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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!

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...]

Instant Pot One-Pot Spaghetti with Sauce

December 8, 2023 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 9 Comments

I'm all about One Dish Dinners. I wrote an entire cookbook with One Dish Dinners. And am currently experimenting with One-Dish Instant Pot Dinners. This one is a winner-winner-spaghetti-for-dinner. Spaghetti is always a favorite and if you're wanting to move into "one-dish instant pot" meals, I'd recommend starting with this one! It's simple to prep and goes like … [Read more...]

VIRAL: Beef Ravioli Bake

March 29, 2023 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

I think Ravioli Bakes might be my new favorite dinner. I don't know why...they just seem so easy. Well, they are easy. The ravioli doesn't take any pre-cooking. You just add it into the dish, pour the sauce (in this case a beefy-spaghetti sauce) over the top, then pile on as much cheese as your waistline can handle. ;) Then, bake. And you end up with this. Now, there … [Read more...]

Tuna Pasta Salad

June 3, 2022 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 3 Comments

The Best Tuna Pasta Salad Recipe Ever! There's something about pasta salads that make me think of my grandma. And this Tuna Pasta Salad is the BEST! Every summer growing up, my family and I would "escape the TX heat" and spend a few weeks at my grandma's lake cabin deep in the woods of northern MN. Gorgeous country. Beautiful lake. Cozy cabin where my extended family … [Read more...]

Homemade Sloppy Joe Mix

September 9, 2019 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 25 Comments

You likely have the ingredients needed to make this homemade sloppy joe mix and sauce in your fridge and pantry!  We make A LOT of sloppy joe type meals around our house and over time, I've developed this delicious homemade mix of spices to use to make my own homemade sloppy joe sauce.  It's a mix of common pantry spices, that get stirred in with ground beef, … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese

October 3, 2017 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 3 Comments

The Best and Easiest Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese Pardon me while I drown myself in this bowl of Mac and Cheese. Like, please don't judge me. I won't judge you. ;) It's so delicious. The pasta is cooked perfectly. (Be sure to use both of the "extra" ingredients when cooking the pasta.) And then the cheese melts beautifully to create (what might possibly be) … [Read more...]

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

October 17, 2011 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 84 Comments

Oh my heavens - divine, divine, divine. This Pumpkin Pie French Toast recipe is a MUST TRY in the fall and winter months! I so wish I'd doubled this recipe for Pumpkin Pie French Toast while I was first making it. Tripled, or quadrupled even! These are so scrumptious...perfect for the fall season. It's really simple...you just add some pumpkin puree and spices to … [Read more...]

Mocha Brownies

June 17, 2011 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 5 Comments

Before you say it, yes...brownies were dessert of the month in April...just a few short weeks ago. But Caramel Cashew Brownies and these Mocha Brownies are different. Very, very different. I know. I know. This is really an indication that I have a brownie problem. Please. Send help. Brownies anonymous, anyone?! So I served these to a group of ladies last week...and … [Read more...]

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