Almost everyone I know is trying to save money for one reason or another. Food is expensive, but it is so much more economical and healthy to cook your own meals, and I was happy to stumble upon a new source of frugal recipes, $5 Dinners. The author posts recipes which feed her family of four for less than $5. She definitely relies on coupons and sales to keep her food costs low, but also has some innovative food ideas.

The first recipe I tried was Sweet and Sour Lentils, and the combination of lentils, brown rice, and zucchini is both nutritious and economical. I liked this dish a lot, and it was a very simple but filling meal. My lentils needed to cook for closer to 30 minutes, but otherwise the recipe worked out well.

I don’t make my food decisions purely on the basis of cost; I am willing to pay more for ingredients which are either healthier or kinder to the environment. However, I share the sentiment that using real food to make balanced meals saves money.

I haven’t actually made the famous beef version yet, but this mushroom bourguignon from Smitten Kitchen brought me right to France. See, I also just finished reading Julia Child’s ‘My Life in France‘, so French cooking was already on my mind.

This dish was perfectly elegant without being heavy. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except that I used a mix of cremini and white mushrooms. The broth didn’t thicken up as much as I expected, but perhaps I should have had more patience, or added a bit more flour. It didn’t really matter, because it was delicious slurped up with egg noodles. This is the perfect vegetarian dish for a dinner party.

You can not only make this meal in less than 30 minutes, but you can also empty the dishwasher, sort through your mail, and pour a glass of wine at the same time. I took this recipe from Green Lite Bites, and substituted about a cup and a half of frozen vegetables. The mix included onions, mushrooms, green beans, and broccoli. Again, fresh vegetables would be great, but frozen works here too. Keep this recipe handy for your busiest nights!

Last week I classed up some macaroni and cheese, so this week I tackled chicken nuggets. I used this recipe, except that I cut the chicken into smaller pieces. It took a little longer to dip them individually, but they cooked more quickly in the oven. The coating was very flavorful due to the almonds, paprika, and garlic powder, and the nuggets were crispy without being fried. And while they were good on their own, I had fun dipping a few in ketchup. You’ll have fun too.

This is not a creamy macaroni and cheese; it’s a far more elegant dish with plenty of crunch from the almonds and fresh taste from the lemon zest. In fact, there’s not much sauce at all, but the casserole holds together well. The original recipe is here, and I tried to lighten things up further by reducing the almonds to 1 cup, increasing the fresh spinach to a full 10 oz. bag, and using reduced fat mozzarella cheese. It’s the lemon zest which contributes the most to the flavor, so be sure not to skip it.

SELF is one of my favorite magazines, and this month’s issue featured an article on whole grains. One of the recipes was this Bulgur Risotto with Corn and Shrimp, which I thought was an interesting idea. I used peas in place of the red pepper, and skipped the cilantro. The recipe was very easy to make, but I made one big mistake, I forgot to peel the shrimp before adding them to the pan! I had to peel them in my dish, which was a pretty messy affair. It was still a good meal which I would make again, but I’ll remember to peel the shrimp first. The risotto and vegetables would make a great dish on their own, although I’d recommend using chicken or vegetarian broth instead of water.

After my very lame curry a few weeks ago, I promised a more authentic Indian recipe. I am so glad I did – this was the first Indian dish I made that actually resembled something I would order in a restaurant. It was much spicier than my usual fare, I think my eyes were watering at one point, but it was just so good. I served it over brown rice instead of traditional basmati, but it would have also been good with naan.

What to do when there’s nothing good in the refrigerator except some boring leftover chicken…. But then it was transformed into chicken pot pie filling with just a package of frozen mixed vegetables and a can of Cream of Chicken soup! I followed this recipe for the filling, and skipped the biscuit crust. I am sure it would have been good that way, but I seem to have a lot of whole wheat bread floating around which was good for scooping. With a pinch of salt and pepper, this was a warm and tasty dish.

If you are a true fan of curries, you may not want to read much farther. I am not claiming this to be an authentic curry, but more of a gateway dish. The original recipe is from Weight Watchers and uses pasta, but another blogger suggested barley, which seemed more fitting. Not only can you choose your whole grain, but you can choose your vegetable too; here I used a package of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots but just about anything would work.

This dish was good, but certainly didn’t satisfy my craving for Indian food. I did like the combination of curry and barley though, and it made a healthy and warm lunch.

2 t canola oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 t minced garlic
16 oz. frozen vegetables, thawed
3/4 c. vegetable broth
1 T curry powder
4-5 scallions, sliced
1 c. (dry) barley, cooked in water according to directions
6 oz. plain yogurt

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 5-10 minutes, until softened. Add vegetables, and cook for 5 minutes. Add broth, curry powder, scallions and heat just until the mixture simmers. Add barley and cook until heated through. Lower heat and stir in yogurt.

-Adapted from Weight Watchers

I was originally inspired by this recipe, but was afraid that if I posted the recipe as a seafood dish, those who prefer land creatures would skip right over it. So let’s focus on the best part of this dish: the very chunky sauce. Here it’s shown on a haddock fillet, which was dusted with cornmeal and Italian seasoning, and then baked.

I always enjoy recipes that use wine; for this one, I opened a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Grigio. I am certainly no wine expert, I just know what I like, and this tastes great! But whatever wine you use, this recipe was fantastic.

2 t olive oil
1 shallot bulb, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. white wine
1 T lime juice
6 sun dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Heat oil in a small saute pan. Add shallots, and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add wine, lime juice, and sun dried tomatoes, and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the liquid is reduced. Season with salt and pepper, and serve over chicken or fish.