My colorful and easy-to-makerecipeuses Bell Peppers stuffed with a couple sauteed veggies, some uncooked rice, and ground meat.
I guess you can call this a Meatloaf wrapped in Bell Pepper. Roasted, Bell Peppers are tender, tasty, and almost sweet. This is a light meal if you use ground turkey or chicken.
When you bake the covered Stuffed Bell Peppers for an hour and a half, they steam uncooked rice until tender. The rice plumps up and absorbs surrounding flavors for a delicious entree.
I like to bake a few at a time to freeze for later. Serve one of them with a favorite side and you have a satisfying meal. Or just eat one on its own as there is plenty of protein, veggies, and carbs, all in one bite!
I often find Bell Peppers on sale at regular grocery stores, and especially at my local Latin market.
Red, yellow and orange Bell Peppers usually cost more for some reason. I usually make this recipe with cheaper green bell peppers, but this time I went for it to introduce color into my video recipe.
To stuff a Bell Pepper I slice around the stem and pull off the top. Most of the seeds will come out. If needed slice out any that hold on to the interior. I also cut away the white part of the inside "ribs." It doesn't have to be perfect, just remove most of the seeds and top stem.
You can use any color on sale. Red, orange or yellow Bell Peppers are a little sweeter than green ones. But anytime you roast or saute a bell pepper it will sweeten up, even green ones.
The most expensive items are mushrooms and ground meat. But even these come on sale from time to time. Ground meat, I can freeze and defrost when mushroom shows up at my local 99c only Stores.
I even find small amounts of ground meat (let's say for one or two Stuffed Bell Peppers) at my local Dollar Tree. You can use low-fat ground turkey or chicken.
Click on any photo to see larger.
Mushroom are almost always at my local 99c only Stores. They come in 4 or 5-ounce packages. You could just pick out a couple of whole mushrooms from your fave grocery store. Add more or less or just leave them out. The sauteed onion and garlic with rice are enough stuffing.
Rice is cheap at any store, you can use white, brown or any type you can find on sale. If you have leftover cooked rice then use that.
I add an egg or two and a little milk to dampen the stuffing, so the raw rice will steam tender. The main thing when baking Stuffed Bell Peppers are to cover them well, so the rice will cook through without drying out.
You will have a few crunchy rice kernels on top of Stuffed Bell Peppers, but that's okay, it's just a little extra texture. But you can be sure the interior will have cooked and flavorful rice. If you have leftover cooked rice it's okay to use it, too.
My latest video recipe is a favorite of mine and I make it when bell peppers and ground meat comes on sale. It's an easy and cheap way to extend more and more expensive ground protein. So make a batch of my Stuffed Bell Peppers, and go ahead a freeze them for later, too.
Stuffed Bell Peppers - Video
Play it here, video runs 3 minutes, 17 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
Ingredients (1 or 2 per serving)
1 pound ground beef, pork, turkey or chicken.
4 to 5 bell peppers - medium to large any color. Green Bell Peppers are cheapest.
Mushrooms sliced - a small package of about 5 ounces. Okay to use any type mushrooms you like.
1/2 cup rice - okay to use 1 cup cooked rice.
1/2 onion - chopped
1 large egg - or 2 small eggs.
Worcestershire Sauce 1 teaspoon - optional. Okay to use Soy Sauce.
Garlic 1 teaspoon - chopped, from the jar, fresh or even dried.
1/4 cup milk - cream or favorite broth.
Black Pepper to taste - Worcestershire and Soy Sauce have enough salt for me.
Directions
Slice onion and mushrooms. I use garlic from a jar, so it's ready to cook, okay to use fresh garlic.
Add a little oil to a frying pan and saute chopped onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Next, add the sliced mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes, stirring. Finally, add garlic and saute for just a minute.
In a large bowl add the raw ground meat. Add sauteed veggies, uncooked rice, one or two eggs, and milk or broth.
Season with black pepper, I find Worcestershire Sauce and Soy Sauce are salty enough. Mix all the ingredients together. This is the stuffing for Bell Peppers.
I used four to five large Bell Peppers. Depending on the size, I find that is enough with one pound of ground meat. Mainly you want to make sure all the Bell Peppers will fit in a covered baking dish. You can use a pan, just make sure to wrap or cover the peppers with foil.
While you are sauteing veggies you can prepare the Bell Peppers.
To stuff a Bell Pepper, I slice around the stem and pull off the top. Most of the seeds will come out. If needed slice out any that hold on to the interior. I also cut away the white part of the inside "ribs." It doesn't have to be perfect, just remove most of the seeds and top stem.
Fill up Bell Peppers with the sauteed veggies and ground meat. If you have any leftover stuffing you can wrap it in foil and freeze for later, or just wrap it in foil and bake it with Bell Peppers, kinda like a Meatloaf.
