Want to know what happens when you add more taco seasoning than chili powder to your favorite chicken chili?!  It becomes Chicken Enchilada Chili.  The key is making the enchilada sauce first, before dumping in all the chili ingredients.

Prep the sauce…which becomes the base for the chili.

Beef broth plus 1 can of tomato paste, plus some water.

Whisk ‘er up.

Three times the taco seasoning than chili powder (which is hiding underneath).

Enchilada sauce, y’all!

Dump, toss, stir…however you roll…add the red beans, black beans and diced tomatoes with green chilies.

Mix ‘er. Mix ‘er.

Stir in the chicken. And let ‘er simmer.

Zippy, zesty, zing! This triple-Z chili will certainly warm your tummy, and your tongue, this fall!!!

Chicken Enchilada Chili

Ingredients

• 1 cup homemade or store bought beef broth (free – $.50)
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste ($.19) Used $.75/1 Muir Glen coupon, doubles to $1
• 3 Tbsp homemade taco seasoning ($.10)
• 1 Tbsp chili powder ($.05)
  
• 1 15 oz can red beans, drained ($.67) Sale price
• 2 cups cooked black beans, from the freezer ($.40)
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies ($.24) Sale price, coupon and store promotion
• 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken, from the freezer ($1.50)
• 4 corn cobs, from the freezer ($.40) Froze after buying for $.10/piece

Directions

1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, whisk together the beef broth and the tomato paste, plus about 1 cans worth of water.  Stir in the homemade taco seasoning and chili powder.  Add the red beans, black beans and canned tomatoes with green chilies.  Stir through and let simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the cooked and shredded chicken.  Let simmer a little longer.  If longer than 15 more minutes, cover to prevent too much liquid from escaping.
3. Shuck the corn cobs and boil them for 4-6 minutes.  Serve as is, or with butter and favorite spices/seasonings.
4. Serve Chicken Enchilada Chili with Corn Cobs.

Cost $3.55

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I’m loving the grill this summer.  Last summer I didn’t do much of the grilling…I left that up to Steve.  But this summer, the grill has taken on a whole role in my cooking.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, diced and coated in BBQ sauce ($1.66)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce ($.25)
8 tortillas ($1)
1-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese ($.75-$3) I used 1 cup for Steve’s full size quesadilla.
(Some hummus for the dairy-free family members…$.50)
Couple cilantro leaves, chopped (from the garden)
4 corn cobs ($.80)

Directions

1. Dice the chicken and coat it with the BBQ sauce.  Grill the chicken pieces.  (Be sure that you dice them into pieces that are large enough to not fall through the grill.)

2. Once the chicken has cooked through, add the chicken, cheese, cilantro to the tortillas.  I did mine as “full”…you could certainly fold them in half and grill each side…and then cut if you prefer. After all, there are 913 ways you can make a quesadilla. Well, at least a dozen anyways!

3. For the dairy free folks…use hummus as you “glue” in a quesadilla!

4. Grill the quesadillas a few minutes on each side, until the cheese is nice and ooey, gooey!

5. Cook the corn.

6. Serve Grilled BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with Corn.

Cost $4.96

So it’s almost 90 today here in Ohio. I’m sure it’s some sort of heat record. And if it’s not it should be. It’s making me tired. And cranky. And the bazillion little cottonwood seeds drifting through the air, and some other pollen are wrecking havoc on my allergies.  (I just took a Benadryl, so if the end of this doesn’t make sense, you’ll know why.)

I turned the A/C on this week. We can normally hold out until the first week of July. But not this year!

All this to say, I have a new obsession with my grill. Or is it Steve’s grill. I say it’s mine. He says it’s his!

And a new love for cooking outside. Dreaming about an “outdoor kitchen”…or at least some sort of countertop where I can put my plates and ingredients that I need when cooking on the grill.

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts ($2.53)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($.25)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil ($.40)
Salt and pepper
1 cup brown rice ($.40)
4 ears corn ($.80) Yeah for $.20/ear sale…looking forward to the days of $.10 ears!

