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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

MyFreezEasy - Save Money, Eat Healthy with Freezer Meals

Instant Pot Bolognese Sauce

July 7, 2017 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Freezer Friendly Instant Pot Bolognese Sauce from 5DollarDinners.com

This Instant Pot Bolognese sauce has such a rich, deep flavor. You could use your Instant Pot's saute function to brown the ground beef with the bacon pieces, or you could brown those in a skillet. I personally prefer to brown in a skillet and drain well, before adding to the Instant Pot. But if you want to dirty 1 less dish, then use your IP insert and the saute function to … [Read more...]

Spinach Ravioli Lasagna

April 14, 2017 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 2 Comments

Spinach Ravioli Lasagna from 5DollarDinners.com

I took one bite of this and pretty much didn't put my fork down until I was perfectly stuffed! This meal is much faster to put together than a lasagna because you're putting the fresh or frozen ravioli into the baking dish without cooking it. You add a little water, plus the water from the marinara sauce, and the ravioli is cooked to perfection. You will 'layer' the sauce, … [Read more...]

Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

February 22, 2017 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 1 Comment

You know what I love about beef roasts and the 'stew beef' cut of meat? They slow cook beautifully. They are softened to perfection, as the low and slow heat cooks them all day. And in the case of this beef ragu recipe, the acidity from the tomato based sauce softens them even more. And you end up with the most delicious sauce. This is a homemade tomato sauce, using crushed … [Read more...]

King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese

January 30, 2017 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 3 Comments

Pardon me while I drown myself in this bowl of cheesy delicious. It's macaroni and cheese, doctored up with all the delicious flavors from the traditional King Ranch Chicken. I've made King Ranch Chicken Enchiladas...and we are adding this Mac n Cheese to our "King Ranch list." You can use any small shell pasta for this - I used rotini because that's what I had in my … [Read more...]

Top 12 Favorite Fall Comfort Casserole Recipes

November 8, 2016 by Jenn K Leave a Comment

12 Favorite Fall Comfort Casserole Recipes from 5DollarDinners.com

12 Favorite Fall Comfort Casserole Recipes Fall means.... Gorgeous leaves. Final harvests. Sweatshirts and hoodies. Brisk, cool mornings. AND....Comfort Food! While it's still warm here in south Texas, I'm starting to add more soups, chilis and casseroles to our weekly menus! Because....warm, delicious food is good for the stomach and good for the … [Read more...]

Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet

October 17, 2016 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 2 Comments

Eat your heart out hamburger helper...this homemade version is so simple! And so much tastier!!! I adore making skillet meals like this one. If you've never made a skillet dinner, I highly recommend starting with this one. It goes like this... Brown the ground beef. Mix in some tomato sauce. Add liquid (broth or water) - broth gives a deeper flavor and tastier … [Read more...]

Mac n Cheese Muffins

October 5, 2016 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Mac n Cheese Muffins ~ kid friendly recipe from 5DollarDinners.com

Your kiddos are going to ADORE these Mac n Cheese muffins! A delicious macaroni and cheese, baked into a bread-cup...it's like toast and mac n cheese got together and had a kid. These muffins are the result and your kids will go nuts for these! Mac n Cheese Muffins Your kiddos are going to ADORE these Mac n Cheese muffins! 12 oz macaroni pasta1/2 cup … [Read more...]

Lazy Lasagna Bake Recipe

October 3, 2016 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 2 Comments

Lazy Mom Lasagna Bake ~ kid friendly recipe from 5DollarDinners.com

I heart lasagna. Specifically, I heart the end result of lasagna. I don't heart the creating of lasagna. I just have a mental block on lasagna...which is why there aren't that many lasagna recipe on this here little website. There are a few, but not many. I think lasagna is pretty budget friendly...it makes a lot, it's filling and it freezes well (in case you have leftovers … [Read more...]

Twirly Triple Mac n Cheese

September 30, 2016 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Cheesy magic is about to happen in your kitchen. Have you ever made a homemade cheese sauce? If not, please do so...like, tonight. I'm showing you how in the video (you can watch the complete FB Live video here.) It's super simple and after watching, you'll have the confidence and inspiration to try! What makes this recipe so amazing is the combination of mild cheddar, … [Read more...]

Bacon Carbonara

September 28, 2016 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

I should declare this week cheesy-pasta week. We have this amazing-ness from last week, plus this recipe here...and another super smooth and tasty homemade mac n cheese recipe coming on Friday. Cheese...I love love love cheese. And I love making homemade cheese sauce for pasta!!! This is a simpler homemade cheesy pasta...this is an eggy-cheesy carbonara sauce that coats and … [Read more...]

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