Seafood Italian Dinner for under $15.00

Budget friendly dinners have become a priority in my house lately. With all the people I have to feed, it's important to not only offer variety, but also something that EVERYONE will eat that TASTES GOOD.

Here's how I fed my family for under $15!

Crab Broccoli Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 box bowtie pasta @ $1.18
2 jars Alfredo sauce @ $1.43 each
1 bag frozen broccoli florets @ $0.99
1 package imitation crab meat (hey...it's fish that still counts) @ $2.50
1 package of bread sticks @ $2.99
1 bag of mixed greens salad @ $0.98
1 jar salad dressing @ $3.48

TOTAL = $14.98

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Directions:

If I have to tell you how to make this, maybe you're on the wrong site! HAHAHA!! Cook the pasta. Empty the sauce in a large pot. Add about 3/4 cup of water to thin the sauce a bit. Cut or shred the crab meat. Throw in the broccoli and simmer on low heat until the vegetables are tender. Drain the pasta and toss in the Alfredo sauce. Season to taste.

CHEAP DINNER!! Enjoy!

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Fall Comfort Food - Tuna Casserole

My mother made Tuna Casserole for me when I was a child. The combination of tuna, a cheesy sauce and pasta still makes my tummy rumble when I think about it! Over the years I've made it and taken it to pot-lucks and it always turns out to be a huge hit...I never know why because it's so simple to make that I end up sharing the recipe ALL THE TIME!

Today is a cold, rainy day in Southern California...so I decided to make some comfort food to greet my children with when they come home from school. I certainly hope you like this as much as I do!

Ingredients:

1 - 12oz can of Albacore Tuna (or chunk light...I prefer Albacore because it doesn't taste as fishy)
1 - 10.5oz can cream of celery condensed soup (any brand will do)
1 - 10.5oz can cream of mushroom condensed soup (any brand will do)
1 - 14oz can of baby sweet peas (drained)
2 3/4 cups milk
3 cups cheddar cheese (divided)
1 - 16oz bag extra wide egg noodles
garlic salt and pepper to taste



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Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Boil entire bag of egg noodles until tender (set aside). In a separate large pot, combine both cans of soup, tuna and milk. Warm on medium high heat until the soup becomes smooth. Add 1 cup of cheese once the soup is heated (for easier melting). Season to taste then add entire can of drained peas. Mix everything well.

In a large oven-safe bowl pour in half of the cooked noodles. Pour half of the cheesy soup mixture over the pasta.



Combine the sauce and pasta. Sprinkle one cup of cheese over it.




Pour the remaining pasta over the cheese and pour in the remaining cheesy tuna sauce.




Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.



Place the bowl in the oven and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.



To make an entire meal out of this dish, add a salad and some garlic bread!

Enjoy!

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Alfredo Lasagna

Ok, I started getting threatening emails for this recipe - so I decided to just post the damn thing before someone came lookin for me, hiding in my bushes, tryin to steal my personal cookbook!

It's really fool proof...although XL didn't care for it much, his sister LOVED it. He thought it was too cheesy - and that's not really what he was experiencing...it was the creaminess of the alfredo sauce. It's perfect for a nice dinner party! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I'm a Trader Joe's shopper. If you don't have one near you, you may have to play with the vegetable quantities a bit. I purchased all of my ingredients from TJ's except the pasta and sauce.

Ingredients:

1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I used pork, but turkey sausage is fine too)
9 lasagna noodles
1 package FRESH white sliced mushrooms
3/4 bag of chopped frozen spinach
1/3 bag of frozen bell pepper medley (includes all three kinds - red, yellow and green)
1 container of COTTAGE CHEESE (I substitute cottage cheese for the usual ricotta - it's much lighter)
1 - 16oz. bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
2 jars of Bertolli Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce (or ANY kind of Sundried Tomato Alfredo if Bertolli isn't available)
1 large egg

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Directions:

Boil lasagna noodles (that one is kinda obvious). Remove sausage from its skin, crumble and brown. Set aside. Microwave (or thaw)the spinach and drain WELL (otherwise things may turn a bit runny). Mix spinach and egg in the cottage cheese. The egg holds everything in place - this is VERY important!!

Lightly oil a pan with cooking spray and saute the mushrooms until they're fully cooked. Set aside, then saute the peppers. Empty both jars of sauce into a large pot. Use a little bit of milk to get ALL of it from the sides of the jar - it's a little thick. Add cooked sausage, mushrooms and peppers to the sauce and simmer on low until the sauce thins out a bit.

Preheat the oven at 350.

LIGHTLY oil the bottom of a 9 x 13 Pyrex dish with cooking spray. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the cottage cheese/spinach mixture, mozzarella and then sauce. Then another 3 strips of lasagna noodles, the second 1/2 cottage cheese/spinach mixture and mozzarella. Then the final 3 lasagna noodles, the remaining sauce and the last of the mozzarella.

Cover with non-stick foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil during the last 15 minutes to brown the top layer of cheese. Add a salad, some garlic bread and your favorite wine. YOU'VE GOT DINNER!!

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Chicken Carbonara

Oddly I had ordered this very dish one night from a pizza joint. I'm not naming names because there is no such thing as free advertising around these parts - I'm not getting paid to pump up someone else's product! It was soooo good that I decided to re-create it on my own (without really knowing how it would turn out). Well...it was PERFECTION the first time out and super easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken breast (or chicken tenders)
1 pack of fresh CHOPPED mushrooms
1/2 medium sweet onion - the purple one (sliced, not diced)
6-8 slices of cooked bacon

1 cup of frozen peas
1 jar alfredo sauce
3/4 cup milk
16 oz. package of penne rigate pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

*3 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley OPTIONAL

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DIRECTIONS:

I hate to chop, so I use my kitchen shears to cut the chicken into small pieces BEFORE I cook it. Saute chicken in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil until cooked - set aside. Saute mushrooms and onions. In a separate pot, warm the alfredo sauce and add the milk. BOIL THE PASTA (there's no way around this - hehehehee). Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine pasta, sauce, chicken, veggies and crumbled bacon.

For variation, you can also add sundried tomatoes, capers and/or artichoke hearts and/or serve over rice. Serve with garlic bread and a salad...

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