Frugal Meals

Since the down turn in the economy, I have been trying to economize. Cooking at home has become a big part of my effort in saving money. My husband (who takes care of our finances) says it is helping. Fortunately, a new market came to our area called Fresh & Easy. The neat thing about this market is that they will mark items down for clearance. Sometimes they will have bread at half price. Recently, they were selling tuna packed in oil for 39 cents a can! I used the tuna in a dish called Fusilli with Tuna. I made the simple tomato sauce recipe in the crock-pot. I only made half the recipe of tomato sauce, by using two 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (Italian style) and an 8 oz can of tomato sauce. I used a hand blender to puree the sauce. The dish was very tasty.

Another easy and frugal recipe is Campbell's Beef Taco Skillet which is one of Mark's favorite dishes. I can get tomato soup for 69 cents a can at Fresh & Easy. I use corn tortillas in the recipe which have less calories than flour tortillas and tend to be cheaper.