Good day, savvy students. It’s time to learn another lesson. Please open your laptops and begin to bookmark sites to ease your frugal educational journey. You’re going to need a whole new folder of sites in your favorites after this post!
So you’ve made the commitment to be more frugal with your money. You’re clipping and collecting coupons, you’re organizing them, you’re making a meal plan and really using what’s in your cabinets. But you’re thinking . . . ugh, I have no idea what to make for dinner. I think one of the common misnomers is that eating frugally = generic hamburger helper for dinner every night. I’ve actually found it to be quite the opposite. We’ve widened our pallets while narrowing our budget, thanks to some awesome websites that I’ve discovered with great recipes and ideas. It won’t take long following me to realize that I alter almost every recipe that I come across. I eliminate items we don’t like, add others we do, and use simple swaps to save $. i.e. fresh herbs and seasonings are often swapped out for dried ones, higher end veggies are swapped for cheaper ones or frozen ones, and when possible I make our own basic foods (pancake mix, granola, pizza dough, breads, black beans) from scratch.
Don’t reinvent the wheel, let these internet gurus guide you into a better place. Let’s begin, shall we?
- Lady Erin from $5 Dinners definitely knows how to put together a meal without dropping a wad of cash. She’s appeared on Rachael Ray and the View, Erin specializes in meals high in nutritional content and low in cost. She also prepares her meals Gluten Free!
- I also LOVE the Crockpot Lady, Lady Stephanie. In 2008, she endeavored to use her crockpot every day of the year launching Crockpot365 . Her recipes are AMAZING. From Buffalo Chicken Lasagna, Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup, French Toast, and Dried Beans to Baby Food , Yogurt , Soap , and even Shrinky Dinks you won’t be disappointed in her recipe repetoire. She does GFCF foods, too.
- Did you know that Rachael Ray has a special section of her website just for Budget Meals ? Now her recipes are a little more pricey than I how I roll but they are easily altered to knock a buck or two off or if you shop @ Aldi you might not even have to do that! You can even sign up for a weekly e-mail with recipe ideas delivered right to your box!
- The ladies at Once a Month Mom know how to rock it out. Lady Tricia and Co. tell you how to break it down freezer style. They have great recipes for big people and babies alike. =
- I *heart* Women’s Health Magazine. They have a great recipe finder here.
- All You Magazine is my favorite magazine of all times! It has frugal tips, great menu plan ideas and recipes, and COUPONS people. Lots and lots of COUPONS. You can get it for only $0.75/issue if you order it through Queen of Free! Go now . Don’t wait. For an online sampling of some of their recipes go here . I also love the Memorial Day ideas here.
Whew, that’s a whole lot of sites for you to check out today. Hopefully your weekly menu plan is all kinds of spiced up now. Eating on the cheap doesn’t have to taste cheap. Keep taking these courses and you’ll have a Ph. D. in frugal-i-ty.
www.queenoffree.net
