My mother in law has been making homemade noodles and sent some home with us so I wanted to use these up. This recipe is great because we had everything in our house already to make this. You can also add a green pepper or onion but since our household is picky, I skipped those.

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For this recipe, you will need to make the Basic Alfredo Recipe I posted last week. This is a great make ahead recipe I like to make when I’m creating a batch of recipes for the week.

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This is a recipe that my aunts were kind enough to make our family to help out when we needed some easy meals. Everyone loved it, they were kind enough to share the recipe, which was from another family member who lives in Washington state. This recipe has traveled!

I’ve made a couple modifications. I did not have the pimentos as called for in the recipes. Instead, I roasted a red pepper and used it in lieu of the pimentos. It was quick and easy to do in the oven as I shared a couple of weeks ago.

The recipe also originally called for Montery Jack shredded cheese but I had some Authentic Mexican shredded Queso cheese I had purchased again from ALDI I wanted to use instead. I also didn’t have anymore whipping cream as I had used the remainder for my Basic Alfredo Recipe. I used half and half instead. I’d stick with the heavy whipping cream, though, in the future.

Once again, my Ninja chopper comes in handy to get a great shredded chicken mix without all the work of hand shredding. The official name is the Ninja Master Prep and it is a Ninja in my kitchen! My aunt also said this is what she used to shred it in the meal she made for us.

Thanks to Penny, Aunt Beth & Aunt Paula for sharing this recipe with me! 

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Kate from CouponCravings.com has offered to take over Meatless Monday this week! This recipe looks delicious and I love a quick and easy dip recipe to pair with Tastefully Simple Beer Bread! 

If you are looking for a meatless appetizer, this one hits the spot! Spinach and Artichoke Dip is so versatile, since it can be served cold, hot, with veggies, on top of toasted baguettes, or with tortilla chips for dipping. And, that’s not it, there are dozens of other options as well!

Plus, it’s a great last minute item to bring to a potluck or card club!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this fabulous, creamy, amazing Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

• 1 & 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
• 1 box frozen spinach (thawed and drained*)
• 1 (14 oz.) jar chopped artichoke hearts
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic (or 2 tsp. garlic powder)

First things first, here’s my tip for thawing and draining spinach*:

Release corners of the box of spinach and set the box of spinach tipped on the side of a bowl.

Microwave for about 2 minutes. All of the juice will drain in to the bowl and your spinach will be thawed.

Next, combine the spinach, parmesan cheese and artichoke hearts in a medium size bowl.

Mix well to combine flavors.

Add the softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and garlic.

Stir to evenly distribute all the flavors. Put all ingredients in to a 1 1/2 quart oven-safe dish and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Kate Sorensen of Coupon Cravings lives in Iowa with her husband and two kids, ages 4 1/2 and 1. She has been a devoted frugal shopper and frugal cook for years. Kate enjoys making appetizers that include items that she can use a coupon on while at the same time, making food that tastes great and doesn’t break the bank. Today, she has shared one of her favorite “meatless appetizer recipes” with us.

Meatless Mondays is a weekly feature which will showcase some of my hits and probably misses with living a meatless life. Many of you know I stopped eating meat about a year ago for personal reasons. While, I haven’t had any desire to go back to eating meat, it has been a struggle to find healthy foods to eat.

Everywhere you go, meat is the main dish. Since I was new to this lifestyle, it led me to eating unhealthy options. I’m on a path now to cook healthier options at home without meat. While going meatless is a personal choice for me, you can still save money by having one meatless meal a week.

Will you join me on this journey by preparing one meatless dish every week?

If you have any questions about the vegetarian lifestyle, you can read more about it at GoVeg.com.

Roasted Red Peppers are so easy to make that will never need to buy these from a jar again. You will save money and be healthier by making your own!

For a recent recipe I was trying, I didn’t have pimentos as it called for in the recipe. Instead I found by googling that I could substitute roasted red peppers for the sliced pimentos. Of course, I didn’t have any roasted red peppers in a jar readily available either.

However, I had just made an ALDI trip where I had picked up a three pack of various peppers. So with a little more googling, I was able to figure out how to roast my red pepper. Yes, this is how I cook, with google very handy!

It’s so simple and I skipped a bunch of steps I found on some of the websites as it was going to be a ingredient within a recipe so I didn’t need to coat with olive oil.

Wash your red pepper. Cut your red pepper in half.  Broil until red pepper is charred but not completely burnt.

Rinse in cool water. The skin should come right off. Another trick you can use is instead of rinsing off right away, you can put directly in a bowl covered in saran wrap. Let sit for 10-15 minutes and the steam will do the work for you! I don’t find I need to do that as I use a similar technique I use to get the peels off my peaches.

Cut your peppers into strips, dice, or however your recipe calls for it. Easy Pea-sy!

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I LOVE this recipe as a homemade alternative to jarred Alfredo sauces. It has much more flavor. However, it is probably not that low on calories. I’m thinking you could probably do okay with half of the butter if you want to save on calories without sacrificing too much of the flavor.

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 Have you been stocking up on discount pasta sauces? This is a great way to use those stockpile pasta items.

Adapted from Taste of Home Crock Pot Pizza recipe.

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