The lovely Heather and her handsome brood.
A couple weeks ago Yay Baby hosted a giveaway for a $25 Safeway gift card. I asked folks to leave a comment on what they would use the gift card for. Heather, a dear friend of mine left a comment to enter the drawing and while she didn’t win a gift card. I was inspired by her post – feeding a family of four for three days on $25! Her meal ideas were simple and quick. I truly got excited!
So I asked Miss Heather to contribute regularly to Yay Baby, giving readers fun ideas to feed their to feed their families on a shoestring budget. Hooray – she happily agreed!
Heather is an amazing woman. I met her a couple years ago at a cupcake decorating class and found her to be a foodie like myself. I love reading her Facebook posts about all the fun and sometimes fancy places she and her family eat. She has developed quite the palette in her two young sons! She also frequently posts about the great deals she finds for dining and entertainment. She once treated me to a delightful afternoon tea at an adorable Victorian cottage with a deal she purchased on Groupon. I was eight months pregnant and appreciated the pampering and dainty girls day out – my last before my Jaxie came along.
My husband wants me to be even better friends with her so I can learn to save a buck or two.
We’ll start with this simple plan for stretching a chicken dinner over three days with nutritious meals the whole family will love. Heather kindly included a shopping list and meal plan. You may even already have many of these things in your fridge and pantry and if you shop wisely, using coupons, sales and store savings programs you should have no trouble staying in the $25 budget. She was able to spend just $21 dollars on the items listed below and splurged an extra $3 for some frozen treats – because after-all, every great meal ends with something sweet.
Shopping List:
1 whole uncooked 4 lb chicken
1 bag mixed frozen veggies (corn, carrots and green beans)
1 bag frozen corn
1 container of 8 Pillsbury Grand Biscuits
1/2 gallon half and half
Chicken broth
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
BBQ sauce
Buns
1 Head of lettuce
2 Tomatoes
Apple sauce
Dinner #1 – Roasted Chicken
- Prep the chicken by cleaning out the inside
- Baste the entire chicken with melted butter, salt and pepper and/or whatever spices you prefer.
- Cook in a 350 degree oven for an hour and a half.
- Serve with a lettuce and tomato salad.
Dinner #2 – BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
- Shred the leftover chicken off the bone.
- Divide it up into 2 portions.
- Mix one of the portions with your favorite BBQ sauce and save the remaining portion for the next night.
- Heat the BBQ chicken when ready to serve.
- Place heaping spoonfuls on hamburger buns.
- Serve with watermelon or another refreshing supper fruit.
Dinner #3 – Chicken & Biscuits
- Melt 3 tbs. of butter in a saucepan with about a 1 tbs. of flour.
- Add 1 cup of half and half and a 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock.
- Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper (other suggested seasonings – dried thyme, or paprike, onion powder, garlic powder or whatever seasonings you like).
- Add the remaining shredded chicken to the mix and stir together.
- Pour chicken mixture in to a casserole dish.
- Sprinkle about 1 cup shredded cheese on top.
- Add biscuits to the top and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.
- Serve the applesauce for dessert.
- Enjoy!