Directions
1. Marinate the chicken breasts in the shallow baking dish or plastic freezer baggie with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper. I placed the chicken into freezer baggies with the marinade and then froze the chicken. Just remember to pull it out early and let it thaw in the fridge…best way to marinate!!!
2. Cook the brown rice as directed on the package.
3. Boil the corn for 4 to 5 minutes. Don’t want to heat up your kitchen, grill your corn!
4. Serve Grilled Balsamic Chicken with Brown Rice and Corn.

Cost $4.38

(Someone recalculate that for me…I’m starting to feel sleeeeeeeppppppyyyyy.)

See that corn up there?!?  The “summer price” of $.25/ear is here a bit early this year!  I couldn’t help myself and snagged a few for this week.  The boys L-O-V-E corn and I love watching them munch it off the corn.  It’s sorta cute!

This *might* just become my new “go-to” meal.  It’s way low maintenance…as long as you get it into the oven in time!  It was delicious according to all 4 “table food eating” members of the family!  Totally passed the “kid test!”

(Also, I would totally do this in the slow cooker, except I don’t like the way chicken breasts turn out when slow-cooked. They get a funny texture. And I’m not a fan!)

Ingredients
1 1.3 lb package chicken breasts ($2.32) Other chicken cuts would totally work!
1 1/2 cups salsa ($1) Bought recently on sale, plus store promotion and coupon
2 cups cooked black beans ($.40)
1 teaspoon ground cumin ($.05)
1 teaspoon garlic powder ($.05)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup rice ($.20)
4 ears corn ($1)

Directions
1. Place the chicken breasts into an 8×8 inch glass baking dish. Pour the salsa over the top and then stir in the black beans, cumin and garlic powder. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Dice the chicken and mix it all up with the salsa and black beans.
2. Prepare rice as directed on package.
3. Remove husks and threads, then boil the ears of corn for 4 to 6 minutes.
4. Serve Black Bean and Salsa Chicken on Rice with Corn Cobs.

Cost $5.02

So that has GOT TO BE the fanciest recipe title I’ve come up with yet!

Because I used so much from the garden for this meal, I was able to be a little more creative and made up a delicious rosemary-garlic aioli sauce for these paninis! 

These were “UH-MAZING,” according to the Hubs! 

So if you’ve got an eggplant in the garden, or come across a great deal on eggplants…I highly recommend these paninis!!!!

Ingredients
1 eggplant (from the garden)
Dashes of salt
1 loaf pugliese bread, sliced ($2.50) I would have used ciabatta, but the loaf at my store had milk, so I opted for the dairy free option!
1 large ripe heirloom tomato (from the garden)
1 zucchini, thinly sliced ($.64) a little less than a lb…on sale this week $.77/lb!
1/4 cup mayo ($.20)
2 Tbsp lemon juice ($.05)
1 tsp olive oil ($.05)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.05)
Palm full of fresh rosemary (from the garden)
Salt/Pepper
4 slices of swiss cheese ($.75)
Handful basil leaves (from the garden)
2-3 tsp olive oil, for sauteing ($.10)
2-3 tsp olive oil, for brushing bread before grilling ($.10)
4 corn cobs ($.76) On an unadvertised sale for $.19 an ear!

Directions

1. Slice eggplant into 1/4 or smaller slices.

2. Lay them into a strainer and sprinkle both sides with a few dashes of salt.  Place the strainer in the sink and let sit for 30 minutes.  The salt will draw out the bitter juices and will give the eggplant a better flavor.

3. Meanwhile, slice bread into 1/4 inch slices.  I thought these would be too thick after I cut them, but they really “smoosh” down!

4. Slice tomato into semi-thin slices.

5. Slice zucchini into semi-thin slices.

6. Prepare Rosemary-Garlic Aioli sauce.  Whisk mayonaisse, lemon juice, olive oil, crushed garlic, chopped rosemary and salt and pepper, to taste.  (I had some leftover which the kids used to dip their extra bread pieces!)

7. After 30 minutes, the eggplant will have produced beads and become softer.  Pat dry and place in skillet with 1-2 tsp olive oil.  Saute for 3-4 minutes, then flip and saute the other sides for 2-3 minutes.  Once they have browned a bit, they’ll be ready for the sandwiches.  In the same skillet, add 1-2 more tsp olive oil and saute the slices of zucchini for 3-4 minutes, then flip and saute the other sides for 2-3 minutes.

