This is a great bowl of beans that will warm you up and keep you going for the day. It’s very hearty and delicious. We are assuming you have some basic staples in your kitchen as this recipe will need some onion as well as some chili powder.

Shopping List

• 1 Pound of Dried Back-eyed Peas approx: $1.39
• 1/2 lb Bacon approx: $2.19
• 14 ounce can Diced tomatoes with green chili approx: $1.29
• 4 Garlic Cloves approx: $0.59
• 3 jalapeno approx: $0.50

Total Cost

• Total Cost: $5.96

Recipe Vitals

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 hours
• Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Total Ingredient List (including items you should have)

• 1 lb dried black-eyed peas
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1/4 cup bacon drippings
• 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 jalapeno
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Let’s Cook

First rinse and pick your peas getting out all the bad peas and stones rinse them well and put them in a nice stock pot with the 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a cover on. This will soften the peas and have them ready to cook with everything else.

While the peas are simmering mince your garlic and chop up your jalapeno, while you are at it chop your bacon up.

After 30 minutes add everything else to the pot and simmer for an extra 1 hour and 30 minutes (or until soft) and eat. That is all there is to it very simple.

As I have discussed in the past its expensive to feed a family of five these days, with food producers lowering the amount of foods in the packaging and racking the prices up higher it makes it even harder to find the right amounts of food for a decent price.  Groceries is one of my biggest expenses at over $500.00 a month, this is also due to the fact that I never want to run out of food and I like to buy big quantities of stuff when it is on sale. Many people will claim that cooking is cheaper than eating out and I agree, unless you are just getting started cooking and looking for healthy foods. This is where the grocery store will rack up, healthy foods cost much more than the fat providing foods. For example I can grab a microwave meal for $1.50 per person making my grocery bill cheap, however this is not what I want for my family and I enjoy taste since I worked as a chef for a good bit of time.

These are some of my favorite tips that have been collected over the years, and I hope that you will find them useful.