Cover the Stuffed Bell Peppers and bake for 1 1/2 hours (90 minutes) at 350 degrees.
That's it, just remove from oven when done. I let them sit covered for 5 minutes or so to cool down a little.
You are entering Carb Heaven, please take a seat at my celestial table! Summer is here and it's time for a picnic or patio party cold Potato Salad! You know you want to serve it with your next backyard barbeque.
Nothing better than a creamy cool side with your hot grilled burger, whether it's a veggie one or a beefy one.
Potatoes are the cheapest vegetable. I get mine at my local Latin Market, Superior Grocers, or 99c only Stores.
I like a little crunch in my Potato Salad, so there is chopped celery and onion. And these are cheap ingredients, too!
I like a rich Potato Salad with the addition of boiled eggs and a lot of real mayo. It's up to you how many eggs and the amount of mayo you like.
And Vegan Potato Salad can be had by leaving out the eggs and substituting vegan mayo.
You can get budge condiments like mustard and pickle relish at a regular grocery or Dollar Tree.
Of course, you can keep the Potato Salad vegan and use a mayo substitute and leave out the eggs.
This recipe comes together quite easily. Just boil the potatoes for an hour and the eggs for 10 minutes. Let them cool down then chop, chop, chop.
I peel my potatoes, but you can leave some skin on for a rustic version -- okay a lazy version!
I use about 5 large Russet potatoes on sale, but you can use more expensive Red or White potatoes, too.
My Mom makes a creamy Cajun Potato Saladthat is more like mashed potatoes. I like her version too, and you can see it by clicking here.
Spring and summertime are when I pull out my yummy homemade Potato Salad. I'll make it several times for sure, and for the 4 of July too!
Potato Salad - Video
Play it here, video runs 2 minutes, 46 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
Ingredients
4 or 5 russet potatoes - large. Roughly mashed or cubed.
4 eggs - I used medium size. Okay to use less.
1/2 chopped onion - I like a finely chopped onion.
1 stalk celery - chopped.
3/4 cup mayo - add more or less to suit your tastes.
1 tablespoons mustard - any type, I used brown mustard.
2 tablespoons pickle relish - sweet or regular.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions
Start by rinsing potatoes and add to a pot to a low boil. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour, until they are easily pierced with a fork or knife.
Remove and allow to cool down for 5 or 10 minutes. When they are cool enough peel them. Potatoes are easier to peel when cooked.
Roughly break them apart into bite-sized pieces. Add to a large bowl.
You can boil eggs at the same time, but just for 10 minutes. Allow them to cool down afterward. Peel and roughly chop eggs.
Chop half an onion and one whole rib of celery. I like to chop these a little on the fine side -- not too chunky. Just my preference.
Now time to bring it all together in a large bowl. Add chopped veggies and egg.
Add 2 tablespoons of pickle relish, a tablespoon of any fave mustard and 3/4 cup of mayo.
Okay to add a couple tablespoons of mayo at a time to reach desired creaminess. Mix as you go and give a quick taste as you add relish, mustard, and mayo and stop when you like it!
Finally, add a little salt and pepper. Again, taste and adjust to your liking.
Mix well, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
I've made a Potato Salad without celery and pickle relish, so you can adapt my recipe to the ingredients you can afford, or have on hand.
Hallelujah it's National Pizza Day! Heck, every day should be National Pizza Day. Check out my pizza celebration below with quick and easy Pizza recipes and a couple reviews of frozen Pizzas -- go ahead, dig in! Pizza for breakfast? Heck yeah! Or if you are a late breakfast eater like I am, then this goes down deliciously mid-morning after a second cup of joe. So check out my video recipe below for a Quick Pizza with Egg to see how fast it all comes together.
Quick Pizza with Egg - VIDEO
Play it here, video runs 1 minutes, 24 seconds.
I'm surprised egg is not used more often on fast food pizza. Like the first slice into a Mexican Huevos Rancheros where the runny egg mixes with salsa and refried beans, or a Southern breakfast of sunny side up eggs with biscuits and gravy, it's all about mixing in a creamy egg yolk. And you have it all with a hot pizza right out of the oven.
It's a rich eating experience hitting all the right savory pleasure points with egg yolk, melty cheese, and pungent basil with tomato sauce.
Using precooked pizza crust speeds up getting your meal to the table on time. Lately I get precooked pizza crust cheaply at the Dollar Tree store a couple blocks away. While not the best pizza crust I've tried, the added toppings help make up for any dough deficiencies. If you find a tasty precooked pizza dough, do leave a comment and tell us all about it.
