Dinner on a dime-flatbread pizza time

Well, I've started watching my calories a little closer trying to loose a few pounds. Tonight I was inspired by a pizza craving but wishing it was healthy. Voila, enter the flatbread pizza! It started with white flatbread. I wanted wheat but all the store carried was white. Next I added a quarter cup of Contadina pizza sauce. On top of that went Kraft fat free mozerella cheese. Tonight's toppings were black olives ( delicious and only 25 calories!), and Jennie-O's turkey sausage. Each pizza got a whole sausage cut up on top of it.  The sausages were cooked on my George Foreman for an even healthier topping! I put the pizzas in the oven at 350 and crossed my fingers! Ten minutes later, voila, yummy and delicious cheap, easy, and healthy( under 500 calories), pizzas!!! Until next time!! 

Dinner on dime-quesadilla time!

Well it's the night before school starts and we needed something yummy and quick, bring on the quesadilla maker! This was our first attempt with this wonderful machine but I'm sure there will be more recipes using it, stay tuned! Tonight's meal cost about $5 for the two of us. 

Ingredients:

Chicken ( strips that have been pre cooked or a can of chicken-near the tuna)

Mexican cheese ( I didn't have any on hand so I mixed cheddar with taco seasoning)

Taco shells

Any other ingredients you like such as : black olives, peppers, onions...

Put one shell down on the maker, add chicken, any extra ingredients, and cheese. Place another taco shell on top. Close lid, ready in four to five minutes! 

Enjoy!!!

Dinner on a dime-chicken kabob time!

Tonight we decided to fire up the grill and  I thought I'd try my hand at kabobs. As a side I made campfire tators. This meal is healthy, cheap, and delicious!!

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts

Peppers (any color)

Onions

Mushrooms

Italian dressing

Baked potatoes

Butter

Start by cutting up the chicken, trimming the fat, and cutting it into cubes. Then put it in a container, pour the dressing over it, mix, and let soak while you're getting everything else ready.

I soak my skewers in water while I'm preparing to help prevent them from burning.

Wash veggies and cut into chunks. Leave mushrooms whole but remove stems.

Wash the potatoes and cut into thin pieces but not all the way through. In between the slices put cut green pepper and onions and top with butter. Roll up in foil and tuck ends in on the top.

With the skewers layer the marinated chicken and veggies as you like (as you can tell from the pictures some don't have mushrooms). 

Now you're ready to grill! Put down foil and grill on medium rotating until down. The potatoes will cook next to the kabobs. Enjoy! 

Kabobs before the grill.

Potatoes before the grill.

On the grill.

Yum, kabob time!

The finished potatoes. 

Enjoy!!!!

Dinner on a dime- pumpkin cupcake time!

Maybe it's the fact tomorrow teachers report for work, but I was in the mood for a favorite fall treat, pumpkin pie. I then remembered a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes and decided to try to make them, with my own twist of course. They came out heavenly, in the shape of a cupcake but with a very moist brownie consitency! Here they are and here's the recipe, enjoy!!

This recipe makes about 16 cupcakes. 

Combine 15 oz can of pumpkin purée, 3/4 cup evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I didn't use imitation), and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar. Mix well

Now add 2/3 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 salt, 1/4 baking powder, 1/4 baking soda and spices. The recipe called for two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice but instead I used 1 and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/4 teaspoon allspice ( or you could use cloves). Mix together well. 

Pour into a sprayed muffin tin about 3/4 full. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Let cool 20 minutes and then put in fridge to cool. 

I then served them with whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon... Omg fantastic!!!

Dinner on a dime-chicken, tators, and glazed carrots

Tonight's dinner was going to be pork chops, until I learned the bf doesn't like pork chops!! Plan B: breaded chicken! To make the chicken I cut the fat, dipped the pieces in egg and then in an Italian bread crumb/ onion seasoning mixture and put it in a pan with some olive oil to fry. Cook until not pink in the middle.  The carrots were drained and put in a pan with a little butter and a few tablespoons of honey. The gravy was made by first cutting up some Bella mushrooms, frying them in a little olive oil, and then adding canned gravy. About twenty minutes after starting, viola, a yummy, fast, and semi nutritious meal! Enjoy :)

Dinner on a dime- panini time!

I don't know where tonight's idea came from, but I'm glad I got it, dinner was delicious!! Tonight we enjoyed chicken, bacon, ranch paninis, here's the how! 

The bread is garlic bread, baked at 425 for 7 minutes. While it was baking I grilled the chicken and fried the bacon. Once the chicken was done I cut it in strips and mixed in ranch. I layered Swiss cheese, bacon, and the chicken mixture. I then put it on the George foreman and a few seconds later, viola!! Yummy paninis, cheap, easy, and delicious!! Enjoy

Bathroom re-do, bathroom up-do

Unfortunately we had an incident in the bathroom. Well, when life hands you lemons it's the perfect time to make lemonade! We took the opportunity to make the room look better, bigger, and did it for pennies on the dollar! We started with the floor, here's a before and after....

That's the night dad and I started ripping up the linoleum floor, easy we thought... Not so much. Thankfully my boyfriend, his dad and a friend came to my rescue! The floor is the only place I spent extra money, I figured it would be a good investment and went with porcelain tiles. Below is the progress over several days...

While the boys were doing the floor the bf's mom and I gave the room a fresh coat of paint and gave the cabinet a facelift of white paint. 

I bought a new accessory set and because the light fixture didn't match ( and I was running out of money) I painted over the gold with some paint. 

 I finished up by printing some vacation photos to add a dash of color. Below is the final product!! Thanks to my awesome bf and both our families for the help! 

This awesome organizer my mom bought me at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, now I can be organized!!