$5 Meals: Baked Spinach Pasta

This recipe makes 8-10 servings, so it is great for freezing and for leftovers. Because it is a bit tedious, I love to double the recipe and make a batch for a family who just had a baby or is going through a hard time. All my friends love this recipe and I get asked to make it now whenever they have a new baby!

Baked Spinach Pasta

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 cans stewed or diced tomatoes
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I prefer Bertolli tomato basil)
1 onion
Italian seasoning
Garlic
Salt and pepper
1 box of penne or bow tie pasta
1 lb of spinach- chopped (I find baby leaf much easier to chop)
1.5 bags of shredded Italian cheese (2 cups portion bags) (you can use more or less – I am a Wisconsin Italian, so I love cheese)

Directions

1. Chop the onion finely – I use my Pampered Chef chopper
2. Put the onion and meat in a frying pan. Brown the meat, seasoning it with Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper. I just sprinkle everything until it smells “Italian.”
3. Drain off any fat.
4. Drain most of the juice from the diced tomatoes and add the two cans to the browned meat.
5. Let simmer for about 8-10 minutes, stirring often.
6. Add jar of spaghetti sauce and let simmer for 20-30 minutes on low, stirring occasionally. You want the meat, tomatoes and sauce to get a lot of flavor and the simmering does this. You can’t really simmer too long. Just let it simmer while you do the next steps.
7. While the sauce is simmering, go ahead and chop all your spinach finely with a chopper.
8. Boil your noodles in a large pot (so you can use it to mix all the ingredients.)
9. Once your noodles are cooked, drain the water.
10. Add 1 bag of cheese to the pot of hot noodles and stir so the cheese starts to melt.
11. Stir in the spinach.
12. Stir in the meat sauce.
13. Pour everything into your pans – this usually makes an 11×17 and an 8×8 pan of pasta for me.
14. Sprinkle the tops of both pans with the other half bag of cheese.
15. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 so everything can bake together and the cheese will melt on the top.
16. Enjoy!

A couple notes: I do not recommend using frozen chopped spinach in this recipe. It waters it down and is not nearly as flavorful. Also, do not use a food processor to chop the spinach, as it chops it too fine.

If you use stewed tomatoes, be sure to cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces. For even more flavor, you can add a chopped up Italian sausage to the meat when you brown it.

Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/03/the-mom-creatives-baked-spinach-pasta.html#ixzz1oNcIMGjd

$5 Meals: Black Bean and Salsa Chicken

Ingredients
1 1.3 lb package chicken breasts ($2.32) Other chicken cuts would totally work!
1 1/2 cups salsa ($1) Bought recently on sale, plus store promotion and coupon
2 cups cooked black beans ($.40)
1 teaspoon ground cumin ($.05)
1 teaspoon garlic powder ($.05)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup rice ($.20)
4 ears corn ($1)

Directions
1. Place the chicken breasts into an 8×8 inch glass baking dish. Pour the salsa over the top and then stir in the black beans, cumin and garlic powder. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Dice the chicken and mix it all up with the salsa and black beans.
2. Prepare rice as directed on package.
3. Remove husks and threads, then boil the ears of corn for 4 to 6 minutes.
4. Serve Black Bean and Salsa Chicken on Rice with Corn Cobs.

Cost $5.02

Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/04/baked-black-bean-salsa-chicken.html#ixzz1oNVwmZN6

$5 Meals: Grilled BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, diced and coated in BBQ sauce ($1.66)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce ($.25)
8 tortillas ($1)
1-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese ($.75-$3) I used 1 cup for Steve’s full size quesadilla.
(Some hummus for the dairy-free family members…$.50)
Couple cilantro leaves, chopped (from the garden)
4 corn cobs ($.80)

Directions

1. Dice the chicken and coat it with the BBQ sauce. Grill the chicken pieces. (Be sure that you dice them into pieces that are large enough to not fall through the grill.)

2. Once the chicken has cooked through, add the chicken, cheese, cilantro to the tortillas. I did mine as “full”…you could certainly fold them in half and grill each side…and then cut if you prefer. After all, there are 913 ways you can make a quesadilla. Well, at least a dozen anyways!

