Creamy Swiss Chicken

4 chicken breast

1 can cream chicken soup

1/2 soup can of milk

4 swiss cheese slices

"stuffing" or Dressing Croutons crushed

1/2 stick Melted butter

Place chicken in bottom of baking dish, lay cheese slices on top of chicken, blend soup and milk and pour over chicken. Sprinkle a liberal amount of crushed croutons over top and drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 45 min-1hr

As most I try to buy items when they are on sale. One thing I have done for years is when ground beef is on sale I buy a multitude. I take it home and brown it at one time, then divide into equal portions in ziplock bags and pop them into the freezer, when I want to make, spaghetti,chili, tacos, hamburger helper the list is endless. The hamburger is already prepared, it thaws in a fraction of the time and I don't have all the mess of frying as it's already done.My friend adds seasoning to hers when she frys it up I don't as I use different seasonings depending on what I'm making.

Bottom Dollar Food or Aldi's always had ground turkey cheap.....plus turkey is cheaper than beef right now

I like this dish, but I add red pepper flakes to give it a kick!

 

(I was trying to reply to the spaghetti noodles with butter & parmesan)

Me and my husband make a ground turkey dish. Not sure of the price, but it's cheap! Brown ground turkey in a skillet, add taco seasoning (I use a homemade mix of spices that I found on Pinterest ). Add chopped onion, bell pepper, garlic, kidney beans, black beans, corn, mushrooms, anything you want. I like to add sliced olives toward the end. As far as the amount, I just start tossing things in until it looks like a good amount of veggies. You can put it in a tortilla also. I always make a lot because it makes good leftovers!

We have a very tight food budget, so many of my meals are under $5. I feed two adults and two small children.

 

I buy bread crumbs, plain, when they are B1G1. Also, a local IGA often has deals on pork loin and chicken breast. When their pork loin goes on sale for $1.99, I buy a whole one. We slice it into chops (nice thick ones), a roast, thin slices, and the short end pieces go into a stirfry.

 

With the thin ones we make "faux veal cutlets"-dredge the thin slices in seasoned flour, then in an egg wash and then bread crumbs. Fry in a little oil. I serve it with boxed rice I get free or under a $1 and frozen broccoli. The store brand broccoli is only $1.65 for the florets. I buy alot of veggies frozen because they don't turn to liquid in my veggie drawer!

 

With the roast, I heavily season it with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and then sear it in 2 tbls of olive oil on all sides. Plop it into the crock pot with broth up to halfway and either a kid-size applesauce or a whole sliced apple. In the hot pan, I also saute a sliced onion, some chopped garlic for a couple of minutes and then add 2 tbls. of cider vinegar. Dump over pork and cook in the crockpot for 6-8 hours. Makes delicious pulled pork sandwiches!

 

As I mentioned before our store also has deals on chicken breast, boneless, for $1.69 a pound. You have to buy 10 pounds and its all thrown into one bag (yuck) but I trim it into breast and chicken fingers. I make the chicken fingers like the faux veal. The breasts are good for almost any preparation. If I can find a deal on salad, I will grill it with different spices and put it on the salad.

 

Kielbasa and frozen pierogies with a side of frozen veg. I slice the kielbasa on an angle into pieces and then sear if off in butter.

 

Ravioli lasagna. I buy the ravioli on sale. Boil ravioli, but a couple minutes shy of done. Drain. You put sauce at the bottom of a baking dish and spread it. Arrange one layer of ravioli on top. Spread more sauce and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the layer. Add another layer of ravioli. Spread more sauce and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the layer. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the cheese bubbles. The ricotta is already in the ravioli, so that saves $$$.

 

Of course, my favorite cheap meal is noodles with parmesan cheese and peas!

I am a devoted "Aldi Food Store" shopper!  This chain of stores was featured in a Food Network show once. 

They have only their store brands to display so instead of 5 companies selling their versions of 'original', 'mushroom', 'meat', 'cheese' Pasta Sauces (which a grocery store needs to pay for shelving, lights, heat & A/C for that large of display area for...), Aldi just has a small section of Pasta sauces. 

Such a simple idea... Savings for us as shoppers!

SO ~  That is MY #1 budget saving idea - shop at Aldi!  (I do hope everyone has one within a reasonable drive for a once a month shopping trip!  Bring your reusable shopping bags!  They sell sacks & encourage people to use their own bags or pack up in empty boxes found within the store)  (Oh & have a quarter to "check out" a shopping cart - you return it to get your coin back - see?  MORE savings passed on to us by not hiring staff to round up stray carts from the parking lot!)

