Budget Friendly Menu for Me This Week!

This week's menu is very budget friendly.  We had several expenses this week ranging from an unepected eye doctor appointments to three birthdays in the month of January (two this week) and purchasing a letter jacket; so my grocery budget for this week is less than normal.  I am getting creative.  First, I took an inventory of what was in my freezer.  I had chicken breasts, two packages of ground turkey, a box of frozen garlic bread, a package of ground pork and frozen cheddar cheese.  I also inventoried  my pantry.  I had on had lots of green beans, potatoes, canned cream of mushroom soup , onions, red, yellow and orange peppers, and lasagna noodles. I always have salsa, taco seasoning, salad dressing, and a variety of seasoings,  I decided to try to use items I had on hand and purchase as little as possible.  My goal was to  spend half of my normal weekly budget. 

Monday:  Chicken fajitas

Tuesday:  Ground Pork Stroganoff  

Wednesday: Potato Soup

Thursday:  Lasagna, salad, and garlic toast

Friday:  Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta and garlic cheese biscuits 

Saturday:  Breakfast:  Saturday morning traditional pancakes

                 Dinner: Steak and Potato Soup

I fixed a new recipe for the fajitas.  It was a slow cooker fajita recipe.  It was really delicious and a hit with everyone.  I did tweak the recipe a little on the advice from a friend.   

(I doubled this recipe for my family)

Slow Cooker Fajitas

2 lbs boneless chicken breats

1 package taco seasoning

1 tbl minced garlic

large onion

red pepper

green pepper

1 can Rotel tomatoes drained

juice of one lime

Place chicken breast in the slow cooker.  Sprinkle the seasoning mix and garlic over the chicken.  Pour the can of Rotel tomatoes over the chicken and seasonings.  Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours on high.  

About 45 minutes prior to serving the chicken arrange the sliced vegetables over the chicken.  Cook on high for 45 minutes.  The vegetables will be slightly crunchy.  

Remove chicken, and shred with a  fork.  Ladle out most of the liquid and discard.  Add chicken back to the slow cooker and squeeze lime juice over the mixture and toss.   

Serve warm in warmed tortillas with cheese, lettuce, black olives, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.