3. For the dairy free folks…use hummus as you “glue” in a quesadilla!

4. Grill the quesadillas a few minutes on each side, until the cheese is nice and ooey, gooey!

5. Cook the corn.

6. Serve Grilled BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with Corn.

Cost $4.96

Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/06/grilled-bbq-chicken-quesadillas.html#ixzz1oNVJibcu

$5 Meals: Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

Yield – 4 sandwiches

Preparation Time – 10 minutes

Cooking Time – 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground chuck ($1.99)
• 1 green pepper, seeded and diced ($.59)
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce ($.20)
• 2 tsp minced onion ($.05)
• 1 tsp minced garlic ($.05)
• 1 tsp vinegar ($.02)
• 1 Tbsp prepared mustard ($.01)
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($.01)
• Salt and pepper
• 4 whole wheat buns ($.50)
• 4 slices provolone cheese ($.67)
• Clementines, bananas – fresh fruit ($.50)
• Chips ($.75)

Directions

• Brown the ground beef. (If you want softer green peppers, cook them with the ground beef.) Drain and let sit.
• In the same skillet, add the tomato sauce, minced onion, minced garlic, vinegar, mustard and brown sugar. Stir and let simmer over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the brown beef and (uncooked or cooked) green peppers and combine. Simmer over low heat for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until ready to serve.
• Spoon the sloppy joe meat over the buns and top with slice of cheese. Let the warm sauce melt the cheese, or microwave.
• Serve Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes with chips and fresh fruit.

Cost $5.34

Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/09/cheesesteak-sloppy-joes-friday-night-bite.html#ixzz1oNUbyuud

$5 Meals: Eggplant Penne Pasta with Corn Cobs

This meal is sorta “2-n-1″…it could be vegetarian…or it could be done with meat or diced chicken!

Here’s the lowdown…

Since I only used 1 cup of the crushed tomatoes, I ended up using the rest to make spaghetti sauce for the boys while I’m gone this weekend. Before stashing it in the fridge, I tossed about 1 cup with the eggplant and pasta for the boys…then tossed the eggplant and pasta with cheese for us. Make sense? I don’t normally make “2 for 1 meals,” but that’s how this meal played out tonight.

So could be meatless, or toss in a bit of your favorite meat and spaghetti sauce!

Also, today I sliced up my green pepper and orange pepper with an onion and froze them. I wanted to make chicken fajita pizza tomorrow night before I leave, but that’s not gonna happen…rather than let it go to waste, I froze them so that I could saute them with the chicken next week when I can make that pizza!

Ingredients
2 small eggplants ($1.50) $.75 a piece from the farmer’s market stop!
Couple dashes of salt
16 oz. whole wheat penne pasta ($1.49)
1-2 tsp olive oil ($.05)
Pepper
Bunch of parsley, basil leaves and rosemary leaves (free from the garden)
2-3 garlic cloves ($.10)
1 cup crushed tomatoes ($.30)
1/2 – 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese ($.40) From the freezer from a few weeks ago when just $1.25/2 cups!
4 ears of corn ($.68) From the freezer when on sale a few weeks back…$.17 each

**Add 1/3-1/2 lb. ground beef for the meatier version! Plus $.75!

Directions

1. Slice eggplants into 1/2 inch cubes or slightly smaller.

2. Place in colander and sprinkle with salt. Set colander in the sink and let sit for 30 minutes. The salt will remove the bitter juices from the eggplant and the dish will be much tastier! After sitting for 30 minutes, rinse with cold water and then add to skillet for sauteing.

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and return to saucepan. Chop fresh herbs.

4. Saute egglant with the fresh herbs in olive oil for about 3-4 minutes, or until begin to brown. Stir often.

5. Add 1 cup of crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce/diced tomatoes. Stir through. Add cooked pasta and shredded mozzarella cheese. Toss and let simmer over low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

6. In glass baking dish, add corn cobs with 1/4 cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 4-5 minutes.

7. Serve Eggplant Penne Pasta with Corn Cobs.

Cost $4.52 for meatless, $5.27 for meaty version

Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/07/eggplant-penne-pasta.html#ixzz1oNTXGcWM

$5 Meals: Chicken Nachos

Ingredients
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken ($1.50) Click here for instructions
1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed ($.25)
1 10 oz. can Rotel tomatoes (diced tomatoes with green chilies), undrained ($.69)
1 15 oz. can (or 2 cups) black beans ($.59)
1/4 red onion, diced ($.20)
Baked Tortilla Chips
1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese ($.75)
Salsa ($.25)
2 large broccoli heads ($.79)

Directions
1. In saucepan, combine chicken, corn, Rotel tomatoes, black beans and onion. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring often.
2. Place tortilla chips onto plate and top with the chicken mixture. Top with shredded cheese and microwave for 1 minute, or until cheese melts. Top with a “dollop” of salsa.
3. Steam broccoli in stovetop steamer, or in microwavable bowl with 1/2 cup of water and covered with plastic wrap, for 4-5 minutes.
4. Serve Chicken Nachos with Broccoli.

Cost $5.02

Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/10/chicken-nachos.html#ixzz1oNSh6uOf