Ingredients:
1 box of elbow macaroni
1 can of tomato sauce
slices of american cheese


Directions:
Boil the pasta and drain. In an oven safe dish, line the bottom with some of the sauce, then put a layer of pasta, and then a layer of cheese, and then a layer of sauce, and just continue until the dish is full or the ingredients are used up, ending with cheese as your top layer. Bake in the oven at 375 for about 10-15 minutes. Delicious, cheap, and filling!

My uncle bought me some meat to cook.  It's like beef cubes for stew.  I want to use the slow cooker.  Any good recipes and time frame on how long it neeeds to cook?

Since things have been kinda slow here...

I made this tonight and it was simple (prep of less than 10 min) and yummy

1 Med Onion diced ($.25)
3 russet (baking) potatoes cubed (I get a 10lb bag for $3ish.. so... $1?)
1lb of polish sausage (on sale at Walmart for $1.50)
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced ($.05)
1 cup cheese (I used pepper jack, but whatever makes you happy)(6cups for $5, so $.83)

Prep -
Preheat the oven to 400
Cut up all the ingredients. Put them in a baking dish. Drizzle some olive oil over them. Cover with foil and bake for 45 min. Remove the foil, add the cheese, bake for 20-30 min more.


Cost total - $3.63
Even when polish sausage is the regular price ($2-2.50) this still comes out to under $5!

(for imperial users, 30g = 1oz)

500g dried red kidney beans ($1.00 or so)
4tbsp butter (35c)
2 onions, finely chopped (about $1)cook in boiling
6 corn cobs or the equivalent in corn kernels (I used 250g at about $1)
250g pumpkin (50c)
2 cups vege stock (30c) or milk (60c)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak the beans overnight, then boil in salted water until tender (at least 45 min)
2. Fry onion in butter until golden brown.
3. Add corn cut off the cob and cubed pumpkin, fry until soft.
4. Add beans and season with salt & pepper.
5. Add stock/milk and simmer over low heat for 20min.

Serves 3-4.

Prices from Perth, Western Australia and in AU$.

Another Crock Pot favorite, this one is from my "Stuff To Do The Week After Thanksgiving" file:

2 Cups Chopped turkey, mostly dark meat, cut in to 1/2-inch pieces

All your leftover gravy, hopefully at least 1 Cup

Enough Chicken Broth or Turkey Broth to make your gravy in to 4 cups of liquid.

1 Cup Diced carrots

1 Cup Peas

1 Tube of Biscuits.

Pretty straight forward here... put everything in the crock pot, cover with the biscuits, cook for about 4 hours. Makes a super-tasty Turkey Pot Pie/Dumplings meal that is EXCELLENT served on top of leftover Mashed Potatoes!

This

( Italian Baked Ziti DinnerCollapse )

As requested, my cheapest Crock Pot Recipe:


1 Lb boneless Country Style Pork Ribs (never buy Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs - why pay for something heavy in the middle of your meat that you can't eat?) - 98-cents a pound on sale

3 Packets BBQ Sauce (I find that th stuff from Wendy's to be the best) - Free

1 Packet Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce (once again, I enjoy Wendy's for this ingredient) - Free

1 small Onion, diced - 20 Cents

1 Clove Garlic, minced - 20 Cents

1 Cup Red Wine - $1

Some salt and pepper - Free

Cut your meat in to 1-inch cubes and stab them repeatedly with a fork till you've taken out all your aggressions and have a well perforated piece of meat. You might also want to remove some of the excess fat at this point if you're the type of person who is grossed-out by such stuff; I personally keep it in because it adds flavor, moisture and lubrication.

Sprinkle the meat lightly with salt and pepper, then rub the S&P in to the meat so you know that the seasoning is staying with THE MEAT and not just drifting off in to the rest of your meal. Put the meat in your crock pot along with the onions and the garlic, stirring it all together and jumbled-up.

In a seperate bowl, whisk together your sauces and the cup of wine. Pour your wine/sauce mixture over your meat-and-onions, stir to coat all the meat.

