Chicken & Goat Cheese Salad

 

Recipe by Josephine Donnally

This recipe utilizes the rest of the rotisserie chicken I bought in my haul for $4.97. The splurge here was on the goat cheese (small amount for $3.97) and the pecans ($3.47). However, once all of these flavors are mixed you can't go wrong. I preferred a raspberry vinaigrette, but any kind of flavored dressing will work. Just depends upon your preference. You can enjoy this for a nice lunch or it is hearty enough to have for a dinner as well. Enjoy!!

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Baked Chicken Tacos

     

Recipe adapted by Josephine - original recipe from Becky at The Cookie Rookie (https://www.thecookierookie.com/chicken-tacos/)

For this meal you are going to need a rotisserie chicken. I prefer to buy the regular, unseasoned chickens because I know I am going to doctor up the meat with seasonings for these tacos. The rest of the meat is perfect for salads and snacking during the week (oh, and Sadie gets a little bit as well). In my last haul I found a rotisserie chicken for $4.97 and when I got home I took all of the meat off the bone and put it in a container. While you can use taco seasoning for this recipe, I make my own which is way healthier and has less sodium. Up to you and your schedule. You can also determine the level of heat you want in your tacos by using various levels of Rotel. I used the original which I bought for $1.32. The absolute key to this dish is to use the stand up taco shells which I bought for $2.00. Using whichever type of refried beans you want, I recommend getting the larger can and using half of the can for the tacos and serving the rest as a side. The La Costana refried black beans I got were $1.63. I added my own salsa that I had previously and fresh queso fresco and chopped cilantro. This is such an easy and delicious meal to change up your Taco Tuesday a bit!!

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Easy and Simple French Bread Pizza

Recipe from Courtney at Full Hearted Home (https://thefullheartedhome.com/easy-simple-french-bread-pizza/)

Tonight's meal used the other half of the meat sauce from the spaghetti made last night. In my grocery haul, I decided to buy a loaf of French bread which I found in the bakery section for $1.01 and cut in half to make more pizza. I had also bought a 2 lb. bag of grated mozzarella for $3.48 along with some pepperoni which I found for $2.88. There was still half a bag of pepperoni left which makes for a nice snack (my little Sadie cat got treated to a sliver of the pepperoni as well). Overall this recipe was extremely easy to make. You can use whichever type of sauce you like and of course add more toppings to cater to your taste buds. The key to this is to bake your bread with some olive oil for 5 minutes BEFORE you add the sauce and toppings. Also, for that extra crunch, I recommend broiling the pizza for about 2 minutes after baking - the recipe also states this. This is a nice hearty meal and can be reheated another day for a lunch or served with a small salad, The sky is the limit here so feel free to get creative!!

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Angel Hair Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Sunday evenings have traditionally been a family-style meal of some sort in my past, so I thought why not continue the tradition even though I live alone? I decided to make a big pot of my homemade sauce (sorry, but I have not gotten to the point where I can jot down the recipe as I simply just make it out of habit and by taste so do not have precise measurements to offer at this time). Once the sauce was complete and had simmered for about an hour or so, I boiled some angel hair pasta and cooked al dente. I used angel hair because my preference is to have a very thin pasta with a heavy meat sauce. You can also use a vermicelli or a thin spaghetti noodle. I mixed about half of the sauce with the cooked pasta. I made enough pasta to have a portion for dinner and then another portion to put in the fridge to have for lunch later this week at work.The other half of the sauce I placed into a plastic container to reserve for the next evening's meal...French Bread pizza. If you have a large family, one pot of sauce and a package of noodles will feed your entire crew. Top with a little Parmesan and serve with a small side salad or garlic bread and you have a complete Italian dinner.

Banana Pancakes

 

Recipe from Peral Milling Company (https://www.pearlmillingcompany.com/recipes/banana_pancakes_with_maple_butter)

Sunday mornings in this house are made for cooking and cleaning to get ready for the week. I decided to use some of the bananas that I got at the store for $0.57/lb. I only used one banana and made 2 medium-small pancakes. The addition of the cinnamon and nutmeg made this a light and flavorful Fall morning breakfast. I didn't make the maple butter in the recipe, but have batter left over so will make another batch of pancakes to use for breakfast one day this week. Was very happy with how these turned out...will definitely be making these again.

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Mexican Street Corn Chicken

 

Recipe from Kimber Matherne at Easy Family Recipes

(https://easyfamilyrecipes.com/mexican-street-corn-chicken/)

For the first recipe from my Walmart haul, I decided to try a recipe I had stumbled upon while searching for a good elote recipe. I thought this sounded really interesting, so I gave it a try and took it to my friend's work where I was able to share it with others (that made me happy). With the price of meats being so high, I found a package of 3 large chicken breasts for $8.47 and only used 2 of them for this dish. They were large enough that I could split them in half which allowed for 4 pieces of chicken. I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, and cumin. I used frozen corn to make the elote ($0.98/bag) and used sour cream and Mexican crema ($3.27) instead of mayonnaise. While the chicken was baking, I boiled some rice I bought (2 lbs. for $1.77) and then added a can of La Costena black beans ($1.63). Before serving, I added the cilantro and garnished with half of a round of Queso Fresco ($2.88). Overall, I think this was a successful dish made under $6 and worth making again. 

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I'm Back and Starting with a Walmart Grocery Haul

After what appears to be a 2 year hiatus from this blog, I feel that it is time to return to what I love to do in my spare time...cook. Don't get me wrong, I have been cooking in the past 2 years and taking photos of my food while posting them on Instagram (@JosieCatTX). However, after having many conversations with good friends who also like to cook, they encouraged me to get back at it and write about my experiences with each recipe. 

With the economy the way it is currently and prices being so high, this teacher who already has to pinch every penny decided to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning meal planning and then searching for the best bargin store to get all of my ingredients. I watched a few videos on YouTube of people who documented their hauls at various markets and stores which drove me to the goal of $50/week for my meals. While it seemed a bit challenging, after doing my own research I decided upon Walmart for my haul. My meal planning was stretched out for 2 and 1/2 weeks factoring in the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. So I'm super excited to share my recipes with you and keep you updated on more deals that I find. So here we go...