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$5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

Deck the Freezer in 2025!

What We Ate This Week – Budget Dinner Ideas for Your Meal Plan

October 26, 2025 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

what we ate this week - erin chase

INTRODUCING - What We Ate This Week!!! Use this List of Ultra Budget Recipes that Our Family Enjoyed Last Week for Your Meal Plan Inspiration In 2025, I want to share with you more of what happens in the Chase family kitchen, and how I think about food, feeding my boys healthy dinners that don't break the bank...day in and day out. (Yes, it gets old sometimes...even for … [Read more...]

Homemade Freezer PBJs vs. Store-Bought Uncrustables

July 24, 2025 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 1 Comment

How to make homemade freezer peanut butter & jelly sandwiches - save time and money in the back to school season!   During a recent livestream video, I kept having this thought flash through - I need to do a cost comparison of making these yourself vs. buying them in the store. Yes, you have to weigh cost and convenience...but this one is one where cost wins … [Read more...]

Freezer Friendly Pesto Tortellini Bake

June 4, 2025 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Pesto Tortellini Bake

Freezer Friendly Pesto Tortellini Bake Pesto Tortellini Bake Super easy, super delicious! The whole family will love this flavorful pasta dish! 20 oz. cheese ravioli24 oz alfredo sauce4 Tbsp pesto sauce1/2 cup Parmesan cheese1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheeseGarnish: fresh basilSide: veggiesSide: salad Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray a … [Read more...]

What’s Trending on Instagram

May 19, 2025 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 1 Comment

Are you following me over on Instagram? I have a fun community over there where I share a lot of Reels demonstrating cooking hacks and cooking tips. Which insta are you following? I thought it would be fun to share what photos, reels, and videos are trending on our Instagram profiles once a month! These are your current favorites.  Are you following all of our accounts? … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Chicken Gyros

August 9, 2021 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 1 Comment

This recipe is from my 15-Minute Freezer Meals Cookbook! Tap below to get your book ordered!   In high school, we had "off campus" lunch my Junior and Senior years. We would have standing lunch dates and group lunch dates and spontaneous lunch dates. I had a small planner that I kept in my purse with just my lunch dates. (Apparently I've always been a nerdy planner … [Read more...]

5-Ingredient Baked Ravioli

March 18, 2021 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 2 Comments

So...baking ravioli. Let's chat about this for a minute. I've seen a number of recipes that call for boiling the ravioli ahead of time and then baking it with the sauce. But I don't have time for that. I really don't...I'd forget that you need to do that...then I'd run out of time. (What I mean by that...is that my boys would end up having to wait an extra 15-20 minutes for … [Read more...]

How to Prepare for Potential Quarantine: A Practical Guide to Stocking Up

March 10, 2020 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 2 Comments

Summary You can be prepared without being a "prepper"  Do not panic and run out and buy all of this today Only purchase things you will actually use during a 6-8 week period Slowly add these extra items to your upcoming shopping trips, rather than buy everything at once and blow your budget A Practical Guide for Stocking Up on Food and Household Items, in … [Read more...]

5 New Ways to Save on Dinner in 2020

December 27, 2019 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Fun and Creative Ways to Save on Dinner and Groceries in 2020 If 2020 is your year to get your finances in order, the best and easiest place to start is dinner....or groceries. The grocery line item of your personal budget is really the easiest to control. It just takes a little knowledge, a little planning, and a little dinner hacking.  Saving money on groceries is … [Read more...]

Best Stocking Stuffer Gift – MyFreezEasy’s Bag Holders!

November 23, 2019 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Skip the Giant Mess on the Counter Top! Ever feel like you need an extra hand in the kitchen? Want to avoid catastrophic messes during your freezer meal prep sessions? If so, you need these nifty bag holders in your kitchen!! Reasons why these bag holders are awesome... Hold bags open while you fill them up Quart AND Gallon size bags Fold FLAT (aka you … [Read more...]

You’re Invited! RSVP NOW for the Dinner Made Easy Party!

August 4, 2019 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Cross dinner off your to-do list with these back to school freezer meals.   I'd like to extend a special invitation to YOU. I mentioned that I'm hosting 2 "online parties" - the kind where we work together, me in my kitchen and you in your kitchen, and we get ourselves prepared for the MADNESS THAT IS ABOUT TO ENSUE.  What madness?!  The back to … [Read more...]

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