Chicken on the cheap!

Yesterday I popped into Food Lion to grab some stuff for my sicky father in law. You know, the usual...Gatorade, chicken noodle soup, saltines....and while I was there I noticed boneless skinless chicken breasts were on sale for an unheard of $1.79/lb. I grabbed 6 packages and came home with them. It was then, as I put my bounty into the fridge, that I began to wonder why I didn't get more. I mean, I got 5 packages of chicken for like $14......DUH! The sale ends on Tuesday nights at 10:00....so I made plans to scamper down there again today to stock up.

Today I went and got 7 more packages. I brought them in and began preparing them in the way that I mentioned in my cook-ahead post for chicken (Found on Moneywise Moms). I have found by trying this prep method a few times which way we use the most of the meat, so I devised my own plan.

I put 4 breasts in the crockpot with a can of tomatoes for shredded chicken tacos. This makes 2 meals for us as I usually end up cooking some ground turkey along with it to give my crew* a choice of tacos and enchiladas.

I put 4 breasts in the pot with a big spoon of garlic to boil and then dice up. My crew* loves my chicken casserole recipe, (I will post this for you) which is super easy and calls for a large can of precooked chicken, sort of like tuna. This is easy and quick, but costly too since a can of that stuff usually runs close to $3 and I always wonder what is really in it........

I took the other breasts and butterflied about half of them, making thin, neat and tidy chicken cutlets. Bread these babies in Italian bread crumbs and cook them in a tiny bit of olive oil for a super yummy and very fast dinner! The other half I trimmed up nice and neat and left them thick for grilling. (That way they don't dry out)

All of the little leftover bits got tossed into a zipper bag for soup or chicken "hamburger" helper.

It is all done, except the crockpot chicken which is making the house smell soooo good! Total time...with mom in law bagging and labeling? About 30 minutes. And guess what? Since we figured it up and we got 10 meals for our family* for about $25, Kathy went BACK to Food Lion to get more chicken!

*note: our family consists of two men with hearty appetites, two women and an 11 year old girl in a growth spurt who is eating everything in sight!

Easy Chicken and Rice
1 bag, about 1 lb. cooked chicken pieces
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 large spoonful mayonnaise
a handful of those french fried onions, the kind that go on green bean casserole

Mix all of this together and bake it about 30 minutes at 350. Top with another handful of the french fried onions and bake another five minutes or so to brown the little crispy onions. :)

This is VERY good...but I never promised it was healthy!!! I got this recipe from my good friend Ginger about 5 years ago and have been making it ever since!

Hmmm.........frugal living? Maybe not so much tonight!

Today is Friday. This is where my weeks worth of frugality and pinching pennies pays off. We are going out to eat tonight, probably at our traditional favorite little place, El Potro.

The restaurant is about 2 blocks from our house. We have gone there at least once a week for over 11 years. It is a very down to earth place, very basic, no frills. Just good food, good service, and lots of memories.

We usually get the buffet. It is offered Mon-Fri for lunch, Friday night, and Sunday lunch. Lunch is $6.35, dinner is $7.35. I love Mexican food, but usually it is very spicy. Not here. Of course they have spicy things on the menu, and will spice up anything you want, but the average choices are not spicy.

So why do I really, really love this place????
Let me list the reasons why.....

1. They have happy orange walls. Ok, maybe that is a stretch but the walls used to be a yucky aquamarine. The happy orange is much better.

2. The KNOW us there. As soon as our butts hit the cushion, our drinks are on the table. They remember, Diet Coke for me and my daughter, tea for the rest of the crew.

3.Also, since they know us, they know we do not like jalapenos in our cheese dip. Therefore, they make it for us. Fresh. No jalapenos. They are the only place in town that doesn't serve the canned queso. They make it fresh.

4. Since I don't eat red meat, they will make me 2 cheese enchiladas to go with the buffet at no charge.

5. The waiter (Gus) is tops. He is prompt, friendly, smiles a lot, always asks where someone is if one is missing from our party. He has also helped our daughter with Spanish homework.

6. They are fast. Food is muy rapido and mucho delicioso!!!!!

7. They like us. They really, really like us. They greet us as family, bring us samples of new stuff, and say they missed us if we don't go every week.

All this is to say, I love this place. It may not be the newest, shiniest, flashiest place but to us, it is home. There are at least 4 other Mexican places in our small town, but this is the only place for us.

A great frugal idea for your yard

My bloggy buddy Jamie over at From Dhuland...with love.....has some great ideas for frugal and eco friendly yard decor. Go check it out and tell her you read about it here on my blog! :)
http://savannahscrapbooking.typepad.com/savannah_scrapbooking/2009/03/trash-to-treasure.html

I am thinking....

I am thinking seriously about stopping this blog. Seems I am running out of ideas, and I don't seem to have much readership here. Any thoughts?