So I’m still here.  Still cooking.  Still feeding the boys.

When Tiffany and Lisa shared these recipes with me, I couldn’t decide which to try.  So I made both.  We sampled each…and the rest went into the overflowing freezer.

I will let you go recipe exploring yourselves.

Lisa’s Banana Cinnamon Waffles

Tiffany’s Gingerbread Waffles with Vanilla Cream Sauce (pictured above)

Org Junkie’s Laura also shared this Gluten Free Dairy Free pancake recipe that her son L-O-V-E-S!

Now you see why I made them both!

We had these with some fresh pineapple and scrambled eggs.

On the baby front…if this little man doesn’t arrive over the weekend, he will arrive on Monday.  We have made the decision to be induced if necessary!  So keep your eyes peeled on Monday.  I’ll likely send out a few Twitter updates on Monday, if you wanna follow along!  So excited to meet the little guy!!!

Next week…a fun and fantastic Thanksgiving series coming up! 

Have a super weekend!

**UPDATE: Giveaway now closed!  Winner is Jennie!!!  Congrats

Stretching my food and my dollar are ESSENTIAL in my kitchen!

So when challenged to come up with 2 holiday recipes using 1 can of Carnation Evaporated Milk, I was all for it!!!

(And keep on reading…cause there’s a SUPER COOL giveaway below!)

Ginger Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter ($.20)
1 cup chopped onion ($.15)
2 cups homemade chicken broth or 1 15 ounce can chicken broth (free – $1)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp brown sugar ($.05)
1 tsp ground ginger ($.05)
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin, or 2 cups pureed pumpkin ($1.50)
1 cup Carnation Evaporated Milk ($.75)

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add in the chopped onion and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, or until begin to turn opaque. Add the chicken broth, water, brown sugar, ginger and salt and pepper. Stir ingredients together.
2. Whisk in the canned or fresh pureed pumpkin and the Carnation Evaporated milk. Cook over medium heat, or at a rolling bubble, for 15 minutes.
3. Pour soup into blender or food processor and blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until soup is pureed.
4. Return the soup to the saucepan and keep warm over low heat until ready to serve.
5. Garnish each serving bowl with a dash of cinnamon and/or ground ginger.

Cost $2.70

Since I didn’t use the entire can for this soup, I thought I’d use the remaining to whip up some muffins for breakfast the following morning! Or you could freeze them to eat another morning! They thaw beautifully!

Cheesy Sausage Muffins

Ingredients
1 cup flour ($.20)
1 tsp baking powder ($.05)
1 tsp sugar ($.03)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil ($.20)
2 eggs ($.20)
1/2 cup Carnation Evaporated milk ($.25)
1/4 cup water
1/2 lb. cooked all-natural sausage ($1)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ($.75)

Directions
1. Grease 12 muffin tins and preheat oven to 375.
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the oil and 2 eggs, then pour in the rest of the Carnation Evaporated milk and 1/4 cup water. Whisk together.

2. Stir in the cooked sausage and shredded cheese.
3. Fill the greased muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.

4. Bake muffins in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until cooked through.
5. Let cool on cooling rack before serving. Eat up or freeze for another morning!

Cost $2.68

Now you’ve got breakfast ready for the next morning!

Giveaway

It’s so easy in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season to fall back on old favorites because you’re in a rush and have no time to look for new recipes to experiment with…so to help you come up with some new ideas and try out some new dishes for your family feasts, Carnation has created a Holiday Recipe Guide that is sure to stir up some creativity in your kitchen.  I know it did in mine!!!

You can request the Holiday Recipe Guide to be sent by mail or you can download a .pdf version from the website.

Not used Carnation Evaporated Milk before when cooking or baking?  Simply substitute it cup for cup in recipes that call for regular drinking milk.  Pretty simple!

Are you up for some experimenting with Carnation Evaporated Milk this holiday season???

I’m offering a $100 Visa Gift Card to 1 lucky winner to do just that!  Winner will also receive a copy of the Holiday Recipe Guide booklet, as well as several free item coupons for Carnation Evaporated Milk.

Entry Details

1. Contest ends Thursday, November 12th at 10 pm EST. Winners will be announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

2. Entry #1: Leave a comment just saying you want to win.

3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting it in a forum, posting about it on your blog, Tweet about it, emailing all your friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).

