Hearty Southwest Black Beans & Rice

This recipe is a staple in our house. It is cheap, delicious and makes for great leftovers!

I usually eat mine taco-style in tortilla shells with shredded cheese, tomato, lettuce, and guacamole. James prefers to load his up with taco fixings and eat with chips. Either way is great!

This is a relatively cheap recipe at $0.80 per generous serving. Happy eating!

Cost Analysis:

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Southwest Black Beans & Rice

• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Time: 5 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Rice, Black Beans, Corn and some basic spices make for a hearty vegetarian main dish or a great side dish!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice (I usually use long grain)
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or salted water if you don’t have broth)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can of black beans (about 15 ounces), drained
• 1 small can of whole kernel corn (8-9 ounces), drained

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium size saucepan on medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add rice and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes (until slightly toasted).
3. Add vegetable broth and bring mixtures to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low for about 20 minutes.
4. Add cumin and chili powder and stir into rice mixture.
5. Stir black beans and corn into the mixture.
6. Serve with all the standard taco fixings inside of tortillas, with tortilla chips, or just enjoy plain!

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3 Ingredient Smoothie to Use Up Those Brown Bananas!

If you are like me, you probably have an old, brown and mushy banana sitting in your kitchen. For some reason, you didn’t get a chance to eat it. Like me, you have already made too much banana bread, but you don’t want to let the banana go to waste.

Never fear! In 2 minutes you can get that mushy fruit off of your counter and enjoy this delicious fruit smoothie. The addition of the orange juice in this recipe really cuts the sweetness of the overripe banana. I made this smoothie with frozen strawberry, but feel free to add any frozen fruit you have on hand. It is also good with frozen pineapple, mango, blueberries, etc.

From a cost perspective, it costs about $1 to make this recipe. James and I usually split the smoothie, but most people would probably consider it to be one smoothie.

Frugal Cost Analysis:

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

3 Ingredient Brown Banana Smoothie

• Servings: 1 or 2
• Prep Time: 2-3 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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A delicious and quick smoothie that uses up an old banana and isn't too sweet!

Ingredients

– 3/4 cup orange juice
– 3/4 frozen fruit (I used strawberries)
– 1 banana (old is fine!)

1. Blend orange juice, banana and frozen fruit.
2. Garnish (if desired) and Enjoy!

Tortilla Pizza: A Frugal Use of Leftovers?

James and I had a craving for thin crust pizza. We also had leftover homemade tomato sauce, leftover fresh mozzarella, a less than fresh tomato, and a bag of tortillas. What resulted? Crispy margherita-style pizzas. Not super filling, but a delicious and light meal.

The question is, is it a frugal meal?

After completing a cost analysis, the results show a cost of $1.37 per pizza. As the portion was small, this is perhaps not the most cost-effective meal. However, the majority of our ingredients were close to expiration, so it was a good opportunity to reduce our household waste. The cost could also be reduced by changing the type of cheese (but for me, fresh mozzarella cheese is a luxury I am willing to splurge on!)

We could have used the leftovers to make more caprese sandwiches (which were more filling and cheaper to make), but it wouldn’t have satisfied our thin crust pizza craving!

Cost Analysis:

Ingredient	Ingredient Cost per Unit	Units Required for Recipe	Recipe Cost
Flour Tortilla	$0.23 per tortilla	2 tortillas	$0.46
Fresh Mozzarella	$ 0.37 per ounce	3 ounces	$1.11
Tomato	$ 0.30 per tomato	1 tomato	$0.30
Leftover Tomato Sauce	$2.64 for full batch	1/6 of sauce	$0.44
Fresh Basil	$ 0.06 per leaf	4 leaves	$0.24
Olive Oil	0.23 per tablespoon	1/3 tablespoon	$0.08
Balsamic Glaze	$ 0.10 per tsp	1 teaspoon	$0.10
Total cost for TWO pizzas:			$2.73
Total cost for ONE pizza:			$1.37

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Tortilla Pizza: A Frugal Use of Leftovers?