8. On bread slices, add swiss cheese slice, basil leaves and the aioli sauce to the other bread.

9. Add sliced tomato, sauteed zucchini and sauteed eggplant.

10. Put sandwiches together.  (I had some 1 piece of extra bread and extra eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes, so I made an open faced panini with the following layers, from the bottom up: bread, aioli sauce, tomato, basil, zucchini, eggplant and piece of swiss cheese.)

11. Add about 2-3 tsp olive oil to a plate and then press both of the sides of the panini into the olive oil before placing on the grill.  Place on the grill and carefully balance the brick on the top so that it won’t slide off.  Once the veggies and bread soften and come together, the panini will stick together.

12. Watch the panini get smooshed and the cheese ooze and melt!  Be careful to use a hot pad when handling the brick!  Flip the panini and grill both sides.

13. Boil corn in large saucepan for 4-5 minutes, or place in micrwavable dish with 1/4 cup of water and cover with plastic.  Microwave for 2.5 minutes for each ear of corn!

14. Serve Grilled Eggplant Paninis with Rosemary-Garlic Aioli and Corn Cobs. 

Cost $5.20

So if I were to make pan roasted corn 2 days in a row, does that make me obsessed??? I pan roasted some fresh corn kernals (just like last night) to put on tonight’s taco salad!  They just taste that good!

Ingredients
1 cup rice ($.20)
1/4 cup store bought salsa ($.25)
About 3/4 iceberg lettuce head ($.58)
4 small tomatoes (from the garden)
Kernals from 2 corn cobs ($.38)
1 tsp olive oil ($.05)
Salt and Pepper
3/4 lb. cooked ground beef ($1.07) Used up the rest of the package from this meal
1 tsp ground cumin ($.05)
1 tsp garlic powder ($.05)
1 tsp chili powder ($.05)
1 Tbsp store bought salsa ($.05)
Handful of corn tortilla chips, crushed ($.25)
Pinchful of shredded cheddar cheese for each salad ($.25)
1 can vegetarian refried beans ($.69) On sale this week plus e-coupon match!

Salsa Vinaigrette
3 Tbsp canola oil ($.10)
2 Tbsp white vinegar ($.05)
1 Tbsp store bought salsa ($.05)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions
1. In small saucepan, cook 1 cup white rice with 2 1/4 cup of water. Bring water to boil, add rice and stir. Once it returns to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Once cooked, add 1/4 cup store bought salsa.
2. Wash and cut lettuce with plastic lettuce knife. Wash and dice tomatoes.
3. Cut kernals from corn cobs and then add to skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook for 7-10 minutes over medium high heat, or until corn starts to brown.
4. Combine cooked ground beef with ground cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and store bought salsa and reheat in the microwave.
5. Assemble salad with lettuce, tomatoes, pan roasted corn, taco beef, crushed tortilla chips, and shredded cheese. To make salsa vinaigrette, whisk canola oil, vinegar, salsa and salt and pepper in small bowl. Pour over the salad. (It doesn’t take much dressing, as there is already lots of flavor in just the salad!)
6. Heat refried beans.
7. Serve Taco Salad with Salsa Rice and Refried Beans.

Cost $4.12

This meal is “Dad Approved” and “Kid Approved!”  The Hubs had a taste as he made his way through the kitchen after getting home…and he declared this Taco Pasta as “Dad Approved!”

Ingredients
1.8 lb. ground beef ($2.14) Divided into 2 meals…$1.07 for this meal!
1 6 oz. can tomato paste ($.39) Bought last week on sale with coupon
1 15 oz. can kidney beans ($.83)
2 garlic cloves ($.10)
1 Tbsp ground cumin ($.10)
1 tsp onion powder ($.05)
1 tsp chili powder ($.05)
Salt and Pepper
1 hot pepper(from the garden)
2 cups uncooked rotini pasta ($.50) Used half the box from last week’s $1/box deal!
1-2 cups shredded cheese ($.75)
4 corn cobs ($.76) On sale this week $.19 each