4. Entry #3: Leave another SEPARATE comment telling me which of the recipes from the Holiday Recipe Guide you’d like to try this holiday season!

5. Winner will be selected by Random.org.

**NOTE: If you receive the email newsletter and wish to enter this giveaway, click on the title of this giveaway to get to the site and leave a comment on the site with your name and email address to be entered!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk. I did receive compensation for the ingredients purchased to make this meal, as well as for my time in preparing the recipes.  You can read the full disclosure policy for $5 Dinners here.

As promised…

Also I’m planning on making these Pumpkin Soft Pretzels soon!

Ingredients

Option #1
2 cups favorite pancake mix (plus water, or eggs/milk, as indicated on box)
1/2 cup canned or fresh pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger

Substitution Options:
Substitute 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, allspice and ginger

Option #2 - From scratch
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup milk (I use rice milk!)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil

Directions

1. In mixing bowl, combine pancake mix with water or eggs/milk.  Whisk.  Then whisk in canned pumpkin and water.  Finally, whisk in spices.

1b. Option #2 – In mixing bowl, stir together flours, brown sugar, powder, soda, allspice, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Whisk in milk, then pumpkin, then egg and oil.

2. Pour batter in 1/3 cup portions onto griddle.  Let cook until bubbles form.  Flip and let cook another 1-2 minutes.

3. Have a little fun with things!  I’m sorry I have no idea where these molds came from.  They were a Christmas gift to the boys!

4. Serve with butter and syrup.  These taste best with maple syrup, but regular syrup will do the trick too!

**Note: The pumpkin does make these pancakes a little more “dense” that non-pumpkin pancakes.  They will feel and taste heavier than the plain and fluffier pancake.  Don’t be alarmed!  And certainly, don’t be deterred!!!

Well.  We’ve been dealing with a bit of a crisis around here.  Remember my “Stock the Freezer” list?  Well, I’ve been busy the last few weeks stocking up our fridge freezer and our deep freezer.

So last night I noticed that the power light on the generic brand deep freezer (wish was just about stuffed to the gills!) was out.

Uh oh.

Checked all the electric, fuses, etc.  All fine and in working order.  Made some calls and “they” deemed the freezer broken.  Made some more calls and was able to get my money refunded.  Thankfully!

Made some calls this morning and learned we could have a new, brand name freezer for the SAME PRICE by Sunday.  Woohoo!

But, what to do with the food in the mean time?  I was NOT about to let $100s of dollars and a whole lot of kitchen time go to waste.  We made arrangements and the food stayed frozen and is safe.

Sigh.

All that to say, we’ve had a bit of a change in the menu plan this week.  My “fall back” meals are usually spaghetti or breakfast for dinner. Tonight, breakfast won.

In the freezer, I found English muffins (that contain dairy) for Hubs and myself to make Sausage Eggwiches.  Since the boys can’t have the English muffins, they had leftover pumpkin pancakes from the freezer, scrambled eggs and fruit. (I’ll share the pumpkin pancake recipe tomorrow!)

Since I only used half of the sausage for this meal, I browned the rest of it to make breakfast burritos for Hubs.

This recipe makes 6 eggwiches…since I had 6 English muffins! 

*Note: Extra eggwiches can be frozen.  Or sent to work for lunch the next day. Or reheated for breakfast the following morning!

Ingredients
6 eggs ($.60) On sale $1/dozen this week!
1/2 lb. natural pork sausage ($.50) Bought 1 lb. natural sausage roll on sale this week for $.99 after sale and coupon!
6 slices cheddar cheese ($1)
6 English muffins ($1.50) Bought on sale for 6/$1.50 and froze
Apple slices ($.50)
Cantaloupe wedges ($.75)

Directions
1. In skillet, spray with cooking spray and turn on medium high heat.  Crack an egg and let it fry.

Like this…But I prefer mine…

Eggs Over Easy…so that’s how I made them for these eggwiches.

2. In same skillet, brown the sausage. Slice sausage roll into 1/3 inch thick circles and fry in skillet until cooked through.
3. Assemble sandwiches. Place fried egg, cooked sausage patty and cheese onto bottom muffin part. Place in toaster oven or under the broiler for 3-4 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Add top muffin part.
4. Slice fruits.
5. Serve Sausage Eggwiches with Fresh Fruit.

