The best dates include a home cooked meal. Don't
be fooled, going out to an expensive restaurant, with waiters, wine bars,
lounges and all that is great. But, to really get your date's attention,
nothing beats a tasty home-cooked meal. Food 'made with love' wins over
everything and everyone. And if you have budget troubles, the recipes on
this page will help you create great snacks and meals on a shoestring
budget. You can always upgrade the ingredients, but then, why would you have
an interest in cheap meals if you could? Enjoy!
Mini Pizzas
2 regular or extra crispy english muffins per
person
Plain pasta sauce (2 tablespoons per muffin half or to taste)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese per 2 english muffins (or to taste)
Toppings:
Cooked bacon, diced onion, sandwich meat, sliced or canned mushrooms (almost
anything you regularly have on your pizza that is handy.
Cut the muffins into halves and spread the sauce on each half. Add the
shredded cheese and any toppings, as you like.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and cook in the oven, 400F for approx 8
minutes, or until the cheese melts and bubbles. If you have a toaster oven,
use that instead.
Total cost (for 2 people) is under $3.00. Enjoy.
Rob's Best Swiss Steak
1 lb cubed stewing beef
1 medium sized onion
1 medium sized green pepper
1 large can (19 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 14 oz or 19 oz can ground tomatoes
14 oz can whole or sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons A1 sauce (made by HP)
1 packet dried onion soup mix
cornstarch (to thicken sauce)
Directions:
Rinse stewing beef and place into oven roasting pan. Cut any large pieces
into 1 inch cubes. Slice onion and green pepper and place over beef.
Pour onion soup mix and black pepper over beef, onion and green pepper. Pour
on top of that the stewed and ground tomatoes. Pour on the A1 sauce and
lastly the mushrooms.
Cover the roasting pan and place into the oven at 350F for about 2 hours.
Check and stir every half hour. The Swiss Steak is done when the meat is
very tender, almost falling apart when forked. Use the cornstarch, 1/2
teaspoon at a time, to thicken if necessary. (Tip: if the sauce needs
thickening, use a tablespoon to remove some of the gravy from the roasting
pan and put into a measuring cup or large glass, about 1/2 a cup or so. Add
cornstarch and stir until well mixed. Then pour the mixture back into the
roasting pan and stir. Return to oven.)
This recipe goes great with boiled or mashed potatoes and fresh bread or
buns. Total cost is under $10.00, serves 4 or two really hungry people.
Rob's Spicy Chili
1 lb regular ground beef
2-14oz canned red kidney beans
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1- 19oz canned diced tomatoes
1 tbsp chili powder (or more to taste)
1 tsp black pepper (or more to taste)
1 tbsp Tobasco (or more to taste)
Directions:
Brown ground beef in frying pan and drain fat. Into large pot add ground
beef and all other ingredients, put on medium high heat on the stove until
it boils then turn down the heat to low. Cover the chili pot and cook for 1
or more hours. Best results after cooking 3 hours. When serving you can add
grated cheese, sour cream and crackers.
You can easily change this recipe by adding other hot peppers, different
beans, using ground turkey or chicken instead of ground beef. To make it a
vegetarian chili, leave out the meat and add tofu. Serves 2 to 4 people.
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Robert Lee All Rights Reserved Reprint rights restricted.
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