Gardening helps offset my grocery bill, especially since I grow items that can be expensive at the grocery store such as peppers and tomatoes. The one downside to gardening is that supply sometimes exceeds demand, particularly when I grow things like yellow squash and zucchini.

My children are now examining all baked goods with a suspicious eye, so I have to step up my game and hide the squash where they will least expect it: in plain sight! The peppers provide a flavorful cover, even if they do not entirely camouflage the squash.

Ingredients for Vegetable Confetti

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups mixed color mild peppers, cut into thin strips
2 cups zucchini, julienned (If you are not sure how to julienne squash, here you go!)
2 cups yellow squash, julienned
1 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh basil, shredded

Directions for Vegetable Confetti

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the peppers, squash, zucchini, onion, and garlic.

2. Sauté for 3 minutes over a medium high heat.

3. Reduce heat to low and add basil. Cook on low for 7 – 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Ingredients for Herbed Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts  
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions for Herbed Chicken

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Combine the spices in a small bowl.

3. Pour spices onto a dinner size plate. Dredge each chicken breast through the spices, then flip and coat the other side. Place chicken on broiler pan.

4. Broil for 4 minutes. Flip the chicken over and broil for 4 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Cut each breast into thin slices and serve on Vegetable Confetti.

How are you hiding your excess zucchini?

Alea shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home at Premeditated Leftovers. She is committed to providing her family with homegrown, organic produce despite living in an inhospitable climate. Alea chronicles her gardening efforts at One Determined Gardener. She can also be found on Twitter. Check out all of her $5 Dinners Recipes too.

I made these the other night…I made an extra trip to the store to get the ingredients needed for this morning’s news segment…and spotted some $.99 whole mushrooms.  I see them often for $.99 in the mark down basket in the produce section. I found more this morning…sliced this time. I don’t typically buy extra food when I’m getting food for news segments, but I couldn’t pass these up!

(Gonna have to change the menu plan to incorporate some of the marked down goodies I found this morning!)

This is simple.

• Stew beef.
• Whole mushrooms.
• Green peppers.
• Steak seasoning.

That’s it!

Simple…but oh, so yummy!

Ingredients

About 1 lb. stew beef ($2.48) Manager’s Special
1 box whole mushrooms ($.99) Manager’s Special
2 green peppers, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces ($.60) Part of the loot from the farmer’s market
Steak seasoning (free) Used $1 coupon with $1 sale price
1 large yellow squash ($.50) From the farmer’s market the other week
1 cup rice ($.20)

Directions

1. Wash and dry the mushrooms.

2. Cut the green peppers.

3. Skewer the meat, mushrooms and peppers. Sprinkle with steak seasoning. (Or marinate with a favorite beef marinade.) Grill for a few minutes on each side, or until beef is cooked to your liking.

4. Steam-saute the yellow squash.

5. Cook the rice as directed while the kebabs are chilling on the grill.

6. Serve Beef and Mushroom Kebabs over Rice with Steam Sauteed Yellow Squash.

Cost $4.77

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Ingredients

2 lbs drumsticks ($2.03) $.99/lb sale
1/4 cup dijon mustard ($.25)
1 tsp cider or white vinegar ($.01)
1/4 cup honey ($.50)
1 large yellow squash ($.50) Farmer’s market
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
Salt and pepper to taste
Rolls from the freezer ($1.19) Manager’s Special!

Directions

1. Set drumsticks into a dish for marinating.

2. Prepare the honey mustard dressing.

Add the dijon mustard and vinegar to a small bowl.  Pour in the honey.

And whisk until well blended.

Brush the honey mustard marinade onto the chicken drumsticks and let sit for at least 30 minutes.  Grill the marinated drumsticks on all sides for a few minutes, or until cooked through.

