Just because you gotta eat cheap dosen't mean you gotta eat crap.

Chicken Taco Bake with Home Made Tortilla Chips and Salsa(not home made)

Sorry for the bad quality pictures, I'm still learning about food photography and I was in a hurry to get these ones done.

 

Have you visited GroceryBudget101.com? You should! She has the section on 50 dollar menu helps where you can post your zip code and 3 grocery shops that you go to and she'll check the local adds and plan a shopping trip for you. I was picked for San Antonio! Here's the link to my list

This week I'm excited to announce that my grocery budget was 74.84 for over a weeks worth of meals (B,L and D). Of course a HUGE thank you to the gal over at GroceryBudget101.com for really showing me how to use my local store sales to put together a meal list. 

Up until I ran accross her blog's I had been making a menu and THEN making a list and seeing if the adds had what I needed, which 80% of the time they didn't. Once I was at the store the savings addict in me would kick in and I would see all the good prices on food and fill my cart with the sales in addition to what I already needed, that ran my grocery budget up to about $150-$200 per WEEK! And we would still need to buy extras on things like Milk and Eggs as we needed them. Well, that's just too freakin much to be paying on food.

Our goal from here on out is to prepares meals based on what the local stores have on sale, did I mention that GB101.com found a new store for me to shop at that has AMAZING sales? It's called La Fiesta and it's on the corner of Military and Marbach for those who are here in SA.

Here's on of the meals we're having this week.  Enjoy!

Chicken* Taco Bake

Recipe Source: Taste of Home Best Ever Casseroles

• 2 cups coarsely crushed corn chips
• 1 can refried beans
• 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (original recipe called for turkey but, I had just cooked a roast chicken so, I had leftover meat)
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 1 medium tomato

I didn't have taco seasoning so I used my go-to. 1 tbls Chili Powder and 1 tsp Cumin.

1. Place corn chips in a greased shallow 2 1/2qt backing dish. Place refried beans in a small saucepan; cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup cheese and salsa. Spread over chips.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chicken with the taco seasoning; sprinkle over bean mixture. Top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with onion. Bake, uncovered at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted. I topped mine with about 2 cups of lettuce and sour cream because I didn't have tomato's.

 

Home Made Corn Tortilla Chips

Recipe Source:  Sandra Lee

• 15 corn tortilla's 
• Canola oil spray
• Salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each tortilla into 8 triangular portions. Arrange in a single layer on sheet pans. Spray with canola oil cooking spray to help them crisp up, sprinkle with salt and bake until crisp and lightly browned about 10 minutes. Allow to cool and serve with salsa.

The family review was pretty good, Abby didn't want it at first but once she tried it she was good.

It was pretty cheap to make like less the $2 a serving cheap (although I'm not 100% on that) I hope you enjoy it.

May your Tummy's always be full and your wallets be fuller.

P.S. What are your money saving secrets when it comes to grocery's? How much are you able to save?