INGREDIENTS:

* 1 Small Flank Steak (cut into bite size pieces) $1.89
* 2 Bags Steamfresh Brown Rice $0.20 each after coupons
* 1 Bag Steamfresh Broccoli Florets $0.40 after coupon
* 1 Small Can Water Chestnuts $0.97
* 2 Large Carrots Shredded (I finely shred them in a small food processor) $0.20
* 1/2 Cup Frozen Peas (about 1/4 of the bag) $0.40
* 2 Cloves Garlic Crushed $0.20
* 2 Eggs Scrambled $0.25
* 1/4 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce $0.20
* 1/4 Cup 365 Organics Soy/Ginger Sauce (from Whole Foods) $0.50

DIRECTIONS:

** I have found the best method for making fried rice or stir-fry is to have everything ready. Once you put the meat in the pan, this recipe goes very quickly so my directions are in the order that I do it.

1 – Cook the rice and broccoli in the microwave according to the package directions and set aside.
2 – Cook the eggs and set aside.
3 – Rinse the frozen peas with hot water and set aside.
4 – Open and drain the water chestnuts and set aside.
5 – Heat one tablespoon olive oil over high heat in a large skillet. When the oil is hot, add the beef and one tablespoon of the low sodium soy sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until just cooked through.
6 – Turn the heat way down (I use a medium-low heat at this point), add the garlic and carrots and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
7 – Add the broccoli, water chestnuts, peas, rice, eggs, remaining soy sauce and soy/ginger sauce.
8 – Stir constantly until ingredients are mixed well and heated through.
9 – Taste and adjust for seasoning. Salt, pepper or more sauce…whatever you like.
9 – Serve immediately.

Total cost: $5.41 made a huge pan. More than enough for dinner and lunch the next day!

My family loves fried rice so I am always making these ‘unfried’ versions and no two are ever the same. I really like using the different oriental sauces to change it up and frozen microwavable veggies eliminate the need for all the chopping. Super quick. Super healthy and very affordable! Who says eating healthy isn’t easy AND affordable?? BTW I was able to get the flank steak so cheap because my meat manager had just marked them down…so I bought them ALL!

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Sign up for this FREE Healthy Muffins for All eCookbook which includes over 25 healthy muffin recipes. You’ll find tons of easy muffin recipes, including whole wheat muffins, corn muffin recipes and much more! The eCookbook has easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions for favorites, including Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins (page 18), Orange Chocolate Muffins (page 24) and Banana Nut Muffins (page 26).

YAY I love these free ecookbooks! Click HERE to view and/or download. I like to download these and save them to my ‘Recipes’ folder on my desktop. They also have The Ultimate List of Healthy Snacks, 27 Simple Mexican Recipes, 31 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes, and 33 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes

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This is more of an idea than a recipe and I have to give credit to Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

I had one of the yummiest pasta dishes in my life this weekend while dining at Romano’s. I LOVE the combination of beef and tomatoes and they have a new dish called Antonio’s Beef Rigatoni that is TO DIE FOR!! It seems like it would be pretty easy to recreate, and since I have a ridiculous amount of canned tomatoes, it would also be a good recipe for the Cooking From My Stockpile series. It was rigatoni pasta with caramelized onions and braised beef in a rich tomato sauce with fresh basil and Parmesan…YUM. I could use up at least 4-5 cans of my tomatoes since the braising process would be done in the oven and be cooked low and slow. The beef and tomato portion would also freeze well. My life is crazy right now so I don’t know when I will actually be able to get in the kitchen to make this BUT I will post back with some pictures when I do. 

If you want to bypass the cooking and just go treat yourself to an UH-MAZING pasta dish (maybe for Mother’s Day), you can save $5.00 when you sign up for the Romano’s Mailing List

Click HERE for more recipes from the Cooking From My Stockpile series.

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I absolutely love hummus but most store bought hummus is very high in fat and calories. Traditional hummus has a lot of olive oil, and while it is delicious, it isn’t very ‘light’. In an ongoing effort to make all my recipes simple and healthy, I left out the olive oil completely and added sour cream…the result was creamy and delicious! This is definitely not a traditional hummus recipe, but it tastes pretty darn close…even better if I do say so myself This entire recipe can be done in a food processor and can be ready to serve in less than 15 minutes. It is a healthy, inexpensive and full of flavor!

INGREDIENTS

* 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
* 2 15-oz cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
* 1/3 cup of tahini (roasted)
* 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed is best)
* 1/3 Cup Light Sour Cream
* 1 Tablespoon olive oil
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2-4 Tablespoons Water

DIRECTIONS

* Place all ingredients except water in a food processor.
* Blend until smooth.
* Depending on how thick/thin you like it, you may need to add a little water. I recommend adding 1-tablespoon at a time and blending until you reach the desired consistency.
* Taste and adjust salt/pepper/lemon to your liking.
* Makes Approximately 3 Cups

I serve this with crispy flat bread chips that I buy at World Market or low fat bagel chips because I love the creaminess of the dip with the crispiness of the crackers/chips. You can also serve it with pita bread, Naan (an Indian Flat bread) carrots or celery. I also love it as sandwich spread…yummy!