1. Always use a list. If you go to the grocery store without a list you are throwing your money away, if you do not want your money send it this way. Make sure you have a solid list that has everything you will need on the week. Make sure you are creating this list during the week so that you are not forgetting anything.
2. Stick to your list. If you do not stick to your list you will add anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 to your grocery  bill it’s when you deviate from your list you make bad decisions and end up buying other things you do not need. I get calls when I am at the grocery store from my wife and if she asks for something not on the list she has to explain why, it’s not that I am being inconsiderate I am just trying to justify buying it on this trip.
3. Plan out a weekly menu. This will help you make sure your list is complete and that you will have enough food to serve your family dinner for the week, sometimes I will make my list and decide to have the same thing the next week so I can shop once and just duplicate my list.
4. Don’t go to the store when you are hungry. I am sure you hear this all the time but it is true: when you are hungry you will end up buying junk. You will spend more and grocery stores know this, sometimes you will find people with “samples” setup trying to get you to try it, one reason is they know if you are hungry and you try it you will buy it.
5. Have a budget. Do not just walk into the store with your list and say “it will cost me whatever it takes to get this list”. You need to have a limit it will help you keep up your mindfulness while you shop and will get you looking for a lower cost replacement for an item.
6. Keep a running total. This goes hand and hand with tip #5, if you want to stay in your budget you have to know what your already at. If you are close to your budget but you see something on sale you would like to stock up on is it a good deal if you are going to go over your budget? I do not think so. I always round-up when I put something in my basket for my running total this allows me to calculate tax without doing anything crazy. I only round to the nearest $0.50 and only up so a $1.49 item is $1.50 but a $1.51 item is $2.00.
7. Keep a list on your fridge. When you run out of something do not leave it in your memory write it down right away that way you will not forget and have to make a trip to the store.
8. Make a checklist for your pantry. Make a list of everything you normally stock in your pantry or you would like to stock in your pantry. Keep it posted on the pantry door. I keep a little white board and it has my list on it and when I add to the pantry I put a little mark and when I take from it I remove a mark. This way I can quickly look and decide what I need for the pantry each week.
9. Keep easy meals on hand. Make sure you have easy meals that you can whip up when you are feeling lazy, it could be spaghetti or something like this. A lot of my money used to go to the restaurants on my lazy days when I get home from a hard days work and do not want to cook.
10. Buy in bulk but only when it makes sense. If you can save money over the course of a month or two, plan to do so. But be sure you will use every bit of it before it goes bad, buying in bulk is more expensive when you do not use it all. When I first got out of the restaurant business I did this mistake a lot because I was used to having items around that we used a lot and I still use a lot just not in the same quantities.
11. Keep a price list. Use it when you know when bulk or sale items are good deals, it will also let you comparison shop between stores. If you do not know what milk costs at multiple stores how do you know where to get it cheaper. Use your receipts and create a price list of every common item you buy.
12. Buy frozen veggies. While fresh veggies are better, frozen veggies will keep longer and are quicker to use (you do not have to chop them up). I use it for diced onions and things like this as well because I do not have to keep them around now.
13. Update your list when you are running low not out. Do not wait until you run out of something because it could cause extra trips to the store, when you see you are low on an item go ahead and put it on the list. This way it can be caught in the next trip to the store. When determining what is low you have to think about your consumption rate. If you do not buy it this week can you make it to next week. If the answer is no then you are low.
14. Get out your crock pot. You can make some cheap dinners in your crock pot, and you can just throw somethings into it in the morning and come up to dinner.
15. Clip coupons. Yes they can end up being a pain to keep up with and knowing what coupons you have but it can save you a lot of money (around 10 to 20% off your bottom line) Make sure you look everywhere for them. I subscribe to the Sunday paper which will normally pay for itself with the coupons I get.
16. Only use coupons for items you where going to buy anyways. I have found many times a coupon that looks like it will save you a good deal of money, but if you did not need or was not buying the item you are spending more. Also I avoid the buy 2 and save a dollar unless I needed two. However normally if I needed two it might be a good candidate for bulk shopping.
17. Look for specials. Every store has specials and if you are not looking at them your wasting money. I also look for specials on meat, normally they are a few days from the “sell by” date and remember I have a freezer so its okay.
18. Use the store brands. Brand names are no better than generic brands. Remember they are spending a lot of money to promote the brand which increases your costs. In 99% of cases you will not notice a difference.
19. Use the Hispanic isles. A lot of times when I need a spice I check the Hispanic isles because you can find your spices a lot cheaper. For example I can buy dry thyme for $1.00 vs $4.00 from McCormick. It’s amazing what you will find on these great isles that can save you a lot of money.
20. Cut back on “one-item” trips. How many times have you went in for one item and came out with 20? These also waste gas and you will end up spending more. If you keep a good list and plan you should never be doing these.
21. When there’s a sale buy a lot. Sale items are great and if it’s an item you use a lot even better, go ahead and buy extra if your budget will let you.
22. Comparison shop. Look at different brands including store brands. There is often a significant different. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples however, as a lot of times one might look cheaper but it’s less food. Make sure you are going ounce for ounce.
23. Avoid trips to the corner store. These are very expensive stores and will quickly eat your money, I know sometimes when you do forget something the gas station is closer but you will probably pay double to triple the costs.
24. Use everything possible. If you have some leftover ingredients make sure you use them, do not throw them away as the more you can stretch your food the less you will have to spend.
25. Do not waste leftovers. Plan a leftover night and make sure you are eating everything you cook. If you are not eating everything you cook you are cooking too much and hence buying too much. Cut down on what you cook.
26. Shop alone. When you bring people with you there are more chances you will end up buying something not on your list. It is not fun to tell your kids no to something either and saying it over and  over will make you want to hurry your shopping and you will not pay attention as much to what you are buying. You will spend more than you should if you do not shop alone.
27. Store savings cards save you money. These little gems can save you a lot of money over time. However avoid cards that give points look for cards that offer immediate savings.
28. Pay attention to sale items. I have seen several times an item appears to be on sale but you must have a specific coupon or buy  $X amount of groceries before it is on sale. Make sure you have that coupon and meet the requirements of the sale or do not put it in your basket.
29. Prepare your grocery list by section. Avoid walking all over the grocery store because you forgot one item. Make sure you plan your list in the order you are shopping it makes it easier to make sure you got everything you need and you do not have to backtrack to find something.
30. Check your receipt. Make sure your prices scanned correctly, make sure your coupons scanned correctly and make sure nothing was double scanned. Sales items have a tendency to be wrong in the computer the only way you will find this is if you pay attention.
31. Use farmer’s markets. You can get excellent fresh produce, normally less expensive and you are only buying veggies that are in season, out of season veggies cost a lot more money and normally taste worse.
32. Reach up or Kneel down. The highest markup products are chest high because the store wants to sell them to you, look high and low to find what you need and compare prices. Sometimes you can save a lot of money by looking lower.
33. Double those coupons. Shop on days that double or triple your coupons it will make you save a lot more money.
34. Discount Store Syndrome. Just because you are in a discount store does not mean what you are buying is discounted.
35. Watch this website. I will be trying to update you with more tips and tricks on money-saving ideas and recipes that will save you money, the only way you will find them is if you watch this site.

