Awesome thread! I am in LOVE with it!
I'm a single mom, so budget is important. It took me a long time to understand how to budget, but over a year of being out of work will teach you many things.
Now that I'm back at work though, budget is STILL important (planning that WDW trip!
), but MORE important is FAST! By the time I get home from work my DD is ready NOW for dinner and all I want to do is veg!
I'm still compiling recipes that are easy, fast, cheap, and DD likes. This thread is going to help ALOT, so THANKS!
A couple recipes that I use regularly:
Chicken Squares
1 whole chx breast/2 half chx breasts/2 thighs OR 2 cans of cooked chx
two pkgs crescent rolls (reduced fat tastes NO different than reg for this purpose)
1 or 2 pkg reduced fat cream cheese (mom used reg when I was growing up, and I've never tried FF) How much you use depends on how creamy you want it.
1/2-3/4 c. chopped onions
OPTIONAL mom always added about a tsp of pimentos, but they were mainly for color. I've tried minced garlic, but it doesn't add much flavor. Onion works better.
1. Preheat oven to temperature indicated on crescent roll pkg. Take the cream cheese and leave it out while you're dealing with the chicken.
2. If you're using fresh chicken, season to taste and cook as you prefer. I like to broil it.
3. After your chicken is cooked, let it cool until you can handle it. While it's cooling, chop your onions and put into a mixing bowl.
4. Once it's cool, shred the chicken or cut into small pieces and put into the mixing bowl.
5. Add the cream cheese and use a fork to mix the chicken, onion, and cream cheese together. (Add pimentos now if you decide to add them.)
6. Use Pam or other cooking spray on a baking sheet, I usually cover mine with aluminum foil. Open crescent rolls. Use TWO of the triangles for each chicken square. Lay out flat on the baking sheet and kind of stretch out a little bit. Use your fingers to make sure the "seam" stays together.
7. How much you use of the chicken/cream cheese mixture is up to you. I'd use about 1/3 -1/2 c. in each one. Once you have enough, pull up the corners of the crescent roll corners one at a time to make a package.
8. Do this until all of the crescent rolls are gone. (Duh.)
9. Place baking sheet in oven and cook according to crescent roll directions.
Serve with salad and veggies or fruit.
Makes 8 servings.
NOTE: Use the triangles instead of the "squares" to make servings for little ones or to make a great appetizer!
TWO NIGHT MEXICAN FIESTA
Night #1: Fajitas
Flour tortillas
2 Chicken breasts cut into strips
1 large yellow onion, cut in half and then thinly sliced.
2 yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
Fajita seasoning (I buy a local brand that was about $2)
Season chicken strips and fry on the stove top. After they are partially done (cook about 2-3 min on med-high) lightly season the onions/peppers and throw them in the frying pan. Warm the tortillas.
I serve them with salsa, sour cream, lime wedges, cheese and avocados (when in season).
Night #2: Quesadillas and salad
You can actually give two options here. Either use the leftover chicken/peppers on top of a salad, or you can chop up the leftovers into smaller chunks and then broil up/fry up some quesadillas. Instead of using a high fat salad dressing use: fresh salsa, add a dash of vinagarette to it and throw on top of your fajita salad.
I do alot of chicken because, according to my family, I am the QUEEN of chicken. I'm the only one in the family that can do chicken that isn't DRY. No matter how I make my chicken, (fry, broil, bbq, bake), it's ALWAYS perfect! My DD loves my chicken, so that's another reason I use it alot. I usually have a simple side like rice, risotto, or couscous.
A couple of my favorite quick from the freezer items:
TJs frozen brown rice - 3 packets in one box for a total of six servings. Wonderful brown rice perfectly cooked EVERY TIME in THREE minutes is worth every penny. It's not expensive though. Something like $2.99 a box.
TJs Frozen Chicken Pomodoro - This might feed three people. I was amazed that it tasted EXACTLY like Olive Garden's dish. Not super cheap at $6.99, but better than the $50 I'd spend at Olive Garden.
I'm only up to page 30, I can't wait to read more! Thanks to everyone who's already posted!
and I only have 2 kids??
McDonalds is having the free Southern Chicken sandwiches all day today. So I'm making the sides and picking up the free Southern Chicken sandwhiches to go. 
The offer is unlimited, just for today. Nationwide promotion. 
so i made the Flame Tree BBQ sauce... very yummy! 
It means my family can go back to eating at home and our tummies will be thanking us I believe.
. I can't get past the fact that they charge $2 for a topping, and there was barely a handful of mushrooms on there! Not nearly $2 worth! (this is a local pizza place). 
