31 Days to Financial Freedom, Day 2: Cheesy Potatoes

One of my secrets to feeding my family on a budget it to make more for dinner than what we actually need.  I know this may sound counter productive, but if you actually eat the leftovers versus just putting them into tupperware containers to throw away in a few months week, you can save a lot of money!

We do a big dinner on Sunday nights.  This serves two purposes for our family.  It allows us to spend quality time together, yelling at the children to stop spitting, telling Piglet 1 to stop blowing bubbles in his milk, begging Piglet 2 to eat something for the love of god, and getting up and down multiple times so that my dinner is cold by the time I actually get to eat.  Mmmmm . . . cold mashed potatoes.  Is there anything better?  The second purpose is that it gives Pen and I something to eat for the rest of the week! 

One of our favorite meals is ham and cheesy potatoes.  Who doesn't love that?  My younger brother takes pigs to the 4-H fair, and my parents always butcher one or two of the pigs.  A year ago we bought a portion of the pig, but that's all gone now . . . because pork is delicious.  However, the processing place gave them several smoked hams, which they do not like.  Jackpot!  Hams for everyone!  Or just us.  Seriously, we have six hams in our deep freeze.  And these suckers are big.  One ham will feed us dinner for two nights and yummy ham sandwiches for lunch most of the rest of the week.

I always make a big side dish of cheesy potatoes to go along with our ham because it's better the next day, and it's a cheaper than chips with the ham sandwiches!  It takes a little bit of time to put it together, but you could always do this the night before, too.

Cheesy Potatoes:

Potatoes
2 Cups Sour Cream
2 Cans Cream of Chicken
1 Cup Velveeta Cheese
2 Tablespoons Butter
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Slice 7-20452405827450 potatoes (this number is at your discretion.  Last night we used 11 potatoes of varying sizes).  Put half the potato slices into a bowl.  Add one can of cream of chicken soup, a cup of sour cream, a handful of shredded cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning.  Stir until all potatoes are covered in the deliciousness.  Pour into a greased casserole pan.  Add a tablespoon of cut up butter and a half cup of diced Velveeta cheese.  Repeat the entire process with the other half of the potatoes, add it on top of your first delicious layer, then top with more shredded cheese on top.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 for about an hour and a half, or until a knife inserted into the potatoes goes through without resistance (or a little resistance, depending on how you like your potatoes).  I also like this a little brown around the corners, so I take off the foil for the last 10 minutes are so, but watch carefully if you do this because it can burn rather easily.

This stuff will rock the night you make it, but will be even better the next night.  Cheese and potatoes and sour cream.  It's okay to have this for breakfast, right?

This is a post in the 31 Days to Financial Freedom challenge. Check back here every day to see the newest post. You can expect craft projects, money saving tips, recipes, and much more during the 31 days of October.