The trick to using a precooked pizza crust is to not overcook, or it will dry out like a cracker. I cook my Pizza with Egg for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees in a preheated oven. As soon as the whites of the egg are solid and cooked, and the egg yolk still runny, I immediately remove the pizza. Of course, be careful taking that first hot bite!
You could use fresh pizza dough from the deli case too, just back time it, that is, if it takes 20 minutes to cook the dough, then top the pizza with an egg during the last 10 minutes of baking.
If you can't find individual pizza crusts then slice a whole pizza crust to the size you like and work with that. It's easy enough to use the other half later, that is if you can stand the wait. Or make a whole regular size pizza and add 2 or 3 eggs on the toppings.
I find many types of tomato sauce at dollar stores. Everything from portabella mushroom to meat flavored, and chunky eggplant to just plain tomato sauce. There are even jars of "Pizza Sauce."
Get what you like in the can or jar, although I find a jar of tomato sauce easier to refrigerate and spoon from.
I kicked my Quick Pizza with Egg up a notch with fresh leaves of basil. I like to have a basil plant on my windowsill to pull leaves off. They go great in a Thai-style Basil and Chicken Stir Fry (my recipe is a click away here) and mixed into any favorite spaghetti dish.
You only need a few leaves as they are much more pungent than dried basil. But it's okay to sprinkle on a favorite Italian dried herb into any pizza tomato sauce you use.
Mozzarella is the preferred cheese for pizza toppings and I get small packets from 99c only Stores and Dollar Tree stores. For a serving or two, the small packets are a perfect serving size at about 3 to 5 ounces each.
I also find dried parmesan but it's not as good as what you find in a typical grocery deli case.
Eggs aren't as cheap as they used to be, especially if you use cage and hormone free. But I can still find regular eggs for around half a dozen for a buck. Every once in a while they are on sale for a dollar per dozen.
Top the pizza with one egg, or add a couple of them if you like. I like my egg yolks runny, but you can cook it a few minutes more, until similar to a soft boiled texture.
And what's great about making your own mini-pizza is you can add as much cheese and tomato sauce as you like (or can afford.)
Tangy tomato sauce with pungent fresh basil leaves and melty cheese is the perfect platform for a fried egg. And it's so easy to do if you use packaged single serving sizes of pizza crust that are precooked, like I do. Or if you have a leftover slice then break an egg over it, and heat the slice in a toaster oven.
Give my latest cheap$kate recipe a try, I know you will like it -- ciao and buon appetito!
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
You can make a traditional pizza too with this pre-cooked pizza crust. How about a Black Olive and Sausage Pizza?
All the ingredients are super cheap of course, everything from a can of olives to ground breakfast pork.
While breakfast pork is not Italian, you can make it pretty close by mixing in a teaspoon of dried Italian herbs, again easily found at Dollar Tree or the 99c only Stores.
So for about 6 bucks I got enough Dollar Tree ingredients to make 4 individual pizzas (adding dried herbs I have at home,) with leftover pizza sauce, sausage, and plenty of olives.
What's nice is being able to add as much sauce, olives and sausage as I wanted on each pizza. I had just enough mozzarella though, so could not go overboard with that.
I find that may budget premade individual pizzas lacking, mainly they are skimpy with the meat and cheese. Using fresh pork sausage is so much tastier and I can crumble it into any size I like.
I use a pre-cooked crust, so the baking time is only about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, just enough tome to heat all the ingredients and melt the cheese -- that's it!
My first seafood-topped pizza was from a small side-street restaurant during a Rome, Italy vacation. Some may blanch when served calamari, clams and shrimp on a pizza, but how can you resist when it's paired with melted mozzarella and artichoke hearts?
I simplify things by using a 99.99 cent can of chopped clams. One can is enough for three small individual pita pizzas; all other ingredients are often found in local 99c only Stores, including pita bread (although regular local markets often have sales on canned minced clams and shredded mozzarella.
And pita bread is reasonably priced), you get eight pitas per package - talk about a great deal! These pita pizzas are delish with or without clams - make it your own by adding any favorite topping.
These budget pizzas are easy to make and are perfect for a party, or as a late-night cramming snack for all you overextended, financially strapped college students. All you need is a dorm buddy with a toaster oven!
Ingredients (for 3 pita pizzas)
3 pita bread rounds
1 can minced or chopped clams (6.5 oz.)
1 package shredded mozzarella (4 oz.)
3 tbsp. dried parmesan cheese (optional)
1 small 8 oz. can of tomato sauce or your favorite pasta sauce.
1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts (6oz.) in oil or water, drained.
