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Chicken Fried Steaks

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Crispy crust around warm meat paired with mashed potatoes and white gravy – what could be better?

This traditionally southern comfort food is part of our family’s regular rotation. Whenever I hit a store I check the meat department for sweet deals, and one of my favorite finds is pork loin! I grab a few when the price is right. I grind some up, and slice the rest extra thin. I bread them and freeze them so we always have these fried steaks on hand!

We usually deep fry ours, but you can fry them up in a skillet if you want. Then we cook up our mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot and grab a packet of white gravy and we’re good to go!

Want a lighter version? Try out this recipe in the air fryer!

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Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes

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When my wife was pregnant, all she craved was carbs (she felt it was unfair later that she got gestational diabetes and had to limit them). Popcorn, sugary drinks – her biggest craving, though, was for mashed potatoes. She prepared and ate instant potato flakes by the bagful, and I had to buy her some pounds and pounds of red potatoes – her favorite!

I wish back when she was having these cravings we had an electric pressure cooker! We got our Instant Pot from her parents for Christmas a couple of years ago, and we’ve used it enough that we’ve thought about getting a second one! From beans to meat to easy side dishes, we use our Instant Pot once a week at least!

These potatoes are super easy, and so much faster than the traditionally boiled method. And they are so creamy they can be eaten on their own. Our favorite thing to pair them with is our chicken fried steaks and white gravy!

Obviously you’ll need a 6QT pressure cooker. We absolutely love our Instant Pot!

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Slow Cooker Three Bean Chilli

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When I think of big meals with big savings, my mind usually thinks of the humble bean. So filling, and so cheap when you buy them dry. And is anything better at the end of a cold day than a warm and hearty bowl of chilli?

Personally, I love mixing up the texture by combining three different beans. Big on flavor, and small on price, this chilli is well worth the effort!

This recipe uses a slow cooker. We have two – we really love those leftovers, and double this recipe to give us meals for the whole week! You’ll need a 6QT or bigger. Check out these if you are in the market!

Tempted to try the corn bread by this bowl? Click here for the recipe!

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Smothered Stuffed Shells

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Though this recipe is not exactly traditional, I am nothing if a little extra.

The first meal I shared with my future-in-laws and family after mine and Lexi’s engagement, I made some homemade stuffed shells. So whenever I make stuffed shells I feel especially nostalgic and romantic.

When we were taking the pictures for this recipe, Alexis called these “the sloppy joe’s of Italian food”. Even though they aren’t the prettiest, they are so cheesy and delicious you can’t help but dig in!

We love using our non-stick lasagna pan. Its wider and longer than the 9×13 glass pan we used to do, meaning more food. We got ours at Ross for a killer deal, but this one on Amazon is a great buy!

Don’t forget your green side salad and garlic bread!

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New England Clam Chowder

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Soup is our go to when the weather gets cold. Its usually pretty budget friendly, filling, and its nice to wrap your hands around a big mug of soup while you sit on the couch and watch the snow fall outside your window.

This soup is more of a splurge. We love it, but only have it on rare occasion. Why?

  1. Its spendy.
  2. Its labor intensive.
  3. We don’t want to spoil ourselves because its soooooooooooo delicious!

I cut the cost a bit by harnessing the inner Hunter-Gatherer in myself whenever I make a trip out to Oregon to visit my family. My dad and I hit the coast and go clamming every morning. A little effort, some time, and I come home with pounds and pounds of frozen clams that my family and I eat throughout the years.

We doubled this recipe recently and brought it to my wife’s sides monthly Family Home Evening dinner. It was a huge hit! Not to mention we had plenty for everyone plus leftovers – that’s 9 adults, 1 tween, 2 toddlers AND leftovers. You’ll need a pretty big pot to fit all that delicious flavor in – might I suggest this one?

I would also suggest reading the WHOLE RECIPE before preparing. Like everything good in this world, this soup does not come easy. It can be messed up pretty easily, and we wouldn’t want that!

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Extreme Cheese Lasagna

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Now, I don’t throw the word “extreme” around lightly. So when I tell you this lasagna is extremely cheesy, you can take that to the bank! You may need to go to the bank, actually, and get a loan to afford all this cheese!

We don’t indulge in this lasagna very often. We look all year long for major deals and then we buy in major bulk. A local restaurant supply liquidation store we frequent recently had huge 6lb blocks of mozzarella on sale for $8 a piece! So we grabbed a couple. The next week we came back and they still had a ton, and because the sell by dates were getting close they had them for…

…wait for it…

2 for $8! We grabbed as many as we could, cut them into 1 lb blocks, and bagged them up for the freezer. We’ve been slowly working through the cheese. This lasagna made a dent in our stash, but it was sooooo worth it!

Its got 4 pounds of cheese. Four pounds! It was almost hard to take out of the pan.

This traditional Italian dish is perfect for your next family get together. Big enough to feed a crowd and please them all!