Howdy, neighbors. I am putting the finishing touches on my frugal lunch for next week. I don't normally cook my lunches until Sunday, but we are leaving to go to a nearby town to visit friends tomorrow. Here is my frugal lunch recipe.

1 9 oz can of chicken (I like Swanson's)
$1.91

leftover carrots (need to use them up before they go bad) $0

2 qts. broth $2.58

1/2 pkg frozen spinach $.50

1 16 oz pkg frozen soup veggies

leftover mashed potatoes, for thickening $0

1 15 oz can cannelini beans $1.00

package of long grain rice $1.85

I am estimating that I can make about 5 servings of soup with this at about $1.66 per serving. Wow.

I was reading a magazine article in the break room at work and saw a really cool article called "Meals for a Month" or something like that. Well, I made one of them tonight and modified it for our tastes. The one I made is called Chicken Posole. I added a can of blackeye peas which I put through the blender and some ground up carrots. This accomplished several goals: 1) thickened the soup - I hate thin, watery soup, 2) concealed the blackeyed peas from hubby - he hates them, and 3) added protein. I also added cumin, garlic, and italian seasoning. Here is the URL for the article.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-fa...

I just asked hubby what he thinks and he said "good but different." I myself thought it was excellent and was surprised at how well it turned out.

Just to make the point of how frugal it is, here is my tally:

hominy, 15 oz, $.89
broth, 32 oz., had on hand from a stock-up shopping trip, $0
1/2 onion, $.50
14 oz canned tomatoes, $1.14
15 oz canned blackeyed peas, hand on hand $0
spices, hand on hand $0
15 oz canned cannelini beans $1.00
carrots, leftover $0
Tyson refrigerated chicken strips (on $1.99 closeout - I had $0.55 coupon which was doubled to $1.00) $0.99

Total cost $5.07

I think we will be able to stretch it out for another meal each for him and I!

Howdy, friends and neighbors. I was browsing the web tonight, looking for free recipes to do something with canned chicken, noodles or rice, and any fresh vegetables I can find. I found this great free cookbook online at the Campbell's kitchen website. You can download it your computer. Just click on the left margin where it says "Campbell's Value Cookbook." By modifying a recipe I found on the website, I figured out I can make lunch for myself all next week for about $2.00 a day. Woo-eee!

http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeSearch.aspx?searchText...

Well, hubby and I have decided to try not eating so much red meat. So, tonight I am experimenting by making one of our standby dinners with tuna instead of red meat. I think it tastes fine. It does taste a little different, but fine. Here's my "recipe." I hesitate to call it a recipe because I didn't spend hours perfecting it or anything.

Use a 6 quart soup or stock pot. Put about 2 inches of water in the bottom. Turn the burner on medium high heat.

3 tablespoons of dried onion. Fresh is better if you have it.
2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper, if you like it
2 tablespoons of garlic
2 tablespoons of celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons of black pepper

Cook these ingredients on medium high heat for about 15 minutes. Then, add the following:

2 15 oz cans of diced tomates
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
3 15 oz cans of beans

I use a variety of types of beans: navy beans, great northern beans, black beans, red kidney beans, red beans, and dark red kidney beans. There may be a few others out there I haven't tried. I change it up every time I make chili, but this is the first time I have added tuna instead of hamburger.

After adding in the above ingredients, I also added 3 foil envelopes of tuna. I hate the kind in the can, as it tastes like the can.

Well, I will let you know later what dh thought of my creation. ;P


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Well, hubby reports that he noticed that it tasted different, like something besides ground beef was in it. He didn't say that he really liked it, but he said it was okay and would not be averse to trying it again. Hooray for my non-beef cooking experiment!

Hi, everyone. Here is my Baked Chicken Recipe. I like to make this for lunches I take with me to work. It is much healthier and less expensive than eating out, and if you have food allergies like I do, it's not a problem because you cooked it.

Pieces of chicken (like chicken legs, chicken leg quarters, etc.)

Oil (I use organic olive oil, but any oil will do.)

Spices (Use whatever spices you like, but I find garlic, lemon pepper seasoning, rosemary, red peppers, salt, and pepper to be quite tasty. I change it up frequently just for interest.)

You can also add some kind of rice to your baking dish if you like.

I cook the chicken in a glass baking dish at 350 degrees for 1 hour. It is not only tasty, but I also get rave reviews from co-workers on how good it smells and wondering if I spent hours in the kitchen.