 

OK - Here is my meal idea:

(sorry, I have not figured the cost)

 

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

1 can diced tomatoes + juice

1 pkg Stuffing Mix, Chicken Flavor

1/2 C Water

2 tsp of jarred minced Garlic

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite-size while still slightly frozen (easier to cut)

1 tsp dried basil

1 C shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 400.  Place tomatoes +juice in a medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, water and garlic.  Stir until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside.

No Stick spray a 9x13 baking dish. Place chicken into bottom; sprinkle with basil and then with cheese.  Top with the stuffing mixture.

Bake 30 min.  Makes 6 servings.

 

I serve with a tossed salad with Italian dressing as a starter, and with steamed broccoli as a side.

 

SO yummy!  One of my Hubby's, our teen son, & our 8 yr old son favorites!  

Every thing can be purchased at Aldi Food Store at about 1/2 the cost compared to the local "Kroger/Dillons" here in Wichita, Kansas.

PLAIN & SIMPLE CHILI - 1 lb. ground beef, chicken, or turkey (cooked & drained), 2 cans of tomato soup (whatevers on sale), 2 cans of dark red kidney beans (including liquid), & chili powder (add to taste). You can add other ingredients from your garden or whatever items you already have in the kitchen. Cook & drain ground meat. Put all ingredients in a pot & simmer until hot.

 

NACHO POTATOES - 1 lb. ground beef, chicken, or turkey (cooked & drained), 1 can cheddar cheese soup (whatevers on sale), 1/2 cup salsa (cheap brand), 4 large potatoes (baked). Mix ground meat, cheese soup, & salsa together. Bake potatoes. Serve mixture on top of baked potatoes. We, also, like to put sour cream or ranch on top.

I haven't read all the posts, but (cooking for two here) some of our favorites are:

 

Sloppy Joe's - 1 lb. hamburger meat (less than $.50 on sale) + sloppy joe mix (in a can) (about $.75) + buns (maybe $2?) = cheap, easy dinner!

 

Appetizer dinner - I usually make this with what we have on hand - I buy 3 lb. bags of pepperoni slices from Sam's (they last for months!) - take crescent rolls (about $1 for 8), roll them out into the triangles, then add 5 pepperoni slices and half of a string cheese stick (bought in bulk - about 48 sticks for $8-9), then roll it up, sprinkle garlic powder on it, and then cook according to the crescent roll instructions.  Warm up some pizza sauce (you can make your own with spices - on hand - and tomato sauce - about $.50!) and serve.  I also will pop some popcorn (olive oil - about $7 for a bottle that lasts for months, so I usually have this on hand - and kernels - maybe $4, and this also lasts for months = healthy and filling) and will serve cheese (block cheese - a lb. for $4 at Sam's) and crackers (a box of 4 stacks of Ritz for $5 at Sam's).  Enough to feed several!

 

Spaghetti or lasagna roll-ups - this is a big one in our house!  We buy the big 10 can of spaghetti sauce from Sam's (about $7 - lasts for about 3-4 meals) and then add to it (spices, onion, minced fresh garlic, and meat) when I make spaghetti.  If you want to mix it up with lasagna stuff, just make the spaghetti sauce (using 1 lb of ground meat - sausage, beef, or turkey - the same way you would with the spaghetti sauce, just make it a little thicker), cook some lasagna noodles, and "stuff and roll" the sauce into the noodles.  You have a layer of straight sauce (no additions, straight from the can), put the now-rolled lasagna noodles down, and then top it with more sauce and some shredded cheese - cook in the oven for about 15 minutes and then you have a cross between spaghetti and lasagna.

 

Fish and rice - tilapia (I got 3 bags for the cost of 1!), crusted in parmesan cheese (that we already had) and baked, and made rice (got a 25 lb bag for less than $15 from Sam's!).

 

Beef Stew - 1 lb of stew beef (I only get this when it's on sale - actually, I usually just get straight steak when it's on sale and then cut it up myself - then I can cut strips for fajitas or cubes for stew (or both!), green beans, carrots, onion, celery, beef broth, and spices - I usually have all of this on hand!  Just let it stew in the crockpot all day and come home to dinner ready!

 

Burritos - 1 lb ground meat, rice from Sam's (see above) with spices - crushed red pepper flakes and cilantro, taco seasoning, and spinach, cut tomatoes, cheese, and tortillas (we usually have all of this on hand).

 

Baked Potatoes - baked russet potatoes with chili (from a can), cheese, and bacon bits on top

I saw $1.99 a pound for burger and rolled my eyes. Then I saw it was a post from 2008. ;)