I’ve been thinking about starting a frugal eating series. For my first entry I’m going to unveil my Baked Rig. This is my husband’s favorite dish. It’s easy, cheap, delicious, and makes leftovers. All good things in my book. We eat the leftovers for lunch the next day.

As shown here I’ve figured it costs $11.46. I assumed everyone already has salt and pepper. I usually make home made marinara which is about a dollar less if you have the spices already but I thought I would keep the ingredient list small. I’ll put up the marinara sauce next week. If you use this home made marinara then it replaces the jarred sauce and the petite diced tomatoes.

I would love feedback on this series, so let me know if you love it or hate it. Also if anyone has any frugal recipes they would like to submit please feel free. Actually, frugal or not please let me know. I’m always looking for new stuff to try.

So, without further adieu…

Baked Rig

1 lb Rigatoni ($1.08)
1 lb ground beef ($3.00)
1 jar of marinara sauce ($2.00)
1 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes ($.92)
4 cups Italian blend cheese, shredded. Mozzarella is also good ($4.46)
Salt
Pepper

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Cook Rigatoni per package directions. While the Rig is cooking start to brown the ground beef. When the ground beef is just about browned add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Add meat, marinara sauce, diced tomatoes, and half the cheese to the pasta. Mix well. Pour mixture into a 13×9 casserole dish that has been sprayed with non stick spray. Top with remaining cheese. Cover the dish with tin foil slightly tented so it doesn’t touch the cheese.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. You can remove the foil for the last 5 minutes to brown the cheese if you want.

Nutrition stuff as determined by me:
Servings: 6
Calories per serving: 772
Fat: 32 g
Carbs: 81 g
Dietary Fiber: 13
Protien: 44 g