I’ve been making this meal for MANY years. It was the first meal I learned to make, so needless to say we had it at least once a week during our first couple years of marriage. I’ve brought it back over the past year or so since the kids love it.

2 pieces of chicken OR I use crock pot chicken now (~$2)
1 Box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice (Original Recipe) (Free-$0.25)
1 Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup** (?)
2 heads of Broccoli ($1.50)
1 cup Cheddar Cheese ($0.25)

Boil chicken or use crock pot chicken, cook rice according to package directions (you could also use plan rice but we like the seasoning), cook broccoli. Mix together in prepared dish with cream of mushroom soup.** Top with cheese (I’ll be honest; we use about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 cups cheese)

Bake at 350 degrees for approx 20 min or until cheese is melted.

*If freezing, skip baking step
**I used homemade cream of chicken soup this time.

I like meals that are super easy and quick to put together. A couple of the meals I made for Freezer Cooking Day are Lasagna and Chicken Noodle Soup. There are recipes galore for these two dishes that are much fancier than mine. Here are my two throw it together and walk away meals.

2-3 cups of Mozzarella Cheese ($0.75)
1 Box Lasagna Noodles (FREE)
1 ½ lb (or so) of Ground Beef or Ground Turkey-Cooked (~$2.50)
2 (26oz) Jar’s of Pasta Sauce ($0.50? each)
1 Pack Mushrooms- Sliced ($0.98)
1 Medium Onion-Diced
2-3 Cloves Garlic-Minced
½ tsp Oregano (or to taste)
½ tsp Basil (or to taste)
S/P

I add all the ingredients to my crock pot and cook on low for approx. 4-6 hours

Prep 2 smaller baking dishes or 1 large dish
Cook noodles according to package directions,
Layer noodles, sauce mixture and cheese, repeat
Cook at 350 degrees for approx 20 min or until cheese is melted.
Lasagna always tastes better to me the second day

**If you plan to freeze, skip the baking step. Increase cooking time after thawing.

**I use whatever pasta sauce I’ve pickup on sale and whatever spices happen to be around-this time I used Hunts Garlic and Onion Canned Sauce

Chicken Stock-I use homemade stock
Water
Chicken Bouillon Cubes
Cooked Chicken
Celery
Garlic
Onion
Peas
Carrots
Other Veggies (optional)
S/P
Bay Leaves
Basil
Noodles, Rice or Orzo Pasta

This is a throw in what you have on hand soup. I don’t have amounts listed because it’s all dependant on how much soup you want to make. Plus I don’t measure anything, I just dump and taste.

I had a frozen medley of veggies that included peas, corn, green beans and carrots. I chopped up onion, celery and garlic and used a few handfuls of crock pot chicken.

Add your noodles or rice near the end of the cook time. You can simmer a couple hours or all day.

We served with homemade banana bread (w/ a few chocolate chips on top for me kids)

1 box ziti pasta, cooked (FREE)
1 jar of pasta sauce (FREE)
Mozzarella cheese ($0.50)
Shredded chicken, cooked (approx $2)

Heat oven to 350*F, grease 2 baking dishes
Mix cooked ziti, chicken, pasta sauce and small amount of cheese in bowl (I just use a large pot that I cooked the pasta in). Spread evenly into 2 baking dishes and top both with cheese.
Bake for approx. 20 min., until cheese is melted and meal is heated through.

Notes:
*I used Crock Pot Chicken; you could also use ground turkey or ground beef.
*This time I used a jar of Trader Joe’s 3 Cheese Pasta Sauce (given to me by my mother-in-law), so I omitted the extra cheese in the mixture.
*I split into 2 meals because we have a small family
*DON’T bake 2nd meal if you intend to freeze it, just cover tightly with foil and freeze.
*Super cheap and easy meal!

Spaghetti with Meat Balls:

Spaghetti Sauce:
Medium–Large Onion, Chopped
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
5 or 6 Cloves Garlic, chopped
½ Tbsp Oregano
½ Tbsp Basal
3 Tbsp Sugar
S/P
Shake Red Pepper Flakes
Large Can (29oz) Diced Tomatoes
Large Can (29oz) Tomato Sauce
Medium Can (12oz) Tomato Paste
½ C Red Wine
Half Carrot Thinly peeled

Heat oil in pan, add onion and sauté. Add garlic and cook approx 30 sec. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer 2 hours. Add Meat Balls (see below) when 30 min. remain for sauce. Serve over pasta.

