Simple and delicious.  You will love these moist and tender grilled pork chops.  Marinate for a few hours in the fridge and then grill to perfection.  

• 6-8 boneless pork loin chops
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tsp. steak seasoning like Montreal Steak seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. coconut sugar or brown sugar

Combine the marinade ingredients in a ziploc bag.  Then marinate the pork chops for a few hours in the fridge.  Grill for 6-8 minutes on each side until done.  (Cooking time will vary depending on thickness of pork chops)

I found these play-dough mats at 123 Homeschool 4 Me.  You can print them for free and use them for other activities like bean or noodle mosaics or coloring pages or laminate them and use them with play-dough.  

They are a great way to improve fine motor skills, letter recognition, and if you overlap them like this, you can practice simple words with your preschooler.  Here is an easy recipe for homemade play-dough. 

I experienced some major sticker shock when I took my printed letter mats to several office supply stores only to find out that laminating them would cost $35-$38.  Instead I purchased a Swingline laminator from Amazon for around $20.  I don't remember what I spent on laminating sheets, but I got 100 of them for way less than $15.  My laminator works great and I can laminate a lot more for less than I could have paid at the office supply store.  

The boys have enjoyed playing with these mats (while learning too ...but don't tell them, they just think its fun).

This hearty casserole is simple to prepare and works well for brunch or dinner.  Our boys love it.  

• 5 cups shredded potatoes (frozen or fresh)
• 5 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or melted butter (I use a little of each)
• 2 cups shredded Swiss or cheddar cheese 
• 1 lb. ground beef, venison or sausage, browned
• 1 1/2 cups half & half or evaporated milk (whole milk would work too)
• 3 eggs 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a 9 X 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix shredded potatoes with melted butter or oil and press into bottom of pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden.  

Remove from oven and layer on the meat then the cheese.  (If using unseasoned ground beef or venison, feel free to add your favorite hamburger seasonings while browning.)  

In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour this mixture on top of the other ingredients and sprinkle with parsley.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until knife inserted 1-inch from edge comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Adapted from Money Saving Mom.

I always wait to the last minute and realized yesterday that today was my son's last day of preschool and I didn't have anything ready for teacher gifts.  My son has three teachers in his classroom and being the frugal girl that I am I always try to come up with something nice, but inexpensive.  Last year I made these really simple coffee and tea pouches for teacher appreciation week.  One nice thing about these gifts is that they are consumables so my son's teachers aren't getting things that will add clutter to their lives.    

With one day to prepare, I got my bread machine out and made homemade bread for each teacher.  It took several hours to make three loaves, but since the bread machine did most of the work, it wasn't too difficult.  I even programmed the bread machine to start early this morning before anyone was awake.  

I packaged the loaves in plastic wrap and curling ribbon and attached hand written notes.  One of the loaves was still warm so I placed it in a brown paper lunch bag inside of a gift bag.  

What are your frugal homemade teacher gift ideas?  

Linked up at Create with Joy and I Can Teach my Child.