This is a deliciously cheap pork chop one skillet dish it takes very little time and is healthy for you. We once again assume you have some basic staples in your kitchen for this we will need Cajun Seasoning of some type (dry goods), olive oil and no stick vegetable spray. If you do not have these items it will cost you a little more than $15.00 to get home but we will not use much of any of these so our overall cost is still below $15.00. We are assuming nothing is on sale so you can probably save money with this and coupons that you should have. Since we are using some fresh vegetables this will also differ depending on the seasons you make this in. These prices are based off the winter season so the vegetables are slightly more expensive.

Shopping List

• Pork Chops 5+ Chops around 2 lbs approx: $7.30
• Frozen Kernel Corn 1 bag approx: $1.20
• Yellow Squash 1 or 2 approx: $1.50
• Zucchini 1 or 2 approx: $1.50
• One Red Bell Pepper approx: $2.00

Total Cost

• No Sides Needed: $13.50

Tip: You can get cheaper pork chops sometimes by looking at the discounted meat, this meat is normally grouped together in one section and is within a few days of “shelf life” now that does not mean the meat is close to being bad it’s just that the store has a date it has to “sell” by. Take advantage of this segment as it will save you a lot of money

Recipe Vitals

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes

Tip: these veggies can be cut up the night before and stuck in the refrigerator, or if you find a great deal at the farmers market on veggies you can get them well before and cut them up and freeze them

Total Ingredient List (including items you should have)

• Pork Chops 5+ about 2 lbs
• 1 Bag Frozen Kernel Corn
• Yellow Squash 1 or 2
• Zucchini 1 or 2
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• Cajun Seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Non Stick Cooking Spray
• Minced Garlic

Let’s Cook

Let’s get out the chopping board and chop up those squash and zucchini into easy one bite pieces, easiest way to do this is cut them in half long ways and then lay them flat cut them in half again and we can get slices in quarters if that makes sense to you. After you have that all chopped up lets chop up our bell pepper into nice bite size pieces I prefer to have these diced as that way there are more of them and spread out better than slices or large chopped peppers.

Grab your Cajun seasoning and your pork chops and season liberally make sure you got a good seasoning on both sides of the pork and put it into a skillet that has been pre-heated on a medium high burner (make sure you use your veggie spray in the skillet to prevent sticking). You will want to cook these pork chops until there is no pink in the middle. This will take about 5 minutes on each side (depending on thickness of the cut). Make sure you got a good seer on them before you flip and try to only flip once.

After you have the chops cooked pull them out of the pan and put them on a plate and cover it with some foil (we want to keep them warm). Do not scrape your skillet out throw a little more veggie spray in your skillet and toss your squash, zucchini, bell pepper and a touch of minced garlic in the pan and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes stirring occasionally, we want these to cook evenly but still have a little snap to them when we bite into them.

Once these veggies have been cooked about 5 minutes grab that bag of corn you have sitting next to you and open it up and throw it into the pan (not the bag but whats inside it) and toss the corn around in the pan (mix up the veggies good) . You should notice that the bits and coloring has come up off the pan and on the veggies (now we do not have to season them). Once the corn is warm and cooked (2 to 3 minutes) pull your skillet off the heat and toss a touch of olive oil into the pan and stir everything up. Once that is complete add your pork chops back into the pan and call the kids because its time to eat!

Today we officially launch our Five for Fifteen blog, and wish everyone a Happy New Years and hope that 2010 is prosperous for everyone. Here is our resolutions and what we intend to bring this year to Five for Fifteen.

• 261 Recipes that can be made to feed 5 for under $15.00
• Tips and Tricks for saving money in the grocery store
• General Cooking Tips that will help save you money
• At least 52 episodes of our podcast and video cast. (Yes we will be doing video this year)
• Weekly Shopping List (Done on Fridays) that will include 5 recipes we have
• Much more…

We hope you have a great 2010 and that you enjoy the site and resources we have in store for you. Remember this is the year of our launch.