Cost $4.85

Today’s Guest Post comes from Lynn at Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. I made these (dairy free…modifications below) last week during my baking day and MMMMMMM.  That’s all I gotta say.  These are $5 Dinner Mom APPROVED!!!

I love to bake, and breads and desserts are some of my favorite things to make. Yes, it takes time to make these at home, but they are not hard to do. I think they are well worth the time they take. The quality of what I can make at home is so much better and healthier than what I can buy in a store. Not only do they taste better, they are usually a lot cheaper.

These cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite things to make. They are also one of my family’s favorite treats to eat. But I will warn you, these are not healthy. When I want a cinnamon roll, I forget about being healthy. I think there is a time for healthy, and I have plenty of healthy recipes. But when I want a cinnamon roll, I want a real cinnamon roll, not a healthy version.

This recipe makes a lot. I usually get 24-26 cinnamon rolls out of it. If I am not sending some to work with my husband for him to share with his staff, I freeze them. These freeze really well. I like to freeze these during the holidays, so that I can use them for a special breakfast without adding a lot of work during an already busy cooking time.

I can’t take full credit for this recipe though. It came from my sister, who found it in her local newspaper. I did however tweak it for our tastes. I use the same dough, but adjusted the filling and came up with a frosting that we love on top of them.

Lynn’s Cinnamon Rolls

Dough
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 C. warm water (105-110 degrees)
2/3 C. plus 1 tsp. granulated sugar, divided
1 C. warmed milk
2/3 C. butter, room temperature
2 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
7-8 C. all-purpose flour or a little more if needed

Filling
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup regular sugar
2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Frosting
4 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For the dough:
In a small bowl mix together warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp. sugar and set aside. In a large bowl, mix milk, remaining 2/3 cup sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs; stir well and add yeast mixture. Add half the flour and beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour until dough is slightly stiff. Turn out onto a well-floured board; knead 5 -10 minutes. I do the kneading in my Kitchen Aid Mixer, and it works well. But if you do not have a mixer that will knead this much dough, you can mix by hand.

Place in well-buttered glass or plastic bowl, cover and let rise in warm place, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

When doubled, punch down dough and let rest 5 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle, about 12×18 in size. I roll my dough pretty thin. I like lots of layers of dough and filling. The thinner the dough, the more layers to your cinnamon roll. I roll it to a little thinner than ¼ inch thick.

For filling:
Spread dough with butter.

Mix together 1 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over buttered dough. Roll up jellyroll-fashion and seal edges together. I usually dip my finger in water and wet the edge of the dough to help it seal better.

Cut each roll into 12 to 15 slices. Place in greased 9×13 or similar pans. But do not crowd the pans. I only put 7 or 8 in a 9×13 pan. I think this helps you get a better texture to your rolls.

Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. You do not want to overcook these.

For frosting:
Combine and mix with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes. You want to beat it this long. Don’t skip this step. You want the frosting light and fluffy.

Spread this on warm cinnamon rolls. I let the cinnamon rolls cool about 8 minutes. That is all. You want the rolls warm so that the frosting melts slightly and runs down in between the layers of the rolls. I usually spread ½ the frosting on while the rolls are warm and then the rest once they are a little cooler.

***Erin’s Dairy Free Modifications: Substitute 1 cup of warmed rice milk for the warmed milk. Substitute a dairy free margarine (I use Smart Balance with Flax Oil) for all the places that call for butter. Omit cream cheese in frosting…make an icing instead.  1/4 cup dairy free margarine, 2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 1/2 – 3 Tbsp rice milk.

Lynn is a stay at home, homeschooling mom. She loves to bake and cook and try new recipes. She writes cooking tips, recipes, and other kitchen ideas at www.lynnskitchenadventures.com .

Making breakfast for dinner once a week is a SUREFIRE way to bring your weekly meal costs and your overall grocery bill down a bit!  This dish would also be great for a brunch/potluck or weekend breakfast.  Just double the recipe and make in a 9×13-inch baking dish.

If you’ve got milk, eggs, bread, the spices and some apples in the fridge, you should totally make this. Like right now.

