Easiest Dinner... EVER!

I'm here! I'm here! It seems like forever since I've done a blog post, so I want to extend my deepest apologizes.  I have been working on something that I can’t wait to announce, watch for it soon (love cryptic messages)…

Until then I thought I would leave all of you with a great recipe that is literally the easiest meal you will ever make.  And not only is it easy, it is REALLY good.  So without further a due here is my famous-to-my-family chicken crockpot meal. 

Famous-to-my-Family Chicken Crockpot Meal

4 Frozen Chicken Breasts (you can put in more or less and they don’t have to be frozen, just makes my life easier)

1 jar of salsa (your choice)

1 can of corn (drained)

1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 box of cream cheese

Throw the frozen (or fresh) chicken breast into your crockpot, pour the jar of salsa on top, pour the drained can of corn on top of that, pour the drained and rinsed can of black beans on top of that. 

Cook on low for the day (if you make it late in the day you can also cook it on high).  The last half hour, drop the block of cream cheese on top and turn the crockpot on high. 

Make sure you keep the lid closed so that it will get soft.  Once the time is up, mix it together and shred the chicken.

You can serve this by itself, on top of rice, or we put it inside tortillas and turn it into chicken burrito filler.  It is delicious and worth the 5 minutes you spent preparing it.

I hope your family will enjoy this as much as mine.  Make sure you come back soon to hear our “announcement” (and no, I am not pregnant).  I’m SO excited!

Cooking with coupon purchased groceries

Keri's Sweet (with a little bit of a kick) Chicken

One of the most common complaints I hear about coupon shopping is that you only buy junk food with coupons and none of the items purchased would actually feed your family for dinner.  So I thought I would post one of our family’s favorite dinner recipes where the ingredients are all items that are regularly on sale with coupons. 

I first learned about this meal from my good friend Keri who is not only an amazing cook but she can also change your car’s oil, rotate your tires, and carry 150 lbs of dead weight without even breaking a sweat.  We went over to her house dinner one evening and once I cut into the chicken, I quickly finished everything on my plate and went back for 2nds… and then 3rds.  I eventually fought my husband over who was going to lick the plate clean.  I won. 

So once you try this recipe and realize how awesome it truly is, make sure you come back and show Keri some love.  She’ll appreciate it.

Sweet (with a little bit of kick) Chicken
1-2lbs of chicken tenders or chicken breasts cut up

Box of Rice Krispies
1/3 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce (original)
½ cup Brown Sugar
1 TBS water
1-2 eggs

Put the Rice Krispies into a large Ziploc bag (you can also use a bowl if you don’t have one) and smash them up.  I like them to be pretty smashed with a few chunks.  In another bowl, have 1-2 beaten eggs in it.

I just smash them with my hand... or let the kids do it.

Take your chicken (1-2 at a time) and dunk it into the beaten egg, making sure it gets fully covered,

Then put inside the Ziploc bag and shake it up. 

Once the chicken is full covered place it on a greased pan. 

Cook chicken at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (depends on how thick your chicken is) until fully cooked.

Right before the chicken is done, in a small sauce pan mix together the hot sauce, brown sugar, and water.  Bring to a boil while continuously stirring.  I usually taste test it at this point.  My kids don’t like it too spicy, so after I make theirs I will add more hot sauce for my husband and me.  Or, I will keep their chicken plain without the sauce.

I need a new wooden spoon- but I love it!

Once the chicken is cooked, take it out and dip them into the sauce making sure you cover them completely. 

Serve with some ranch or blue cheese, mashed potatoes, and your favorite veggie. 

Yummy perfection!

* The sauce can be a little spicy, so if you don’t like food with a “kick” consider using a smaller amount of Frank’s sauce in the beginning before adding more. 

** Coating the chicken with Rice Krispies can be done with many other substitutes such as Ritz Crackers, breadcrumbs, or other cereals like Captain Crunch and Frosted Flakes.  I just prefer Rice Krispies with the sauce.



