Mexican Chicken Cornbread Stuff

2 chicken breasts, browned and chopped into small pieces
taco seasoning (I use about 2 Tbsp. each of ground chili powder, ground garlic powder and 1 Tbsp of ground cumin)
1 medium onion, chopped and browned
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix (plus egg and milk to make cornbread)
black olives, sliced (optional)
grated cheddar cheese
salsa (optional, good alternative to onions and taco seasoning or as a garnish)
sour cream (optional garnish)

Options for this dish are endless! Use as much of the various ingredients as your family will enjoy.

Mix all desired ingredients, except cornbread, in medium bowl. Mix cornbread separately in small bowl.

Option 1: Spoon meat into muffin tins. Top with cornbread batter and bake.
Option 2: Spoon meat into small casserole dish. Top with cornbread batter and bake.

Cheese can be added to the meat, or as a layer on top of the meat, or mixed into the cornbread.

Bake at 350 until cornbread is browned, about 30-40 minutes.

Serves: 4-5 generous portions.

Chicken and Cornbread Dressing

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix (plus milk and egg for cornbread)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tblsp. poultry seasoning (amount is to taste)
1 egg
milk
fresh chopped and sauted mushrooms (optional)
fresh chopped and sauted onion (optional)

Brown chicken breasts. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Bake cornbread according to directions. Saute onion and mushrooms. Allow everything to cool enough to handle.

In a small bowl combine mushroom soup, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, egg, mushrooms, onion, and cut up chicken. In a large bowl break up cornbread into crumb size pieces. Pour soup mixture into cornbread crumbs and combine well. Add enough milk to make mixture moist but not wet.

Spoon into baking pan or casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. For brown top remove aluminum foil or casserole cover during last 15 minutes.

Feeds: 4-6 generous portions.

*** This started out as an "official" recipe my sister-in-law made for Thanksgiving on year. It has evolved to what you see above. The amounts are guesstimates based on what my family likes. You might add more or less chicken, use left over cornbread, use canned mushrooms, or onion powder.

Basic Menu Plan for August 08

I'm working really hard this month to stay within our grocery/food budget -$300. I'll keep you posted on whether or not I make it. As part of my efforts I have designed a "basic" menu for this month which includes a lot of ingredients all ready in my pantry. By basic I mean few ingredients, kid-friendly (for the most part), and easy to make. I'm sure what is basic for one person is NOT for another.

You'll notice we have grilled steak every week and lots of chicken. That's because my local supermarket had a great sale recently and I stocked up!

Since I'm always looking for ideas, what are some of your basic recipes or meal plans? By the way, if you use any of "my" recipes I'd love to hear how it turns out!

Week One
Chicken & Cornbread Dressing, Salad
Library Night: Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, Fruit
Roast Beef, Potatoes, Carrots, Gravy, Yeast Rolls
Grilled Chicken w/ Peanut Sauce, Steamed Broccoli, Steamed Carrots, Rice
Spaghetti, Salad, Cheddar Bread, Fruit
Mexican Chicken Cornbread Stuff, Sour Cream, Black Olives, Fruit

Week Two
Lunch @ Mall? Leftovers?
BBQ Chicken, Baked Potato, Corn, Cheddar Bread
Grilled Steak, Baked Potato, Fruit
Zoo Member Night: PB & J, Apples, Zoo Ice Cream
Curry Chicken Salad, Apple, Flour Tortilla
Homemade Pizza, Pineapple Slices
Bacon, Fried Potatoes, Scrambled Eggs, Homemade Biscuits

Week Three
Taco Salad, Fruit, Ice Cream
Easy Breaded Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Steamed Carrots, Rice
Extra Easy Lasagna, Salad, Cheddar Bread, Fruit
Grilled Steak, Baked Potato, Fruit
Leftovers? Eat out? Something Easy!
Drive to NY
Jess & Andy Wedding in NY

Week Four
Tortilla Stack, Sour Cream, Corn, Fruit
Sloppy Toms/Joes, Buns, Cheese, Raw Carrots, Fruit
Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwich, Raw Carrots, Fruit
Zesty Baked Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Steamed Carrots, Rice
Grilled Steak, Baked Potato, Fruit
Ellie turns 2!! Homemade Pizza, Pineapple Slices, Birthday Cake
Grilled Hamburgers, Buns, Cheese, Fruit

July 21-29 Menu, Revised

I have more month left than grocery money so I have revised my menu for the next week or so. We are eating out of the pantry and freezer. Though I will confess that the supermarket has steak on sale for $1.99 lb and boneless chicken breasts for $1.69 lb so I'll be stocking up on those this week but not using them until next month. I'll have to pay for them out of next month's grocery budget money.

Monday
Grilled Chicken w/ Honey Mustard Sauce, Salad, Nectarines

Tuesday
Pizza, Pineapple slices

Wednesday
Pasta Salad: Grilled Chicken, Italian Dressing, Pasta, Black Olives, Carrots, Broccoli, Parmesan Cheese; Fruit

Thursday
Sloppy Joes, Buns, Cheddar, Corn on the Cob, Fruit

Friday
BBQ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Fruit

Saturday
Mystic Aquarium

Sunday
French Toast, Syrup, Milk

Monday
Ultrasound 4:45
Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Carrots, Fruit

Tuesday
Library 7 pm
Curry Chicken Salad, Monterey Jack, Flour Tortilla

An experiment in basic grocery shopping.

Are you feeling the pinch of rising grocery prices? I sure am. I don't remember the last month I stayed within budget on groceries. Though I should confess that this is one budget item I always tend to overspend.

I made a grocery store run today. You know the drill. Out of milk. Almost out of bread, cereal, and fruit. I also updated my budget last night to see how much money I had to spend. Yikes! It wasn't pretty.

I have a budget of $300 to feed five people for a month. That's strictly food; no paper products, toiletry items or cleaning supplies included. Last night I saw I already spent 2/3 of my budget and still have half a month to go!!

With that realization, I carefully examined my menu for the month and my pantry. Then I made out a bare bones list and went shopping this morning.

So what did I buy?

4 gallons of milk @ $2.79 each (NOT organic)
2 8z. packages of shredded cheese for pizza @ $1.89 each
2 boxes Cereal @ $1.69 each
1 box Cereal @ $1.49
2 loaves wheat bread @ $1.69 each
5 lb. sugar @ $1.89
dozen eggs @ $1.29
5.35 lbs bananas (that's 14 bananas) $2.90
2.33 lbs. granny smith apples (that's 7 apples) $3.24
2.23 lbs. red delicious apples (that's 7 apples) $3.10
1.30 lbs. broccoli $1.29
1 lb. strawberries $2.19
2.17 lbs. grapes $2.80
1.45 lbs. nectarines (that's 5 nectarines) $1.15

For a total of $43.04

These are items I buy every week without fail. Although the last three fruits are subject to change depending on what the weekly sale/season is. I usually also have a 3 pound package of sliced American cheese on the list but I stocked up a few weeks ago.

It appears my weekly basics are costing me roughly $50. That's 2/3 of my grocery bill before I ever buy meat or ingredients for various recipes. No wonder I've been overspending. Those occasional bags of chips, cookies and sodas are really budget busters. Not to mention doing nothing for us nutritionally.

I'm going to try really hard not to increase my food budget. Any money I shift to food is coming out of our savings for a 3-6 month emergency fund. I'd really prefer to get that funded so I can move on to other goals. I guess going without soda for a few months isn't that big of a sacrifice.

So what do you buy every week and what are you paying for it? Any suggestions on how I can cut costs?