Ingredients
6 eggs ($.60)
1 cup milk ($.10) I used rice milk
1 tsp cinnamon ($.05)
1/4 tsp nutmeg ($.02)
4 medium or 3 large apples, peeled and diced ($1) On sale 4/$1 this week!
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted ($.40) I used a dairy-free margarine
1/4 cup brown sugar ($.20)
1 tsp cinnamon ($.05)
6 slices of bread, torn ($.30)
1/2 Cantaloupe ($.75) On sale 2 weeks ago for $1.49!
Syrup (optional…I thought it sweet enough and syrup unnecessary!)
6-8 Sausage Links or Turkey bacon ($1.49) We did not have these, but I’m including them in the cost because I think they would nicely round out this meal! Plus I’ve seen lots of coupons for sausage and bacon out recently!

Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. Peel and dice the apples.  In a smaller mixing bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Toss with diced apples.

3. In a greased 8×8-inch glass baking dish, tear 3 slices of bread and add to the bottom.  Then add a layer of the diced caramel apples.

4. Tear the other 3 slices of bread and spread on top of the apples. 

5. Pour egg/milk mixture into the baking dish.  Cover with foil and let stand in the refrigerator for at least an hour (overnight, ideally!).  Preheat oven to 350.

6. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until eggs have cooked through.

7. Serve Caramel Apple Breakfast Casserole with fresh fruit and sausage or bacon.

Cost $4.97

A light and perfect muffin…for snack or breakfast!  I try to keep the sugar low in muffin recipes, and I thought these had the perfect sweetness level.  And judging by the “mmm” that came from both boys after having a taste, I’d say these were a success!

Ingredients
1 banana, mashed
1 cup cooked butternut squash
4 eggs
1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup white sugar
6 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour

Optional Topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions
1. In stand mixer or mixing bowl, mix banana, butternut squash, eggs, applesauce, sugar, and oil, until well blended.
2. In separate mixing bowl, combine salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, wheat flour and white flour.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until batter forms.
4. Pour into greased baking cups or muffin tins, and sprinkle with brown sugar-cinnamon topping. Makes 24 regular size muffins, 48 mini muffins, or 12 regular muffins and 24 mini muffins (what I did!).
5. Bake at 350. Regular size muffins for 16-18 minutes. Mini muffins for 13-15 minutes.

Because I was able to get another box of raspberries for $.98 on Monday, leftover from last week’s sale, I had to get these pancakes made and marked off the “Stock the Freezer” list!  As I was making them, I kept thinking to myself…chocolate for breakfast?  Really?

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m all for chocolate.  But somehow for breakfast, it didn’t seem quite right.

BUT, if I add in some healthy ingredients like ground flaxseed and ground almonds, THEN it will be OK.  Because they’ve been healthified. Right???

Justify.

Justify.

I made a quadruple batch of the recipe below.  And most of them made it into the freezer (using this method for freezing pancakes)…as a few were eaten as an afternoon snack.

And I don’t think these need any butter or syrup.  That would just be sugar overload!

The chocolate and raspberry combo is perfect and makes them just sweet enough!

Ingredients
2 cups of pancake mix, store bought or homemade
plus whatever you need to mix in…water, or egg and milk…whatever the box/recipe says!
1 cup raspberries
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1/4 cup ground almonds

Directions
1. Make pancake mix according to box instructions, or make your favorite homemade pancake batter.
2. To the batter, add raspberries, chocolate chips, ground flaxseed, and ground almonds.
3. Flip and enjoy!

I *heart* French Toast Casseroles!  I love how you can take SUPER STALE french bread and turn it into a breakfast (or dinner) masterpiece!  By soaking the bread overnight in a fruity, egg-milk mixture, stale french bread can be completely transformed and redeemed!!!  When Andrea sent this recipe, I HAD to try it!

Note: The marked down french loaf bread that I *knew* was in the freezer was not to be found   So I used some burger buns from the freezer instead!  This was sweet enough in and of itself that it did not need any syrup!

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar ($.15)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ($.03)
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine ($.40)
3 apples – peeled, cored and sliced ($.99)
1 cup dried cranberries (FREE!) From Walgreens trip two weeks ago!
1 French Loaf, cut into 1 inch slices ($.79) Look for these when they are marked down and then freeze if you don’t eat right away!
6 eggs, lightly beaten ($.60)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used rice milk!) ($.15)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract ($.10)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ($.05)
Favorite fruit: bananas, cantaloupe, berries or Fruit Salad ($1)
6-8 slices bacon ($.75)  We rarely eat a whole package of bacon because it’s not a part of our regular diet, so I freeze what we don’t eat right away!  Just separate it into however many slices you wish to eat so that you can just thaw what you need!

Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in melted butter or margarine. Stir in chopped apples and dried cranberries until evenly coated. Pour into prepared pan.

Arrange french loaf slices in an even layer over apples.
2. In same bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Pour over bread, making sure every slice is fully soaked. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate over night. THIS IS KEY!

3. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Remove dish from refrigerator while the over is heating. Bake covered for 40 minutes. Remove cover, and bake 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
4. Prepare your favorite fruit or turkey bacon.
5. Serve Apple Cranberry French Toast Bake with Fruit and/or Bacon!

Cost $5.01

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
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Post the recipe on your blog and then add the link below. Other guidelines can be found here. To make it easy for other readers to find your recipe, please leave the link that leads directly to your recipe post. Any links that lead to your homepage will be deleted. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave your recipe in the comments section!

This was a most delicious quiche!  Straight from the garden!

When it was time for dinner, I called the boys in from outside.  Bubby asked what was for dinner and I thought about it for a second.

Quiche.

No.  Don’t tell him that.  He won’t eat it!

“Egg Pie,” I told him.

“Yeah.  I like egg pie.”

And he runs inside to wash up.

By the time he gets to the table…”I love egg pie.”

And Cheeks was even saying, “I wu egg pie”…copycatting his big brother.

And they both ate it up!

Just like we call broccoli, “trees.”  So we now call quiche, “egg pie!”

Homemade Whole Wheat Crust.  Squash from the garden.  2 tomatoes from the garden.  And cheeseless.  Yet still delicious!

Oh yeah.  I intended to make this in a pie plate.  But after I saw how many veggies there were, I doubled my pie crust recipe to make enough crust for a 9 x 13.  What you see below in the “crust” portion is enough crust for a 9 x 13 or for 2 pie plates.

Ingredients
1 small onion, finely chopped ($.30)
1 medium yellow summer squash (free from the garden)
2 medium tomatoes, 1 chopped, 1 sliced (free from the garden)
10-12 whole basil leaves (free from the garden)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
6 eggs ($.60)
1 1/2 cup milk ($.15) I used rice milk!
Salt/Pepper
Optional: 1-2 cups shredded cheese ($.75-$1.50)
1/2 canteloupe ($.72)

Crust
1 cup white flour ($.20)
1 cup wheat flour ($.28)
2/3 cup shortening or butter ($.50)
1 tsp salt
6-8 Tbsp COLD water

Directions

1. Slice 1 tomato.  Chop all other veggies.  Leave basil leaves whole.

2. In mixing bowl, combine both flours with salt.  Add shortening.

3.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening.

4.  Add 4 Tbsp of COLD water.  Using a fork, mix to form a dough ball.  Add COLD water 1 Tbsp at a time until dough ball forms.  I used almost 7 Tbsp to form my dough ball.

5.  I laid the dough onto a long piece of plastic wrap.  Then put another piece of plastic wrap over the top and roll it out so that it will fit into the base of the 9 x 13.  (No extra flour necessary for this step!)

6.  Remove the top plastic wrap layer and flip over the dough into the 9 x 13 baking dish.  Remove the other plastic wrap.

7.  Press crust dough up the sides about 2/3 of the way.

8.  Load crust with chopped onions, squash and 1 tomato.

9. Top with whole basil leaves and sliced tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.

10. Whisk eggs and milk in mixing bowl.  (If you add cheese, whisk it in with the eggs and milk!) Pour into the crust over the veggies.  Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.  Serve warm.

11. Cut cantaloupe into wedges or bite size pieces.

12. Serve Tomato Basil Quiche with Cantaloupe.  There was not much left from in the pan…glad that I made a 9 x 13, and not just a pie plate!

Cost $2.85 or $3.60 with cheese

Even if I had paid for the tomatoes and squash, this meal would still be under $5!  Especially with the great produce sale prices these days!!!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
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Have a Frugal and Healthy Recipe to share?

Post the recipe on your blog and then add the link below. Other guidelines can be found here. To make it easy for other readers to find your recipe, please leave the link that leads directly to your recipe post. Any links that lead to your homepage will be deleted. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave your recipe in the comments section!