Frugal Friday With Marsha - Lessons From My Daughter

You will never guess that this week's post is also about food.

I was babysitting at my middle daughters house yesterday.  She told me she got out ground beef to thaw and I could make spaghetti or tacos.
Well.....I look in one cabinet, no taco seasoning.  I look in another cabinet, no spaghetti noodles.  Ok....
There was half a jar of spaghetti sauce and a box of macaroni noodles, so I went with that.  Noodles are noodles.   Add shredded cheese on top with the cooked ground beef and it made a very filling main dish.

My daughter is what I would call a frugal cook.   I'm always trying to figure out how she is feeding their family of 5 using half a jar of spaghetti sauce at a time or half or less of a 1 lb box of pasta.
When they buy 5 lbs of ground beef, they divide and freeze it into 7 portions.
She can make a 3 lb bag of chicken breasts last for 5 meals.   Even the taco or other seasoning she will use one packet for 3 meals, just sprinkling in a little flavor.

Frugal Chef Apron

by enemyofdebt


At any frugal cooking/meal type site you will read that you don't need to use a full pound of meat, even if that's what the recipe calls for.  That does make good sense.

I may feel she is a bit "stingy" in the main dish department, but I can assume that using less meat and other foods is how they keep their house stocked on fresh fruits and veggies at all times.
You never go over there when there isn't oranges, bananas, and apples in the hanging basket.  Most of time there is also other fruits such as cantaloupe, grapes, strawberries, and even a pomegranate in the fridge.
You will also always find at least cucumber, carrots, and bell pepper in the veggie dish (yes, a vintage Pyrex dish like shown below) in the fridge.  Most of the time you will also find onion, tomato, broccoli and cauliflower too.



*******Last week I forgot to mention the Friday Freebie in my post.  It was cat treats free, which is always a help in our house.  This week it's Blistex Lip Balm, something we can all use, especially this time of year.  Even if you don't use it, it will make a great stocking stuffer.  Click the link below for more information.*******

Free Blistex Medicated Lip Balm at Kroger & Affiliates


While I'm at it, before I close this post, here are a few more freebies and such that you might want to check out:

Free Joyce Meyer Scripture Promise Decals

Free 1-Year Subscription to ELLE Magazine

Free Copy of the Jiffy Mix Recipe Booklet

Win a Speed Queen Washing Machine and Dryer worth $2000

Win a Month Supply of Little Bites Muffins

Frugal Friday with Marsha --Meatball Subs

This week I'm going to share our experience making our own meatball subs at home.
This is much more economical than buying them from the sub shop, and especially if you are making them from your stash of meatballs (made from scratch) in the freezer. 
Also, look for the ingredients to be on sale as well.

 (Photo of my meatball sub)



I'm including the recipe that I use for the meatball subs as well as the recipe I use for the meatballs.

Enjoy :)



I love to cook ahead. I make up 3 lbs of meatballs at a time, freezing them into 3 portions for meals. Depending on how many we are feeding and such, the recipe for the freezer meatball stash below goes for more than 3 meals.

Freezer Stash Meatballs
Recipe

Makes 48 meatballs, 8 servings (I get 75 out of this recipe and split them 3 ways to freeze)

Ingredients:
3 lbs ground beef (we use half ground beef and half ground turkey)
1 1/2 cups soft breadcrumbs (I dry our bread ends and such and freeze them in a bag, it works fine for me in the recipe)
3 eggs
6 Tbsp. minced onion
3 cloves crushed garlic (I use the equivalent in garlic powder)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients. Form into 1 1/2 inch meatballs (I make mine about 1 inch) Using a miniature ice cream scoop or cookie scoop makes it easier to make uniform meatballs.

Arrange in two 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pans. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-13 or until meat is browned with no trace of pink and the juices run clear. (I use regular cookie sheets to bake on)

Drain and let the meatballs cool to room temperature. Divide into thirds and freeze each portion in vapor-moisture proof containers. (We freeze ours in gallon size freezer bags and they have always been fine if you can’t afford the vapor-proof containers. We have always used ours within 3 months.)

*****Recipe is taken from Menus For Moms Bulk Cooking
http://www.menus4moms.com/the-hamburger-plan/

*****My own notes are in ( )

(my daughters meatball sub)

Meatball Subs
Recipe


Ingredients:
1 tsp oil (any cooking oil will do–we use corn oil)
3/4 cup EACH bell pepper strips and thin onion wedges (or the amount that your family will use)
1/3 of your freezer stash meatballs, thawed
1-14 oz jar of prepared spaghetti sauce (you can also make your sauce from scratch)
4 hoagie rolls
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (we use LOTS more than this)

In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Add peppers and onions and cook, stirring until tender, 3 to 4 minutes (I find to make the veggies the way I like them it takes at least 10 minutes)

Reduce heat to medium low. Add the thawedmeatballs and spaghetti sauce. Cover and cook until heated through, about 5 or 6 minutes. Stir occasionally, Divide among the rolls and sprinkle with cheese if desired.

Serves 4 hearty sandwiches.

****Recipe from Menus4Moms They offer weekly free menu planning right to your email, including shopping list! (edit 7/14/14–It looks like Menus4Moms now charges for the menu planning plan of your choice, but I still recommend you check out the website as there is lots of other free information to take in while there.)

****My notes are in ( )

This is a really nice freezer set to get you started on your once a month cooking.

An InLinkz Link-up