We have fast food on occasion over here. The typical type of fast food we have is something I can throw together without really thinking about it. Last night ended up being a fast food night and even though it isn’t really a recipe per se, it is still something that you can have on hand for a night when you don’t have a lot of time or you are short on groceries.

Fazoli’s Night: Plain Old Spaghetti
Serves Six

1 jar of your favorite type of spaghetti sauce (mushroom, meat, three cheese, or plain)

1/2 a box of thin spaghetti (Aldi’s packages their boxes of spaghetti in two pound boxes, so you only need half of one for this dinner)

Prepare pasta as directed on the box. Heat spaghetti sauce. Drain pasta and toss the pasta with the sauce.

Cheap Cheesy Bread
Serves Four

Leftover bread from the loaf used for French Toast night (I even use the heels of the bread loaf for this)

Spreadable butter

Garlic Salt

Handful of Italian Cheese blend cheese

Preheat broiler. Arrange slices on a cookie sheet. Spread butter on them. Sprinkle with garlic salt & cheese. Toast under your broiler for two minutes or until the bread is golden & toasty.

After some of your comments, I have decided how I will be arranging this blog. This week will be a bit different than the usual week, but I do want to get some more of your opinions on this. If you would like to leave a comment, please just click on the entry title to open the comment box.

I will put together one week’s worth of recipes. Each recipe will be an individual entry, that way you can print just that recipe versus a giant file.  At the end of this week, I will put together a shopping list and an APPROXIMATE amount of money you will need to spend to make these dinners. This is approximate, as I don’t want anyone to hold me to it. It should give you a rough idea of how much you will need to spend. The grocery list will also include all of the recipes at the top of it, with the links to the entries, so you know what you will be preparing.

I am also trying to supply nutritional data for each of the recipes to help those of you who are watching calories or who are diabetic.

Each week I will also try and highlight if there is anything worth noting in the Aldi fliers for the week. If they carry a “Special Purchase” that week or they have a great deal on something non-food related, I will be sure to mention it.

In addition, I am trying to take pictures of the food so that you know how it looks. I hate when I read a recipe and I can’t visualize what something is “supposed” to look like. If you click on the picture, it will expand to a bigger size so you can see the food in more detail.

We are going to be adding more things and tweaking things on the blog, but I hope that this is  something that you will find useful & beneficial in menu-planning and staying on target with your budget.

Again, bloggers please share this with your readers & readers share this with your friends. I do want to make sure we are getting enough hits that the work on this is worthwhile. I need your help in spreading the word!

We will see if I can keep up with all of this. Some of the recipes will make repeats on the blog, as we do eat things more than once over here! Regardless, I will do the best I can to add some variation to the planners and share food that I think your families will enjoy!

Chicken Tacos
Serves Six

1 package taco seasoning mix
1 cup chicken broth (I prefer the Fit & Active brand because it is lower in salt)
1 pound chicken breasts – boneless & skinless (in the Frozen section of the store)

Dissolve taco seasoning into chicken broth. Place chicken breasts in slow cooker and pour broth over them. With two forks, shred the chicken meat into bite-size pieces. To freeze, place shredded meat into freezer bag with juices. Press out all the air & seal.Serve with tortillas, taco shells, lettuce, cheese, & sour cream.

I served these with a side of carrot sticks.

Nutritional facts per serving (daily value): Calories 99kcal; Protein 18g (36%); Total Fat 2g (2%)(Sat. 0g (2%)); Chol. 44mg (15%); Carb. 2g (1%); Fiber 0g (0%); Sugars 0g; Calcium 12mg (1%); Iron 1mg (4%)