Just for a litte bit more tease, this is what I cooked for dessert.  It's the Texas Sheet Cake from The Pioneer Woman.  It's an easy dessert to make (most the ingredients found in every homes cabinets) and as long as you have powdered chocolate (which I do just for this dessert). 

My mouth is watering...

Here is a link to the recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

Homemade Uncrustables

My kids LOVE Smuckers Uncrustable Sandwiches.  I don’t know if it’s the fluffy white bread, all the junk inside, or the cute little round shape with the sides sealed together and the crust cut off.  I will even admit to enjoying them myself, however, I don’t enjoy the price.  Those puppies are expensive.  Another problem, they are filled with peanut butter.  Not a big deal, unless you have a child with food allergies or a school that prohibits any nuts (like ours). 

So I decided to do a little research and figure out a way that I could make them at home for a cheaper price and pick whatever I want to fill it with.  The first option that I stumbled upon was The Cut & Seal from Pampered Chef.  Everything about it sounded great, however, I would have to locate someone who sold Pampered Chef and deal with the continuous phone calls I would receive afterwards (no offense, love the stuff… just don’t always love the sales calls).  I also did some more research and found that it was not dishwasher safe; that right away made me cross it off my list. 

Then I came across the Krustbuster.  After reading a few reviews, I clicked the “purchase” key ($6 plus shipping) and patiently waited for it to arrive at my doorstep.  When it finally showed up (about a week later) I ripped it open and tested it out.  The result: I fell in love!

I was able to use wheat bread (sorry kids, mommy prefers wheat over white) and my own peanut butter & jelly.  I made my sandwich, put it inside the Krustbuster, pushed it down, opened it up, and pulled it out.  It was easy and my kids didn’t even realize that it wasn’t made by Smuckers.

I'm learning to not put the Peanut Butter & Jelly too close to the outside.  That way, once the crust is cut off I can put it in a ziplock bag and use it for breadcrumbs. Never one to let anything go to waste!

And of course the kid in me decided to play around, so I put some cheese in it, smashed it up, pulled it out, and then threw it on a pan.  Yes, I made grilled cheese uncrustables and they were good!  My plan during the school year is to make a bunch of these sandwiches using sunflower seed butter, freeze them, and pull them out in the morning for their lunches as we are running out the door.   

Purchase on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Krustbuster-Multi-Crust-Remover-Sealer/dp/B001W6Q53W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342369432&sr=8-1&keywords=krustbuster

Check out their website with more information and ideas:
http://krustbuster.com/

My question for all of you:  Would you ever use this?  Would you like to see me give one away?!  Leave a comment letting me know, and maybe I can work out a little giveaway so that one of you can enjoy your own Homemade Uncrustables without having to pay for it!

Semi-Homemade Banana Cake

Semi-Homemade Banana Cake

Semi-Homemade can literally be my nickname.  Making things from scratch can be time consuming and often can cost a lot of money; so I enjoy finding shortcuts.  And when I find a good shortcut, I use it… often.

A friend of mine once gave me a recipe for a Semi-Homemade Banana Cake.  It was so easy to make and tasted great.  Once my family gave me their approval (AKA- they licked their plates clean) I knew that it would forever become part of our dessert rotation. 

So, since I’m a giver… I thought I would share this recipe with you.  Enjoy!

Semi-Homemade Banana Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix

Whatever ingredients the cake mix calls for

2 very ripe bananas

1 tsp of baking soda

Make the cake mix according to the directions.  Take the 2 bananas and mash them up in a small bowl.  Sprinkle in the teaspoon of baking soda and mix. 

Banana Mash-Up

Pour the mashed bananas into the cake mix and stir it together, then pour into a 9x13 pan (or whatever size you prefer) that has been greased.

Pour into cake mix

 Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes (check your cake box for their cooking instructions).  Once it’s done baking you can eat the cake plain or top it with some yummy cream cheese frosting.

It's super yummy with or without the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting (this is a generic recipe, if you have a better one… please share)

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese and butter in a mixer until creamy.  Add in the vanilla and slowly add in the powdered sugar.  Spread onto the banana cake and lick the spoon (and bowl clean). 

