We Want Your Fabulously Frugal Fall Recipes

September 23, 2019

Let me start by saying that I love, love, love fall weather. In fact, the only reason I like summer is that fall is right around the corner. For me, summer is pre-fall and I couldn’t wish those hazy, hot, humid days away fast enough. There, I said it. When the leaves start to fall and I feel that familiar crisp air, I tend to dash to the kitchen and heat up some hot chocolate with marshmallows. Comfort foods are where it’s at any time of year but especially fall. And this fall I’m in desperate need of some new frugal recipes to get our taste buds hoppin’! As you might’ve guessed that’s where YOU come in!

I Am Not A Crook…I Mean Cook!

When the leaves start to fall and I feel that familiar crisp air, I tend to dash to the kitchen and heat up some hot chocolate with marshmallows. Comfort foods are where it's at any time of year but especially fall. And this fall I'm in desperate need of some new frugal recipes to get our taste buds hoppin'! #frugalfoods #fallrecipes #frugalrecipes #frugalfall via @MadMoneyMonster
Our wonderful, stylish, and seriously underutilized crockpot.

I am not a cook. Just for good measure, let me reiterate that. I am not a cook. It’s not that I have anything against cooking or that I hate the idea of meal planning, prepping, and cooking. Quite the opposite. Oftentimes I fantasize that I could do just that. I’m the person standing in the grocery store line gazing at the Marta Stewart magazine wishing I could throw myself into the kitchen and not emerge until I had a beautiful golden turkey on a silver platter with all the fixings. Gosh, how I wish I could do that.

No. It’s not that I wish I could do that. I’m an incredibly resourceful and crafty individual. I absolutely know that I could do that if I only had the time. I also know that life is all about choices and that I am choosing to devote my time to everything other than cooking, baking, and becoming the next Martha Stewart. Ha!

Sadly, the idea of preparing delicious homemade meals for my family each night is nothing more than a pipedream and far from my reality. Most nights, Mr. MMM does the cooking because I don’t come traipsing in from work until 5:30 or later. That might sound normal, but, in this house, my husband and daughter like to eat around that time because there’s always something we need to get to or get done. Think soccer practice, orthodontist appointments, or studying for math tests.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

When the leaves start to fall and I feel that familiar crisp air, I tend to dash to the kitchen and heat up some hot chocolate with marshmallows. Comfort foods are where it's at any time of year but especially fall. And this fall I'm in desperate need of some new frugal recipes to get our taste buds hoppin'! #frugalfoods #fallrecipes #frugalrecipes #frugalfall via @MadMoneyMonster
Our freezer and its contents. #notflashy #dontjudge

Because of our busy schedules that revolve around school, work, sports, pets, blogs, podcasts, etc., one thing that usually takes the hit is cooking. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. MMM is a good cook, but, again, he simply doesn’t have the proper time to devote to preparing dinners that are savory enough to write home about. They’re good, they’re nutritious, but they’re nothing fancy or special.

The result? We have about 10 menu items we keep cycling through and, let me tell ya, we’re all getting bored and need some fresh ideas. I mean, how many different ways can you prepare chicken and pasta without it all starting to taste the same. Other dinners that usually make it into the two-week rotation include spaghetti, breakfast for dinner, burgers, fish, etc. Our typical sides are, you guessed it, pasta, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas, green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Fabulously Frugal Fall Recipes

When the leaves start to fall and I feel that familiar crisp air, I tend to dash to the kitchen and heat up some hot chocolate with marshmallows. Comfort foods are where it's at any time of year but especially fall. And this fall I'm in desperate need of some new frugal recipes to get our taste buds hoppin'! #frugalfoods #fallrecipes #frugalrecipes #frugalfall via @MadMoneyMonster
Sometimes we just give up and go get a drink. #sonottrue This was our honeymoon. 🙂

But, alas, fall is upon us. Another year of school has started, along with another fall soccer season, and we want your help. Scratch that, we need your help.

My family loves almost any kind of meat, pasta, potatoes, veggies, you know, the basics. If you could send your frugal fall recipes my way that incorporate ingredients that we’re probably not using or even thinking of I would be so appreciative.

So lay it on me! Gimme your fabulously frugal fall recipes that are, hopefully, also quick and easy too.

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4 Comments

  • This is a Sunday meal because it takes about 3 hours to cook, but most of it’s waiting. The best part about it is that it’s always better the second day. And third day. We seriously get dinner and at least two days of lunches out of it.
    Beef Stew
    Ingredients:
    2 lbs Stew Beef (or get a 2 lb chuck roast and cube it yourself)
    1 med onion, chopped large
    3 stalks celery, chopped
    3 lbs potatoes, cubed
    1 lbs carrots, sliced (or a .99 cent bag of baby carrots)
    1 can tomato soup
    2 c V8 juice
    2 T flour
    4 cloves
    2 bay leaves
    2 t dried basil
    salt & pepper

    Directions
    Dredge meat in the flour, brown meat in a frying pan. Put meat, drippings from pan, soup, V8, onion, celery in oven proof covered casserole. Cook at 350 deg until meat is semi tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots, potatoes, cloves, bay leaf, basil, and salt and pepper. Cook until carrots and potatoes are fork tender, about an additional hour, stirring every 20 minutes. You can’t over cook stew.

    This makes about 8 servings. Serve with crusty bread.

    Oh, and the person who gets the bay leaf in their bowl has to do the dishes. 🙂

    Number of Servings: 8

    Reply
    • Oh my gosh…I LOVE it! Thank you! I particularly love the bay leaf and dishes bit at the end. Definitely going to implement that! 🙂 Thank you.

      Reply

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