Viva La Mexico!! Feed your family for under $22!

Let's face it...Mexican food is not only easy to prepare, but it's very inexpensive. I always turn to Mexican food whenever I'm throwing a dinner party because I can feed more people for less...call me cheap! Hey...our economy is bad...sue me!

Here's another family favorite that seems to be a crowd pleaser! My infamous Enchilada Bake and spanish rice!



2lbs. 80/20 lean ground beef @ $2.88 (ON SALE)
1 bottle of salsa verde @ $1.89
2 large cans of green enchilada sauce @ $2.89 each
3 dozen corn tortillas @ $.98
16oz. Mexican blend shredded cheese @ $4.59
1 bag of green onions @ $.99
1 bunch of cilantro @ $.50
1 small can of olives @ $.49
1 box of Rice-a-Roni Spanish Rice @ $1.18
1 can of whole kernel corn @ $.58
1 can of diced tomatoes @ $.58
1 bag of salad @ $.98

Ok, add that up at it's $21.42 and this meal can feed a family AT LEAST twice! I tend to load plates up with salad to make the meal stretch a little further!! I DID say I was cheap, right? Hehehe...

Complete recipe and cooking instructions are found HERE.

Trust me, if you start breaking your meals down by price, you're sure to control your spending at the grocery store. It's a start to sticking to a budget...try it and let me know how it works out!

Enjoy!

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Menu Plan Monday - Week of February 16th

I know it's been a while since I've posted my weekly menu. I had to stop because my kids keep asking for the same foods EVERY SINGLE WEEK! How boring!! Who wants to eat the SAME things EVERY SINGLE WEEK?? Eww...

So I decided to ask what everyone wanted, then throw in some things that I wanted...see I'm so selfless that I never consider my own cravings...but I've been craving some out-of-the-ordinary food...I can't wait to post the recipes (that'll come later). I want to post pictures as I'm cooking!!

Here goes...

Chicken, Mushrooms & Artichokes (in a light cream sauce)
Rice Pilaf
Jerk Chicken
Red Beans & Rice
Plantains
Tacos
Buffalo Wings
Green Salad with every meal

Enjoy!!

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Buffalo Chicken Salad...give that green salad a KICK!

I serve salads with just about every meal that I serve. I'll be honest, I don't really care for salads at home (I realize this is mostly a mental thing). Something about store bought, bottled salad dressing completely turns me off (although I WILL admit that Target's Market Pantry Ranch Dressing and their Caesar Dressing ARE THE BOMB!) and I'm almost SURE that restaurants are probably using the same thing coming out of a much larger bottle!! Again...yes, I know...it's all mental! HAHAHA!!!

In my grand attempt to shed the last of this baby weight before my 20 year high school reunion this year, I've been forcing myself to eat salads for lunch...I've tried all sorts of things in my salad just to make it interesting...that can be hard sometimes!

I had some left over chicken breast that I already cooked...and thought if I added some wing sauce to the meat, it would satisfy my current craving for buffalo wings (since we didn't have any more) and possibly make for an interesting lunch salad!




And interestingly enough...this sauce doesn't give me a wicked case of heartburn like every other spicy thing in my house!!

Buffalo Chicken Salad!!!!



Enjoy!! I know I sure did!!!

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Comfort food! Feed your family for under $10!

You know...when I first started thinking about posting low cost dinners, it never occurred to me that this is how I keep my grocery bills down. I mean, don't get me wrong...spending $150-$180 a week DOES add up...but with that money I'm feeding a family of 6 (including formula and diapers).

I may not be posting my Menu Plan Mondays anymore (mostly because my family has become boring by requesting the SAME stuff EVERY DOGGONE WEEK!!), but I still have a plan (and my calculator) when I go grocery shopping. I started thinking in terms of breaking the cost of EACH meal down...because let's face it...not ALL of my grocery budget is actually spent on food - cleaning supplies add up quickly too!

So anyway...here's a cheap meal...and these prices are taken directly from my last shopping receipt.

Meatloaf, rice & gravy, green salad and corn bread




2lbs. of 80/20 lean ground beef @ $2.88 (ON SALE)
1 box of Kroger generic cornbread stuffing @ $.98
2 cans of Kroger generic beef gravy @ $.68 each
1 - 16oz bag of rice @ $.79 each
2 - 12oz bags of green salad medley @ $.98 each
2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix @ $.45 each
4 eggs (2 for the meatloaf, 2 for the cornbread) @ $.50 (I actually spent $1.49 for a dozen...but we're breaking down the cost of THIS meal).
1 can of cream corn @ $.58

Ok, add that up and it's $9.95! I know...you hate me right now! HAHAHA!! I'm not counting the salad dressing because lawd knows I KEEP salad dressing in this house!

I don't do tomato based meatloaf...I never have enjoyed the taste of baked ketchup! Eww!! If you prefer ground turkey, that's fine too...I only buy it when it happens to be on sale (which isn't often enough).

This meal is enough to feed us all (except the baby of course) for 2 days.



Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 and prepare your baking dish by spraying the bottom with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the meat, stuffing mix, 2 eggs and about 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Stick your hands in the bowl and mix everything WELL. Dump meat into your baking dish and form it into a loaf...make sure it's packed firmly, you don't want any gaps or holes on the inside - I don't know why...my mother used to just tell me that all the time!! I'm sure there's a reason!! HAHAHA!!

Bake uncovered for about 50 minutes to an hour. Everyone RAVES about this recipe...if you haven't tried it...do so...it's super easy!

