Steven Helmer Publications

This is something I normally save for colder evenings. But, Summer has dance class tonight and Azalea has skating lessons and, because of that, it'll be after 7 before my wife and I have a chance to sit down and have dinner. I figured pinto bean soup made in the slow cooker would be a nice alternative to frozen pizza. I also like the fact this is something I can make for less than $5. There's really only three necessary ingredients - one pound of pinto beans ($1.39), a ham steak ($2.39) and an onion (roughly 15 cents because I bought a bag of them). The pinto beans needed to be rinsed then soaked over night (there's supposedly a quick method of soaking them but I prefer this way) so I chopped up the ham steak and onions too and, this morning, the only thing I had to do was put them in the slow cooker with some water and turn it on low. It should be done by the time we can sit down to eat and I'm sure I'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Of course, my ...

My youngest daughter had dance last night and, since my wife was with her, I ended up making dinner for us. I've been in the mood for lasagna. But, I didn't have time to make one in the oven so I decided to make skillet lasagna instead. This is actually something I used to make much more often when my wife was still working in the evening. It's easy to make and I can get about 8 servings for less than $10 (especially when I already have hamburger in my freezer). Here's what you'll need: 1 pound of hamburger 1 or 2 jars of pasta sauce (1 jar for every 1/2 pound of lasagna) 1/2 pound or 1 pound of lasagna pasta (one pound makes about 8 large servings) 1 can of mushrooms low-fat ricotta cheese Instructions:  Brown the hamburger and drain Boil the lasagna pasta until it is almost fully cooked but still a little firm. After this is done, combine the lasagna, hamburger and the rest of the ingredients in a large-enough...