Note: This marinade would work wonderfully with chicken thighs, split breasts, and boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

3. Steam saute the yellow squash.

4. Warm the rolls. Serve with butter and jam if desired.

5. Serve Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken with Steam Sauteed Squash and bread.

Cost $4.58

Sauteing summer squash…it has never worked well for me. I mean, it works…but not perfectly. I recently figured out that if I partially steam it before sauteing it…the results are quite tasty!

Ingredients

2 medium yellow squash, sliced ($2)
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp sugar ($.03)
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the sliced squash into a skillet with the water, sugar and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. Cover the squash for about 2-3 minutes, allowing the steam to begin cooking the squash.

3. Uncover the squash and stir with wooden spoon.  Let the remaining water boil off and then saute the partially cooked squash for 3-4 minutes…or until begins to brown.

4. Once a few of the squash slices begin to brown, saute another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Serve warm as side dish.

Makes 6-8 side dish portions.

Cost $2.13

***These would make a great appetizer for your July 4th BBQ!***

Just sayin’.

(OK, just had to get that out of the way.)

So for the second time, I’ve had to pick up the veggie from the market to make my meal for Grow. Eat. $ave. I remember looking through last year’s garden posts, and by this time in June 2009 my squash plants were producing a new squash every other day and I was struggling to keep up with them!

I must have planted the seeds later this year…I dunno!

Let’s talk quesadillas…in my head, quesadillas have always been a Tex-Mex thing…needed some chicken or beans, cheese, some cilantro, or salsa mixed in…served with sour cream, or guacamole.  That’s just what I thought about Quesadillas.

One of the things that I love about this little here website of mine is that it makes me think outside my cooking box…so for this week’s Grow. Eat. $ave. I thought I’d do a quesadilla with an Italian flavor.

Once I had the summer squash in hand and the idea to use it in a quesadilla, it was time to go foraging.  I started in the garden…fresh basil and curled parsley from the garden, (what should be fresh from the garden) yellow summer squash…

Then I raided the refrigerator and found a red pepper in the produce drawer in the fridge, some cheese that my mom has been using this week for her breakfasts, as well as some cherry tomatoes (that I couldn’t help snack on while I was quartering them).

Here’s what happened after that.

But first, the final results.

Y-to-the-YUM!!!

(My new favorite phrase I stole from Becky!)

Ingredients

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese ($1.25)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese ($.25)
Handful fresh basil leaves (from the garden)
Handful fresh curled parsley (from the garden)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
Large handful cherry tomatoes, quartered ($.75)
1 red pepper, grilled, then diced ($1)
1 large summer squash, grilled, then diced ($1)
8 soft taco size tortillas ($1)

Directions

1. Place the cheeses, the chopped basil and parsley and the crushed garlic into a large mixing bowl.

(I think these would be really good with mozzarella, but I was all out.)

2. Quarter the cherry tomatoes and toss into the mixing bowl with the cheese. Mix her up.

3. Meanwhile…fire up the grill and grill the red pepper slices and the squash slices.  Then dice.

4. Toss the diced grilled squash and diced grilled red pepper in with the cheese mixture.

5. Spoon the mixture into the the tortillas.  Fold over, or cover 1 tortilla with the mixture and top with another tortilla. However you like…in the end, it won’t matter how you use the mixture in the tortilla.  It’s really about the ooey-gooey goodness that will result from grilling the quesadilla.

6. Place the tortillas on the grill for a few minutes on each side, or until the cheese is oozing out the sides of the tortillas…as sure sign they are ready for consumption.

7. Let cool and cut grilled quesadillas into little triangles.

8. Serve Summer Squash Quesadillas as an appetizer or main meal.

Makes 24 Quesadilla triangles.

Cost $5.35 (less if you use a squash from your garden!)

Favorite Yellow Squash Recipes from Last Year’s Garden Harvest:

• Chicken Pasta Primavera
• Tomato Basil Quiche
• Summer Squash Pasta Salad

And here are the rest of the yellow squash $5 Dinners recipes!

