Week 1: Shopping List and Recipes

I have some exciting news to announce-- I will now be posting all of my weekly meal plans, complete with shopping lists and delicious, healthy, and affordable recipes! The cost of the meals ranges from $5.00-$7.00 each and will feed a family of 4-6 people! Bear with me though, I wish I could provide you with nicely formatted lists and recipes that you could download but I just have Wordpad right now so I will be posting them directly on the blog. As soon as I am able to get Microsoft Word I will supply them in a nicer, downloadable, format :) Feel free to copy, paste, reformat, and print, for your personal use. My goal is to help you keep your grocery costs down! Enjoy!

Shopping List: Week 1

*Numbers in parentheses represent the corresponding meal

Meat/ Deli

(1,4) 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

(4,5) 1 pkg. turkey bacon

(7) 8 oz sliced roast beef

Fresh Produce

(4,5) 1 bundle green onions

(5) 2.5 pounds russet potatoes

(5) 1 small yellow onion

(6) 2 avocados

(6) 2 roma tomatoes

Canned/Packaged
(1) 10 oz pineapple (crushed or chunks)

(1,4) 1 bottle BBQ Sauce

(2) 2- 8.5 oz boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix

(2) 2 cans chili

(3) 1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce (four cheese)

(4) 1-14 oz. can tomatoes with green chilies added

(5) 32 ounces (4 cups) chicken stock or broth

(6) 1 can (16 oz.) refried pinto beans

(6) 1 taco seasoning packet

(6) 1 can black olives

(6) 6-8 flour tortillas

(7) 1 packet Ajus sauce mix


Refrigerated

(2,4,5,6) 4 cups Colby cheese

(2,5,6) 16 oz light sour cream

(5) 8 oz fat-free cream cheese, softened

(7) 1 package sliced provolone/swiss cheese

Frozen
(1) 1 small bag mixed veggies
(3) 1 pkg. pre-made cheesy ravioli

 
Bakery
(3,7) 2 loaves french bread

 
Optional
Strawberries, grapes, or other fruit to use as sides.

　

Staples
Eggs, milk, minced garlic, rice, salt, pepper


(My total for all of the ingredients listed here including the optional fruit was about $48.00. That comes out to be about $6.86 per meal.)

Recipes: Week 1

Meal 1: Barbecue Pineapple Chicken (Slow Cooker)

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
10 oz pineapple, drained
1 cup BBQ Sauce
*1/2 tsp of Crushed Red Pepper (optional - see tip below)
3 cups cooked rice
2 cups mixed veggies

Directions
Spray crock-pot with non stick cooking spray. Place chicken breast on bottom of crock-pot. Mix BBQ sauce, pineapple and crushed red pepper together, pour over chicken. Cook on high for approximately 5 hours or until tender. Shred the chicken. Enjoy over rice with steamed veggies.

*Tips: The crushed red pepper makes it a little spicy/hot. If you don't care for spicy, reduce the amount of red pepper to 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon, or just skip the red pepper.

Meal 2: Cornbread Chili Waffles

2- 8.5 oz boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese 2 large eggs 2/3 cup milk cooking spray 2 cans chili Additional cheese, sour cream, green onion, ect. for toppings

Directions
Blend together cornbread mix, eggs, and milk. Stir in cheese. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray. Spoon batter onto preheated waffle iron. Cook 3-5 minutes or until crisp and done. Repeat with remaining batter. Transfer waffles to a baking sheet, and keep warm, uncovered, in the oven at 200° until ready to serve. Waffles can be frozen in zip-top freezer bags and reheated in oven or toaster oven.　

Serve with fruit or other desired side

Meal 3: Tomato-Ravioli

1 pkg. pre-made cheesy ravioli (great value)
1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce (four cheese)
1 loaf french bread

　
Directions
Cook the ravioli according to package directions. Drain, return to pan, add sauce, and heat to warm. Serve with french bread.　

Meal 4: Monterey Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. BBQ sauce
1/4 c. bacon bits (I use cut up turkey bacon)
1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded
1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (canned with green chilies added)
sliced green onions
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink (we used our George Foreman grill) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with one tablespoon bar-b-que sauce, 1/4 c. cheese, 1/4 c. tomatoes, green onions and one tablespoon of bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

Serve with fruit or other desired side.　

Meal 5:Baked Potato Soup (Slow Cooker)

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small yellow onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
32 ounces (4 cups) chicken stock or broth
8 oz fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

Directions
Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning, and chicken stock to slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours. Add the softened cream cheese and stir to incorporate.
Top with green onions, bacon bits, sour cream etc.

Meal 6: Seven-Layer Tostadas

1 can (16 oz.) refried pinto beans
1 1/2 cups mashed avocado (seasoned as desired)
1 cup light sour cream
1/2 tsp. taco seasoning 1 cup finely grated cheese 1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup sliced black olives
6-8 tortillas
olive oil for greasing baking sheet, about 1 tsp.

Directions
Place a baking sheet inside the oven and let it get hot while you preheat oven to 450 degrees, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove baking sheet, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on it and spread around with a paper towel, and put flour tortillas on the baking sheet. Toast tortillas in the oven until they're crisp and barely starting to brown, turning several times. This will take less than 5 minutes so watch them carefully.

While tortillas are crisping, put the refried beans in a bowl, stir to break them apart, and microwave 2-3 minutes, or until they're hot. Stir the Taco Seasoning Mix into the sour cream. Chop the onions, slice green onions, and slice the olives.

Put crisped tortilla shell on a plate and top with:
--a thin layer of refried beans (1-2 tablespoons)
--a thin layer of guacamole (1-2 tablespoons)
--a thin layer of seasoned sour cream (1-2 tablespoons)
--several generous pinches of finely grated low-fat cheese
--chopped tomatoes
--thinly sliced green onions
--sliced olives

Serve right away, with salsa or hot sauce if desired. You can keep the topping ingredients in the fridge and crisp more tortillas later to use any leftovers.

　
Meal 7: French Dip Sandwiches with French Fries

1 loaf french bread
16 oz sliced roast beef
sliced swiss/provolone cheese
1 packet Ajus' sauce mix
4-6 potatoes

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice potatoes into long strips. In large zip-lock, mix together 2 tbsp oil and desired seasonings (I use garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.) Toss fries to coat. Place on greased baking sheet or line with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Slice french bread in half lengthwise. Layer roast beef and sliced cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 7 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Prepared Ajus according to package directions for dipping and serve with fries.