"Cheap Week" Part I

Welcome to "Cheap Week," where the meals are still delicious, but they won't break the bank! Not that any of my meals put a hurtin' on the pennies, but every now and then you do have to tighten your grip on the wallet and suck it up at the grocery store. And that's what we did this week...budget meals.

C'mon, you know you've been there: mac 'n' cheese a couple nights a week; toast and grits, eggs and bacon...for dinner; cereal with milk (maybe two bowls if you're really hungry); heck, some of us have relived ole college days and brought back the RAMEN NOODLES.

Well, here's a couple of good, old fashioned dinners that are substantial, yummy, and--best of all--CHEAP!

#1 - Spaghetti
I would be okay having any kind of Italian dish two or three nights a week. They're easy to prepare, relatively inexpensive, and bursting with flavors! And you can't go wrong with spaghetti. Make it with simple marinara or a meaty sauce. I usually add a pinch more of garlic and/or oregano to the sauce as I'm heating it, just to bump up the flavor. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (and some shredded mozzarella for an even better touch) and top it off with some fresh parsley to make a "plain" dish great!

#2 - Beef Tips & Noodles
All you'll need for this is medium (or wide) egg noodles and beef tips; and I like to use the Hormel beef tips--they're already prepared and packaged (with no yucky preservatives). Just follow the microwave instructions, spoon beef tips out over your cooked egg noodles, and voila!--a deliciously cheap meal in 10 minutes! (And there's usually enough for leftovers!) For an added bonus, use a slotted spoon to remove the beef tips from the microwave package once cooked; pour au jus from package into a pan over medium heat and slowly add a cornstarch-water mixture, stirring frequently. Once the mixture bubbles and thickens, remove from heat and stir into beef tips and noodles.

PS - I'm labeling this post as "Part I" because I can assure you there will be subsequent parts to follow!