Directions
1. In large skillet, brown ground beef. Drain and return to skillet.
2. Add tomato paste plus 2 cans worth of water to the ground beef. Stir until paste becomes tomato-y sauce. Add drained and rinsed beans. Add crushed garlic, ground cumin, onion powder, chili powder and salt/pepper. Add finely chopped hot pepper for some extra kick! Stir through and let simmer for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add 2 cups uncooked pasta with 2 cups of water to the meat mixture. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 10-12 minutes, or until pasta has cooked through. Stir a few times while pasta is cooking. (Use rice pasta if gluten free!)
4. Once the pasta has cooked through, top with 1-2 cups shredded cheese and reduce heat to low and cover to let cheese melt. (Omit if dairy free!)
5. Boil corn in large saucepan for 4-5 minutes, or microwave in microwavable dish covered with plastic wrap for 2-2.5 minutes per ear.
6. Serve Taco Pasta with Corn on the Cob!

Cost $4.60

Julie shared this recipe with me and I thought I’d give it a whirl!  I left off the sour cream lime sauce (trying to keep it dairy free!).  Paired with corn and sweet potato circles.  A fabulous and tasteful meal!

Since I bought a GINORMOUS sweet potato, I only grated half of it and then sliced the other half into thin circles that I added to the cookie sheets for broiling.  They cooked up perfectly along side the bean cakes!

This meal makes 8 spicy bean cakes, plus sweet potatoes and corn!  I was doubtful this would be enough for us…but the spicy bean cakes were quite filling!  Fiber fills you up!!!  We were all stuffed after this meal.  Even my “beans make me throw up” child liked these!  That is a direct quote from this afternoon when I was preparing these!

We all LOVED these! 

Ingredients
1/4 large red onion, finely chopped ($.25)
2 hot peppers, finely chopped (from the garden)
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed ($.10)
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
1 Tbsp ground cumin ($.10)
2 cans black beans, no salt added ($1.66)
1 large sweet potato (about 1.3 lb.) ($1.16)
1 egg ($.08)
1/2 cup bread crumbs ($.20)
4 corn cobs ($1) On sale this week!

Directions

1. Chop red onion, hot peppers.  Crush garlic.  Add to skillet with olive oil and ground cumin.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.

2.  Drain and rinse 2 cans of black beans.  I forgot to cook dried beans in time to get this ready.  Oh well!  It would have been MUCH cheaper to have made my own beans   Add to bowl and mash with potato masher.

3.  Once peppers and onions have sauted, add to mashed beans.

4. Grate 1 sweet potato.  Add grated sweet potato, egg and bread crumbs in with the beans and sauteed veggies.

5. Mix well until it all sticks together.

6.  Divide into 8 balls and place the bean balls on a greased baking sheet. (**See note below.)

7.  Flatten into patties.

8. Slice the leftover sweet potato (if you have extra sweet potato) and add to baking sheet in between the bean patties. (I used 2 baking sheets to fit all the patties and sweet potatoes.)

9. Broil for 10 minutes, then flip both the bean cakes and the sweet potato circles.  Broil for another 3-4 minutes.  (Flip carefully…the first few that I flipped sorta fell apart and I had to piece them back together.  The smaller and thinner patties stayed together during flipping.  **I suggest making 12 smaller and thinner patties for these to be successful!).  Sweet potatoes will be ready to eat at this point.  If you want them to be a bit crispier, then remove the bean cakes and return the sweet potato circles under the broiler for 4-8 minutes, or until they reach your desired crispiness.

10. Boil corn for 4-5 minutes in large saucepan.

11. Serve Spicy Bean Cakes with Sweet Potato Circles and Corn Cobs.

This would also be great with brown rice! And the boys liked mixing the bean cake with the corn!

Cost $4.65

This meal is sorta “2-n-1″…it could be vegetarian…or it could be done with meat or diced chicken! 

Here’s the lowdown…

Since I only used 1 cup of the crushed tomatoes, I ended up using the rest to make spaghetti sauce for the boys while I’m gone this weekend.  Before stashing it in the fridge, I tossed about 1 cup with the eggplant and pasta for the boys…then tossed the eggplant and pasta with cheese for us.  Make sense?  I don’t normally make “2 for 1 meals,” but that’s how this meal played out tonight. 

