Dinner for Two: Under $10 (for both!)

At the grocery store last night, we bought a package of ground beef (just under 1 lb. ~$1.50.), and I happened to have refrigerated pizza dough. I wanted to try something I don't usually make, so I decided on a calzone of sorts. Here's what I used:

Pizza dough
1/4 sweet onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 clove of garlic (from a jar of minced)
S&P
Frozen spinach
Dried basil and oregano
Shredded cheese
Olive oil

And here's how it all came together:
I cooked the beef with the onion. After I drained off the grease, I added half a can of diced tomatoes and 1 clove of garlic (reserve the rest of the can and its juice). I had defrosted about a cup of frozen spinach, which I added to the mixture. Then I dropped in about a 1/4 teaspoon of each of the dried herbs and S&P.

I prepared the dough by greasing a cookie sheet and cutting it in half. I spread it out and piled some of the beef mixture down the center of each half, then topped with cheese. After I close it all up, I brushed a bit of olive oil on the top.

Bake according to the dough's instructions.

Marinara sauce:
For dipping, I mixed up a homemade marinara. I simply mashed up the rest of the can's tomatoes and its juice, adding a dash or two of basil and oregano, a bit of garlic, and S&P. I cooked it in the same pan I used for the beef to add some flavor. Let it simmer while the calzones cook.


They turned out great, and it's a recipe you can easily adjust to your likes. Just switch out the meat and vegetables (or skip the meat entirely)! For our meal, the cost was closer to $5 due to deals I had gotten on the dough ($.30!) and the cheese. Depending on what you put in yours, you could make your expenses even less!

Line It Up

If your plastic shower curtain liner is too dirty to clean (it's just not worth it) but still good enough for something, take it down and save it for a paint drop cloth. Most liners are a good size, so they'll cover most of an averaged-size room or a large piece of furniture. Here are more perks: The plastic is heavy duty so it won't tear as it's dragged around, and paint won't leak through. And since many of these liners have a slight texture to them, you and your ladder are less likely to slide on them.

Put Your Ice Cube Trays to Work!

Have ice cube trays left from the days before your ice maker? Or maybe they're on hand for when the ice maker decides to go on strike. Whatever the reason, if you're not using them for ice, don't toss them. Here are a few ways you can make use of those handy little sections:

1. To separate squirts of acrylic paint when you're feeling creative.
2. For freezing food/liquid items in small batches (such as chicken stock, tomato sauce, etc.).
3. To sort quick-fix essentials like buttons and safety pins.
4. As a jewelry sorter (nobody but you sees the inside of your drawers anyway. Why does it need to include a fancy jewelry holder?).
5. As a container to create mini frozen treats. Just add a stick once they start to get solid!

Get Your (Styrofoam) Peanuts!

You know all those annoying Styrofoam peanuts that get all over the house once you open that package? Gather them up and keep them in a box or plastic bag. Then, whenever you are planting flowers in a pot, stuff the bottom with the peanuts. Then cover with dirt (make sure you include enough dirt to get the plant in deep enough). This not only uses up the peanuts, it creates drainage for the plant in the pot and makes the pot MUCH lighter to carry around your yard or patio (not to mention that's less topsoil to buy!). Now that I regularly do this, I never seem to have enough of those peanuts around. Never thought I'd feel that way...

But to combat that problem, if I have other blocks of Styrofoam around, I'll break them up and use them the same way.

Standby Paint Can

If you ever buy the large canisters of coffee (such as the big plastic ones from Folgers), don't throw them out when the coffee's gone. Keep them handy for mixing paint colors, or just storing extra paint. They stay closed tightly and give you plenty of room to stir.