Frugal Foods (Chicken Edition)
I cannot speak for all of you, but when COVID-19 made its appearance and pushed us all to shelter-in-place, this was a big indicator that change was coming to my household. Most days, we are a family of 4 with my two children, husband and myself; however, a few days a week we get expanded depending on if my family comes by (we all live within a 1 mile radius). With grocery stores out of stock on some basic ingredients, my household’s income being reduced significantly, and my children being home all day (which according to them means they are “starving” all day long), I knew that I would need to be very strategic in how we handled meals moving forward. All of this combined led me to the decision that I would meal plan every week to make the absolute most of our groceries to try and save money, prevent waste and get some stress-coping time in.
Cooking and baking has been a stress-reducer for me since my college years when I had the choice to study, clean or cook (guess which won out most days!). Cooking and baking are an opportunity for me to use my creativity and thriftiness to produce a yummy delight to make my tummy happy! We’ve been maximizing frugality to its fullest extent these last weeks- saving the seeds from fruits/vegetables for planting in the garden, turning stale bread into breadcrumbs for cooking, and stocking up on heavy cream to churn our own butter (and get fresh buttermilk!) since the stores are out/low on butter. For dinners, though, we’ve been trying to make the most of the meat we have so we don’t have to order more from the store. So, I decided to make 1 pack of chicken last 5 meals for a family of 4 (5/6?).
I started off with 1 pack of 4 chicken breasts and let that thaw fully. With this chicken I cooked chicken tacos (1 meal), chicken enchiladas (2 meals) and will be cooking chicken salad sandwiches (1 meal) and chicken alfredo (1 meal) later this week. Below are the recipes for each.
Chicken Tacos
1 Chicken Breast
Chili Powder to Taste
Garlic Powder to Taste
1/2 Onion
1/4 Yellow Bell Pepper (not required, I do to push more vegis into my kids)
Cumin Powder to Taste
Salt + Pepper to Taste
Paprika to Taste
Cayenne to Taste
Splash of Water
Oil/Butter as Needed
1) Make a paste with the spices by combining the dry spices and adding a small splash of water.
2) Chop the onions and saute in oil/butter till translucent. Add spice paste to the onions and stir for 1 minute.
3) Add the chicken and cook thoroughly. Add a splash of water if pan gets too dry.
4) Assemble chicken tacos with whatever toppings you prefer! Voila! A quick lunch meal for 4.
Shredded Chicken Mix
3 Chicken Breasts
Cumin Powder to Taste
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Paprika Powder to Taste
Garlic Granulated/Powder to Taste
Oil/Butter for Sauteing
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Sprinkle spices on both sides of chicken breasts.
3) Saute on stove with some oil or butter until browned on both sides. Place into the oven to finish cooking (time dependent on size of the chicken breasts).
4) Let rest and then shred by hand, mixer or food processor. Cook, place in fridge or freeze the shredded chicken.
Chicken Enchiladas
1/2 Defrosted Shredded Chicken Mix (see above)
1 Yellow Onion
White Corn Tortillas
1 Large Can of Green Enchilada Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Oil/Butter
Chopped Tomatoes and Cilantro (Optional)
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop onion and saute on the stove until translucent and browning. Remove from pan.
2) Heat up Green Enchilada Sauce on the stove until hot. Spray/coat 1 large and 1 small casserole dish.
3) Assemble each enchilada: dip a tortilla in the hot enchilada sauce, place on the casserole dish, add a thin line of shredded chicken, a small spoon of onions, a line of cheese and then wrap it and roll it flap side down in the pan. Repeat until all the chicken and onions have been used. This usually makes 1.5 pans for me.
4) Pour any remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Top with cheese and some cayenne or paprika. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes.
5) Let rest. If desired, top with cilantro and chopped tomatoes. We also like adding a spoon of sour cream on top! Serve and enjoy this meal that feeds my family of 4 for at least 2 meals, typically.
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
1/4 Shredded Chicken Mix
Mayonnaise
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Garlic Powder to Taste
Onion Powder to Taste
Lemon Juice
Bread
1) Combine spices, mayonnaise, lemon juice and shredded chicken.
2) Toast bread and add mixture to the bread. That’s it! Enjoy a sandwich per person.
Chicken Alfredo
1/4 Shredded Chicken Mix
Fettuccine Pasta/Other Pasta
Pre-made Alfredo Sauce (of you can make your own like we usually do!)
1) Heat up the sauce and shredded chicken in a pot. Boil pasta until al dente or fully cooked.
2) Strain pasta, mix and serve! This usually lasts 1-2 meals for my family of 4.
Times are changing and change is not always easy or fun, but I hope these ideas may encourage you to get into the kitchen to blow off some stress, or may give some ideas on how to eat yummy meals without having to grocery shop every week. If you enjoy this article, please share it! We are all in this together, for together, we are stronger!
In cooking, there are pounds of creation, spoonfuls of love and cups full of laughter.
Written by Jasmine Ali, MSW/ACSW