We will make this for under 15 dollars and try to save on some of the fat content that could be used, I have to assume you have a few basic staples in your kitchen if you do not it will raise the price a little bit. This is not because you need expensive things in your kitchen but because we need olive oil, onion and eggs for this that normally you should have in your kitchen. I tried to find items that where not on sale so that if you can find them on sale you will actually make this for less. This is an easy recipe that will feed 5 with a chance at seconds which is excellent.

Shopping List

• Chicken Breasts Boneless & Skinless (3 breasts which is normally one pack) approx: $4.59
• Bacon (just find the best price on this) approx: $2.49
• Neuchâtel Cheese (this is just like cream cheese and found with cream cheese just 1/3 the fat content) approx: 1.29
• Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets (need a box of 2 sheets) approx: $4.16
• Frozen Mixed Vegetables or the side of your choosing (e.g. can corn and green beans) approx: $1.79
• Optional if you have them in your house already or if you already have your sides get fresh thyme

Total Cost

• Without Side: $12.53
• With Side: $14.32

How is that for good shopping? Now I know that you found a lot of this on sale or found great coupons for each item so that you could save more money, use this money if you need to buy eggs, onion or olive oil. These are items you should never have in your kitchen.

Recipe Vitals

• Prep Time: About 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes

This can be prepped in advance and you can just come home from work and pop these in the oven.

Total Ingredient List (including items you should have)

• Chicken Breasts, cubed
• 6 Slices of Bacon
• 3/4 Cup of chopped or diced onion
• 6 ounces of Neuchâtel Cheese
• 2 Sheets of Frozen Puff Pastry, thawed
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Pepper
• Fresh Thyme (optional)
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

Let’s Cook

Go ahead and start the oven up and preheat it to 400 degrees. We want that oven nice and hot when the pastry goes in so that we can get our puff on. Grab a large skillet and throw the bacon in and let it cook until its crisp. Once you have crisp bacon pull it out and drain it on some paper towels. Drain your skillet but do not rinse it out, we want to use whats left in the pan to do two things. Lubricate the chicken so it does not stick and we want to pull that marvelous bacon flavors off the pan.

Add your olive oil to the pan, drop in the chicken cubes and the onion. Cook this until the chicken is no longer pink, this should take about 7 to 8 minutes by this time the onions should be tender and almost transparent. Grab a slotted spoon and get the chicken out of the pan and into a good bowl you can mix up our filling in.

Crumble your bacon up over the bowl so that it all falls in go ahead and add your 6 ounces of Neuchâtel cheese into this bowl as well and mix well. Now if you have fresh herbs you can add them here the thyme will go great with the chicken so add a few sprigs (Make sure you are only adding the leafs and not the stem) and mix it up. Now if you do not have fresh herbs but you have dried herbs you can add some but add less so a dash will do the trick.

Carefully unfold your thawed pastry sheets and roll them out to make sure you have a 12″ square (thats in inches) and cut it into 4 equal pieces do that with both of your sheets, you should now have eight 6″ squares. Divide your chicken and bacon mixture up evenly over those eight pastries. Make sure you do not overfill as we need to be able to close these pastries up. Fold over the pastry and seal the edges with a fork, make sure they are sealed good we do not want any of that filling coming out.

Grab your cookie sheet and spray it with no stick cooking spray or throw some parchment paper on it (parchment paper is expensive so I recommend the cooking spray). Put your pastries on this sheet and put them in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes. This depends on your oven so when they are a deep golden brown pull them out and get them off the cookie sheet, if you have wire racks cool them on your racks for about 5 minutes this will allow them not to become soggy on the bottom. If you do not have wire racks you can pull them out on a couple paper towels and let them cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Cook up your side and enjoy dinner. (Ideally your side would already be ready as you would be working it while you had your pastries in the oven).

This will make an excellent dinner, if you have suggestions make sure you comment below and share your experiences.

Five for Fifteen strives to bring you a solid and consistent way to feed a family of five for fifteen dollars or less, we will expose shopping tips, general tips, awesome recipes and more that will help you understand what you are looking for to feed your family easily and without breaking the bank.After working very hard I have found ways that I can feed my family any meal they like for under fifteen dollars. Now you have to be willing to compromise and buy store brands and other brands that you normally would scoff at, but if you are serious about saving money you will quickly see the benefits.

You will find detailed recipes, how to make the food, shopping tips that will save you money quickly, and how to eat healthy without spending the amount of money that it would normally cost. These are all here free for you and I hope you enjoy them.

If you have any questions you can always email me at matt@fiveforfifteen.com and I will be glad to answer any questions you may have. Thank you and enjoy