1 t. salt 1/2 t. pepper 1/2 t. turmeric

2 T. coriander/ cilantro leaves (fresh) (Cilantro) 1/2 t. ground coriander or cilantro 1/2 t. ground cayenne pepper

1 garlic clove crushed 1 T. Olive oil (Tahina if you can find it) 2 oz. fresh white bread crumbs

2 oz. flour Oil to deep fry

Grind beans in blender or food processor. Add everything except flour and knead until soft but firm. Form into 1 in. balls flatten slightly (so will for into pita bread) Coat with flour

Heat oil and fry balls for 3 minutes or until evenly browned. Remove with slotted spoon and drain.

Serve hot inside pita bread with Tahina sauce (if you can find it) Serve with salad.

Pizza Crust 2 c. flour just under a T of yeast 1 1/2 c. warm water 1 t. salt

Mix well, add additional flour to make a soft dough, Just to where it is still a little sticky, but not terribly so. Coat bowl well with oil, about 1 T. Turning dough over to coat top and let raise until double.

Roll out of pizza stove or large pizza pan and bake for about 18 min until browned lightly and done. make sure not to over cook it and make it crispy!

Pizza topping 8 oz cream cheese 1 garlic clove smashed through garlic press 1/2 c. caesar salad dressing 2 T. Parmesan cheese (you can use more if you want, but this was a good amount for me)

Mix garlic, cheese, and dressing together and reserve half of it. Mix the other half with the cream cheese and add 1/2 c. of c finely chopped cooked chicken breast. Spread on cooked, cooled crust.

4 c. romaine lettuce

1/2 c. red bell pepper

1/2 c. sliced cucumber

1/4 c. sliced olives Mix all together and toss with reserved dressing. Place on top of crust with cream cheese spread. On top of this place another chicken breast that is cooked and sliced arranged nicely. You can use more if you want, but for me this was planty of chicken and I cut it down more. It is really filling and a great hot summer time dish!

This is one I make alot as it tastes good. I have also cooked it with chicken on top of it. when the rice is simmering. One thing I did alot was add home-canned chicken or home-canned ground beef to it after it was done. It took less than a half of a hour to have dinner on the table. Serve with a salad for a complete meal and cheap!

Spanish rice

3 T. olive oil 1 medium onion chopped 1 clove garlic minced

1 green pepper chopped seeded 1 c. long grain rice

2 c. boiling water 2 t. chicken broth granules 2 T. tomato paste 1/2 t. cumin

Saute onion garlic and green pepper until limp in oil add rice and brown until lightly browned.

mix rest of ingredients and add

Cover and cook 20-25 min (longer for brown) Add browned ground meat or cooked chicken if you want.

Our family was not a beans and rice kind of family. My dad dislikes most beans except pinto and those I think he tolerates! We were also not a thin brothy soup family or casseroles. So how did we live?

One of our favorite meals growing up was cream of something soup....usually brocolli.

It can be an expensive soup also if you pay alot for milk, but if you have access to a cow or got a whole bunch of milk for cheap...use it for dinner.

Other ideas are things like cabbage rolls, poor man's steak, Swedish meatballs, spaghetti and salad, salad topped with cheese and lots of vegetables, beef stew, stir fry, and many others.

Leftover rice, eggs, green onions or chives? Fried rice Green beans in the pantry, potatoes? hamburger or sausage in the freezer? Mashed potatoes, green beans and meat gravy Canned sauce? Spaghetti noodles? Spaghetti

No stuff for salad? Do you have any vegetables? Cabbage? Make coleslaw Cauliflower, cucumbers and tomatoes? Chop all of it up small and add some salt, pepper and a bit of sour cream.

You have some canned beans? Tired of plain burritos? Fill tortillas with beans and cheese and put in a pan with enchilada sauce over top and bake until hot. Wet burritos! A couple potatoes, a 1/4 pound of ground beef, only a couple assorted vegetables? Make a pot of soup with small meatballs.

All of these things are easy to make combining things you have in your cupboard, freezer or fridge! Be imaginative and go beyond the normal recipes you have! If you have your staples well stocked, even a while without grocery shopping should still merit you with good meals!

Don't shop hungry

Check your sale ads before you go to the store, plan your meals around the sales. Don't just plan your menu and then go to the store and buy it, you will spend a ton of money that way. You see, oh cabbage, ground beef and apples are on sale this week. How can I take what I have in the cupboards and make a meal or 2 varying those ingredients? Do I have rice? I could make cabbage rolls! How about an apple crisp to go in the oven at the same time to save oven heat?

Keep the staples stocked, watch for sales on them and keep them in the house. Flour, sugar, cornstarch, rice, potatoes, pasta. Some people keep a price book of like where they are the cheapest, I usually just remember it in my head mostly. Walmart has cheap staples like pasta, cornstarch, baking powder etc. They have good prices on canned beans if you like those also. So when I am there to pick up diapers I think if I am running low on anything and grab it too. That way you are saving money by not having to make a special trip to the store and getting it cheaper. Also, it helps to have these staples around for nights when you do not know what to make! You can always look in the cupboard and come up with a meal with some staples.

Remember that sometimes it costs more money to save money, sometimes you have to invest in a pressure cooker to make dry beans into refried beans. But you just made 5 cans worth of beans for .59 cents in the end! Or something you use alot, like here we use alot of oatmeal. You may have to spend $16 for 50 lbs of oatmeal, to save money on the oatmeal in the end.

1/4 cup of sugar 2 tsp salt 3 Tbls oil

3-4 cups of flour 1 egg white to brush on

In large bowl dissolve yeast in water. Stir in milk, sugar , salt and oil.

Beat in 2 cups of flour until smooth: beat in more flour to make a soft dough. Knead till smooth.

Let rise until double punch down, knead briefly, divide into 4 balls, roll out to a 10" circle, Let rise till puffy Bake 400 degree's for 15 min. or untill brown.

I hope you all enjoy it! If you have any comments of requests for things you would like to see, please let me know!

Otherwise welcome to my blog!