It's so good... want a bite?

Semi-Homemade Biscuits & Gravy Recipe

My Semi-Homemade Biscuits & Gravy.

I have literally woken up at 2am and craved Biscuits & Gravy; sadly, I wasn’t pregnant.  There is something about this meal that makes my stomach rumble and my mouth water.  My love for biscuits that our smothered in gravy was been passed down to my children… and even my husband.  So needless to say, I make this often.

This is what you will need:

Biscuits (I often use the Pillsbury pop can type but you can also use Bisquick or be a show-off and make homemade biscuits.  One can is enough for my family with two small kids eating, but we will soon be upgrading to buying two cans.)

Sausages (I highly recommend buying the Farmer John sausage in the white package, the cheap ones, because they give you a lot of grease to help make the gravy.  You can also use bacon.)

Flour (about 3-4 TBSP)

Milk (a few cups)

Ground Pepper

Eggs (1-2 eggs per person)

Instructions:

First, you will want to cook your sausage in a large skillet.  Brown them up good and take them out of the pan and onto a napkin.  Leaving the burner on with all that yummy grease, add about 1-2TBSP of flour at a time.  You’re adding the flour as you stir trying to get a thick combination without burning it.  For “professional cooks” this is called a Roux.  I personally call it “thick greasy flour that will put 10 pounds on my butt”.  This part takes practice to get down perfect, the first couple of times you may not put enough flour or maybe put too much.  Over time you will figure out the perfect combination, but what you want is to make it thick. 

I forgot to take a picture of just the roux.  But you can get the idea of what it
should look like, it's that clump in the center

Once you have it thick, you will slowly start to add in the milk making sure to keep stirring as you add.  I usually put in about half a cup at a time and stir, then let it set for a few minutes to get thick again then add in more milk.  I repeat this process until I make enough gravy and I like the taste (1 package of sausage works for our family, but like the biscuits I will need to upgrade to two packages soon to make more gravy). 

This is an example on how I allow it to thicken
up (on med-low heat) before adding in more milk.

 When I’m happy with the amount/taste of gravy, I cut up the sausage and put it inside the gravy then add in ground pepper.  Pepper is the trick!  Anytime your gravy has too much of a flour taste or maybe not enough flavor… add pepper!

Add your cut up sausage to the gravy.

Now, throw those biscuits in the oven (following package for cooking instructions) and make sure to watch the time.  You don’t want to burn them.  While they are cooking, grab your eggs.  You will want to cook them sunny side up (don’t cook the egg yolk; you want it to be runny).

Perfect eggs, ready to be broken into. I use the oil method to cook them,
where you put a little bit of oil into the small pan then crack the egg inside.  Instead of flipping
the egg (which might break it) I take my spoon and just pour some of the hot oil over the top of the
egg white to cook it.  Pretty simple.

Put 1-2 eggs on each plate, take 2-3 biscuits and shred them up and put on top of the eggs, then go ahead and pour the gravy all over the top. 

Perfection!
Your family will be surprised when they break into the meal and get egg yolk,
but the surprise will be very welcomed because it is a delicious combination. 

This my friend, is the reason my husband still loves me.  I may not keep our house super clean, or teach our kids to behave like humans instead of wild animals… but I can make the best Biscuits & Gravy in all of Orange County!

**Don't forget to "like" us on Facebook or "follow us" on Twitter, I will be posting some of my deals that I come across, updating you on futures posts that I'm working on, and just writing about my crazy & hectic life.

Today I'm working on putting together a list of summer reading programs for the kids and working on a summer "bucket list", will explain this more soon.  So stick around,  you won't want to miss out.

Low Country Boil

Low Country Boil

My husband will be the first to tell you that I like trying new recipes.  I’m not that mom who cooks pasta on every Monday, meatloaf on every Tuesday, etc.  I like to try out new recipes and get my boys to try new things.  So, for Father’s Day I was looking for something that was not only good but fun.  Fun?  Yes, fun.  Food can be fun.

