Extreme Budget, Day Four - Ham & Pimento Cheese Panini

I have half a ciabatta loaf that I need to use before it gets hard. I already put the 4 slices of toasted cubed bread leftover from Budget Day 1, in a bag for a panzanella salad this weekend. I have a small DAK canned ham that I will cut two slices from and half a brick of cheese to which I will add roasted red peppers I have in my pantry.
Pimento cheese is an excellent way to use up those nubs of cheeses that always accumulate in your drawer. Normally made with Jack & Cheddar, except for Swiss I imagine you could use a Gouda or a Havarti and even a young Provolone. I did not have any cream cheese so I used a spoonful of sour cream (actually made it through the power outage in a cooler out back) and I had a brand new bottle of mayonnaise on the shelf.

I have to find a red pepper pasta sauce recipe for the use of the rest of the bottled peppers since I needed only 1/2 a pepper for the cheese. This is where careful planning keeps all those small containers of odds and ends that eventually you will throw away, on the menu to use.
I also found 3 bags of pumpkin seeds, can you guess what I will be making for stocking stuffer gifts this year?

This was really good and I will use it again. Maybe add some hot sauce or even use those Italian Cherry Peppers.

Pimento Cheese
makes 4-6 servings
* 4oz Jack & Colby cheese mix
* 1/2 red roasted pepper
* 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon sour cream or cream cheese

Process ingredients until smooth. Spread a liberal amount on both slices of bread. Add the meat (optional) and butter outsides of bread and press into a non-stick pan or panini maker.

Serve with a cup of soup or a salad.

Total cost for this dinner (excluding pantry items): $1.40
Bread - $1.00
Cheese - $ .40

Grand Total for 4 meals: $10.20

Day One of my Extreme Budget did start on Monday even though the post was published on Wednesday so this sandwich was eaten on Thursday night. I still have $14.80 to spend for Saturday & Sunday but remember on the weekends I have to add in breakfast (Sunday) and lunches.