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 7-9 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
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This crispy margherita-style pizza is delicious and light meal

Ingredients

• 2 Flour tortillas (we used the “taco” size)
• 3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese (feel free to substitute)
• 1 small roma tomato, halved and thinly sliced
• 3-5 tablespoons leftover tomato sauce depending on your love of sauce! (you can use any pizza sauce/tomato based sauce that you have)
• 4 leaves fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic glaze
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Rub a a little bit of olive oil on a baking sheet, add tortillas to baking sheet (do not stack), and rub a little bit of olive oil all over the tortillas (this will make them super crispy!)
3. Spread tomato sauce on the tortillas .
4. Add fresh mozzarella (1.5 ounce per pizza) on top of the sauce.
5. Add fresh tomato to the top of the pizza.
6. DO NOT ADD THE FRESH BASIL UNTIL AFTER THE PIZZA IS COOKED. It will turn BLACK if you do this which is a terrible waste!
7. Bake pizzas for 7-9 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and add basil and balsamic vinegar glaze (optional).
9. Satisfy your pizza craving and use up those leftovers!

Flippy Floppy Pancakes for a Nickel?

Kristin’s Uncle Bert is big, loud, and extremely cheerful. One of her classic Uncle Bert memories involves him boisterously preparing his “Flippy Floppy Pancakes” on New Year’s Day. Uncle Bert’s pancakes were flippy, floppy, and delicious. He always touted a “secret ingredient” that made the texture just right. The secret ingredient has yet to be officially disclosed, but we think we have figured it out. Here’s to you, Uncle Bert!

Per Uncle Bert’s original specifications, these pancakes are flippy and floppy. They are also a very cheap and easy meal. Pancakes shouldn’t be pigeonholed as a breakfast food. They can be enjoyed at any time of the day!

Cost Analysis:

Read more on the cost of toppings here!
Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Flippy Floppy Pancakes for a Nickel?

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 2-3 mins per batch (10-15 minutes tota)
• Difficulty: Easy
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These flippy floppy pancakes are nostalgic, delicious, and cheap! Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1. Pour milk into a glass measuring cup or bowl.
2. Add vinegar to milk and set a timer for 5 minutes. (This gives the milk time to sour.)
3. Place a large frying pan on burner and set to medium-low heat.
4. Combine all dry ingredients into a separate bowl and whisk together.
5. Melt butter in the microwave.
6. Add melted butter and egg to milk mixture.
7. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is reasonably smooth.
8. Pour batter into frying pan. Make pancakes approximately 3″ in diameter. We can usually fit three pancakes in a large frying pan.
9. This batter is thick and bubbles don’t normally form on the top of the pancakes. Watch the edges and when edges start to thicken, look under one pancake. If the bottom of the pancake is golden brown, flip all the pancakes.
10. Repeat until you use all of your batter. Give your batter a stir before making each new batch. It thickens as it sits.
11. Serve with maple syrup, butter, or peanut butter!

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Toastie Caprese Sandwich

If you have some leftover artisan bread (or any bread for that matter), this recipe is for you! When I made this recipe today, I used 2 day old artisan crusty bread, but any bread should work! Splurge on fresh mozzarella for this sandwich. Fresh mozzarella makes up half of the cost of the sandwich, but it makes the sandwich much more luxurious!

Cost Analysis:

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe

Toasty Caprese Sandwich

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
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An easy gourmet grilled cheese sandwich.

Ingredients

• 4 slices of bread (see artisan bread recipe)
• 3 ounces of mozzarella cheese (preferably fresh mozzarella)
• 4 basil leaves (I keep a basil plant for economical fresh herbs)
• 1 small tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• balsamic vinegar glaze (or a little balsamic vinegar)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat a frying pan on medium heat
Butter one side of all 4 pieces of bread and place one piece of bread in the frying pan.
Top the bread with 1.5 ounces mozzarella cheese, half of the sliced tomato, a few leaves of basil, salt, pepper, and the balsamic vinegar glaze. Note: If you bread is very dry, you may want to butter both sides of the bread prior to cooking it in the frying pan!
Cook the sandwich until browned on the bottom and flip. Repeat the process until both sides of the sandwich are browned.
Serve with a salad, soup, or chips! Enjoy!

Chunky and Easy Homemade Vegetarian Tomato Sauce

Pasta is a cheap staple food in our household, but we haven’t found a jarred pasta sauce that we enjoy eating. So, this chunky vegetarian tomato sauce is one that we make relatively frequently. When we were newly married, we made the sauce about once a week. It is delicious by itself on top of pasta, and can be improved with the addition of cheese. You may even want to use the leftovers as a pizza sauce! Click here for that recipe. Enjoy!

