This week will be my first full week in school, so I decided to pick a few weeks worth of recipes that would be easy to make and wouldn't require a lot of ingredients. I am also on a mission to help the family grocery bill and learn for future reference when I am on my own, to save as much money as possible through couponing and deal searching. It is still being perfected but when I have mastered it I will definitely share. This week we shaved off about 1/3 of our weekly grocery amount for two weeks worth of meals with mostly add comparison and store card advantages and some coupons. It is a process, but I think its worth it in the end!
My family LOVES pasta, bread, etc., so this week I chose a few Italian pasta recipes. The first recipe I made was Homemade Tomato Basil spaghetti that I found at the Phoenix Farmers Market. (Ironically it was also National Farmers Market Week! I hope you have a chance now and then to get out and support your local growers and vendors. Fresh/handmade is best!!) The lady that sold it to me, gave me multiple recipes that I could use to make the spaghetti, but I chose to just boil the spaghetti and top it with some brown butter and parmesan for the sake of time, and try those recipes later. It was delicious!! I am someday hoping to get the spaghetti attachment for my "can't live without" Kitchen Aid Mixer so that I, too, can make homemade spaghetti! Here is the end result for the spaghetti.
Another item I found at the Phoenix Farmers Market was this homemade garlic bread. It was from the Jewish bakery. It was a perfect side dish for our pasta!
The next recipe I made was a Baked Ziti. It was made like a lasagna with multiple different layers. It is very easy to make and takes very little time. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com under their list of budget cooking. Of course it is perfect for my week of budget recipes! Leftovers are also perfect for lunches the next day. Here is the link to the Baked Ziti: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-I/Detail.aspx?evt19=1.
Here is the final product! I dished it out and topped it with shredded cheese.
The next recipe would definitely be my brother's favorite! Chili Mac. I would say that it is probably not as good as Steak and Shake's (one of our Midwest favorite restaurants) chili mac but it is a close second! The reason my brother loves this recipe is because it has no beans. Of course if your family prefers beans, you can add them in. Here is the recipe for the Chili Mac: http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2014/05/12/chili-mac/.
The last recipe for this week is for Hand pies! My mom had heard about a local place that made hand pies and wanted to try them. The place is called AZ Food Crafters located in Chandler and it has a variety of different sweet and savory hand pies and they are delicious! We bought an assortment of the sweet hand pies to try. Here is the link the AZ Food Crafters website: http://www.bakedhandpies.com/about.html.
After tasting the hand pies we bought I decided to try making my own. I made Caramel-Pecan hand pies. The recipe I found was on thecafesucrefarine.com. The recipe made quite a few too many pies for my family, so make your own judgment on how many to make for your family. They are very good and I would definitely recommended them if you aren't lucky enough to have a local bakery like we have! Here is the recipe for the hand pies: http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2011/10/caramel-pecan-hand-pies/.
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The next recipe would definitely be my brother's favorite! Chili Mac. I would say that it is probably not as good as Steak and Shake's (one of our Midwest favorite restaurants) chili mac but it is a close second! The reason my brother loves this recipe is because it has no beans. Of course if your family prefers beans, you can add them in. Here is the recipe for the Chili Mac: http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2014/05/12/chili-mac/.
The last recipe for this week is for Hand pies! My mom had heard about a local place that made hand pies and wanted to try them. The place is called AZ Food Crafters located in Chandler and it has a variety of different sweet and savory hand pies and they are delicious! We bought an assortment of the sweet hand pies to try. Here is the link the AZ Food Crafters website: http://www.bakedhandpies.com/about.html.
After tasting the hand pies we bought I decided to try making my own. I made Caramel-Pecan hand pies. The recipe I found was on thecafesucrefarine.com. The recipe made quite a few too many pies for my family, so make your own judgment on how many to make for your family. They are very good and I would definitely recommended them if you aren't lucky enough to have a local bakery like we have! Here is the recipe for the hand pies: http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2011/10/caramel-pecan-hand-pies/.
Here is the final product! My family compared them also, to store bought hand pies and agreed that mine were the best. They were definitely more healthier!
That is it for this week! I hope you enjoyed my recipes and plan on trying some of them yourself. Next week I will be posting some more budget friendly recipes and farmers market finds! Thanks for reading and check out my blog next week!
Don't forget to check out my Etsy and look for new items! I will be posting some new headbands hopefully in the next few weeks! Here is the link to my Etsy business: https://www.etsy.com/shop/IzzabelesCreations. This dog tutu is perfect for the upcoming holidays including Halloween! Check it out!
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