This one is a favorite of my youngest boy.  There is nothing that makes his stomach smile more than a good 'ol slow cooker meal that includes a nice piece of beef and some gravy.

Of course, it's just as important to make a bit of those melt-in-your-mouth fluffy potatoes to soak up that awesome gravy.

I know many of you are thinking, "Roast, who's got money for that?" Well, once a month Publix has a nice sirloin roast for only $3.99 a pound.  Pick up a 2 1/2 pd. piece, and you've got dinner for two days.

2.5 pd. boneless beef roast, your favorite
3/4 tsp. pepper
14 oz. can beef broth
10 3/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1 oz. package of dry onion soup mix
2 tab. cornstarch
2 tab. water

Sprinkle roast with pepper; place in 5-quart slow cooker.  Add beef broth, cream of mushroom, and onion soup mix.

Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 7 hours until tender.  Transfer roast to serving platter.

Whisk together cornstarch and water.  Whisk into meat juices in crock pot.  Increase to high and cook uncovered until thickened.  About 1 minute.  Place roast back in and serve.

Oh yum! The perfect recipe when there is a chill in the air.  There is nothing like a slow-cooked soup.  One of the timeless pieces of a rib-sticking dinner that boasts true love.

• 2-1/2 cups 2% milk
• 1 can (14-3/4 ounces) cream-style corn
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1-3/4 cups frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Here'a superb one pot meal that takes minutes to toss together.  Cook three hours on high, and you have a wonderful, nutritious meal for a busy weekend.

I purchased one pound bags of shrimp recently at Winn Dixie for only $5.99 to create this dish.  The quality was excellent for a frozen shrimp, much better than some over the counter fresh varieties.  

The rice ends with fantastic flavor from peppers, onions, garlic, chicken thighs, and shrimp.  Just perfect!

3 1/2 pd. bone-in, skin on, chicken thighs
salt and pepper
2 tab. olive oil
1/4 pd. cooked ham diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp. Oregano
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 can 15 oz diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 cups long grain rice
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 lb. shrimp 
6 green onions, sliced
2 tab. parsley, chopped

Oil the slow cooker.

Pat dry chicken and season with salt and pepper.  Warm oil in frying pan and add chicken cooking on medium until both sides are golden.  About 8 minutes.

Pour off most of the fat.  Add ham, onion, and bell pepper.  Saute about 7 minutes.  Add garlic and oregano and cook for one more minute.  Stir in 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper, and wine to dislodge browned bits on the bottom. 

Transfer to slow cooker.  Add tomatoes, stock, and vinegar.  Stir in rice.  Nestle chicken in the rice, cover, and cook on low setting for 3 hours.

Uncover and check to be sure a little liquid is still visible at the bottom of the cooker.  If it appears dry, add 1 tab. water.  Scatter the peas and shrimp evenly over the top.  Re-cover and cook until shrimp are pink, the chicken is cooked through, and the rice is tender, about 15 minutes more.

Transfer contents of cooker to plates.  Top with green onion and parsley.  Serve.  

I usually use a eye roast for this and cook it in the slow cooker. Last week, Publix had eye roasts on sale for $3.99 a pound. Which makes a wonderfully sublime pot roast that will send raves even from your own mother.  In fact, I can promise you, leftovers won't take up space in your refrigerator very long.  The sauce is rich, robust and each bite will tingle your senses.

Furthermore, believe it or not, I do get a piece of meat from time to time from the food pantry.  It doesn't come often, but when I do, I dust off the old slow cooker, and begin to fill it with this delicacy.  Sometimes, a little funds left over, or a gift card, enables me to bring home such a treat.  When you, too, are blessed, be sure to  have the necessary ingredients on hand to bring this fare to your dinner table.

2 - 4 pound eye roast
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tab. Herbs de Provence
1/2 cup water
1 beef bouillon cube
4 tab. cornstarch
1 large onion
4 - 5 carrots
3 - 4 potatoes

In slow cooker. Add water, cornstarch and bouillon.  Place roast on top.  Season with spices.

Add vegetables to surround roast. Set slow cooker on low allowing it to cook for approximately 7 hours. The flour will create automatic gravy that is robust and aromatic. Nothing else is needed except possibly some baked bread.

Yummy and always filling.  This one-stop meal is filled with delicious ingredients.  Try it for breakfast or as an after dinner dessert.

• 3⁄4 cup long-grain white rice
• 4 cups milk
• 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tab. butter or margarine
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

In a colander, rinse rice thoroughly under cold water.

Put in lightly greased slow cooker. I use a round, 3.5 to 4 qt cooker.

Add remaining ingredients.

Stir to combine.

Pour butter over rice mixture.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until rice has absorbed the liquid.

Add more milk if necessary to reach desired consistency before serving.  

