Ruction Repast

We are living in trying times, and for some it can be really scary. Families are often faced with making a decision between putting food on the table or purchasing medication or enough fuel to make it to work. To add insult to an already injured budget, families that have budgets that have long included the school system feeding each child two meals a day, five days per week, can no longer claim that security. Companies are laying off their employees or are closing all together, leaving many without jobs and uncertain futures.

My family and I have always lived on a tight budget, and I've learned to feed them well for little money. I always shop with feeding as many people as possible, with as little money as possible in mind. Beans and rice are an old, cheap standby that people have come to rely heavy on in trying times. Though it will fill bellies, with a little creativity and some experimentation you can change up your families menu and save yourself some money in the process!

For the following recipes, I took the easy way out and used canned biscuits. I will, however, include a very simple biscuit recipe that you may substitute instead, saving yourself even more money.

Spaghetti and Cheatballs

This is a super-simple recipe that comes together quick, and the kids can help you make. I used spaghetti that I had in my pantry, along with a jar of generic meat sauce that I bought at a local wholesale place for less than a dollar. Both items I bought at my local Dollar Tree, where I purchased almost everything in this recipe, for a total of two dollars. I did not purchase the cheese or the canned biscuits at the Dollar Tree, simply out of personal preference. Following is a list of the items you will need, where I bought each item and how much each item was.

Make this process as easy on yourself as possible. Go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Use a "one-pot" method for cooking your spaghetti, and do so according to package directions. Be sure to add a little salt and butter or oil to the boiling water. One the spaghetti is cooked to preferred tenderness, strain and return to the pot. Dump your meat sauce right on top and mix it in, allowing it to heat thoroughly. That's all there is to the first part of the meal. Now on to the "cheatballs"!

Mix garlic powder with butter to taste and melt in the microwave for about thirty seconds. When the butter is melted, add the grated Parmesan cheese. There is no wrong answer here, add as much or as little garlic and Parmesan cheese as you would like.

Using the large canned biscuits, cut each in half and roll it out. In the center of each add your shredded cheese and a meatball.

Close the biscuit dough around the cheese and the meatball and roll it in the butter mixture.

Bake for eight to ten minutes at 375 degrees. Serve with your spaghetti, and you have a meal at a total cost of less than eight dollars.

The "cheatballs" are also good for teenage gatherings and parties. Use your imagination with the ingredients and experiment a little. Addcream cheese and jalapenos. Stuff with cheese and bacon. Your imagination is the only limit to the possibilities for creating a new menu for your family!

Easy Biscuit Recipe

Everyone should have a go-to biscuit recipe in their kitchen. To make the perfect biscuits, you need to ensure that the milk and butter required are VERY cold when you add each to the dry ingredients. It's best to put your butter in the freezer for at least fifteen minutes before you begin to make the recipe. Also, don't panic if you don't have milk. Anytime a recipe calls for milk that you don't have, substitute one cup of water and one and one-half teaspoons of butter instead. It works just as well and costs considerably less than milk. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 degrees and let's get started!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons VERY cold butter

3/4 cup milk

1. Put all of your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix well.

2. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredient mixture. If you don't have a pastry cutter, no worries! Grab a cheese grater and grate the butter into the dry ingredients. No cheese grater? Don't panic, hope is not lost! Roll up those sleeves and work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands.

3. Add the milk, stirring just until combined. Don't be tempted to overwork it!

4. Flour a hard, flat surface and dump the dough right in the middle of it. Using your hands, work the flour slowly into your dough mixture until the dough holds together well and is no longer sticky.

5. Once your dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Turn your dough ninety degrees and fold in half again. Repeat five or six times, again be gentle and don't overwork the dough.

6. Use your hands (not a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to about one inch thick. Lightly dust a biscuit cutter with flour and press it straight down into the dough. Drop the cutout onto your baking sheet approximately one-half of a inch apart. Repeat this process until you've cut out as many biscuits as possible, rework the dough and cut as many as you can until you've used all the dough.

7. Bake at 425 degrees for twelve minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Brush them with butter when they come out of the oven and enjoy!

There are so many recipes you can make with this simple biscuit recipe, so make sure you keep in handy! Now, get thee to thine kitchen and create something!