recipes

“Make your own Twinkies” and other secret recipes by the Food Cloner Dude.

Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago by Paul Michael

Frugal Living, Life Hacks, General Tips, Food and Drink, DIY

Todd Wilbur

Todd Wilbur is a name you may well have heard before. For lack of a better word, he’s a copycat…and a cool one at that. From homemade Twinkies to homecooked Big Macs, Todd can recreate just about anything from your favorite American restaurant chain. Now you can learn how to make those famous meals and snacks and save a bundle.

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Ten Tortilla Tips for Mealtime Madness

Posted 8 weeks 3 days ago by Myscha Theriault

Food and Drink

With food prices on the rise and available prep time also at a premium, quick and affordable meal ideas are always in demand. Here are ten simple meals you can whip up using basic tortillas.

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Stop dissing Spam!

Posted 10 weeks 1 day ago by Paul Michael

Frugal Living, Food and Drink

Sir Spam

Is it me, or are most people a bunch of Spam snobs? I admit it’s not filet mignon or a piece of finely seared Ahi Tuna, but come on people! It’s not that bad. In fact, I love it, and a lot of my friends and family do, too. It’s a great friend to the frugal chef, and if I can do anything today, it’s to convince Spam skeptics to change their ways (vegetarians excepted…maybe).

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Make Homemade Dog Food with your Slow-Cooker

Posted 19 weeks 2 days ago by Linsey Knerl

Personal Finance

Awhile back, I told you how we had gone the way of homemade dog food. It isn’t just that my beautiful pup is fast approaching 60 pounds and feeding him is a bit burdensome. I also love knowing exactly what is going into his food. Here is the slow-cooker technique my husband designed to keep fresh and healthy food going into the kibble bowl.

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5 Perfectly Respectable Uses for Instant Mashed Potatoes

Posted 20 weeks 1 day ago by Linsey Knerl

Frugal Living, Food and Drink

Like most people, I can tell the difference between authentic mashed potatoes, made from fresh spuds, and the dehydrated “flakes” that come in a box. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use them, however. After being gifted a large supply of the instant stuff, I went in search of acceptable ways to use them. The results were surprisingly delicious!

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Christmas 101: A Book Review

Posted 29 weeks 5 days ago by Myscha Theriault

Art and Leisure

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at a Wise Bread book review for a while now. With an intense winter holiday right around the corner, I felt my topic was basically selected for me. When I saw the title of this one, I couldn’t dial the phone number to Harper Collins fast enough. Is this the holiday handbook I was hoping for? Read on and find out.

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Healthy recipes--with cost data

Posted 32 weeks 6 days ago by Philip Brewer

Shopping, Food and Drink, Budgeting, Freebies

Farmers market tomatoes

Want to eat a cheap, healthy diet? Want some recipes that use real food instead of packaged food products? Want to argue about how much it costs to feed a family a healthy diet? Here's a free tool, created by the USDA, that will help you with any of those.

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Put it in a Pie for Fast, Frugal Food

Posted 33 weeks 3 days ago by Linsey Knerl

Frugal Living, Food and Drink

Are you running out of fresh ideas for supper? Are you also running out of meat and fresh veggies? Pie shells are the best trick for putting a new spin on some old ideas. You’d be surprised what you can get away with putting in there!

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Soup Toppers With Style

Posted 36 weeks 5 days ago by Myscha Theriault

Food and Drink

Tis the season for soothing, hearty homemade soups. With as much as people pay for this stuff at the deli counter (and don't get me started on the prices and ingredient lists for canned), it's not hard to see how serving this stuff up at home just makes good "soup cents". While many soups look fabulous enough in their own right, having some gourmet topping options on hand can really kick things up a notch and make you feel like you are eating out. Here are sixteen different topping ideas that'll have you serving up soup based dinners with style.