COMING UP IN 2 WEEKS on Grow. Eat. $ave. – Lettuces and Greens

If you’d like to learn more about Square Foot Gardening, please check out the Square Foot Gardening books by Mel Bartholemew.

We’d love to check our your favorite yellow squash recipes!  Please leave a link below or in the comments!

I had a surplus of about $25 from my August grocery budget. 

I decided to go on a “tomato spree.”

The farmer’s market just down the road from me offers a “You Pick” price for Roma tomatoes of $.69/lb.  Not too bad.  Plus we (yes, I took the kids for “the experience”) got to have a little fun and learn about “good” and “bad” tomatoes!

All that you see above (2 habanero peppers, 4 anaheim hot peppers, 1 yellow squash, 1 “you pick” eggplant, 4 “Q balls,” and about 20 pounds of tomatoes!) only cost…

$21.41

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients
About 12 lbs of Roma tomatoes
1/2 large eggplant (from the picture above)
1 yellow squash
5 carrot sticks, peeled
10 garlic cloves
3 yellow onions
Handful of fresh basil, parsley and rosemary (from the garden)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Puree all the ingredients in small parts in a food processer or VitaMix.  Pour into large saucepans.  Bring to boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Can.  Here is a set of great directions! I did not, however, peel the skins when making the spaghetti sauce.

I’ll be sharing my salsa recipe with you soon!

Here is the final result…

6 quarts of spaghetti sauce and 6 pints of salsa

Delicious pasta dish loaded with diced chicken, zucchini, squash, carrots, broccoli, garden fresh tomatoes…tossed in a parmesan cheese sauce!

Ingredients
1 box piccolini farfalle pasta ($.50) On sale for $1 matched with $.50 coupon!
2 chicken breasts, diced ($1.76) Bought on sale with coupon!
1 tsp olive oil ($.03)
Salt and pepper
1 medium zucchini squash, cut into circles ($.53) Bought 50% off from farmer’s market!
1 medium yellow squash, cut into circles ($.46) Bought 50% off from farmer’s market!
1/4 small yellow onion, chopped ($.05)
1 head broccoli, cut into florets ($.46)
2 carrot sticks, peeled and chopped ($.20)
5 small tomatoes, seeded and diced (from the garden)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)

For White Sauce:
3 Tbsp butter or margarine ($.30)
3 Tbsp flour ($.10)
2 cups milk ($.25)
3-4 Tbsp parmesan cheese ($.25)
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. In medium saucepan, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain and add to large serving bowl.

2. In large skillet, saute diced chicken in olive oil and salt and pepper for 6-8 minutes, stirring often. Once chicken has cooked through, transfer to plate.

3. Chop all veggies. Add chopped veggies to same skillet that cooked the chicken in.

4. Add all the veggies (except the tomatoes) to the same skillet that you sauteed the chicken and steam/saute for 3-4 minutes with 1/4 cup of water.  Add the tomatoes during the last minute.  Transfer to plate.

5. Make white sauce in the same skillet.  See video for details!  (Note: My videographer husband was still at work while I made this dinner, so sorry about the few spots that are jumpy!)

6. In large serving bowl, toss pasta, cooked chicken, sauteed veggies with parmesan sauce.  Season with salt and pepper to taste…and extra parmesan cheese if you like.

7. Serve Chicken Pasta Primavera.

Cost $4.99

Note: This made a LOT of pasta…will easily feed us all for lunch tomorrow…and possible beyond!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
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When I saw this recipe from Steph at A Year of Slow Cooking last week, I just had to make it…seeing that zucchini and squash have been on such great sales lately, this seemed like the perfect to incorporate this last week of summer! And what makes it even more perfect…this morning I woke up and it was a cold 46 degrees outside. Hello, it’s still August! The high was just 71…a lovely fall like day, making soup in August seem just right!

