$5 HEALTHY Family Meals For Your Busy Weeknights! Best Extreme Budget Meals! #cooking #budgetmeals

Weeknight dinners need to be easy. And, especially these days, it really helps if they are affordable!
So, I have put together 5 meals to feed your family this week for only $25! These are well balanced, nutritious meals that don’t skimp on flavor for $5 bucks or less!!
I hope you enjoy this video and I hope you will give it a thumbs up to help get it to more folks (that ole’ algorithm, you know….)! Also, it would help me so much if you could share it with your friends and family who might be able to use it!
Let me know if you try any of these and also how your family felt about them, too!
Thanks for watching!
I love you!!
Lori

Grocery List
8-10 lb chicken
2 lb potatoes
2 lb onions
1 head garlic
1 bunch celery
1 bag frozen corn
2 cans green chilis
1 pkg mushrooms
1 can green beans
1 lb navy beans
1 lb rice
1 bag tortilla chips
1 lb cheese
egg
sour cream
2 veggies of choice for sides

Staple Items
flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, coconut oil, olive oil, milk

Recipes:

White Chicken Chili
2 C shredded chicken
6 C chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can green chilis
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 TBS cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 lb navy beans, prepared
shredded cheese & sour cream for topping

Sauté onion, garlic, and chilis in oil on med-high heat. Add seasonings and cook until translucent.
Add all ingredients, save toppings, into slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours, high for 3.
Serve in bowls and top with cheese and sour cream.
Cost-$5.10

Chicken & Dumplings (or Dumplins, as we call them in Alabama….)
2 C shredded chicken
6 C chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken (see recipe below)
2 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 C coconut oil, butter or shortening
3/4 C whole milk
1 tsp black pepper
1 TBS salt
Rue of 1/2 C flour whisked in 1 C broth, if needed for thicker consistency

NOTE-To make your own cream of chicken soup, combine 1 C broth with 1/2 C flour, whisk until free of clumps and heat on stove until thickened. Add pepper, salt, and other spices as desired.

Combine chicken broth and cream of chicken in large pot. Bring to rolling boil.
While broth is heating, make dumplings by mixing together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Blend in coconut oil. Add milk and knead until combined. Roll out on flat surface until very thin, about 1/8 inch. Cut into strips and then into rectangles approx. 1 x 3 inches.
Coat each dumpling with flour.
When broth is heated to rolling boil, add dumplings, one at a time,
Stir carefully, and prevent from sticking to bottom of pot. Cook for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.
Add salt and black pepper and stir to combine.
Add shredded chicken and stir well.
If broth is not thick enough, create a rue and add to the pot. (Do not add flour to pot without whisking in water or broth first—it will create clumps and not smooth out.)
Simmer for 15-30 mins.
Serve with your choice of vegetables
Cost $2.85 plus side dish

Chicken Tortilla Casserole
2 C shredded chicken
1 onion, diced
1 TBS olive oil
1 C chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken (see recipe above in directions for chicken chili)
2 C rice, prepared according to package instructions
1/2 bag tortilla chips, crushed
1 C shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Sauté onion in oil.
Mix together chicken, sautéed onions, chicken broth, cream of chicken and rice. Stir well to combine.
Pour into 9x13 baking dish.
Top with tortilla chips and cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.
Serve with your choice of vegetable.
Cost-$3.50 plus side dish

Chicken Corn Chowder
2 C chicken, shredded
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 TBS oil
1 can green chilis
1 pkg frozen corn
2 C chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 C milk
1/3 C sour cream
Shredded cheese, Tortilla chips & additional sour cream for topping

Saute onion, garlic, celery in oil until softened. Add corn, chicken & chilis and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour into slow cooker. add seasonings and broth. Stir well.
Cook on High for 3 hours, Low for 6.
Add milk and sour cream and stir.
Cook on low for 30 mins.
Serve with desired toppings.
Cost-$5.15 (if using organic corn and chips, cost is $5.75)

Chicken Potato Bake
2 C shredded chicken
8 potatoes, sliced thin
1 onion, diced
1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
1 TBS oil
1 can green beans, undrained
1 can cream of chicken soup, see instructions for making your own above
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 C shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350F
Saute onions and mushrooms.
Slice potoates.
Combine all ingredients, save cheese, in large bowl.
Pour into 9x13 baking dish.
Cook for 45 mins or until potatoes are soft.
Top with cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes.
Cost-$5.40

Total Cost of all 5 meals is $22, leaving $3 for the two side dishes needed for two of the meals!