I lived in the south (as in North Carolina not San Clemente) for some time and fell in love with the food.  I love everything about southern cooking, except the waistline it gives me.  So as I was looking through the grocery store ads I saw that Albertsons had whole shrimp on sale for $4 a pound and it hit me.  I was going to make a Low Country Boil.  Yum.

This is what you will need (feeds about 6 people, you can adjust the recipe up or down to fit the size of your family):

Ingredients for Low Country Boil

A big pot

Old Bay Seasoning (they didn’t have this at Ralphs but I found it at Albertsons)

10 red potatoes (sliced into four)

2 packages of sausage (I bought Helshire Farms Turkey Sausage)

4 ears of corn (broke each into three)

6 lemons

1 large white onion

2 pounds of shrimp (mine was frozen that I defrosted)

Fill the large pot up with water, leaving enough room for you to add ingredients without it overflowing.  Add the Old Bay seasoning (I put in about 4-6 tablespoons, put in what you like, taste it and see) and bring to a boil. 

When the water boils, add the potatoes (I added the sausage also, but they overcooked; would recommend waiting to add them.).  

Cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add corn, sausage, onion, two lemon halves (squeeze juice into pot them throw them in) and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  

Squeeze that lemon and then just throw it inside.

Add shrimp and cook for 3 more minutes (don’t cook it any longer or it will ruin the shrimp).  Drain.

Don't overcook the shrimp. No longer than 3 minutes.

Put some plastic down on your table and some newspaper on top of that.  Pour the food right onto the newspaper.  Serve with melted butter, sliced up lemon wedges, cocktail sauce, French bread and lots of napkins.  We literally let the kids grab it with their hands and just dig in.  It was awesome.  The flavor was so good we didn’t even have time to talk in between shoveling into our mouths. 

All that was left over after my family grubbed! Pigs!

This recipe is easy to adjust; you can add different things to it like crab (whole or legs), mussels, or even lobster. Next time I will attempt the crab legs with the shrimp, but I could not find a good price and you know me… I’m cheap!

Once you try the recipe, come back and let me know what you think.  I would love to hear about how your family reacted to eating off the table.  Hopefully my kids won’t expect for our pasta to be served on newspaper tonight; that might get a little messy!

Homemade freezer jam... pretend you are amazing with this EASY recipe.

My "pride and joy"

I never realized how much jam I would go through in one year until I started packing school lunches.  Holy Moley!  The worst part is the price, if you don’t have a coupon you can easily pay $5 for a small little jar of Smuckers.  It kills me.  So, a few years back my neighbor let me in on a little secret; make your own!

Now, I am not a Suzy Homemaker; not even close.  I hate cleaning house.  I would rather buy new socks than do laundry.  And my car has never felt the slime of soap being washed all over its body.  If I was to get a grade, I would definitely receive an “F” in Domestic Engineering.  However, I can make my own freezer jam.

It is so easy, even my 4 year old made some (with the help of me measuring and reminding him to stop eating the sugar).  And if you can get over all of the sugar that has to be added (it’s scary) and just close your eyes and taste it… it is amazing.  By far the best jam I have ever tried and if you get your strawberries on sale, it’s super cheap.

Now, I prefer freezer jam though many will disagree.  The good part of making freezer jam is that it’s quick and you don’t have to boil all the fruit (we did this once with grapes and part of my stove is still broken).  The downfall is you have to have enough room in your freezer to store it (if you don’t have a freezer for your garage, you should invest in one).  So, if you don’t have room in your freezer you can still make jam it will just be a slightly different process (check the recipe on the pectin you purchase for more details).

So here are my steps on making YUMMY strawberry jam:

The supplies (you don't need the hand smasher if you use a blender or food processor)

1.     Buy the strawberries.  On sale until tomorrow (June 19^th) Ralphs has them on sale for 88 cents a carton.  If they are sold out, ask for a rain check (they may or may not give you this, but it’s worth trying).  I bought 10 cartons and it was enough to do 14 jars (1 pint each) and have a little left over for my kids to eat.

