Vegetable Marinara – Wednesday Wonders

My children are not big on eating their vegetables. “You will be more like Popeye” only goes so far in my house. I have found that sautéing the vegetables and adding them to sauces can help get the kids moving in the vegetable direction.

This week I am offering my sauce from last night. I had a LOT of zucchini in the freezer from May’s Angel Food and wanted to add some zest to my pasta.

Recipe for Vegetable Marinara with Whole Wheat Pasta

In a large pot, melt the ½ stick of butter on medium heat. Add chopped onions and cover. Let sit for several minutes before adding salt and chopped zucchini then cover and let simmer on medium low heat for about ten minutes. Add chopped roasted red peppers and cover for an additional five minutes. Pour in spaghetti sauce and cover to simmer until the pasta cooks through.

In a separate large pot, heat one gallon of water until boiling. Open pasta and pour into boiling water. Reduce the heat to low and let the pasta simmer until cooked to a texture you prefer. Keep in mind that whole wheat pasta will take a little longer than other pastas.

The kids said that the sauce tasted sweat to them. I think sautéing the onions brings out their natural sweetness. I served the sauce liberally over the pasta and sprinkled with some parmesan cheese.

The whole batch cost me less than $10 even if I had to purchase the vegetables. Adding some ground sausage or meatballs to this meal would make the meat lovers happy and still keep me under my $10 limit.

Do you have any secrets for hiding vegetables?

Wednesday Wonders – Food Your Family will Remember (for the Right Reasons)

My family has been pinching pennies trying to adjust to the tightening economy. Getting creative with meals seems to be on of the best ways for us to make these cuts. Feeding hungry boys can get expensive, but there are ways to make the meals stretch and still leave everyone satisfied.

Angel Food Ministries has been one of the paths we have taken to stretch the grocery budget. Our total purchases in May came out to be just over $300 – but that broke down to less than $5 per entrée. I want to share some of the recipes that have come out of the Angel Food treasures and also other recipes that my family claims as winners.

For a recipe to make it to my list, it will have to be cheap, easy and tasty. Do you have any recipes that would fit this description? Send me an email and I’ll include it in the site with a link to your website. Also, please come back and comment about any of the recipes that you try.

Beef Pot Pie

This recipe started from one I found on the internet. I confess that I rarely follow a recipe, so you are getting my version.

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl. Add on can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of beef broth. Mix all together thoroughly. Cover a casserole dish with spray oil and pour in the mixed ingredients. Place the pie crust on top to seal the pie. Be sure to poke a few holes in the pie crust. (I used two deep dish pie crusts – one as the container and one for the top).

Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Let cool before serving.

This dish made from left overs only cost me $4.00 and fed my family of five when served with some biscuits. It was a HUGE hit and will definitely be one for my remake list. I also think I make use left over chicken as well (with cream of chicken soup and chicken broth).

Did you give it a try?

Building a Savings Plan for 2010

The economy hit us hard this last year. With one of us out of work and the other struggling to find work contracts, the money has trickled in just enough to keep us from going under completely. The work prospects have not changed, but my attitude has recovered. Sometimes the right attitude is all that is needed to build a successful savings plan.

Start Saving Now

The little things can make a big difference. Cutting down or cutting back can give you the extra money you need to begin building up your savings. What are the little tricks and tips that you use to save?

Christmas for $100

The holidays get expensive. Even just sending out Christmas cards can end up costing hundreds of dollars. With so many people struggling financially it might be time to put the reason back into the season and stop focusing on the finances so much.

7 Tips for Saving on Christmas

Cutting back for the holidays does not mean cutting out the fun. Find new and creative traditions that will mean more to your family than just shiny new toys that get discarded the next day.

Saving Money that Is Not There

No regular paycheck for two years sounds tough. Living it is much tougher than it sounds.

My husband left his teaching position in October of 2007. The income I gain from writing (mostly online) has been enough to keep our heads above water, but only just enough so that we can breath. Things would be better if I had squeezed the finances tighter in the beginning but would’ve, should’ve or could’ve will not put money in the account.

Saving Money when There IS no Money

Saving money when there is no money does not always mean that you are building up a giant nest egg to use down the road. It may just mean that you are building up enough support to keep a little breathing room. It may mean that you are using every thing that you can find just to stay afloat.