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I actually got this recipe from my Free Spring Picnic Cookbook and wanted to share it because it was SO amazingly good. I am NOT a fruit fan…GASP…I know this is awful. I love veggies so I get my ’5 a day’. I also LOVE ginger and honey so I just had to try this! I lightened it up a bit by using fat free dairy products and added a little extra ginger and honey.

Fruit-Cheese Kabobs with Ginger Fruit Dip
Ingredients: Servings: 8 Servings: 8 Servings: 8

Ingredients

* 15 strawberries
* 30 green seedless grapes
* 3 mandarin oranges, split into segments
* 30 pineapple chunks
* 24 cheese cubes – Colby, cheddar, or Monterey Jack (I used sharp cheddar)
* 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained (I used in juice not syrup)
* 1 cup plain low fat yogurt (I used fat free)
* 1/2 lb soft-style cream cheese ( I used fat free)
* 1/4 cup honey
* 2 tsp ginger, grated
* 24 small skewers or toothpicks

Directions:

1. Thread first 5 ingredients on skewers or tooth picks.
2. To make the dip, mix cream cheese, yogurt, honey, and ginger root.
3. Fold in pineapple.
4. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

I always sign up for all the little freebie offers that I post but I REALLY loved this little cookbook. I honestly want to to try almost every recipe and I cant wait for our next family get together so I can make this for everyone.

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What do you do with 50+ packages of tuna? Why Tuna Casserole of course! A few months ago I traded some formula coupons for 100+ tuna coupons, which at the time, made it free at Kroger (actually free with overage). Tonight I used the recipe I posted last year, but in an effort to ONLY use things from my pantry, I didn’t do the panko topping. I also replaced the three cans of tuna with 4 envelopes (pictures above). I replaced the panko with crushed Ritz crackers.

To see past Cook From My Stockpile Recipes click HERE

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I got this recipe in my email inbox today and can’t wait to try it. I am usually not a cole slaw fan but I LOVE KFC’s!! I received this from Recipe Lion and am a huge fan of their their free eCookBooks. Right now you can sign up for their free Copycat Recipe Cookbook Volume 1, Volume 2, or Volume 3,  Healthy Snack Cookbook or the Healthy Chicken Cookbook (who doesn’t need more ideas for chicken?!). As always, I suggest downloading them to a folder on your desktop to keep them handy.

Copycat KFC Coleslaw

Ingredients

* 8 1/2 cups cabbage
* 1/3 cup carrot
* 1 teaspoon onion, chopped finely
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup milk
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 1/2 teaspoons pepper
* 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Core the cabbage, then shred the cabbage fine using the fine disk for the shredder attachment to the mixer. Shred the carrot the same way. Mix together cabbage, carrot and onion.

2. In a bowl combine the buttermilk, mayonnaise, milk and lemon juice with a whisk until well combined. Add the salt and pepper. Add the sugar to the sauce until well mixed in. Add the sauce to the cabbage and carrot mixture and mix well and allow the mixture to marinate for 13 hours in the refrigerator.

** To lighten this up, you could use light/fat free mayo, buttermilk and milk. I am not a huge fan of fat free mayo but the Kraft light isn’t too bad. I might try it both ways to see if there is a huge taste difference.

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 One of the biggest struggles I have had since my son and husband left has been food! I have WAY too much of it! My daughter and I can only eat SO much and I have a huge stockpile. Throwing away food feels like throwing away money. It makes me cringe and is just not an option.  I decided I have to do something about this and the first thing on my list is to use up the food I have before buying more. This is going to require some creativity but I am up to the challenge. Tonight I made a quick and easy bean soup with what I have on hand. The ham cost me about $3 and all the canned goods were nearly free after coupons. It was healthy, cheap and we have plenty of leftovers! 

A Little Bit of Everything Bean Soup 

* 2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 1  Ham Steak - Fat trimmed off and cubed
* 1/2 Bag Recipe Beginnings (frozen pre-chopped onion, carrot, celery)
* 1 Can Diced Tomatoes
* 1 Can Garbanzo Beans
* 1 Can Light Kidney Beans
* 1 Can Black-Eyed Peas (yes I said Black-eyed Peas…stay with me)
* 1 Quart Chicken Broth
* 3 Cloves Garlic Crushed
* 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
* Salt and Pepper to taste

** WaterIn a 5-quart pot, brown the ham in the olive oil until it was a little crispy and has good color, add the veggies and the garlic, cook for about 5 minutes and then add all remaining ingredients except the salt and pepper. Let simmer on low for about an hour to an hour and a half. Bean soups can get very thick, so add water a cup at a time as needed. It is up to you how thick/thin you want it so the amount is up to you. I also had some ciabatta rolls I needed to use so I made a quickie garlic bread. I spilt them in half, sprinkled them lightly with garlic powder, salt and pepper, spread them with Fat Free I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (which is my new favorite thing) and broiled them until they were lightly browned. 

This was one of THE best bean soups I have ever made. It has never crossed my mind to add tomatoes to a bean soup. Pasta Fagioli maybe, but not a ‘ham and bean’ soup. We LOVED it. These ‘throw everything in the pot’ kind of meals are always the best. This was a great start to using up my stockpile :-)

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