Coupon Cookin'

Santa Fe Chicken Skillet. Yum.

I can NOT take credit for this recipe at all, since it was on the package of the Philadelphia cooking creme, minus a few ingredients I did not have.

I was not planning on this tonight... I had defrosted the chicken tenderloins to bread and bake, but when Maddie began to feel yucky, and it was clear she only felt up to eating toast for dinner, I decided to take make something cheesy and dairy laden for the rest of us, since I've been trying to cut dairy from Maddie's diet to help her asthma.

PS. Maddie is feeling better now. Phew. This mama is ready to be done with this year's horrific cold/flu season.

Sometimes, when coupon shopping, I've done all my shopping... I've gotten lots of stuff but NO MEALS. Ya can't eat deodorant, even if it was free. ☺But with some planning, and creativity in putting different items together, we've been enjoying some delicious dinners. I know there are many different ways to plan weekly meals.... what works for me is just planning 5 meals at a time. I get the weekends off. ☺Well, mostly... I'm also always glad when I make a double batch of one night's dinner, and put half in the freezer for a week or so later.

Last night, I made baked salmon that was TASTY. Aldis has frozen fish of several varieties for about $3.50 for 4 fillets. I defrosted the salmon and put it into a large baking dish. To 1/4 c. of brown sugar I added a few of my favorite spices: ginger, paprika, a spicy steak rub, salt, and some cracked pepper. The mixture was sprinkled over the salmon, then dotted with a bit of margarine. Baked uncovered for 20 minutes. Easy and soooo good. I really want my kids to grow up eating fish. It's so healthy, and so easy and fast to prepare. And $3.50 for the main dish? That's a good price!

Tonight's dinner was also easy and fast... and cheap.

$2.45 for 1 pk. (1.2 lbs.) of chicken tenderloins (When all chicken packages were 40% off a few weeks ago, I threw several in my freezer)

$.50 for 1 lb. box of Rozini rigatoni (also a sale that I stocked up on..)

FREE (with coupon) for 1 tub Philadelphia cooking creme

Plus veggies: onion, green pepper, corn. Not sure the cost.

1/2 c. Monterrey jack cheese. Not sure on the cost either, but I'm going to say $.50 if I normally pay $2 for a pound of cheese.

So I think I can safely say I payed about $4-$5 on the whole dinner, and we had plenty. A nice portion for lunch tomorrow is sitting in the fridge still.

In a large skillet, I cooked the chicken (cut up into bite size pieces) and diced onion and green pepper in a bit of margarine. Once the chicken was cooked through, I added the cooking creme and frozen corn (1 c.). (I would have liked to add cherry tomatoes, but sadly, I was out.) Heated all the through, then stirred into the cooked pasta. I transferred the whole thing to a serving dish and sprinkled with cheese. Viola. Easy, right? Good? Yes.


Love,