2.    Buy your pectin & jars.  I purchased my stuff at Walmart (because it’s cheap).  I got a 12-pack of 1 pint jars by Mainstays for about $8 (if you already have some, you can just reuse them and buy new lids/sealers).  Then you need to grab the pectin.  I bought two kinds: Sure Jell & Ball.  This will be a personal preference on which you prefer.  The Ball took less steps and less sugar, but the taste wasn’t as good.  The Sure Jell took a LOT more sugar (scary amount) and a few extra steps, but I would hate to see the calorie content.  ** You should buy about 2 small containers (or 1 big) of the Ball for 12 jars or 4-5 boxes of Sure Jell.  

Sure Jell- I prefer this but it has A LOT of sugar

Ball Pectin- not my favorite!

3.    Stock up on your sugar.  You’re going to need it.  One large package will be plenty.

4.    Make sure you wash your jars really good in soapy water

5.    Clean your strawberries, cut off the tops, and smash them.  You can either use a mashed potatoes masher or a blender or a food processor.  Either way, you will want to make sure you leave some chunks.  Jam should always have some chunks. 

These are the strawberries after a few seconds on the "pulse" with my food processor. Under the bubbles are more chunks, not huge but some texture.  Make sure to try and keep some strawberries pieces.

Ball Pectin (Recipe is on the container- this will make about 1-1.5 pints)

1.    Measure out your mashed strawberries (about 1 2/3 cups per pint) and throw them into a large bowl.

2.    In a small bowl mix together your pectin (2 tbsp) with your sugar (2/3 cups).

3.    Pour the sugar/pectin on top of the strawberries and mix together.

Can you find the strawberries?

4.    Pour the mix into a jar (leave about 1/2 an inch from the top), seal the jar, and let sit for about 30 minutes before freezing or eating.

OR

Sure Jell (Recipe in box- this will make about 3 pints)

1.    Measure out your mashed strawberries (2 cups) and throw them into a large bowl.

2.    Pour your TON of sugar on top (4 cups), mix together and let it sit for 10 minutes stirring it occasionally.

Little bit of strawberries a WHOLE lot of sugar

3.    In a small saucepan mix together 1 box of pectin with ¾ cup of water.  Let boil for about a minute.

4.    Pour pectin mixture into the fruit and stir until completely dissolved.

5.    Put into jars (leave about 1/2 an inch from the top), seal, let sit for 24 hours at room temperature, then put in freezer.

My mouth is watering just looking at them

That is all it takes!  If you want to look really fancy, get some chalkboard paint and put it on your jars then you can write something like “Homemade Freezer Strawberry Jam” and put some ribbon around the top and hand them out to your neighbors.  When they stare at you with amazement, just smile and say something like “It was no big deal, I was able to make it in between reorganizing my cabinets, cleaning out the closets, and dusting down the whole house.”  Unless they read this blog, they will never know!    

Short on time breakfast ideas!

When you get bored with the usual quick breakfast items for the kids like cereal and oatmeal, what else do you grab/cook?  Last week I decided to make a batch of breakfast burritos, while watching my late night reality shows (don’t judge), and freezed them for the husband and kids to grab in the morning and heat up in the microwave.  They loved them.

Breakfast Burritos

Tortillas

Scrambled Eggs

Hash browns (frozen, defrost ahead of time)

Bacon/sausage

Salsa

Cheese

I cooked the eggs, hash browns, and bacon over the stove.  I heated the tortillas up by steaming them: boil water in a pan, put a strainer over the top, place the tortilla on the strainer and cook for about a minute then flip.  I then stuffed each tortilla with all of the yummy ingredients.  After rolling them up, I wrapped them in foil and put them in the freezer.  To heat up, remove them from the foil wrap a wet paper napkin around it and cook on high in the microwave for a few minutes.

An example of steaming the tortillas:

Steaming a tortilla: pan has boiling water (small amount) then put on top of strainer (Ikea) and flip a few times

Roll them up and wrap them in foil:

Roll up the burrito and then place the foil over the top (tightly) and freeze

Another quick and easy go to breakfast is German Pancakes.  My kids crave them (I blame our neighbors for this)!  But the good thing is they only take a few minutes to prepare and a short time to bake.

