Easy Peasy Cake Mix Cookies

 I wanted to surpise the boys with a special treat after school on Friday. Normally this would have been their Valentine's party but with Covid they were not allowed to do Valentine's exchanges at school and no treats for a party. They had a wonderful day anyways with virtual Valentine's exchanges and some special activities and then came home to a delightful treat! 

There are a ton of cake mix cookie recipes out there and for my first attempt I have to say I was impressed at how quick and easy they were, not to mention economical since I had previously grabbed the cake mix on sale for just 99cents. Can't wait to try some more variations!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 box of cake mix 

Do not follow the directions on the box. Instead mix dry cake
mix with 2 large eggs and 1/2 cup of oil in a bowl. I didn't use a mixer just combined by hand. I then chilled the dough for a bit in the fridge before making 1 inch balls. For some I rolled the balls in icing sugar, for others I topped with red sprinkles before placing on a parchment lined or baking mat cookie sheet.

 Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes in a 350 degree farenheit oven. Let cookies sit for 4-5  minutes before removing from the tray. And that's it! Easy peasy!

Cheap Eats: 3 Ingredient Beef Stroganoff

 I don't know about you but having growing boys is like having a pair of garbage disposals. They are ALWAYS hungry and now that they are both preteens they eat as much as a small army. This easy 3 ingredient take on beef stroganoff is a hearty meal for the 4 of us that is easy on the wallet. I try to stock up on these items when they are on sale so that they are on hand when I am having an "I don't know what to make for dinner moment." While meal planning is a fantastic way to save money I haven't quite mastered sitting down to make a two week plan at a time but I do find having my basic staples on hand for recipes I make frequently takes alot of the guess work out of meal time.

Keep in mind that my version of this dish is meant to feed myself, my hard working other half, and two boys that eat like men. You could easily make this with one pound of ground beef, one can of soup and half a package of noodles if your family are small eaters. 

To get started brown 2 pounds of ground beef in a large pan. It doesn't matter if you use lean or medium ground beef, whichever happens to be on sale when you buy it.  Once your beef is browned drain and set aside until your noodles are ready, you can season with pepper or garlic should you desire. As ground beef is browning get your water boiling for your noodles. Cook entire package to specifications, drain and rinse. My family likes the extra broad egg noodles but you can also use the regular, both of them have a great consistency for soaking up the sauce! Combine your noodles with your ground beef and 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup. Need a bit more sauce? You can also add in a bit of milk or top this dish with cheese (which would technically make this a 4 ingredient dish but its optitional). 

Cost breakdown for this cheap eats meal:

• 2 lbs ground beef $6.80
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup $1.78
• package of broad egg noodles $1.00

Total cost of the dish: $ 9.58. That works out to $2.40 per person. Add in a salad, green beans or veggie medley on the side or a nice bread to stretch this meal even further. In our case we had green beans that night. 

On a cold winter's evening this is a stick to your bones kind of meal and one that everyone enjoys, although my youngest could do without the veggies if you asked him! Be sure to visit some of my othr cheap and easy eats here.