Includes taxes and insurance. Also includes an extra $30 every month toward principal.) | $855.00 |
| Sewer, water, and trash | $30.50 |
| Phone | $50.00 |
| Electric and natural gas (on the high side) | $200.00 |
| Gas for car | $120.00 |
| Credit cards (car payment and medical) | $100.00 |
| Internet (The book pays for it.) | $00.00 |
| Uncovered Medical Expenses | $75.00 |
| Wal-Mart (includes all paper goods, some clothes, soap etc.) | $125.00 |
| Clothes (mostly from yard sales and thrift stores) | $30.00 |
| Stamps | $6.00 |
| Car insurance | $50.00 |
| Car repairs and tags | $75.00 |
| Haircuts (Tawra and Elly) | $20.00 |
| Presents-birthdays, etc. | $50.00 |
| Social and entertainment | $30.00 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $2416.50 |
| Net (Income Minus Expenses) | $414.50 |
For more easy budgeting resources like this sample family budget, check out some of our other posts:
Looking for an easy dinner that doesn’t heat up the kitchen? This easy taco pasta salad recipe makes a tasty one-dish meal that combines pasta, seasoned meat, fresh veggies and cheese into one hearty meal that’s perfect for busy summer nights, potlucks and quick family dinners.
This easy taco pasta salad recipe is one of my favorite summertime meals. When the weather gets hot, the last thing most of us want to do is spend hours cooking in the kitchen. It’s a nice change from hot meals, filling enough to serve as dinner all by itself, and made with simple ingredients you probably already have on hand.
This is one of those recipes that’s easy to adapt to whatever you have in the fridge. Have leftover taco meat from taco night? Toss it in. Have some rotisserie chicken that needs to be used up? That works too. You can add extra vegetables, use whatever cheese you have in the fridge, and adjust the dressing to suit your family’s tastes. It’s an easy way to turn odds and ends into a meal everyone will actually eat.
This taco pasta salad is perfect for busy weeknights because you can make it ahead of time and keep it chilling in the refrigerator until dinner. It’s also great for potlucks, picnics, church gatherings, and family reunions because it travels well and feeds a crowd without costing a fortune.
For this week’s meal plan, we’re keeping things simple. Serve the taco pasta salad with warm cornbread and a tray of carrot, celery, and bell pepper sticks for an easy, colorful meal. Then finish dinner with our creamy No-Bake Cheesecake Dip served with fresh fruit, cookies, or cake cubes for a dessert that feels special but takes just a few minutes to make.
If you’re looking for an easy dinner that doesn’t heat up the kitchen and helps stretch your grocery budget, this taco pasta salad recipe is a great one to add to your summer meal lineup.
Taco Pasta Salad
Cornbread
Carrot, celery, and bell pepper sticks
No-Bake Cheesecake Dip
For more quick and easy recipes, like this easy taco pasta salad recipe, to make easy dinners fast, check out our cookbooks!
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This easy butterscotch muffins recipe makes moist and tasty butterscotch flavored muffins with a crumbly cinnamon and sugar topping! It makes a delicious treat that’s great for breakfast or a snack!
This butterscotch muffins recipe is easy to make with just 5 minutes’ prep time! It’s perfect as a breakfast, snack or dessert item.
Butterscotch is a tasty old-fashioned flavor made with brown sugar and butter and creating a rich and sweet flavor. These muffins start with some basic muffin ingredients and then calls for instant pudding to give them the familiar butterscotch flavor.
Top it off with a tasty and crumbly cinnamon, sugar and nut topping and it makes an extra special treat that everyone will love! If you prefer not to include the nuts, you can leave them out, but why would you? You can use any kind of nuts you want, but walnuts, pecans and almonds work especially well with this recipe.
These muffins are great as a standalone snack or breakfast item, but they also go well with big breakfast, breakfast buffets or as a side for dinner. They’re also a great recipe to bring to potlucks and parties because they’re moist and delicious and also have a unique nostalgic flavor, which will make them stand out among all of the typical potluck food.
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This easy chicken salad recipe makes a cool and delicious summer meal! Especially good if you need something to make the day before and serve!
This Easy Chicken Salad Recipe is the ultimate make-ahead meal! Cool, refreshing, and packed with flavor, it’s perfect for summer gatherings, meal prep, or a fuss-free Sunday dinner. Just layer the ingredients, pour on the creamy dressing, and let it chill—no last-minute cooking required!
Plus, we’ve included a full meal plan featuring crispy Potato Nachos, tangy Freezer Pickles, and fresh fruit for a delicious, stress-free spread. Whether you’re feeding a crowd or just want a quick, satisfying meal, these easy recipes will save you time and money.
Don’t forget to check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks—filled with budget-friendly, time-saving recipes your family will love!
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Layered Chicken Salad*
Potato Nachos*
Freezer Pickles*
Dinner Rolls
Watermelon and Cantaloupe Slices
This Easy Potato Nachos Recipe is a delicious way to use up leftover boiled red potatoes! Serve it as a side dish or appetizer, and if you prefer a milder flavor, simply skip the jalapeños. The recipe makes a huge amount, but you can easily adjust the portions to fit your needs.
Gardens will soon be in full swing, and if you find yourself with an abundance of cucumbers, this easy Freezer Pickles recipe is a perfect way to use them up—no canning required! If you have plenty of freezer space, this is a great alternative to traditional pickling. You can also try this recipe with other veggies like peppers or okra or you can mix them with the cucumbers for a fun twist.
Bonus Tip: The onions from this recipe make a delicious topping for hot dogs!