Trying to save money by cooking at home buy you don't have a minute to spare? It's easy when you prepare simple meals. Even busy cooks can prepare simple meals like soups and stir-fries that save you money and make your family healthier.

Rising food prices have sent many of us back to the kitchen to save money. And while there are many benefits of a home cooked meal, preparing dinner from scratch still takes valuable time from our busy schedules. But it can be easy to prepare simple entrees at home, saving you both time and money. So move beyond burgers and fries and fix one of these dishes tonight! All are easy to prepare and ready in about 30 minutes.

Soups: Soup is one of the easiest, most wholesome, well-received family meals. Unfortunately though, most canned soup offerings are high in salt and chemical preservatives and lack any distinguishable flavor. You can do better. Start with either low sodium broth or a combination of water and tomato juice. Don't worry about exact measurements - you can always add more water later if necessary. To the soup pot add; chopped or instant minced onion, cut up cooked meat or drained, canned beans, your favorite frozen vegetables, a handful of rice, barley or pasta, and dried herbs like basil, thyme, rosemary, bay and/or marjoram for flavor. Simmer until heated through and the rice or pasta is cooked, 20-30 minutes. Just before serving add a splash of balsamic or red wine vinegar and season with freshly ground black pepper. To make a soup extra special, top with dumplings, serve over a slice of toasted French bread or serve in a purchased bread bowl. Cost: Deli soup $2.59, Homemade $1 per serving.

Stir Fries: Stir-fries are a great way to use up odds and ends of leftovers. Heat olive or peanut oil in a skillet. Quickly cook small pieces of chicken, beef or shrimp and add cut up vegetables like carrots, zucchini, broccoli, bell pepper and green beans. Make a simple but flavorful sauce by mixing together broth or water and orange or pineapple juice. Add a dash of cayenne pepper, your favorite herbs and a little cornstarch. Stir the mixture until the sauce thickens, adding more water if necessary. Serve over rice or noodles. Cost: Lunch counter rice bowl: $5.49, Homemade $2.50.

Casseroles: Mom was right. Casseroles are easy to prepare and money saving too! Start with cooked rice, pasta or millet. Use brown rice instead of white rice or pasta shells or ziti in place of spaghetti noodles for variety. Stir in cooked, chopped meat and your favorite vegetables. Peas, carrots and corn are especially good choices in casseroles as they maintain their flavor even when baked at high temperatures. Mix everything together with a thickened broth or a can of low-fat, low-sodium cream of celery soup. Add herbs for flavor. Top the casserole with dried bread or cracker crumbs and grated cheese and bake until hot and bubbly. Serve with a tart relish, chutney or dill pickles on the side for a complete meal. Cost: Food court baked ziti $3.49, Homemade $1.

Sandwiches: Traditionally considered lunch food, sandwiches are now a dinnertime favorite too. Keep whole-wheat sandwich rolls or pita bread in the cupboard to make your own Hoagies, Grinders or Italian sandwiches. Start with a flavorful mustard (Walla Walla Sweet Onion by AJ's Edible Arts and Seadog Beer Mustard by Raye's Mustards are good choices) and stuff with deli meat and cheese, prepared hummus, chicken, tuna or egg salad. Add slices of bell pepper, tomato, spinach, avocado, olives and pickles and top with a splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. For an even heartier sandwich, add marinated artichoke hearts, pineapple chunks or grilled eggplant slices. Cost: Sandwich shop grinder $6. Homemade: $2.

Stick with simple meals and dinner will be ready in no time. Better yet, you'll save money and have a healthier family too.

By Renee Pottle

Are you trying to save money at the dinner table? We've all heard the conventional wisdom; cook at home, don't shop when you are hungry, use coupons. Sage advice if you have the time to develop your own menu and shopping list and scour newspaper inserts for coupons. But what if time is a big limitation? You could frequent your local fast food establishment, or hire a personal chef or a live-in housekeeper/cook. Unfortunately, those ideas aren't exactly budget-friendly. So what's the secret to saving time AND money?

Ingredients ready when you are. Saving money means preparing some meals at home. And while nothing is as delicious as fresh produce, it may be impractical to turn fresh tomatoes into sauce before they turn to mush. So if you routinely toss most of your fresh produce, switch to more convenient forms; dried, canned or frozen. Instant minced onion, frozen green beans and canned tomatoes may not taste quite like fresh, but they won't be moldy when you pull them out of the cupboard.

Freeze your leftovers. Have you ever opened a can of tomato paste only to use 1 tablespoon? What are you supposed to do with the remainder? Don't throw it away, freeze it. Keep a container of the tomato odds and ends in your freezer. Recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce but the can holds 2 cups? Freeze the rest. Chop too many tomatoes for last night's tacos? Freeze the rest. When the container is full, toss the tomato mixture to your slow cooker with basil, oregano, balsamic vinegar and crushed red pepper for a delicious marinara sauce. Use the same technique with leftover vegetables. Freeze them until you have enough for vegetable soup. Add beef broth, quick cooking barley, a little thyme and rosemary and you have a quick, healthy and inexpensive soup.

Stick to the grocery aisles. Many of us shop at superstores these days, which are convenient if you need a gallon of milk, a new steering wheel cover, and a pair of socks. But if you are getting groceries, stick to the grocery aisles. Impulse shopping there means you might come home with an unplanned $5 cake. Impulse shopping elsewhere in the store can mean an $80 table (it was on sale!) or a $50 sweater (I've been wanting a pink one!). Unplanned items put a big dent in your budget in no time.

Don't buy packaging. It seems that everything comes in single serving packets now. But all that packaging means lots of extra costs. Buy your own large bag of chips or crackers or baby carrots and distribute into small zip top bags for much less money and little time expended. You work hard for your money. Don't spend it on something that just gets thrown away.

Keep the pantry stocked. A little upfront planning will save lots of time and money. Keep several basic items in your pantry; pasta, rice, canned tomatoes and beans, favorite herbs and spices, prepared mustard and peanut butter, so that you always have dinner ingredients on hand. Don't have time to figure out your own pantry list? Follow a list like those found in I Want My Dinner Now! or several other cookbooks.

Follow these 5 simple tips for a year to save up to $5000 and countless minutes; leaving you time AND money for a well-deserved vacation!



Renee Pottle is the author of I Want My Dinner Now! - Simple Meals for Busy Cooks, a budget-friendly, time-saving, cookbook full of cook's tips, servings suggestions, pantry lists and menus.