Enjoy!

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The Banana Cake...revisited

So...you know I hate to waste bananas...I hate to waste food period...but ESPECIALLY bananas...so I'm always looking for easy things to make with my over ripe left over fruit.

I know this is something like cheating, but I always keep a box or two of yellow cake mix in my pantry. I like adding different flavors to them to see what I can come up with. Tonight I baked another banana cake and this one is FANTASTIC!! It's SUPER moist and it smelled sooooooooooooooooooooo good while it was baking that everyone in the house talked about it.

Unfortunately, my kids had to be in bed before it could cool down all the way...so yes, they were extremely disappointed! OH WELL...there's always after school tomorrow!!

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix (the one with pudding in it...which brand doesn't matter)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons all-spice
1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3 small ones...or 2 medium ones)

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Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray bundt pan with cooking oil and lightly dust with cinnamon sugar. Flour leaves that icky white dust all over it...and cinnamon sugar makes a nice sugary crust without the "dust". Combine all ingredients and bake for 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes and frost once it's cooled completely.

I like to use cream cheese frosting...whatever is cheap at the store! I prefer the whipped version because it works better. I just put about a cup of frosting into a snack size ziplock, seal and snip off the tip of a corner...and then I pretend to be a pastry chef! HAHAHAHA!!

Enjoy!

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Asian Flair! Feed your family for under $22!

All things are possible. With the rising cost of food, the media has reported that companies like McDonald's has been making a KILLING with YOUR hard earned money. So let me ask...do you think eating McDonald's everyday is healthy? I try to resist the urge to give my kids fast food unless I'm rewarding them for something. Let's face it, as much as I enjoy eating out...I'd much rather eat something that I KNOW is healthy and I KNOW it's good for my entire family.

You can easily spend $22 at Mickey Dee's and get some fat and calorie filled junk food...or you can spend that same money on something that's healthy and that tastes great!

Now, I've posted before about my love for Fresh & Easy. Keep in mind the prices I'm posting are the actual prices of the items I've purchased there. These prices might vary from your local markets like Whole Foods, Sprouts, or Trader Joe's.

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry, Steamed Rice and Chicken & Veggie Pot Stickers



2 - 16oz bags of Frozen Stir Fry Vegetables @ $1.69 each
1.75lbs of skinless, boneless chicken breast meat @ $5.17
1 bottle of Soy Vay's Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce - $3.79 (or your favorite Teriyaki sauce)
1 - 2lb bag of calrose rice @ $1.65
1 large bag of chicken and vegetable pot stickers @ $7.49 (I actually got this at my local Korean grocer - I already had this in my freezer)
You can get frozen pot stickers at Trader Joe's for 1/2 the cost!

Add that up...that's $21.48! My entire family ate (minus the baby of course and I have enough left overs for 2 more meals!)


Directions:

Cut the chicken into small strips or chunks. Pour about a cup of the teri sauce over the chicken and allow it to marinate in a bowl for about 10 minutes. Of course the longer it marinates, the more flavorful it'll be...but I like to prepare things as quickly as possible...and it's just not that serious sometimes! Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and saute the chicken until it's no longer pink. Add both bags of stir fry veggies and cover. Let it cook on a medium high flame for about 10 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, you should have your rice cooking too. The secret to a perfect pot of rice is FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS!! Too much water will make your rice mushy. Not enough water will make your rice hard...and who wants crunchy rice? Eww...

Pour the remaining amount of teri sauce over the veggies and mix (as well as you can). I usually add about 1/4 cup of cold water to 2 tablespoons of corn starch to the sauce to thicken it up (because the veggies are frozen and retain lots of water on their own). Who wants soupy teri stir fry? YUCK!



Mix the corn starch and water in a small cup and just pour it in the skillet. Turn up the heat as mix. The sauce will begin to thicken. I know it'll seem like a lot of sauce, but trust me...the sauce over rice is WICKED!!! And I don't really DO soy sauce on white rice. Funny...I'm half Chinese and I don't like soy sauce! That's like being American and not liking ketchup!



I used oyster sauce (that brown goop on my plate) to go with the pot stickers ...which I deep fried (straight from the freezer until they were golden brown). I had a mean craving for oyster sauce last night...must be the Chinese in me!!

Enjoy!

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Chicken Salad the NEW tuna

I know I haven't blogged in a while...I've been consumed with my love of Facebook and I'm in the middle of trying to get myself into nursing school...so please forgive my absence.

I make this sometimes when I can't bring myself to pay the extra for albacore tuna. Ever since I started eating albacore, I haven't looked back and regular chunk tuna...the stinky stuff (as I like to call it). My family had been eating chicken salad sandwiches for 3 days and they all thought they were eating tuna until I told them it was CHICKEN!!

Ingredients:

1 apple (any kind) diced
2 celery stalks (chopped)
3 cans of chunk white chicken meat
2 cups of light mayo
1 tablespoon of dill weed
Salt and Pepper to taste

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Directions:

Pretend like you're making tuna...dice up one apple and chop the celery. I know you must think that the apple is a strange ingredient, but trust me...it gives the salad a nice flavor. Break up the chicken with a fork, add mayo and seasonings...mix well. I use the dill weed to substitute relish...for this dish AND tuna (because I don't particularly care for the little pickle pieces). It gives off the same flavor without the actual pickle pieces (which kinda makes me wanna gag just thinking about it!!) It's THAT easy!!









Enjoy!

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