One Dish Meal: Bruschetta Chicken Bake

Bruschetta Chicken Bake
6 Servings
 
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6-ounce) package chicken stuffing
1/2 cup water
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 cup (2 percent) reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400.  Mix together tomatoes, stuffing, water and garlic until moist.  Layer chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing mix in a 3 qt baking dish.  Bake 30 minutes

Nutrition info:
7 WW Points
300 calories; 7 grams total fat (2.5 grams saturated); 75 milligrams cholesterol; 2 grams dietary fiber, 710 milligrams sodium, 26 grams carbohydrates.
Source: www.kraftfoods.com

Make Your Own Mixes - Muffin Mix

Packaged foods are super convenient, but can be costly.  A great way to save money is to make your own mixes ahead of time.

I've been using a recipe for my own muffin mix for years.

Make Your Own Muffin Mix
(When prepared, makes about 4 dozen medium muffins)

4  Cups Whole Wheat Flour
4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3 Cups Sugar
3 TBSP Baking Powder
2 TSP Salt
2 TSP Nutmeg
2 TSP Cinnamon

Pour everything into your air-tight container, put the lid on and shake really hard to mix together. 

To Prepare, Use:

2 & 3/4 Cups of Mix,
1 Cup of Milk
1 Egg
1/2 Cup of Oil or Melted Butter/Margarine
Add 1 Cup frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, or other fillers as desired. 

Mix together and pour into muffin cups.  Bake @ 400 for 15 Minutes or until done.

As you can see, I wrote this on my container with a permanent marker so it's always handy!

Eats at the Dollar Tree

Dollar Trees are adding more to their food sections.    My local store just added a freezer and refrigerated section.  In this economy, it's really helpful. 



Diced Tomatoes, Red Kidney Beans, Rice, Smoke Sausage $1 each. $4 will make you a big pot of red beans & rice with sausage.

$1 for Shells & Cheese Dinner.  Compare it to Velveeta & Shells.  Has sauce pouch - no milk or butter needed to maked this.  Add the $1 Vienna bites and you have some hotdogs & macaroni for the kids for $2.  This fed my 3 kids for lunch.  










$1 Frozen Italian Breadsticks,
$1 can of Spaghetti Sauce
$1 each for 2 packages meatballs (2 servings each)
Dollar Tree has $1 Noodles but I already had FREE Ronzoni Healthy Harvest from using coupons in my pantry.  $4 or $5 is not bad for a spaghetti dinner with meatballs and breadsticks.

 $1 Bag of Frozen Fries.
$1 Cans of chili - I bought 2
$1 Bags of Real Cheese - I bought 2 because they are only 3/4 cup size.  They did have larger bags that were processed cheese shreds

Chili Cheese Fries.  Fed me, 3 kids and a niece for $5




$1 Box of Quick Oats
$1 can of peaches
add some milk

$1 Pancake Mix
$1 Syrup

Have a nice breakfast of pancakes or peaches & cream oatmeal super cheap!


Don't forget your treats!  These were $1 each. They are not complete mixes so you have to add egg/water/oil






 Find your local Dollar Tree: http://www.dollartree.com/custserv/locate_store.cmd

Use Leftovers... Don't Throw Your Money Away!

Some people run at the mere mention of leftovers.  But, with a little creativity, you can have a great meal from your leftovers.

This evening, I found some salad that was about to go bad, some leftover flank steak and some onions and bell peppers I needed to use.

I sliced and sauteed the bell peppers and onions in a frying pan, then sliced the flank steak real thin and tossed it in.  At this point, I could put it on buns with cheese and mayo and make some Philly Steak Sandwiches but that wouldn't help me with my salad problem..


What I made instead was Philly Steak Salad!  I just tossed my steak & veggies on top of the salad, mixed  a couple tablespoons of mayo and about 1/2 tsp minced garlic together in a bow and used it as my dressing, then sprinkled some cheddar on top and have a yummy salad that tastes like a Philly Steak Sandwich without the white bread carbs.

Philly Steak Salad

1 Bell Pepper, sliced into strips
1 Small Onion, sliced into strips
1 TBSP Olive OIl
Leftover Steak - about 6 oz, sliced thinly
2 Cups of Salad Greens
2 TBSP of Mayo + 1/2 tsp minced garlic for dressing
Handful of Cheese for topping

Saute Onions & Pepper in olive oil until softened, and add steak until warm.   Toss mixture onto salad and top with dressing and cheese.

Beans and Rice... Rice and Beans

I love the Dave Ramsey show and one thing he jokes a lot about is going on a budget and eating "Beans and Rice, Rice and Beans."

It's true that beans and rice are two of the less expensive foods out there - at my local Wal Mart, I can buy a pound of dried beans for $.97!  One bag of dried beans equals 12 servings!!

This is one of my favorite and EASIEST recipes for beans.

Navy Bean Soup

  

• 1 pound  (16 oz) package dried navy beans
• 2 onions, chopped

• 1 small 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 ham hocks OR leftover chopped ham (You can even substitute bacon if that's all you have on hand)

Rinse and drain beans.  Dump everything in a pot. Cover with water.  Heat to boil and then let it simmer on low to medium heat until the beans are tender.  Add a little pepper, if desired and enjoy.  

I like to have this with some corn bread.  YUM!!

p.s. You can do this in the crockpot, but make sure you soak the beans overnight first.