No matter where you are in your financial walk, there is always something extra that you can do. Sit down and think hard about where you can cut, what you can do differently or maybe where you need to add to help keep your finances above water.

Finding Ways to Survive Tough Times

The economy seems to have a choke hold on many families. It is bad enough that vacations were switched to stay-cations if they weren’t cut altogether. But already many families are looking at how to get creative when the holidays come around because it is likely that budgets will not be any nicer by that time.

There are ways to get creative with a budget on a diet. Planning to take extra work or even having a giant sale of all your extras or unnecessary items is a great place to start. Turning to friends and family can also help to lighten the load on the family budget.

Tips for Stretching the Family Dollar

Saving money is not the only reason to make changes or cut back. Some times the need is simple survival. During these tough economic times use some creative measures to help you and your family get through and even thrive financially.

Ranting on the Auto Industry

Three weeks ago our mini-van was involved in a wreck. I had the misfortune of being behind the wheel. My two sons where in the seat next to the door that received the most damage. The emotional trauma that I experienced then was rough. I’ve made a point of keeping my kids out of all the smaller vehicles that we own and I’ve started the process of selling them all.

The emotional trauma that I’m currently experiencing is SO MUCH MORE. I’m not dealing with my insurance company because the entire fault lies with the other party. I am dealing with a body shop and dealership that I have worked with in the past. And I made the ULTIMATE in consumer mistakes. I trusted those people and skipped protocol.

My journey began the day after the wreck. I started at a rental company (because I knew we would have to have a family sized vehicle to replace the wrecked mini-van). My goal was to stop at three body shops to get estimates. The first one is the one that I’m now dealing with because it was the only one that I got.

All of the mess that I’m going through now could have been avoided if I had done what I know to do.

Tips for Dealing with Insurance

An accident is an accident and is not the time to get greedy, but that works both ways. The insurance company, the body shops and anyone else involved needs to be straight and honest. You can protect your rights and assets by knowing what you are due and how to go about collecting.

Top Tips for Buying and Saving on a Used Car

Car dealerships are in trouble – or at least the news media is portraying the idea that the auto industry as a whole is struggling. Anyone that has been to a car dealership in the last several months is likely to portray a different picture.

Our mini-van was t-boned a few weeks back by a car that was only going about 5 mph. The damage that was caused made me re-think our family driving choices. I am looking for a tank (or something resembling one) to replace our wrecked mini-van. I’ve been visiting used car lots up and down the county trying to find that gem that will be perfect for our family (and even better for our budget).

I have discovered a few things about used cars that might surprise you and several that might not.

Used Car Surprises

Knowing something about the used car industry is a good step towards getting the right used car at the right price. Having the tools to negotiate will also come in handy.

Tools for Negotiating a Used Car Deal

Finding a used car may not be difficult but BUYING a used car can be tough. Be sure that you have plenty of time to find a used car and then negotiate the deal that works best for you.

Save Money with Day Camps

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There was a time when kids looked forward to summer because they could play all day and not have to worry about homework, shoes or schedules. Now many kids want and need those schedules even during the summer.

Parents are looking for ways to entertain kids during the summer months without breaking the bank. Day camps offer the scheduled atmosphere and also provide a number of unexpected benefits for the parents and the kids. With a few simple guidelines you can use day camps to save you money.

Tips for Saving Money with Day Camps

There is no reason for summer time blues these days. There is always something that the kids can do and many of them can save you money in the long run.

DIRECTV Falling Down in Customer Service

DIRECTV came out to upgrade my system to a HD system. After everything was in place and I walked out with the installer I noticed a cable sitting on the ground from the dish to the house. It was at that moment that the DIRECTV installer mentioned that for him to bury the cable from their DIRECTV dish to my house would cost extra.

I called and spoke to customer service at DIRECTV. The young lady that I spoke with (after waiting on hold for several minutes) just kept repeating that they do tell you there can be extra charges when its more than a standard installation.

Questions DIRECTV Did NOT Answer:

Maybe DIRECTV does not realize that cable runs to my house. Cable would not go out in the event of rain. Cable would not cost additional money for the other televisions in the house.

The only reason that we did not switch from DIRECTV to cable when we had cable installed is that I have always appreciated the programming on DIRECTV. The way customer service has been going downhill with DIRECTV makes me rethink my television service completely.

Does anyone else have any gripes or complaints about DIRECTV?