More Cost Effective Healthy Meals

I love games. I enjoy silly bridal shower games; you know like wrapping up the bride in toilet paper. I love board games - CandyLand is the best. I love anything that is kind of game related. In fact, I make cleaning my house a game. How fast can I clean the kitchen? Can I fold ten towels in less than two minutes? So this eating healthy and cheap is kind of a game...

Let me outline my next venture...

You know those roasted chickens at the grocery store? They are everywhere...



Well I bought one of those at Walmart...



I deboned it and deskinned it. Are those words?

I then made three dishes with it ...

Dish #1 - Enchiladas



Shred 1/3 of chicken, mix with chopped onions and pre-prepared salsa and a little reduced fat shredded cheese. Warm corn tortillas in microwave (wrap in wet paper towel to get them supple). Wrap up mixture in tortilla. Layer into pan. Cover with green enchilada sauce. Bake at 375 until everything is bubbly (about 20 minutes or so). Serve with a dollop of light sour cream. Plus I made black beans (again) earlier this week so I had some left to serve with the enchiladas.

Lots of leftovers for lunch!

Nutrition Facts: Calories: 345, Fat: 8 grams, Fiber: 9 grams

Dish #2 - Chicken Tacos



Create street tacos! Create a taco "treat tray" with some reduced fat shredded cheese, chopped red onions, cilantro, avocado slices and light sour cream on a plate. Pour out a bowl of salsa. Warm tortillas and chicken. Set out treat tray and create tacos. Make 'em light by using just a 1 TBS of cheese and sour cream per taco. Serving is two tacos.

Nutrition Facts: Calories: 450, Fat: 18 grams, Fiber: 9 grams


Dish #3 - Italian Pasta Power Salad



Makes an awesome and easy lunch. Cook whole wheat penne pasta. Toss with 1/3 of roasted chicken, light Italian salad dressing, parmesean cheese and chopped red onions. Chill for 30 minutes to an hour. 1 1/2 cup per serving.

Nutrition Facts: Calories: 355, Fat: 7 grams, Fiber: 8 grams

And how much did all that cost?

Roasted Chicken - $4.29
Tortillas - $1.19
Salsa - $.99
Enchilada sauce - $.49
Reduced Fat Cheese - $2.49 (only used a couple TBS, so I figure $.60)
Light sour cream - $2.19 (I only used a dollop per meal, so I figure that's really $1 worth)
Onion - $.99
Cilantro - $.50
Avocado - $.50
Whole Wheat Pasta - $1.89
Parmesean cheese - $2.59 (I only used 2 TBS, so really that is only $.50 worth)
Light Italian salad dressing - $1.29 (used 4 TBS, so only $.40 worth)

So three meals (four if you count the leftover enchiladas) for $15.72. Plus I still have a lot of the ingredients leftover for more meals! Love it!

P.S. You want to make sure that the roasted chicken is brought to an internal temperature of 165-degrees to avoid food borne illness. And it should be consumed within 48 hours of purchase.

Calories calculated by Livestrong app.