Please note-
The cost of these meals is based on the amount of the ingredients used in each recipe.

[BrittanyCole]

I love that you put the recipes in the description box! That is so helpful and your hard work is appreciated. 😊

[breezybre]

Thanks for the lists and the recipes. Your care for others is evident.

[hjburns]

Thank you for some new recipes, Lori!

[shelbylynnwilliams]

Thank you so much for taking the time to type the recipes in the description box. This is very helpful, Wow 49 cents a pound for chicken. You scored a great deal.

[sherrysawyer]

Beautifully done and your son is so precious! ❤️ blessings to you and your family 🙏🏼

[RLC]

Keep up the good work! I can see your confidence growing as you film more videos and your money-saving recipes are what everyone especially families with children need right now. You have such a sweet, sunny personality so l know your YouTube channel with be a huge success and amazing joy for you. God Bless!

[teenanelson]

Really enjoying your channel! So glad I found your channel!

[crystaljordan]

Love these meal ideas! So smart to buy an on sale meat and use it all week for a variety of yummy dinners!
Thank you for normalizing "real people" food! Our families enjoy similar styles of cooking.
I confess, as a northern transplanted to the sunny south, I have never made chicken and dumplings. Yum! Those look amazing! 😍

[texasstardust]

I'm so appreciative that you take the time to put the Food List in the Description Box, because it's a pet peeve of mine, to have to " click the link " just to go to the Recipe, and see what one needs, to make the Recipe.
I'm a New Subscriber, and am enjoying your Money saving Recipes and how you explain your process.
Thank you for " Real Life, real People Food " ingredients and Recipes. Blessings ~

[angelafleming]

You are becoming a favorite channel of mine. Your meals for the week looked delicious. I hope you have a wonderful week.

[foxyroxi]

I just started watching your channel and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! Times have changed and we are all feeling the hurt from rising food prices. You do all the leg work for us to be able to have the time and $ to make those comfort meals. I look forward to more of your videos.... Thank you

[tonyapatrick]

Chicken and dumplings was a" luxury" meal when I was a kid, or at least we thought it was. We didn't realize it was cheap and filling. My mom always made them without the chicken in them. Sometimes we would have the cooked chicken on the side or it was used in a different meal. We always had potato salad and biscuits with it... One of my favorite meals from my childhood. Now my kids always love when I make chicken and dumplings... Thanks for the inspiration!

[RevBTB]

so glad to have found your channel because you explain things so awesome, make meals that are simple, yet comforting and are easy to create. Would love to see your pantry! You also have such a soothing voice. (i bet kids LOVE when you read to them!)😸

[rhondawalker]

Wow these are all amazing! Thank you so much for all of your hard work. God bless and keep you you're a wonderful person.

[cherylagnew]

Thank you for much for sharing these recipes. Take care have a great weekend and God Bless !

[muwgrad]

The chicken and dumplings were great, and for a work lunch, I put a generous serving of them on top of the leftover broccoli I served with it for a veggie and chicken bowl. Will put this on repeat!

[denisemorton]

Thank you SO much for all of the hard work you have put into this video & ALL the videos 👏🏼 👏🏼 I am a new subscriber & could listen to you all day! You are so real & down to earth. I am from East Tennessee, but sure wish we were neighbors. You are a sweet blessing! Can’t wait to try these recipes. I love white chicken chili- and my ALL time favorite is Chicken & Dumplins 😉

[roxannejohnston]

They all look delish 😋 Thanks for sharing.

[susanjohnson]

Great explanation on how to make dumplings.

[nancycarney]

Loved the white chicken chili and chicken and dumplings. Will be making chicken tortilla casserole. Trying to get to all of them. You work hard for all of this. Thank you.