Chili and Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 small cans of tomato soup (1.20 w/ coupon)

1 15oz can of tomato sauce (.57)

1/2lb ground beef (.75)

1 pack of taco seasoning (.50)

1 can of sweet corn (.57)

2 can of kidney beans (.40)

1 pack of jiffy cornbread mix (.48 on sale)

1 egg (.10)

1/3 cup of milk (.35)

Directions:

1. Brown your beef and set aside.

2. In large saucepan combine tomato soup, tomato sauce, ground beef, and corn and taco seasoning and let it simmer for an hour on low. Add a cup of water about halfway through to help make it a little more soupy.

3. While chili is simmering, make cornbread according to box.

Serve hot on a chilly night, perfect!

Total cost of meal: $4.92

Cube Steak Parmesan

This meal was top notch! My husband immediately told me to put it on our normal rotation because he liked it so much. The best part? Cube steak is a really affordable meat!

Ingredients:

2 cube steaks: $2.10

1 can tomato sauce (15 oz): .57

1/2 cup bread crumbs: .05

1 egg whisked: .10

1 tbs of olive oil .05

1/2 cup of shredded parm. cheese: .55

1/2 cup of moz. cheese: .55

1 cup of frozen corn: .30

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Take cube steaks, dip them in the egg and then dip in the bread crumbs and parm cheese.

2. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat and add the steaks. Brown them (takes about 5 mins per side)

3. Put steaks in a baking dish, sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs/parm cheese and then cover with tomato sauce and moz. cheese. Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is sizzling.

4. Heat frozen corn (or canned corn) to serve on the side.

Total cost of meal: $4.07

Garlic Chicken with Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts (3.00)

1 tbs minced garlic (.05)

2 tbs vegetable oil (.03)

2 tbs butter (.05)

1 cup of rice (.20)

1 can cream of mushroom (.50)

1 can cream of chicken (.50)

1 small can of peas (.37)

Directions:

1. In skillet, heat oil, butter and garlic. Add chicken. Cook chicken on both sides until the juices run clear (or you cut one open and there is no pink)--this takes about 10 mins on each side.

2. While you are doing this, cook your rice. 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water on stovetop until rice soaks water up.

3. Take chicken out and set aside.

4. Rinse your skillet (but only with water, you want some leftover traces of the mixture for flavoring) and place the rice, the cream of chicken and mushroom soup and the peas in. Let it sit for 5 mins on medium heat.

5. Throw the rice over the chicken and you're ready to serve!

Total cost of meal: $4.70

Oven Fried Chicken

This is a super simple recipe that yields great results! I pair it with some baked new potatoes and it is delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayo (.40)

1/2 cup milk (.20)

1 egg (.10)

1 cup bread crumbs (.05)

4-6 chicken legs (1.40)

4 new potatoes (cubed) (.85)

2 tbs olive oil (.05)

2 tbs garlic salt (.02)--I really do figure out about how much it'll cost per tablespoon!

2 tbs pepper (.02)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

1. Cut up your potatoes and place them in a baking dish, cover with olive oil, garlic salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Mix mayo and milk. Whisk egg in a separate bowl and put aside.

3. Dip chicken into mayo/milk mixture, dip it into the egg and then run it through the bread crumbs.

4. Stick your chicken and your potatoes in the oven for an hour.

Total cost of meal: $3.09

Monday Meal Planning

Meal Plan:

Sunday 11/8: Garlic Chicken w/ Rice Casserole

Monday 11/9: Tacoroni and Cheese

Tuesday 11/10: Chili and Cornbread

Wednesday 11/11: Apricot Chicken

Thursday 11/12: Pot Roast

Friday 11/13: Pepperoni Pizza

Saturday: Leftovers or breakfast

Sunday: Burgers

Here's the grocery list if you want to follow my recipes this week:

Meats:

4 Chicken Breasts

3 lbs of ground beef

1 Beef Roast (this will depend on how many you want to feed, I usually get a really small one and it feeds about 4)

Pepperoni

Pastas/Rice/Breads:

Elbow Macaroni

Rice (you'll need 3 cups so a small bag does it)

Hamburger Buns

1 Box of Jiffy Cornbread mix

Veggies/fruits/canned goods:

1 can of peas

1 lb bag of potatoes

1 can Rotel

1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)

1 can tomato sauce (4 oz)

Small jar of apricot preserves

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken

1 Onion

Cheese:

1 bag of shredded cheddar

1 bag of shredded moz. cheese

Pantry ingredients (these I typically already have on hand):

Vegetable oil

Olive Oil

Minced Garlic

Butter

Onion dip mix

Frugal Friday: Money Saving Tips

Frugal Friday tip: know where to shop and when.

This week is my favorite week at Harris Teeter. It's their triple coupon week. That means any of my coupons worth 99 cents and under are tripled at checkout. This is the week that I stock up on things that I use a LOT in our house (baby wipes, cleaning products, flour, sugar, etc.). I start by sitting with my coupon book and pulling out all of the coupons under $1 and then look through them to determine the things I NEED and the things that can be stocked (I don't buy things that I don't need just because I get the triple coupon--for example, I had a coupon for ketchup that would have made the ketchup like .10, but right now we have a massive bottle in the fridge and don't have room to store another so it didn't make sense to get that even though there was a great deal).

I then make a grocery list based on the coupons I have (meaning, I go to the store with two lists- one with all of my coupon items and another with the other items I need for the week). I don't go until the baby is up from her long nap so that she's in good spirits the whole time--this is all part of the planning process because these trips are longer than my average grocery trips. We head out when she gets up, stop at sonic for my diet coke and then go to the grocery store. This week I tendered $37.18 in coupons. I made our family that money because the stuff we got with them is stuff we need in our household and would have to buy anyway, even if I need to get it full price.

A year ago, I never would have even tried to use coupons. The thought of it was too daunting. Now, I actually enjoy searching for the coupons and seeing my total drop as they scan them in at the store. It's amazing how much your mindset can change when you decide to live on a budget! What's your FF tip?

Note Taking November

So, I made it through the first week of November without grocery shopping! Try that sometime, it's a really fun challenge. We call it "clean out the pantry" weeks and just do dinners/lunches from things we have left in the fridge and the pantry. I keep ours pretty well stocked so we usually can still get some good meals from it.

Anyway, I DID go to the grocery store yesterday and am pleased to report that all went well and I didn't over spend. My total grocery bill was $54.56 and of that $5.50 was household cleaning products and I don't count those in my food budget for the month so the grand total was $49.06! Here's the amazing part: I tendered $37.19 in coupons (check out my Frugal Friday post to find out how)!