3 tbsp. of 99.99 cent olive oil blend
1 tsp. dried herbs including - parsley, oregano and sage (a pinch per pita)
Directions Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Layout 3 pita rounds and top each with 3 tbsp. of tomato sauce and a small pinch of dried herbs, then cover with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Drain artichoke heart and minced clams; evenly distribute over pita pizzas and add a sprinkle of dried parmesan cheese. Finish with a drizzle (about a tbsp.) of olive oil. Bake about 10 minutes -- cheese will melt, while the pita edge becomes crisp and just starts to brown. And don't forget to mix it up with different toppings for a party. Just set out a plate of salami, cheese, cooked sausage, tomato sauce, olives, and any other favorites. Time for a couple Pizza Deal of the Day reviews. Many are adequate, and some are even quite tasty, that is if you sprinkle on some extra mozzarella!
Unfortunately this Deal of the Day is bleh. I mean it's not bad, just mediocre. And that goes for both Atkins Stone Fired Pepperoni and Cheese Pizza.
I know it's hard to find a tasty frozen pizza for a buck. One day I'll find what I'm looking for, just not yet.
In general I like Atkins frozen meals that show up in my local 99c only Store's frozen case, like this one a click away, here.
I first tried the Stone Fired Pepperoni Pizza. This one had 3 slices of pepperoni, not four slices shown on the box cover - better supervision is needed at the Atkins pizza plant.
The main problem was the lack of tomato sauce and the lack of cheese. I guess to keep the price down they cut the cheese when adding pepperoni. I don't need a lot of tomato sauce, but this single serving had the tiniest smear. You would think since cans of tomato sauce are so cheap that they would ladle it on.
I thought the pepperoni slices were fine. Thin but spicy and pungent just like pepperoni should be.
And the cheese was flavorful with mozzarella and parmesan. Like I said earlier, it could have used more.
And finally the pizza crust is medium thick and blistered. I prefer thin, but the dough is tasty enough -- Chicago and New York-style crusts have nothing to worry about here.
So on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give Atkins Stone Fired Pepperoni Pizza a 4!
So on to the next Deal of the Day, Atkins Stone Fired Cheese Pizza.
Now this is more like it. This pizza has plenty of melty, gooey cheese, just the way I like it! It still has too little sauce, but the cheese amount almost makes up for it.
While not the most flavorful mozzarella and parmesan, it's fine. I think an extra shaving or two of parmesan cheese would do the trick.
And it has the same crust. I tried frying this frozen pizza on a George Forman-like grill for a better crust, but due to the thick dough it still did not crisp up enough, before the cheese started melting all over the place, and the too little tomato sauce almost evaporated away.
The ingredient list is too long for both pizzas, but that could be preservatives in the pepperoni and cheeses.
Click on any photo to see larger.
So on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give Atkins Stone Fired Cheese Pizza a 6 ! It's a little better than bleh.
While I shouldn't complain too much for single serving pizzas for a buck, I would recommend the Cheese Pizza over the Pepperoni.
Welcome to the realHunger Games, with a battle royale between 2 pizza purveyors, Geno's and Celeste. In my latest Deal of the Day it's mini pizzas going mano-a-mano and the winner gets the Chintzy Award for Best Cheap Pie. This is cuisine made for dorm room keg parties and minimum wage workday lunches.
I picked up each single serving pie from the frozen deli case at this 99c only Store for 99.99 cents (or $1.) The pizzas are the perfect size for lunchtime appetites. I got the same toppings of cheese, pepperoni and sausage on both. Normally I like a pizza hot from the oven, but for this meal showdown, I am going with the quicker microwave preparation. -- following the box directions.
Celeste
There is more tomato sauce and chunkier meat topping -- so you can really taste the Italian sausage and pepperoni. -- Celeste is a winner in the meat category. Also, larger lashings of mozzarella cheese make individual bites varied, as ingredients are larger but spread out more. And the tomato sauce, while plain, binds all the flavors together.
There is a silver crisping plate included.
Jeno's
Italian herbs shine through in the tomato sauce. But the meat toppings are hard to discern, due to the small sizes. While Jeno's has a uniform flavor profile as all the parts are almost blended together in a pleasing way.
Funny, but Jeno's did not have a silver microwave crisper, so I used Celeste's.
I'm sure both single serving pizza would benefit from oven baking, but at my job (and most dorm rooms) there is only a microwave oven. So this is a test in real-world conditions. In both cases, the crust is a little mushy as expected, but they share a pleasing yeasty dough flavor.
Both pies are the same size and thickness. Jeno's looks like it has more toppings, but looks are deceiving. So on a scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give the Chintzy Award to Celeste, with a 6 rating. I preferred the chunkier sausage topping and larger treads of cheese. I also liked the simple tomato sauce flavor.
While Jeno's is the loser, I give them higher marks for a more intense overall Italian herb flavor. And I would buy both again for a cheapie lunch. But I am always on the lookout for a better single serving chintzy pizza. If you know of one, then do leave a comment about it and I'll look for it.