I made a few minor substitutions…I didn’t use the cherry tomatoes because I don’t have enough ripe ones at the moment for tonight’s and tomorrow night’s meal, so I used a can of diced tomatoes instead. I also added in some fresh basil, parsley and rosemary from the garden. And, I only used 1 large yellow squash and 2 medium zucchinis.

The end result: Taste Bud Party! We all loved this…boys included!

Ingredients
4 cups homemade chicken broth (free) Use vegetable stock is vegetarian!
1 cup water
1 small red onion, diced ($.30)
2 medium zucchinis, sliced ($1.24) Both squash on sale for $.77/lb last week!
1 large yellow summer squash, sliced ($1.01)
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes ($.59)
Handful of fresh basil, parsley, and rosemary (from the garden)
1/3 cup dry white Cannellini beans ($.10)
1/2 cup pasta ($.25) Add 20 minutes before serving…and use rice pasta if gluten free!
Salt/Pepper
1-2 Tbsp parmesan cheese per bowl ($.30) Omit if dairy free!
Green beans (from the garden)
6-8 homemade wheat rolls ($.50) This recipe made 14 rolls, so I’ll save the rest for another meal this week…or eat them for lunch! I’m sorry I don’t have a recipe posted on the site…but I made rolls similar to these, using water instead of milk.

Directions
1. Put all ingredients up to the Cannellini beans into the slow cooker and give them a stir. Set slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours. 20 minutes before the cooking time is finished, add the 1/2 cup dry pasta. (I totally wasn’t paying attention to the clock and the slow cooker had already finished as was on the “warm cycle.” I just added the pasta and about 20-30 minutes later, they were perfectly done!)
2. Wash and cut stems from green beans. Steam in stovetop steamer or in microwave for 3-4 minutes.
3. Make homemade wheat rolls in the bread machine. I made the dough in the bread machine and then made rolls and baked them in the oven.
4. Serve End of Summer Harvest Soup with Green Beans and Homemade Wheat Rolls.

Cost $4.24

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?

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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!

Because I spent most of the day running around with my brain in one room and my body in the other room (seriously, preparing to leave for just a few days is a MAJOR ordeal…can I get an AMEN!?!), I needed a quick one pot dinner that each of us could eat with a bowl and spoon.  Sensing my desperation here!

Ingredients
16 oz. rotini pasta ($.95)
2 chicken breasts, diced ($1.72) Used $1 off coupon when on sale a few weeks back
1 summer squash ($.67)
1 zucchini squash ($.67)
about 1 cup grape tomates ($.49) On sale for $1.48/pint last week
Handful of sugar snap peas (free from the garden)
2 Tbsp butter ($.10)
2 Tbsp flour ($.05)
2-3 cups milk ($.30)
2 tsp red wine vinegar ($.05)
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. In large saucepan, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain in colander.  Do NOT return to saucepan!

2. While pasta is cooking, dice the chicken breasts and cut the zucchini, squash, grape tomatoes and snap peas.

3.  Once pasta is out of the saucepan, prepare cream sauce.  Melt 2 Tbsp butter (I used a dairy-free variety).

4.  Once melted, add in 2 Tbsp flour and 1/2 tsp salt.  Use whisk to mix it into a paste.

5. Once paste has formed, quickly add in 2-3 cups of milk (I used rice milk to stay dairy-free!).  Whisk well until the pasty clumps have dissipated into the milk.  Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until starts bubbling.

6. Once bubbling, the sauce is ready for a few mix-ins.

7. Add 2 tsp red wine vinegar, crushed garlic, cracked pepper, diced chicken.

8.  Add about 2-3 Tbsp water in with the chicken, so the sauce doesn’t get too thick.  Stir often while the chicken cooks through, about 4-5 minutes (depending on how thick the diced chicken pieces are!).

8. Once chicken has cooked through, mix in the cut vegetables.  Cover and let cook for 4-5 minutes, or until vegetables have steamed.

9. Mix in cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

10. Serve Garden Pasta Primavera in one bowl.  With one spoon!

Cost $5.02