Three dinners for UNDER $5 a piece!

How many of you have heard of the book "30 meals in one day"? I have an easier solution for you! Instead of spending a whole day in the kitchen, when you make a meal that works well as a freezer meal--double it and freeze the rest for a later meal. Lasagna is a good example of this. All of the ingredients for lasagna is on sale this week. Make several of them and freeze your extras for later. I don't know about you, but I can NOT stand Stouffer's lasagna. For LESS than a Stouffer's lasagna I made three homemade lasagnas last night and still have extra sauce for my Chicken Parmesan dinner later this week. For those who are meal planner members, I gave them our secret family recipe for homemade marinara sauce--it is awesome!! I make this one day and freeze TONS of it for later. I use one gallon ziploc bag of our homemade sauce and one jar of Prego and it makes the sauce stretch and it hides the flavor of the store bought sauce. Either way--it makes for a great dinner. Add a $1 Dole salad, a vegetable and homemade French bread and you are set--three meals for under $10. I am giving you my Aunt Cheryl's French bread recipe that is SO easy and YUMMY! Last night I made six loaves of French bread and three lasagnas in less than an hour. I freeze the extra French Bread loaves and use them for later meals (like Stroganoff Sandwich-yum!). Here is the French Bread recipe (this amount makes 3 loaves):


2 1/2 c. warm water
2 T. yeast
3 T. sugar
2 T. white vinegar
Add these ingredients together and let sit until bubbly
1 T. salt
1/3 c. oil (anykind will do)
6 c. flour (or a little more if it's too soft)

Knead for 2-5 mintues and then put in the oven with a small pot of boiling water. The water will keep the dough moist. Watch the dough and punch it down when it gets to the top of the mixing bowl. Do this every time it gets to the top of the bowl, as long as you have time to babysit it (2-5 times). Put the dough on a greased countertop and divide into 3 sections. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle a thin layer of cornmeal on the bottom of the sheet. Roll the dough balls into rectangle/long French bread shapes. Slash tops of bread diagonally 3-5 times and cover with a beaten egg. Let rise 30 minutes (or until doubled). Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Enjoy!