Loaded Baked Potato Soup

First, I need to apologize for the huge blog hiatus. I am not normally this much of a procrastinator...BUT...my semi-mobile almost 8 month old has been keeping me so busy when she's not napping that when she is I'm using those little moments to do all kinds of other things. I THINK I've got her new schedule down and should be able to post my recipes more frequently. I'll also make sure to get the Frugal Fridays back up and running starting tomorrow!

This meal was SO YUMMY! I look forward to making it on cooler days because I think it'll be received even better (though, it's hard to have it received much better than it was). I'll definitely use it as a "company" dish because it made WAY too much for just hubby and I, definitely could have fed 4 more people with it easily.

Ingredients:

3 potatoes boiled and cubed (on sale 1.30)

4 oz of cream cheese (.45)

8 oz sour cream (1.00)

3/4 cup of all purpose flour (.10)

3 strips of bacon cooked and cut up (.30)

6 cups of milk (1.00)

1/2 cup of cheddar cheese to top (.55)

1/3 large white onion (.10)

Step 1: Cube your potatoes before boiling. Place them in a pot of boiling water and let them be for about an hour. Pull them out once soft. Mash potatoes when done (add just a bit of milk to them to get them to mash a little better).

Step 2: Combine milk, sour cream, cream cheese and mashed potatoes together in a bowl and then place them in a pot on medium heat.
Step 3: Brown onions and also cook up the bacon (set aside for use later).

Step 4: Add the onion to soup and let soup simmer for about 30 minutes.
To serve add a bit of bacon and cheese on top. Enjoy!

Total cost of meal: $4.80

Mojo Marinated Pork Chops and Steamed Green Beans With Bacon Accents

Ingredients:

3 Pork Chops--froze extra (2.67)

4 slices of turkey bacon (.15)

1lb green beans (.86)

1/2 cup of Mojo Marinade (.27)

Leftover Homemade Bread (Free! Included in the cost of another meal from the week)

Step 1:

Marinade the pork chops in the mojo for about 2 hours before you begin the cooking process.

Step 2:

Begin by frying your turkey bacon until you get the desired level of crispiness. We like it extra crispy so it takes me close to 10 minutes to get the desired effect.

Step 3:

Break up the bacon and set it aside.

Step 4:

Begin to steam your green beans. This will take about 15 minutes. If you're like me and don't have a steamer, you can make one very easily using stuff you already have in your kitchen.

Start with a pot with about an inch of water in it:

Put a colander on top of the pot and put the beans in:

Use the top that goes with the pot and put it over the beans and you've got your own make-shift steamer!

Step 5:

About 10 minutes into steaming the beans go ahead and grill your pork chops. I use our George Forman because we love the taste that we get from it but you can easily do it on the stovetop if you don't have one. I cook it on the grill for 3-4 minutes.

Step 6:

Drain the beans of any excess water and then dump them back onto the pan that you fried the bacon in:

Step 7:

Throw the bacon on top and turn the stovetop onto medium heat for about 3 minutes just to mix the flavors--you can also add salt and pepper to your liking.

Now you're ready to serve!

Total cost of meal: $3.95