Cheddar Chowder

This was one of my favorite soups growing up. It's easy to make and a great way to use up odds and ends of vegetables in the fridge.


Cheddar Chowder
Ingredients:

2 cups diced potatoes	$0.30
3/4 cup chopped carrots	$0.25
1/2 cup diced celery	$0.13
1/4 cup chopped onion	$0.30
1 tsp. salt	minimal
1/4 tsp. pepper	minimal
2 cups water	FREE!
1/4 cup flour	$0.10
1/4 cup butter	$0.09
2 cups milk	$0.25
2 cups cheddar cheese	$3.68
1 cup cubed ham	$0.90

Add water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.

In a seperate sauce pan melt the butter. Stir in the milk when the butter is melted and then slowly whisk in the flour to prevent clumping. Add the ham and cheese. Heat on medium to a boil, and then mix it together with the other sauce pan.

Simmer until the soup reaches the consistency you want and serve!

Total cost: $6.00

Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas

In honor of Superbowl Sunday we made appetizers for dinner. Can you tell we are on a quesadilla kick? This is inspired by one of our favorite chip dips.


Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients:

12 medium tortillas	$0.95
1 pkg. cream cheese	$1.16
1 can chicken	$2.00
6 oz. cheese	$1.38
3 tbsp. hot sauce (or to taste)	$0.17

Place half of the tortillas on a baking sheet. Combine cream cheese, chicken and hot sauce (I used Louisiana Hot Sauce) in a pan on medium. When fully melted spoon the mixture onto the tortillas and spread evenly. Sprinkle cheese on top of the mixture and top with another tortilla. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy. Can be served with ranch and celery.

Quesadilla Cost: $6.13

Black Bean Quesadillas

My new goal is to cook one meatless meal each week. This week we tried black bean quesadillas. Original recipe found here.

Black Bean Quesadillas
Ingredients:

12 medium tortillas	$0.95
16 oz. black beans	$0.80
10 oz. corn	$0.69
8 oz. cheese	$1.84
1/2 cup salsa	$0.66
2 tbps. brown sugar	$0.06
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper	minimal

Combine black beans, corn, salsa, brown sugar, and ground red pepper in a pan and heat through.
Place 1/2 of the tortillas on a baking sheet and spoon bean mixture on each one. Spread evenly and sprinkle with cheese. Top with another tortilla and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy. Can be served with salsa and sour cream.

Quesadillas Cost: $5.00

We moved!

And we are now unemployed.

The new area is much cheaper though. Our grocery bill last week was only $46.xx and our rent is over 1/2 what it would cost for a similar place in our old town. Hopefully we find employment soon. Plus, it snowed 8 inches in our old town yesterday and it was still in the 60's here! That is great for the heat bill.

With all the unpacking and disorganization, I have tried to keep this week simple as far as food. We have ate:

Mac N Cheese and hot dogs
Fish Sticks
Turkey Pasta and peas
Grilled Cheese and tomato soup
Pizza
Burger King
Steak with the buffet at Ponderosa

Scary right? I think we've eaten maybe two vegetables this whole week and we've eaten out 3 nights. I unpacked our kitchen yesterday, so I'll be cooking again.

Cajun Chicken

Tonight's dinner was fried cajun chicken, ranch baby red potatoes, and creamed corn. I'm not a huge creamed corn fan, but I accidentally opened a can the other night so it needed to be used. I am willing to buy any vegetable that Mr. Cupcake is willing to eat.


And yes, I know how unhealthy this is. But it is sooo good and a little olive oil never hurt anyone.

Cajun Chicken
Ingredients:

16 oz. chicken breast	$2.32
1 cup flour	$0.38
cajun seasoning to taste	minimal
2 tbps. olive oil	$0.20

Mix flour and cajun seasoning together in a bowl. Cut chicken breasts into small pieces and roll in flour mixture. Pour oil into pan and fry chicken chunks on medium until crispy and no longer pink.

I usually flip them only twice so that the batter doesn't fall off the chicken. We like these dipped in ranch.

Ranch Potatoes
Ingredients:

1 lb. baby red potatoes	$1.48
2 tbsp. olive oil	$0.20
1 ranch seasoning packet	$0.75

Wash and quarter 1 lb. of baby red potatoes. Put in a Ziploc bag with 2 tbsp. olive oil and one packet of ranch seasoning. Shake until all potatoes are covered and place in a baking dish. Bake 35 minutes at 425 degrees.

Cajun Chicken cost: $2.90
Ranch Potatoes cost: $2.43
Creamed corn cost: $0.86
Total cost: $6.19

Duggar-style

Tater-tot casserole has become a highly debated recipe since being featured on the Duggars. I thought I would share my own tater-tot casserole recipe.


Ingredients:

1 bag tater-tots	$2.44
1 lb ground beef	$1.16
1 can green beans	$0.86
1 can cream of chicken soup	$3.13
1/2 can water	free!

Fry the ground beef in a pan and drain the grease. Stir in the cream of chicken soup and the 1/2 can of water. Bring to a bubble. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and top with green beans and tater-tots. Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until brown.

Honestly, this is probably my favorite comfort-casserole.

Total meal cost: $7.65

This casserole would feed about 6 people. We use it for two meals, so the cost per meal for us is actually around $3.82.

Chicken Alfredo

This is my first shot at making my own alfredo sauce. That's right, we are really more grab-a-jar-and-go kinda people. Now that I've done it once, I will probably do it again. The jar is definitely the cheaper way to go though.


Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients:

8 oz pasta	$0.75
8 oz chicken	$1.16
8 oz heavy cream	$0.77
5 oz grated parmesean cheese	$2.08
2 tbsp. butter	$0.13
1/8 tsp. nutmeg	minimal
1/4 tsp. garlic or 2 cloves	minimal

Cook pasta and chicken (but not together!) and set aside.

Melt the butter in pan on medium. Add in the garlic and nutmeg. Mix in the cream and almost bring to a bubble. Slowly stir in the Parmesan cheese. Serve over the cooked pasta with chicken on top.

For a side we just had side salads. Pretty easy, right?

I made this recipe up after looking at tons of recipes online and in my cookbooks. It tasted good, but was way too fattening and a little thick. Plus, I was a little unsure about the nutmeg. Next time I will reduce the cheese, replace part of the cream with good ol' milk , scratch the nutmeg and throw some broccoli on top. I did use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic because we were out. I will also halve the recipe since we had way too much for just two people.

Chicken Alfredo Cost: $4.88
Side Salad Cost: $2.51
Total Meal Cost: $7.39