5 dollar dinners

With the economy the way it is going, and has been, many folks are looking for cheaper dinner alternatives, especially if you have a lot of mouths to feed! SharpMoms has a few $5 dinners that you and your family will be sure to love. Try them out and let us know what you think!

Do you have a $5 dinner or your own? Leave a comment and share it with the SharpMoms community!

Mexican Rice Casserole

What you need:

1. 1 package ground beef (1-2 lbs.)
2. 1 package taco seasoning
3. 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
4. 2 cups rice
5. 1 bar cheese, shredded- blocked cheese tends to be cheaper than pre-shredded or pre-cubed!
6. 6 ears corn

Make it fast:

1. Cook 2 cups rice according to package.
2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Return to skillet, add 3/4 cup water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Stir thoroughly.
3. Add ground beef to rice. Put into 9×13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts.
5. Boil or grill ears of corn and serve on the side.

Pizza Wraps

What you need:

1. 6 Tortillas
2. 1/2 jar pizza sauce
3. Pepperoni
4. 1/2 Green Pepper, thinly sliced
5. 2 cups shredded mozerella cheese

Make it fast:

1. Preheat oven 350. Lay tortillas flat. Spread on pizza sauce. Layer 1-2 rows of pepperoni and sliced green peppers. Sprinkle with cheese, leaving room to roll.
2. Roll up tortillas and place snugly into 8×8 dish. Cook about 10 minutes so cheese melts.

Southwestern Mac N Cheese

What you need:

1. 8oz. package of elbow maccaroni
2. 1 cup salsa
3. 1 1/2 cups milk
4. 1 15 0z can cream-style corn
5. one can mexi-kernal corn with red and green peppers (Green Giant makes a corn variety similar to this)
6. 8 oz cheddar cheese, cubed

Make it fast:

1. Mix all ingredients except cheese in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat.
2. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until macaroni is tender.
3. Stir in cheese until melted.