Having the most frugal grocery budget in the world isn’t going to help you and if you can’t put together at least a few healthy, tasty, and cheap eats! Every month, The Outlier Model features a cheap recipe idea, along with the cost breakdown.
In the summer, I try to avoid using the stove as much as possible. I love my slow cooker for this reason! Not only can I do my cooking while I’m busy doing other things, but I can also avoid heating up the house.
Photo Credit: Original photo by Moomettes via http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindi_matthews/7264541652/
Easy Slow Cooker Potatoes
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine ($0.80)
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup ($0.50)
- 6 medium potatoes ($0.75 – I bought massive numbers of potatoes on sale…)
- 2 tbsp of fresh or 1 tbsp of dried parsley
- 1 tsp paprika (<$0.10)
- grated cheese ($1)
- salt and pepper to taste (<$0.10)
Peel, wash and thinly slice potatoes. If you want to keep the skin on, that’s cool too. Take some of your butter and grease the inside of your slow cooker. Then, begin adding the potatoes by layering them in the slow cooker. After each potato-worth of slices, sprinkle some flour, a bit of salt and pepper, and some parsley and paprika. When you run out of potatoes, just sprinkle the remaining herbs on liberally. You may not need all of the flour. Finally, add the can of cream of mushroom soup.
Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours. When it’s finished, top it with the grated cheese and serve.
Servings: 5
Cost per serving: Around 60 cents a serving!
Frugal hack: It’s pretty frugal. Just remember to use potatoes and cream soup that you buy on sale!
Feeling adventurous? You can add lots of interesting ingredients to this dish and make it taste completely different! Try using a different kind of cheese – how about Edam or smoked applewood? Perhaps a creamy cheese and a sprinkle of dill. You can also add a meat, like ham and have an entire meal – just add a side of veggies. You can also use different root vegetables – yams or taro for example – to get a different flavor.
Finally, if you’re looking for a slow cooker for yourself or for a gift, a popular one is the Crock-Pot SCCPVL610-S. The cooker is programmable, so you don’t need to be around to start your slow cooker. The generous 6-quart capacity and good quality materials mean it is hugely popular online with 3,200 product reviews giving it 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Check it out.
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