Budget Dinners - Week 1 - First 5 days

This week I decided to make a plan instead of just randomly hoping things will work out with dinner. This started with evaluating my pantry and fridge to see what items I already had. This is what I started with: 

- chicken soup mix/ broth, soy sauce, frozen green beans, frozen corn, frozen mixed vegetables, frozen broccoli, vinegar, brown sugar, salt - kosher and table, pepper, ketchup, maple syrup, a selection of spices, corn starch, and vegan margarine. After a quick grocery shop, these are the meals I was able to come up with. My costs are broken down at the bottom of this blog post.

Saturday - Instant Pot Chicken and Mashed Potatoes:

This one uses 2 large chicken breasts, 4 carrots (peeled), 1 1/2lbs of potatoes (peeled and chopped), 1 tbsp Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp thyme, pepper to your taste, 1 1/2 cups of water, 3 tbsp of cornstarch to 3 tbsp of water and 4 tbsp of vegan margarine for the potatoes (I leave the milk out personally). It cooks in the Instant pot for 15 minutes high pressure and 5 minute natural release. Find the recipe here if you want to try it -  https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-mashed-potatoes/

Sunday - Oven-Baked Meatloaf with mixed veggies and rice:

 This uses 1lb of ground beef, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of ketchup, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt and I used about 4 to 6 grinds of fresh pepper. Mix it all together, put it in a 2.5 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake at 375F for 45 minutes, removing the lid for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Serve with mixed veggies and rice or your choice of sides.

Monday - Maple Soy Chicken with Rice

 This dish is made with 2 tbsp of maple syrup, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1/2 cup of water,  2 chicken breasts, 1 cup of rice (rinsed), 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of chicken bouillon, and 2 cups of frozen broccoli rinsed (to defrost enough to cut) and chopped and cornstarch to make a slurry. This is a pot in a pot recipe for Instant pot. You could also make your rice on the side though. This is a modification of this recipe because I didn't have the ingredients this called for - https://projectmealplan.com/instant-pot-honey-garlic-chicken-meal-prep/#tasty-recipes-6631

Tuesday - Ground beef and Potato Hash

I forgot to take a picture of this one but no modifications were really made to this recipe except I left out the eggs, Worcestershire sauce and garlic and I weighed my potatoes at 1lb instead of using 3 medium potatoes. Find the recipe here - https://busycooks.com/ground-beef-potato-hash/#wprm-recipe-container-32319

Wednesday - Chicken with Red Kidney beans (aka Cowboy stew)

The final dinner meal of this grocery budget, this meal uses 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 chicken breasts, 1/2 tsp salt, 4 spins of the pepper grinder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder or mild taco seasoning, 1 can of kidney beans (15oz), 1 cup of white rice, 3 cups of broth (divided - I cooked 1 cup in with the rice and added 2 cups at the end),  and one 16oz can of diced tomatoes. I modified this for instant pot and used chicken breasts instead of thighs. I fried the chicken 3 minutes on each side in the oil using the sauté function, pressed cancel and set the chicken aside and added 1/2 cup of the broth to get the stuck bits off the bottom of the pot. Then I rinsed my rice and put that in with the other 1/2 cup of broth, and the spices and then set the chicken back in and added the diced tomatoes and kidney beans. I pressure cooked this for 10 minutes with a 5 minute natural release and then removed the chicken from the pot, cut it up and added it back in with 2 more cups of broth, stirred, made sure it was warmed through and served. Find the original recipe here - https://thebeanbites.com/chicken-red-kidney-beans-cowboy-stew/#mv-creation-77-jtr

Considering the ingredients I already had (listed at the top), this is a breakdown of the costs for these meals - I shopped at Walmart this time.

Package of 4 chicken breasts $12.94

Lean ground beef value tray 3lbs $16.94

Parboiled rice 2kg bag $4.87

Kidney beans jar $1.97

10lb bag white potatoes $3.94

3lb bag carrots $1.58

28oz Can diced tomatoes $2.88

18 pkg eggs $6.98

Total cost: $52.10