Split Pea Soup

Did you know that one serving of split peas contains 98% of your daily value of fiber?  That'll get things moving. Split peas are also a good source of protein, potassium, and many other vitamins and minerals. Basically, you should be eating them.

This is the best split pea soup I've had. It's also easy to make and cheap.

It looks like split pea soup. Surprise!

Split Pea Soup
from the Taste of Home Cookbook

1 small onion, diced
1 T oil
4 cups water
1 can (14.5 oz) or about two cups chicken broth
1.5 cups split peas, rinsed
1 cup cubed cooked ham
3 bay leaves
1.5 t salt
1/2 t dried rosemary
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t pepper

Saute onion in  large saucepan until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer 45 minutes to an hour until peas are tender. Discard bay leaves before serving.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chili

Do you quinoa?  I have tried it in several different applications from salads to breakfast cereal and even this chocolate cake. I'll be honest - I don't think it's as great as all the food bloggers make it out to be. But this chili is without a doubt my favorite use of it. I like it better than the ground beef slow cooker chilis I've made, and the slow cooker makes it simple. I usually buy quinoa at Trader Joe's, which I find has the most reasonable price. Give it a try!

from Everyday Reading 

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 4-ounce can diced mild green chiles
1 cup frozen corn
2-3 cups vegetable broth (use the higher amount if your crockpot runs hot or you'll be cooking it longer than about 6 hours)
1/2 onion, diced
1 bell pepper (I used red), diced
2 teaspoons garlic powder (I used garlic salt because my beans weren't cooked in any salt)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed throughly

Guacamole, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, etc for serving


Combine all ingredients (except the toppings, obviously) in a crockpot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Stir to combine, salt and pepper to taste, and serve with your choice of toppings.

Vegetarian Asian Lettuce Wraps

This recipe is everything I'm looking for a dinner recipe. It's healthy, frugal, easy to prepare, and delicious.  This was my first time having lettuce wraps and they were good.  If the wraps aren't working though, I think you could just chop up the lettuce and have it as a salad. I thought her idea of serving it with egg fried quinoa was a great idea too, although I haven't tried it.

Asian Lettuce Wraps   from Super Healthy Kids

2 tsp oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced (or substitute dried)
3 cups black beans, rinsed (2 cans or about 1 1/3 cups dry)
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup grated carrot
3 green onions, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
one head bibb, iceberg, or romaine lettuce, washed and leaves separated


for the sauce:
4 T soy sauce
4T brown sugar
1/2 t. sesame oil
2 T rice wine vinegar
1/2 t fresh ginger, minced (or substitute dry)


Saute garlic, ginger, carrots, mushrooms and onion in oil, adding water if necessary,  until cooked, about 5 minutes. Add cilantro and beans and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add to saute pan (you may not need all of it) and bring to a boil. Spoon mixture into lettuce leaves.

Fiesta Rice

Have you noticed that I have a lot of rice recipes on this blog?  The reason is twofold: I really like rice - more than pasta and more than potatoes - and it is very inexpensive. In the past few years, I have come to love brown rice. I even eat it for breakfast sometimes.  If you haven't quite converted to brown rice, though, the recipe below is great because it has a lot of flavor going on, so the brown rice isn't as noticeable. This has become a family favorite.

Recipe from Kristin in Her Kitchen

Fiesta Rice

2 t olive oil
10 oz. frozen corn, thawed
1 T butter
1 c chopped green onions
1.5 c uncooked brown rice
1 t ground cumin
1 t fresh minced garlic
3 c reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 t ground black pepper
dash salt
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro, optional
1-2 T fresh lime juice


Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add corn and cook 10 minutes or until corn starts to brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt butter in pan, add onions, and saute 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in uncooked rice, cumin and garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add broth, black pepper, salt and diced tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 45 minutes or until rice is done. Remove from heat and stir in reserved corn and beans. Heat through and stir in cilantro and lime juice.

 I serve this as a main dish with sour cream and avocado on top.

Best Budget Meals: Classic Black Beans & Rice

Now that my husband has graduated and has a "real" job, we are poorer than ever. True story.  So I am planning very economical meals and thought I would do a collection here. I'm always mystified when people talk about $10 dinners as if that is cheap. A $10 dinner every night is $300 for a month - that's more than our entire monthly food budget - and what about breakfast and lunch?  These meals are much less than $10 and they are some of our favorites.

We have this meal almost weekly and it never fails to satisfy. I don't even look at the recipe anymore - I just eyeball everything and it always turns out delicious. I haven't added up the cost, but I'm guessing it is about a $2 dinner.


Classic Black Beans and Rice

2 T olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 can of black beans (undrained, although I sometimes do drain and rinse them)
3/4 cup water
1 t oregano
1/4 t sugar
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 t ground cumin
several shakes of garlic salt
1 T apple cider vinegar


Heat oil in a medium saucepan and saute onion, green pepper and garlic until tender, 8-10 minutes. Add in remaining ingredients and stir until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced, about 20 minutes. You can mash some of the beans with the back of a spoon to flavor the sauce. Serve over white rice (I typically use brown rice, but this is one meal where I always use white rice). I like to serve this with thick slices of tomato on the side and probably another green or orange vegetable.


 I have also gone through some previous recipes and added a "budget" tag, so you can click on the tag at the bottom of this post to see more examples of inexpensive and easy dinners.

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

I combined two recipes from Allrecipes to create this taco soup for a potluck. It was delicious!

1 lb ground beef or turkey
some chopped onion
some chopped green pepper
taco seasoning
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 can tomato sauce
a pinch of brown sugar
some powdered ranch dressing mix, or a squirt of ranch dressing
a tomato sauce can of water

Brown the beef with the onion and green pepper, then season with the taco seasoning. Dump it in the slow cooker, then add the rest of the ingredients. If it looks like it needs more water or more of something else, go for it - it's versatile! Cook on low 4-6 hours, or more. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips.

Crock Pot Caribbean Black Bean Soup

This soup is awesome. It is my favorite way to use ham hocks. I am waiting for ham to go on sale so I can get one and cook it up on a day that we are NOT having people over, so there are plenty of leftovers for stuff like this. It's a cinch to throw together too.

1 lb dried black beans, rinsed and sorted
3 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 ham hock or 3/4 cup cubed ham
1 T oil
1 T ground cumin
2 t oregano
1 t thyme
1 T salt
1/2 t pepper
3 cups water
2 T vinegar

Soak beans overnight in 4 quarts water. Drain. Combine everything but vinegar in crock pot. Cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours or high 8-10 hours. For a thicker soup, puree half of cooked bean mixture in blender and return to cooker. Add vinegar and stire. Debone ham and cut into bite-sized pieces, then return to soup. Serve with sour cream and fresh cilantro if you want.

Spicy Pintos

We like beans. They're healthy, cheap, and delicious. This recipe is a cinch to throw together and very versatile. Recipe is from About.com. I get a slow cooker recipe in my email every Monday from them.

1 pound dried pintos, rinsed, sorted, and soaked overnight
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups water, or to cover
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Drain soaked beans. Throw it all in the slow cooker. Cook on high 6-10 hours.

The recipe suggests you serve it with cornbread and slaw. If you're into making slaw, go for it. It can be served with pretty much anything, though. You could add ham and have a main dish (although it's a fine main dish, as is).  I usually serve it in a bowl with some shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and avocado if we have one.  It also makes very good refried beans - just mash and fry (or would you just call that fried beans, since they're only fried once?).

Let me know how you enjoy it.

Cheers.