Pasta for dinner with homemade Queso Fresco ($0.74) & homemade tomato sauce (free)

Had a cheap dinner last night. Bag of pasta from Aldi, topped with homemade tomato sauce & queso fresco. Delish!

Followed the directions here:
www.isabeleats.com/queso-fresco-recipe/

Got a 1/2 gallon of whole milk off of Flashfood for $0.74 because it was a day away from expiring. Still smelled & tasted fine! So I turned it into fresh cheese to go on our meals this week.

Had a TON of various tomatoes leftover from it final garden harvest so I turned about 4 lb of them into simple tomato sauce.

Tomato Sauce

4 lb tomatoes (any kind)
1 Tbsp oil or avocado oil
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1/2 tsp onion granules
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cup of water
1 tsp salt
1/2 – 1 tsp black pepper

Place your tomatoes & water in a large pot. Cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer on med low until tomatoes are fully broken down, about 1 hr. Add remaining ingredients, heat through, & use an immersion blender to blend smooth. Or let tomato sauce cool enough that you can pour it into a regular blender to puree.