German Pancakes

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put butter on a cookie sheet (with sides or a 9x13 ungreased pan) and place in the oven to melt.  Meanwhile, place the eggs, milk, flour and salt in a blender, cover and blend until it bubbles.  When the butter has melted, remove the cookie sheet and pour the batter inside.  Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with lemon wedges (squeeze on top) and some powdered sugar.

They look funny after you bake them

But they taste SO good!

Now I need to go buy some more eggs, I’m officially craving German Pancakes!

Quick & Easy Last Minute Dinner Idea

So, if you are anything like me by about 4pm every night you are looking through your fridge, scratching your head, and trying to figure out “what the heck is for dinner?”  Tonight was one of those nights for me, so I went to one of my quick and easy dinner recipes; Homemade Macaroni and Cheese!

I have tried many Macaroni and Cheese recipes but my favorite is from The Pioneer Woman.  If you’ve never heard of her then you must RUN to her blog immediately, she is amazing.  I’ve been a fan for many, many, many years.   The best part of her recipes are the great pictures she takes for almost every step, it’s a nice way for me to figure out before I get too far if I’m messing up. 

The Pioneer Woman’s Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

§  4 cups Dried Macaroni

§  1 whole Egg Beaten

§  1/4 cup (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter

§  1/4 cup All-purpose Flour

§  2-1/2 cups Whole Milk

§  2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired

§  1 pound Cheese, Grated

§  1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste

§  1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste

§  1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

§  Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.

Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

I follow the recipe almost exact except for a few minor changes that I’ve figure out over the years. 

1.        I use only 3 cups of dried macaroni noodles (or any that you prefer); it helps to make the macaroni super cheesy.

2.       I don’t add as much dry mustard.  I think the dry mustard gives it a great flavor, but two small size teaspoons is plenty.

3.       I only put a TINY bit of cheese in at a time.  She tells you to put half in at a time, but whenever I’ve done that the texture gets really gross!  So tiny handfuls work best.  Make sure you make sure it is all melted then add a little bit more.  It takes a lot more time but you will thank me.

4.       Try it without baking it.  My husband LOVES it right off the stove, I prefer mine cooked a little.  I recommend trying it both ways and figure out what you like best.

Here is a picture of my TINY handful of cheese (don’t mind the cell phone camera; it makes my life easier for posting on a blog):

And here is the final creation:

Come extra close and look at one of the (out of focus) cheesy bites:

Side note: My wonderful girlfriend (Krazy Keri) has taught me a great trick with flavoring my Broccoli.  I first cook mine in those microwave bags (3 mins and its cooked perfect) then I add a little bit of butter, pepper, and some Dill Weed.  Tastes great and the kids love it.

Dessert

Now, what’s for dessert?  I found a recipe online a long time ago (would give credit to the website, but I honestly cannot remember where I found it) for this Easy Apple Pie.  The texture is very thick, kind of mushy, soft, and just downright delicious.  It may not look extremely appealing but I promise you, it tastes way better than it looks.  And with only a few minutes of prep work, it’s a dream come true for a typical busy mom.

Apple Cake

Cake

1 package of white/vanilla cake mix (any brand)

1.5 cups of apple sauce

Topping

4 TBS butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup powder sugar

¼ cup of milk

Mix together the package of white/vanilla cake mix with the apple sauce until smooth (don’t add any of the other ingredients listed on the box) pour into 9x9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 mins.

While cake is cooking (about 5 mins left), mix together the topping ingredients over a stove until bubbling. 

Pour topping over cake immediately after removed from oven; serve hot.

So you add only the box of cake mix with the apple sauce (don’t add anything else):

Then you put it in a baking dish:

Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, pour the topping all over it:

Cut a piece and eat (the best part):

All of these recipes can be done on a very cheap budget and the supplies can easily be stocked up on when there are deals.  Home cooked good meals that don’t break the bank; my favorite type of meal!

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