Notes:
*Cover with cocked lid if sauce is too liquidy, cover tightly if too thick.
*Add S/P and Red Pepper Flakes to taste
* You could make using fresh tomatoes
* I transfer ½ to Tupperware to freeze, you could split 3X

Meat Balls:
1 1/2lbs ground beef (or ground turkey)
Medium onion, chopped
1 egg
1 C Italian Breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp Parsley
S/P

Form into balls and brown in oven
Bake 325*F for 20 min. Flip ½ way through cooking time

Note:
*I make 2 batches since it is a little time consuming (just double receipt).
*I used meatballs to make meatball subs-add cooked meatballs to pasta sauce, heat. Place on sub roll with cheese. Hubby and kids LOVED it-I wasn’t thrilled with the meat on bread.

Crock Pot Chicken:

*I usually purchase an 8lb whole chicken
*Remove most of the skin
*Place in Crock Pot and rub sides with spice mixture
*Cook on low for about 8hrs or high for 4hrs, until meat falls from bone. I mean that literally, the meat is super tender and juicy.
*Once cooled, pull all chicken from bones and freeze or store for later meals. I won’t lie; this takes some time, but I don’t cook chicken for several days.
*I typically yield 4-5 dinners from this 1 chicken!
*Perdue $0.98lb=$1.50-$2.00 per meal. Cheaper chicken=cheaper meals

Spice Rub:
1/2 tsp. each: black pepper, garlic powder
1 tsp. each: dried thyme, onion powder, and chili powder (or cayenne)
2 tsp paprika
4 tsp salt

Use what you have on hand!!

Note: I don’t use this rub if I’m planning to make stock with the juices; I use more garlic, onion, Mrs. Dash, S/P (it varies)

Meal Ideas:

1. The first night we just have this chicken with potatoes or rice and veggies
2. Baked Chicken Ziti
3. Chicken tacos
4. Chicken and Black Bean Burritos
5. Nachos
6. Chicken salad
7. Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
8. Italian Chicken Pasta Toss
9. Chicken soup (many varieties here)
10. BBQ Chicken on Kiser rolls…..

Thanks to Make and Takes  for for her spice rub!

If you read my post here, you know I hosted a Pampered Chef party at my house Friday night. It was a lot of fun and the food was yummy. I ended up with over $200 worth of free products! I was not expecting much; it was just an excuse for a “girl’s night in” and to show off the new house. I wanted to share the 2 recipes that were made for us.

Fantastic Foccacia Bread:
1 pkg. (10 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 oz. Romano cheese grated, divided (I just used shredded Italian mix)
2 tsp. dried oregano leaves, divided (or Italian seasoning)
2 firm plum tomatoes, sliced

Preheat oven to 375*F.
Roll pizza crust into a 12-inch circle on 13-inch baking stone using lightly floured pizza roller. Prick dough thoroughly with a fork before adding toppings. Press garlic; spread evenly over crust. Grate half of Romano cheese (1/3 cup) over crust. Sprinkle with 1-cup mozzarella cheese and 1 teaspoon oregano. Thinly slice tomatoes; arrange in single layer over cheese.
Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and oregano. Grate remaining Romano cheese over top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Cut into squares; serve hot.

Tip:
*add onions, peppers and olives
*Use Large bar pan or other rectangular pan since dough already rolls out in that shape.

We had very little leftover-what we did have left “Monkeyboy” ate as “pizza” for lunch the next day.

Blueberry Dump Cake:
1 can of Blueberry pie filling
1 container of fresh Blueberries, rinsed
1 short can of crushed pineapple
1 yellow cake mix
2 sticks butter, melted
1 bag of crushed nuts, walnuts or pecans are good!

Preheat to 350* F
In a 13 by 9 pan, dump BB pie filling, fresh BB and pineapple, and mix together.
Sprinkle DRY cake mix and cover completely and evenly on top of BB mixture
Sprinkle nuts on top of cake mix.
Pour butter evenly over cake mix and nuts.
Bake for 45 mins.
Be patient and Let cool b/c it is HOT!

Tip:
Serve with ice cream

NOTE: Can be done with cherry pie filling too.

This is the most delicious dessert and I don’t like blueberries! I had to put some away for hubby because it was gone in a flash!

These could end up being inexpensive recipes if you plan ahead and watch the sales. You can get $1/2 Kraft Cheese, $1/1 I Can’t Believe It’s not Butter, and $0.40/2 Pillsbury Italian Bread coupons right now.

Thanks Tiffany for letting me share your recipes!