Cost Analysis:

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Chunky and Easy Homemade Vegetarian Tomato Sauce

• Prep Time: 5-10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Delicious chunky vegetarian tomato sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 can (14-15.5 ounces) diced tomatoes (I prefer low sodium petite diced)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 peeled carrot, or brown sugar to taste
• 1-2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning (or other dried herbs)
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter and oil together in a saucepan over low heat.
2. Add finely chopped onion, garlic and celery to the melted butter and oil. Allow this mixture to saute over low heat for 5 – 10 minutes (until the celery is softened). Stir occasionally.
3. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, dried herbs, and water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Also add in peeled carrot or brown sugar.
4. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes. The sauce should be thickened when it is done. Remove carrot prior to serving!

Thrifty Tip: Watermelon Edition

Watermelon is one of my favorite foods, but I don’t like the mess involved with eating it off the rind. So, over the years I have developed a quick and efficient process to cube my watermelon.

Instructions:

Step 1: Obtain a watermelon!

Step 2: Cut the watermelon in half

Step 3: Cut each half in half again (so that you have the watermelon cut into quarters)

Step 4: Use a sharp knife to slice the watermelon on the rind from one end to another

Step 5: After it is sliced, cut along the perimeter of the watermelon

Step 6: Slide the slabs of watermelon off of the rind and cut it into cubes

Step 7: Complete with the other three quarters

Step 8: Enjoy!

Thrifty Tip: Celery Edition

Crisp celery is great for a variety of recipes (and even a healthy crunchy snack). Wilted celery is another story. Luckily, there is an easy way to keep your celery crisp MUCH LONGER.

To extend the life of your celery, wrap it in tinfoil and store it in the refrigerator. This should keep your celery crisp for weeks. For more of our thrifty kitchen tips, click here!

Homemade White Cheddar Popcorn – Super Easy!

We love white cheddar popcorn, but don’t like to pay for the bagged version at the grocery store. The King Arthur Flour Vermont Cheddar Cheese powder is a splurge at about $9 a canister, but results in a more economical popcorn treat! After analyzing the cost, you will pay approximately $0.22 for a nice hot bowl of cheese popcorn (see below for analysis).

Frugal Cost Analysis:

Item	Ingredient Cost per Unit	Units Required for Recipe	Total Cost
Popcorn	$ 0.47 per cup	1/4 cup	$0.12
Canola Oil	$ 0.02 per tablespoon	1.5 tablespoons	$0.03
Cheese Powder	$ 0.28 per tablespoon	1 tablespoon	$0.28
Total cost for 2 large bowls			$0.43
Total cost for 1 large bowl			$0.22

Note: This cost analysis is based on what I paid for my own ingredients in the year 2020. Actual prices may vary.

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Recipe:

Homemade White Cheddar Popcorn - Super Easy!

• Servings: 2-4 depending on your appetite!
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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A stove-top version of white cheddar popcorn!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels
• 1.5 tablespoon of oil (we use Canola oil)
• 1 tablespoon of cheese powder (we use King Arthur Flour Vermont Cheddar Cheese powder)
Note: You may choose to add an addition 1/4 to 1/2 of a tablespoon of cheese powder
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Add oil AND five popcorn kernels to a medium or large saucepan. You don’t want to add all of the kernels until after the oil is HOT!
2. Heat the saucepan on medium heat.
3. Once the five popcorn kernels pop, add the remaining 1/4 cup of kernels.
4. Allow the kernels to pop until you the popping slows and you don’t hear a pop every 2-3 seconds. (usually about 5 minutes on medium heat)
5. Pour the popcorn in a bowl (do not add the cheese powder to the saucepan, as it will burn!)
6. Shake 1 tablespoon of cheese powder over the popcorn.
7. Stir the popcorn, add salt to taste, and serve!

Quick & Easy Guacamole

We love avocado, but avocados can be made even better when turned into this easy guacamole! We celebrated Cinco de Mayo by this year by loading up on 25 cent avocados.

Click here for some tips on keeping avocados fresh longer!

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Recipe:

Quick & Easy Guacamole

• Servings: 2-4
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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A fast and delicious addition to any Mexican fare.

Ingredients

• 1 avocado
• a few spoonfuls of fresh salsa,
or a small roma tomato and 1/4 small yellow onion (diced)
• 1/2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, cube and mash your avocado.
2. Add fresh salsa (or add diced tomato and onion)
3. Mix avocado and fresh salsa (or diced tomato and onion)
4. Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lime juice
5. Stir all ingredients together
6. Serve with chips (or veggies if you prefer)!

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