Disclaimer: NOT WAX RELATED!

I am going to put a HUGE DISCLAIMER for all my readers and start off by saying, this is UN-WAX RELATED!!!!!!  So if this displeases you, please continue to one of my other posts that are. 


OK, lately I have been yearning for ways to make more flavorful, various ingredient meals, like the ones you see on Food Network (YUM!) but won't kill my food budget.  Generally speaking, I'm happy eating raeman noodles, but raeman noodles are no longer cutting it, for my palate.  Not only do I have a budget issue, I also have a picky-husband issue.  He likes no vegetables except for carrots, green onions, and potatoes.  Which is fine, except when alot of these recipes have all sorts of vegetables that are price-conscious, but I cannot use. 

So what is a girl to do?  One thing.  RESEARCH!  I'm just so happy that I'm decent at it and have the internet at my disposal.  I have been looking at Food Network's facebook page lately, more aggressively in the past month or so, and found this website: The Good Food And Tips Page!  They have tips about how if you buy in bulk, and especially on sale, you will get more for your money.  And other tips, like grating your own cheese!! Here I've been buying shredded cheese for the past three years without even thinking about grating my own!! And its not a completely amish, time-consuming tip either!  I just have to see how much a grater is at my local Wal-Mart!  Plus with a grater, not only can you grate cheese, but you can grate the peel of a lemon, lime, or orange to put in certain dishes or drinks that call for it!  I used to think that was just for fancy people.  How uninformed I am!  They even have recipes for some certain things, like hummus, your own salad dressing, and other things too!  Definitely check this one out!

I should also mention, that I am not a mom (YET!) to any children.  I am recently married (as of February 16th 2012) and have been living on my own without any help from parents or family members since 2009.  I have been working since two months after I turned 16.  So I appreciate the meaning of money, the value of a dollar, and being able to get as much as humanly possible with my money!  Thats how I got into Bath and Body Works in the first place.  But since I don't have my mom to ask, I'm sort of on my own to figure it out for myself!   Plus I can be more prepared for when I do have children, it won't be a cold hard wake-up call clipping coupons and looking through the sale-ads. 

After I got done looking at The Good Food and Tips Page, there was another link that the page had that led to the SNAP-ED USDA Page.  I don't use SNAP but it seems that welfare programs that give out certain money to help families with food, have great nutritional recipes!  I went with a friend of mine who uses WIC, with her to a mini class about the importance of nutrition and then they handed all of us a cookbook as we were walking out the door.  I guess they didn't know I was just sitting in but I was happy for the cookbook!! It was Sesame Street themed, but the recipes are good!  Some are mediocre, but they have homeade chicken nuggets, pumpkin muffins, homeade fish sticks, and other things that are delicious sounding and can be made for us adults too! 

The SNAP-ED page has some good recipes too.  These are just mainly recipes approved by the United States Department of Agriculture and certain nutrition groups associated with the USDA.  They also state how much it costs to make the meal and how much it is per serving.  Some are more expensive than others, but generally a good website!

Another website, that my good wax-friend pointed me to, (Thanks Tina Ann!) is the $5 Dinner Mom website!!  I haven't looked too thoroughly at it yet, but already I am finding recipes that are delicious and calculated how much you are spending per item that you use and are all under $5!  I have already found PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST!! (MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Love everything and anything pumpkin!!) on this website.   I just wanted to document and let you guys know, if you want to try anything, these are the websites to look on!! And any other sites that you have found that have some good but not too difficult recipes, I wanna know!!

Thanks everyone!!

I am including my list of recipes that I have found that, once I get the husband's approval (he's got to want to eat this stuff too!), then I will test them out and see how they are and stuff.  I also managed to find another blog that I feel is very worth the topic of new foods that are budget worthy and tasty while keeping it healthy!  La Cucina PrimaDonna is the link.  She is a young Italian opera singer that makes Italian recipes more healthy using substitutes while still keeping the allure of the tasty Italian recipes! 

Here are the list of my recipes and their links that I have acquired so far that I am going to try:
I will warn you that not all of them may be healthy.  I do try to be healthy with the recipes that I am finding, but I'm trying to look for more budget-worthy recipes that still are varietous!  Thank you!


Creamy Potato Lasagna
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-potato-lasagna/

Spaghetti Pie
http://lacucinaprimadona.blogspot.com/2012/03/spaghetti-pie-and-summer-squash.html

Fish Tacos


http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/recipes/simple-fish-tacos

Skillet Noodles and Beef
http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/recipes/skillet-noodles-and-beef


Meat/Rice Cakes


http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/recipes/spinach-and-meat-cakes

Taco Pizza


http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/recipes/tortilla-pizzas

Tuna Melt Burger


http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/recipes/tuna-melt-burger

Gnocchi!
http://lacucinaprimadona.blogspot.com/2012/02/on-menu-toasted-spinach-ricotta-gnocchi.html