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Get More from Pumpkin Carving by Baking the Seeds

Posted 36 weeks 5 days ago by Linsey Knerl

Green Living, Food and Drink

pumpkin seeds

Even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, the pumpkin is a staple food for fall recipes and decorating schemes. The bright orange squash variety is selling in stores and markets across the country this month. However you use is, don’t throw away the pulp and seeds! The best treat can be made by following these simple directions for tasty, crunchy, pumpkin seeds.

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What's Cooking? This Monday's Work at Home Meal Menu

Posted 49 weeks 4 days ago by Myscha Theriault

Food and Drink

Well, it's Monday and everything that brings along with it. So, we'll be digging out my favorite time saver again, the crockpot. This time, dinner's more Italian in nature. Haven't even had time for your lunch break yet? No worries. That's covered too.

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What's Cooking? Sunday Dinner at Mi Casa

Posted 49 weeks 5 days ago by Myscha Theriault

Food and Drink

This is the first in a series I'm exploring called "What's Cooking?". As frequently as possible, I'll create a post on what is actually cooking here at la casa. You'll see anything from a dinner menu, to a great appetizer idea, desert, or homemade food gift idea. What's cooking today? Something on the rustic side . . .

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Edible Flowers Make Cheap Food Beautiful Again

Posted 1 year ago by Linsey Knerl

Filed Under: Food and Drink


Those of you with gardens are probably entering a new season of produce. Squash plants are getting icky, but they are still producing more zucchini and summer varieties than you can handle. If you are looking for a bit of variety in your day, why not give the flowers a try!

Continue reading "Edible Flowers Make Cheap Food Beautiful Again"

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Mix 'n match your food to save money

Posted 1 year ago by Sarah Winfrey

Filed Under: Food and Drink

Tasty food

Is there any way out of the "I love to eat but I don't want to cook all the time!" dilemma? Will there ever be a way to eat consistent, healthy, homecooked meals without slaving in the kitchen all the time? Read on, and tell me what you think.

Continue reading "Mix 'n match your food to save money"

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When Good Food Goes Bad Part V: Cooking with Peeps

Posted 1 year ago by Andrea Dickson

Filed Under: Food and Drink

I suppose defining Peeps, a favorite of my childhood, as "good" food that goes bad, might be a bit of a stretch.

Those marshmallow chicks that come in an array of unnatural colors go stale REALLY quickly. You open the pack, and about five minutes later, they're as good as inedible.

Continue reading "When Good Food Goes Bad Part V: Cooking with Peeps"

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The Way to Your Honey's Heart Is Through the Kitchen

Posted 1 year ago by Tannaz Sassooni

Filed Under: Food and Drink

They say a way to a man's heart is through the stomach, but on Valentine's Day, our men take no pains to take that very route to their ladies' hearts as well: call every restaurant in town for a last minute reservation. Finally have the host at Chez Exorbitante tell you the only table they have is at 5:30 pm, but you'll love sitting next to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Atric -- they have great stories to tell. Pay an appalling markup on a bottle of bubbly (had you only consulted the lists earlier). Suffer through a meal at a restaurant where every single customer expects personalized special-occasion service, from a waitstaff made of mere human beings. Avoid the risk of driving home full of boozy bubbles, by shelling out more cash to take a cab home (in rush hour traffic no less). Isn't it romantic?

Continue reading "The Way to Your Honey's Heart Is Through the Kitchen"

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When Good Food Goes Bad, Part II: Tortillas and Tortilla Chips

Posted 1 year ago by Andrea Dickson

Filed Under: Food and Drink

tortilla chip

Tortilla chips go stale really fast in moist environments. REALLY humid places, like the Georgia in the summer, can sog up a bag of crisps in mere minutes. It takes a little longer where I live for tortilla chips to be inedible, but they don't last more than a week after opening, usually.

I hate to throw out food, so I always try to figure out some way to use up stale and close-to-bad food, usually in some really awful culinary experiment, before throwing it away. So imagine my delight to find that there is actually a really good recipe for using up old tortilla chips.

Continue reading "When Good Food Goes Bad, Part II: Tortillas and Tortilla Chips"

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