No Joke:Austerity Week Meals and Recipe's

I made it, with a few  cents to spare. Below are the meals I prepared the last week eating down the food already in the house. I purchased a few items, bought at dollar Tree and our local Coborne's, but stayed under my $300 budget (with the deferrals I gave myself).  I managed to pack my lunch each day and left with food for DH's lunch, but I couldn't say if he came home to eat each day or not. I also did not include the cost of the donation of six  pounds of  Sloppy Joe's for a Friday night dinner for a visiting college orchestra group. DD2 also ate and participated in the concert. It was a free concert last night, and worth every penny spent on food. I  won't attempt for April but will continually watch for opportunities to avoid waste and use up what we have.


Purchased:
1 pound hamburger
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
8 ounces cheddar cheese
1 dozen eggs
butter
milk
apples
bananas
celery
saltines
2 frozen mixed vegetable
soy sauce\frozen OJ
rice cakes
corn chips 
store brand honey nut cheerios
can spaghetti rings (DD2 quick meal(
paper towel roll
dish soap


Meals
Waffles. bacon and fruit
*Chicken tetrazzini with peas, steamed carrots
*Spaghetti pasta salad, pineapple,
Spaghetti with hamburger meat sauce
BBQ glazed chicken, *egg noodles with peanut sauce
Tacos, rice, and beans
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

Snacks/Baking/lunches
Popcorn
rice cakes
chips 
Banana-oat muffins and quick bread
Chocolate chip bars (froze half)
Saltines and peanut butter
Tuna with celery saltines

Here's a couple recipe's of food items marked with *, made up on the fly, if you care to follow my thrifty foot steps. Others may be found through links under my Sam's Kitchen tab. A disclaimer, ingredient measures are approximate as I was using up items already opened in many cases. Feel free to add or omit as your tastes prefer.

Spaghetti salad with broccoli, olives, and bacon (This was so good!)

Salad ingredients
6 ounces cooked and cooled broken spaghetti noodles
1/2 pound crispy bacon bits
1/4 of a head of broccoli crowns in small pieces (what I had left-I would have used more)
 1/2 can sliced black olives
1 small shredded carrot
Grated Colby cheese

Dressing
1/2 finely diced onion
3/4 cup Miracle Whip (because DH picked up two sometime in the last months)
1 TBSP cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar (dissolve sugar in vinegar,if you use mayo, may want a touch more sugar)
1-2 teaspoons black pepper
Blend all ingredients for dressing, set aside. Mix all ingredients with the dressing, chill for at least an hour  before serving. Grate Colby cheese over top.

Chicken Tetrazinni (DD1 really liked this meal)

White sauce
2 small chicken Breasts/boneless meat (about a cup 1/2 worth)
1/2 bag egg noodles
Frozen Peas
1 cup Mozzarella
Chicken Broth

Cook and dice two chicken breasts, about 10-12 ounces
Cook 6-8 ounces of egg noodles, drain then stir in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or  broth made with stock cube.
Add 2-3 tsp each garlic powder and black pepper
Stir in 1 cup snow peas/frozen peas and diced chicken, and 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Pour in a sprayed baking dish.
Make a white sauce of 2 Tbls butter, 1-2 Tbls flour, 1 cup milk, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over noodles mixture, covering all ingredients.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until sauce is bubbling-checking center of dish. 

Egg Noodles in Peanut Sauce-total improvised from miscellaneous recipe 
 Cook 8 ounces of egg noodles in salted water-set aside
 1 onion, 
1 shredded carrot
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ginger
1 Tbsp Cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

Saute onion and carrot in oil until soft, add sugar and vinegar to dissolve, add remaining ingredients, once warm, toss the noodles in the sauce. Add course ground pepper to taste.