Cilantro, chicken rice bowl - recipe cost breakdown

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Still yawning from Sunday's time change? No energy to fix dinner? Stay away from the drive thru! This recipe is ridiculously simple and easy on both your wallet and waist line. Best part, it takes less than 30 minutes to make, start to finish so dinner is ready in a snap.

I bought some boneless, skinless chicken breast on sale at Publix a couple weeks back. I devided the package and use two chicken breasts for this. But, if you want to save even more, use skinless thighs. They are no worse for you and you will save big bucks.

What you'll need:

2 chicken breasts (about 3 cups chopped raw chicken)$2.26

1 cup uncooked brown rice ($.60) (That's 1/2 cup cooked per person. If you want more rice adjust your total brown rice is only $.16 a serving.)

3 small sweet red pepper ($1.50)

1/3 of a large sweet onion (.33)

1 16 ounce can black beans ($.66)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro divided in half ($.25)

1/4 cup lemon juice ($.15)

1/4 soy sauce ($.10)

2 tbsp. honey ($.35)

1/4 cup shredded cheese ($.25)

total: $6.45 - That's only $1.62 a person!

Let's get started: Chop everything up. Chop your chicken, cilantro, peppers and onions.

Get your rice started.

In a bowl mix together lemon juice, soy sauce and half your cilantro. Put the chicken in the bowl with your sauce and stir, stir, stir until the chicken is coated. Then add to your skillet and cook over a low heat. (I used an electric skillet. This is a good investment. Believe me.)

Once your chicken has started to brown go ahead and your can of beans (drained and rinsed) and your onion. Cook for another 5-8 minutes and add your peppers. You'll want your peppers warm, not mushy. 

Place chicken and veggies over your rice and garnish with cilantro and cheese.

What about you? What are some of your favorite frugal recipes?

One pot pork roast

Last week my grocer had pork roasts on sale for $1.99 a pound. As a rule I never pay more than $2.99 a pound for meat. The roasts were HUGE so I cut them in half, and had two -2 pound roasts.

We recently moved, and in a horrible twist of fate, my crock pot has gone missing. *clutches heart, sobs uncontrollably.

Let's all have a moment of silence for Clarese the Crock Pot.

Okay *sniffle* we can get back to topic. I pulled out the cast iron Dutch oven my husband gave me for Christmas (Yes, I am at the age where I get sexy gifts like Dutch ovens) and down to the business of making a sweet red pepper pork roast. A beef roast can be substituted if your family doesn't eat pork. This is an eight person roast, easy and costs around $10 to make. This is a great dish for company.

What you'll need:

1- 2 pound pork roast (or beef they both work the same for this recipe) ($4)

1 good sized onion($.99)

4 small sweet red bell peppers ($1.99)

1- 16 oz jar of salsa ($1.65)

A little smidgen of olive oil ($.09)

4 cups rice - not instant (to be served over) ($1.00)

Preheat your oven to 350 and oil the bottom of your pan. If you don't have a Dutch oven, a deep casserole dish will work.

Chop your onion and pepper into strips and line the bottom of the pan.

Place the roast over the onions and peppers and cover with salsa. Cover the dish and slide it into the oven. You will cook it on 350 for about 3 hours.

Cook the rice according to the package directions. (What? You need me to tell you how to cook rice?)

This is seriously delicious and ridiculously easy to make.