Cook on low for a day or so (5 to 8 hours), checkng once every hour-or-so to stir and make sure nothings gone wrong (burning). Near the 5-hour mark (maybe even sooner) you'll discover that the meat is falling apart when you stir; this is GOOOOOOOOD, and exactly what you're looking for. Serve over rice or on a bun, makes no difference. Makes about 4-6 servings.

I just bought a small Crock-Pot (found at Goodwill, name brand, woo!).

Someone should post some awesome, cheap crock pot recipes! Or slow cooker recipes, whatever! ;)

I love the idea of this community! Being a broke-ass semi-college student, I need new ideas for recipes and I've got some pretty good ones so far.
I am going to give you all my super easy, super quick recipe to potato pancakes. This dinner saved me especially when I'm too tired to really make anything that requires more than 15 minutes of my time.


Potato Pancakes:

2 medium sized potatoes
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoon flour
1/2 tablespoon parsley (or more depending on taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
(you could also add 1/2 of an onion, but I hate the things so I never add them to mine)

1: Peel and grate potatoes.
2: Lightly oil a frying pan and set on medium.
3: Mix potatoes and all other ingredients in a bowl.
4: Drop large spoonfuls of the mixture in the pan and spread out in small pancakes.
5: Flip them when they get brown on each side.

These go really well with applesauce or sour cream!


Omelette:

2 eggs (or 1 egg and 1/4 cup milk if you have a truly tight budget)
1/3 cup cheese
1/2 tbs parsley
mushrooms, peppers, onions, or pretty much any other veggie you want
salt and pepper to taste

These are pretty self explanatory. Lightly oil a frying pan and, after mixing the eggs and seasonings, pour into the pan. You could fry up the veggies beforehand also. Add the veggies and cheese onto one side of the omelette then flip the other side onto the first.

Hope ya'll enjoy!

DAY 1: Made a $3 (give or take a few cents) pot of chili as such:

1 Lb Ground Turkey (88-cents)
1 Onion, diced (14-cents)
1 Green Pepper, diced (50-cents on sale)
1 Clove Garlic (20-cents)
8 Packets Taco Bell "Hot" Taco Sauce (Free)
8 Containers Taco Time Salsa (Free)
1 Can Tomato Sauce (25-cents)
2 Lbs. Red Beans (75-cents a pound)

Boil your beans in a HUGE pot till nearly falling apart, then drain. Brown the turkey along with the onion and the green pepper, drain and then add all your sauces to coat all the meat. Combine the meat sauce and the bean, stir vigorously.

DAY 2: Created BBQ Beefaroni:

Combine 2 cups of the leftover chili with a 16-ounce bag of macaroni noodles (75-cents) that you have pre-cooked. Stir in 2 containers of BBQ Dipping Sauce from any of your favorite fast-food establishments (Free).

DAY 3: Created The Cheesy Chili-Bake Casserole:

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a tube of biscuit dough (98-cents), cover with a thin layer of Chili and then a generous amount of grated cheddar cheese(maybe 2 cups? $2). Bake at about 375 till the cheese on top is brown and crispy.

DAY 4: Goulash From The Old Country:

16-ounce bag of Macaroni Noodles (75-cents), cooked. Add two cups of chili, 4 packets of Marinara Dipping Sauce (Burger King, Jack In The Box and Arby's offer them for free), and an 8-ounce container of Cottage Cheese ($1.50). Stir it all together thoroughly, put in a baking dish and cover with Parmesan Cheese (free at any Pizza joint), bake at 375 for a good half-hour or till you notice the top beginning to look kinda crusty.

DAY 5: Bean Dip

Take whatever's left of the chili at this point and hit it hard with a potato masher or even a lender if you're lazy. Add 1 cup of grated Cheese ($1), stir well and then nuke it till it's all melty. Stir again, serve with cheap-as corn chips ($1 at The Dollar Store).

And that's as far as I've been able to stretch a pot of chili :)