Squash Casserole

Tonight we had a delicious meal.  Bubbie pronounced it a "yucky" dinner.  Oh well......  I don't always aim to please, I guess. Tonights dinner was an E-Mealz meal that Hubbie and I really like- meatloaf, green beans, squash casserole and biscuits!  Yummy!  Yummy! But the squash casserole was a new menu item and I think it was a hit!  At least with Hubbie and myself.... the kids?  not so much!  Oh well!  I did convince Bubbie to eat all of his saying that it DID have cheese and Ritz crackers in it!!!  The casserole was really sweet and reminded me of a corn casserole that I've had before.  

Squash Casserole 

1lb of squash, sliced thinly

1/2 cup of diced onion

1 can of cream of mushroom

1/4 cup of sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crumbled up

1 cup of cheddar cheese

Melt butter in large skillet. Add squash & onion. Season w/ salt &

pepper. Cook until squash is tender. Set aside. Mix together eggs &

mushroom soup. Add squash mixture. Stir in ¼ c sugar & crushed

crackers. Pour into greased 2 qt baking dish. Top w/ shredded cheese.

Bake at 350º for 30 minutes, until set.

Lu's Notes: 

I did not use as much onion as they called for.  I thought I had plenty of onion, but realized that all of the onion had gone bad, so I only had a tiny bit leftover.  Also, I didn't realize that the recipe called for cheese, so my block of cheese was in the freezer until about 5 mins before I needed it.  Ooops!  So, I did not use anywhere CLOSE to 1 cup of cheese.  Its just for the topping anyway, so I just did enough to cover the top lightly.... the block was frozen, so I was lucky I got what I did get!  

Sugar Daddy à la Mode

Sugar Daddy à la Mode

I noticed the free and easy dessert recipe a week ago on the E-Mealz website and thought that the recipe looked like something my family would enjoy!  Then, when we were invited to my parents house to celebrate my brother's 25th birthday and Father's Day, I offered to make this!  

The dessert was super easy to make!  We had several things in the list of ingredients already, so it was a very inexpensive dessert for me to make!  The recipe makes a large 9 x 13 dessert and it is SO SO SO rich, you just can't stomach a very large portion!  

To get your free dessert recipe, go to E-Mealz and scroll down to the middle of the page.  On the left hand side you will see a button where you can enter your email address and it will be emailed to you!  Its gooey with lots of caramel and chocolate!!!
Hope you enjoy!

Also, don't forget that until June 30th you can get $2 your subscription to E-Mealz by using the code SHOESTRING.  If you want to know more about E-Mealz, a JoAnna wrote a great blog post about it here.

E-Mealz French Club Sandwiches

This is our version of a menu item from a past E-Mealz meal plan.  Pair these yummy sandwiches with some chips, carrots and dip!  Quite a tasty lunch!

French Club Sandwiches 

Deli ham, sliced 

2 tbspoons of soften cream cheese

1 tbspoons of mayo 

1/4 cup of finely chopped onion

1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Potato rolls 

Combine cream cheese and mayo.  Split potato rolls and place opened on a baking sheet.  Spread cream cheese/mayo spread on cut sides of rolls.  Place ham, onion and cheese on top and put into warm oven- long enough for cheese to melt.  And EAT!  

Upside Down Pizza

This recipe is an E-Mealz meal and it was delicious!  And so easy!  Of course, I had to tweak it a bit, but Bubbie and Peanut gobbled it up which means it was a winner!  Add a salad to this dish and its a quick night's dinner!

Upside Down Pizza 


1 can of crescent rolls
1 jar/can of pizza sauce (at least 13 oz- I used a 15 oz jar and didn't have too much sauce)
1 cup of sour cream
meat/toppings of your choice
8 oz of mozzarella cheese


Prep your sauce.  I buy a canned pizza sauce at Publix.  Its so good with chopped up pieces of tomato and herbs... something you would find on your pizza at a "real" Italian pizza place and I have no clue what its called, but so much better than using the jar sauces or spaghetti sauce.  Anyway, prep your sauce.  If you want hamburger, cook that and then add your sauce to the skillet.  Use a 9 x 13 pan and pour and spread your sauce into the pan.  Then layer- just like you would a pizza- I did pepperonis but if I had known how good this was going to be, I would have prepped broccoli, olives and some onions.  Man! That would have been tasty!  So, next is a cup of sour cream, spread on top of the "toppings" and sauce.  Then sprinkle 8 oz of mozzarella cheese over the sour cream.  I did not use 8 oz, but I am stingy cheap when it comes to cheese!  I probably used over of the 8 oz block of cheese.  You really can't go wrong with this dinner, so whatever you're feeling- do it!  Then unroll the crescent rolls and place on top.  I went ahead and rolled out the crescent rolls on the counter top, pushed the edges together so that it would be a long pastry topping.  Bake 20-30 mins on 350 degrees!  


I probably did this meal for around $5-$7.00- of course we will eat it for 2 meals... hopefully, unless I think about it for lunch tomorrow!!! 

Warm Chicken Pasta

Today we began a new menu style and method for our family.  Its just a trial.  I will write more about it on Monday when I post my Menu Plan Monday, over at my main blog, Hyperactive Lu.  Our first new meal was this Warm Chicken Pasta.  It was good and filling.  This pasta was very easy to make while the boys ran around the house during the "bewitching hour".  Since Hubbie didn't get home 'til late that night, I was glad that it was so easy!  I hate doing new recipes without anyone helping with the boys.  

 Warm Chicken Pasta over Romaine Lettuce

Purchase 1 box of Kraft pasta salad(1.29), 1 chicken breast(1.00), 1 bag of Romaine lettuce1/2 bag-1.50)and crescent rolls(1.20).  

Make the box of pasta salad according to the package.  Boil chicken breast until done.  Once chicken is done, cube and mix into the pasta salad.  Wash and drain the lettuce and separate onto plates.  Scoop pasta salad over the lettuce.  Serve with apple slices and a crescent roll.    

The downsides to this meal for our family is that we did not have any leftovers and I probably spent around $5.  I can usually make a casserole/pasta dish for our family for less than $5 and feed our family a few times on it, so this is definitely not a "cheap" meal.