It’s the first of the month, I haven’t been to the grocery yet, and we’re at the end of last month’s food supply. I had planned on making calzones with this great pizza crust recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook.
There’s just one problem. I forgot that I had used the last of the tomato sauce for the lasagna roll-ups I served earlier in the week.
The solution? A can of diced tomatoes pureed in the blender; sautéed onions, garlic and green peppers; and some oregano, basil, salt and pepper, simmering together for 20 minutes.
The result was a home-cooked meal created with ingredients I found on hand. No fast-food or pizza runs. Family well fed. Budget saved once again!
I love sharing icprees that you use to help use whats in the pantry and to keep costs down. Maybe some tips on things you can do or make to keep costs down?My current cheap hack was I just hosted a party and I really wanted to get a cake stand to put my cake on but I didn’t want to spend $30 on a fancy shmancy glass one. So I went to the Dollar Tree and bought a green martini glass and a purple dinner plate and some Epoxy. Glued the rim of the glass to the bottom of the plate and let it set over night. Voila! $3 Cake Stand that matched my party theme!
This works great for freeze ahead meals. I make a double batch, one made with the normal recipe and one made w/o the sauce -instead you put the sauce in a freezer bag and attach to the bag of pre-made calzones. I then, in a week or later, cook the calzones as normal, heat up the sauce, and dip away. It’s not too hard to make a double batch and then you have a meal ready to go when you’ve had a busy day!