Beanie weanies

From scratch! Well.. the beans are.

Ingredients

1 lbs dried navy beans
3 cups water (replace half with chicken stock if desired)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup molasses
1tbs dried mustard
1/4tbs garlic powder
1tbs onion powder
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 of a 6oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup


Directions
Soak navy beans at least 12 hours (I usually put them in to soak a full day before I plan to make them)
Drain and rinse the beans, add all ingredients to the crock pot
Cook 7-8 hours on high. Crock pots vary, so it might take more or less time based on yours.
Cook until the beans are finished. Adding water to crock pot if needed.
During the last 30 minutes, add a pound of sliced hot dogs.

Navy beans       $1.12
Tomato paste    $0.69
Molasses           $0.50
Hot dogs            $2.50
                          $4.81

Spaghetti and home made sauce

I recently found a great little fruit and veggie stand near my with tomatoes for $0.89 a pound. Which is just fantastic considering they are usually over $2.00 a pound! To commemorate this, fresh tomato sauce!

Ingredients
1lb tomatoes
3tbs olive oil (NOT extra virgin)
1tbs minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
.5tsp dried oregano
.5tsp dried basil


Directions
Chop tomatoes into small pieces.
Heat oil in a pan and add in minced garlic and cook on a medium heat for a minute or so until just barely getting brown.
Add in tomatoes and basil and oregano, cook just until the tomatoes are nice and warm. Mix in salt and pepper to taste. Usually I take a potato masher and squish it all down, but if you prefer it chunky leave it chunky.

 While cooking the sauce, cook the spaghetti to desired doneness.

Spaghetti   $0.89
Tomatoes  $0.89*
Garlic         $0.05
                  $1.83


*Tomatoes vary by price, I usually only make home made sauce when they are on sale.