It's Saint Patty's Day next week, and there is no reason you shouldn't be able to treat your family to a delicious meal on the holidays.  With careful planning, or stowing away a few coins, you can purchase this treat for less than $15.  I know that can be a lot of dineros, but we find money for other important things.  And believe it or not, this is an important cultural tradition to ingrain if your family celebrates.

I bought my red potatoes at Aldi for 99 cents.  Purchased there, too, was a head of cabbage for 79 cents and a bag of onions for .99.   Baby carrots were on sale for .49.  The cheapest corned beef right now in our area is $2.99 at Walmart.   Yes, with a little preplanning you can make this meal for less than expected.  

For added fun, don't forget to make Irish Soda Bread on the side.

1 small bag baby carrots
1 (2 - 3 pd.) Corned Beef Brisket 
1 large onion quartered
8-10 baby red potatoes, quartered and unpeeled
1 small head of cabbage sliced into 8 quarters
1 seasoning packet
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water

Place brisket in slow cooker.  Top with carrots, potatoes, and onions.  Lay cabbage over top and sprinkle with seasoning packet, salt, and pepper.  Cook on low 8 hours.  

Talk about thrifty! I'm telling you with these modern day prepackaged conveniences we really miss out on some stick-to-your-ribs down home cooking.  

What people really miss out on is how easy these dishes can be.  Take for instance today's recipe.  I just dropped in 2 lbs. Northern beans and some water and I'll set the timer on high for about two hours.  I'll let them rest, throw in some more ingredients, and by morning I'm going to have a protein-packed side dish I can use for two days.  

2 (16 oz.) packages Northern beans
9 cups water
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses
1 tab. prepared mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 medium onion, chopped

In slow cooker combine beans and water.

Cook on high for 2 hours.

Turn off slow cooker let beans sit 8 to 24 hours.

Stir in remaining ingredients.  Turn heat on low and cook for an additional 10 to 12 hours until very tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.  

Here is a scrumptious treat from the No Time to Cook cookbook.  I've been toying with this idea for months and have decided to add this as one of our cookbooks on the above tabs.  

Thrifty meals like this want to keep you out of the fast food lane because they are so intoxicating.  Winn Dixie had thighs on sale this week for 79 cents a pound.  How can you go wrong there?

3 lb. skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tab. oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
15 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
1 tsp. dried thyme
3 bay leaves
1/3 cup white cooking wine
1 tsp. white vinegar
cooked rice

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil on medium-high heat.  Once oil is hot, add chicken searing in batches, about four minutes.  Drain on paper towels.

Pour off most of the fat in pan.  Keep heat on medium-high.  Add onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves.  Saute until just changing color, about four minutes.  Add whine and vinegar and dislodge any browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.  Add vegetable mixture.  Cook on low setting for three hours.  

Transfer chicken to plate.  Pour out braising mixture into small saucepan and let sit five minutes.  Skim off fat.

Bring to a boil over high heat until syrupy and slightly reduced, about five minutes. Pour over chicken thighs.

Serve with rice.  

A tasty biscuit-topper slowly cooks while you're away. Once home, just pop the refrigerated biscuits in the oven, and you've got dinner!

1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces SAVE $
3 medium carrots, sliced
1/3cup chopped onion SAVE $
1/2 cup water SAVE $
2tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1bay leaf
1 (1.2-oz.) pkg. roasted chicken gravy mix
1/3 cup milk
1 tab. sour cream or plain yogurt
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup frozen sweet peas
1 (10.2-oz.) can Pillsbury GrandsAVE $

In 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, combine chicken, carrots, onion, water, margarine, salt, pepper and bay leaf; mix well.

Cover; cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours.

About 20 minutes before serving, stir gravy mix into chicken mixture. Remove and discard bay leaf. In measuring cup, blend milk, sour cream, and flour. Stir flour mixture and peas into chicken mixture; mix well. Increase heat setting to high; cover and cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until peas are cooked.
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Meanwhile, bake biscuits as directed on can. Serve chicken mixture over split biscuits.

Every food pantry service is different.  Some readers write in wondering how I serve meals that seem to be out of the budget.  Well, to be honest my food pantry bag is diverse. One day it could be chicken legs another day it could be a frozen turkey breast.

We always receive some type of meat in our bags.  I know many of you out there do not.  Nonetheless, I have many diverse readers out there from various cities that receive various odds and ends that others may not.  Due to this, I try to be as optimistic as possible in my food recipe choices.

1 good size turkey breast
1/2 cup onion, chunked
1/2 cup celery, chunked
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf
1 chicken bullion cube
1/2 cup water

Place turkey breast in crock pot.

Turn breast over and open cavity.  Place inside the onion, celery, and bay leaf.  Turn breast back over.

Put in bullion and 1/2 cup water in crock pot.  (It will dissolve during cooking)

Cook on low 8 to 9 hours.

Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.