This is my first post for my blog.  I wanted to create a blog where I could write about things that are important to me — like product reviews,  stretching a buck, restaurant reviews and maybe some other money saving tips; day trips and other travel ideas and really anything else that be happen in my life.  I had a blog about a year ago on saratoga.com that dealt with day trips and hidden gems in the Saratoga Springs area of Upstate NY.  I enjoyed writing the blog but it was very limiting.  This blog will have more of an expanded scope and will deal with a wider array of issues and thoughts and opinions.  So I hope that you will read it, like it and comment on it.  You can even comment if you don’t like it!
Here goes the first attempt:  A recipe that stretches a buck.
After a recent trip to the grocery store and noticing that food prices have gone up yet again I came up with this recipe that takes one roll of breakfast sausage and stretches it into 2 meals.
The first recipe is a breakfast that will make 4 servings.
Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients:
1/2 roll of breakfast sausage
2 cups of milk
2 tablespoons of flour
extra oil if the sausage is lean
1 roll of ready to bake biscuits
Heat oven to 350 degrees to bake off biscuits
To make gravy:  Brown 1/2 of the roll of sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Break the meat up as it cooks into very small pieces.  Cook until the meat is cooked through and brown.  If the sausage is especially lean add a little oil.  Once the meat is throughly cooked sprinkle in the flour and let it cook for about a minute or so.  Then add the milk and season with salt and pepper.  Let the gravy cook until thick.  Serve over warm biscuits.  To make this a more complete breakfast, scramble a couple eggs per person.

The next recipe is a dinner recipe that makes 6 servings.
Sausage and Penne Pasta

1/2 roll of breakfast sausage
olive oil
small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Dried red pepper flakes to taste
1 large can of crushed tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
1 pound penne pasta
Heat a large pot of water to cook the pasta in.  Once the water boils season it with salt.  In a large skillet cook the 1/2 roll of sausage from the previous recipe.  Add chopped onion and cook until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.  Then add garlic and seasonings, cooking another few minutes.  Add tomatoes and let the sauce simmer while the pasta cooks.  Once the pasta is done then drain and toss it with the sauce.
Serve this with a simple salad and some garlic bread.

There you have it!  2 meals from one roll of breakfast sausage.  Economical since the sausage cost $2.68 instead of spending $4.68 for one package of Italian sausage.  So give it a try. I think you will be happy!