So could be meatless, or toss in a bit of your favorite meat and spaghetti sauce!

Also, today I sliced up my green pepper and orange pepper with an onion and froze them.  I wanted to make chicken fajita pizza tomorrow night before I leave, but that’s not gonna happen…rather than let it go to waste, I froze them so that I could saute them with the chicken next week when I can make that pizza!

Ingredients
2 small eggplants ($1.50) $.75 a piece from the farmer’s market stop!
Couple dashes of salt
16 oz. whole wheat penne pasta ($1.49)
1-2 tsp olive oil ($.05)
Pepper
Bunch of parsley, basil leaves and rosemary leaves (free from the garden)
2-3 garlic cloves ($.10)
1 cup crushed tomatoes ($.30)
1/2 – 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese ($.40) From the freezer from a few weeks ago when just $1.25/2 cups!
4 ears of corn ($.68) From the freezer when on sale a few weeks back…$.17 each

**Add 1/3-1/2 lb. ground beef for the meatier version! Plus $.75!

Directions

1. Slice eggplants into 1/2 inch cubes or slightly smaller.

2. Place in colander and sprinkle with salt.  Set colander in the sink and let sit for 30 minutes.  The salt will remove the bitter juices from the eggplant and the dish will be much tastier!  After sitting for 30 minutes, rinse with cold water and then add to skillet for sauteing.

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain and return to saucepan.  Chop fresh herbs.

4.  Saute egglant with the fresh herbs in olive oil for about 3-4 minutes, or until begin to brown.  Stir often.

5.  Add 1 cup of crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce/diced tomatoes.  Stir through.  Add cooked pasta and shredded mozzarella cheese.  Toss and let simmer over low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

6. In glass baking dish, add corn cobs with 1/4 cup of water.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 4-5 minutes.

7. Serve Eggplant Penne Pasta with Corn Cobs.

Cost $4.52 for meatless, $5.27 for meaty version

I {heart} rice and beans!  Mostly because they make SUCH cheap meals!  Even larger families or families with older children could make a meal with rice and beans that’s less than $5!  I encourage everyone to incroporate a rice and beans…or other vegetarian style meal into their weekly meal plan.  Just an easy way to save a few bucks each week!

I {heart} my slow cooker!  I really, really do!  Probably not quite as much as Steph {hearts} hers, but I do love it! 

Here’s the sitch…whenever I’m making something “new” in the crockpot, I always stop to see if Steph (aka the Crockpot Lady) has made something similar…and what tips or tricks she might have!  So I stopped by here this morning…because I’ve not made rice and beans in the slow cooker before…and of course, she had!  I wanted to do black beans and rice with diced tomatoes…and her recipe was pretty similar!  I learned that the rice would cook faster than I thought, so I didn’t start this until just before lunch!

Here’s my version. 

Ingredients
1 cup black beans ($.40)
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
1 cup brown rice ($.40)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes ($.59)
1 tsp ground cumin ($.05)
Salt/Pepper
3 corn cobs ($.51) On sale last week for $.17 an ear… And I bought 20 ears…thinking we’d eat them at the kebab party…but we didn’t, so now I’m stuck with a LOT of corn to eat!

Directions
1. Soak beans overnight in water.  In the morning, drain and rinse.  Cook soaked beans for an hour in a saucepan with at least 2 inches of water over the beans.  (I prefer to cook my beans before adding them to the slow cooker.  You can certainly cook them in the slow cooker…details here!)
2. Place olive oil into slow cooker. Stir rice around in the olive oil. Add cooked black beans (substitute 2 15 oz. cans), diced tomatoes, garlic cloves, ground cumin, salt and pepper AND 2 cups of water. Set on high for 6 hours. I set mine for 6 hours because I used brown rice. If you use white rice, set it for 4 hours.  This would be DELICIOUS topped with some monterrey jack cheese…or even cheddar.  Since we’re dairy-free, I would have…but think that would be delish!
3. Boil corn in large saucepan for 4-5 minutes.  Serve with butter, if you like.
4. Serve Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice with Corn Cobs.

Cost $2.19

(It doesn’t get much cheaper than that y’all!)

P.S. I’m whisking away to San Antonio for some cookbook business…I’ll be back Friday. I’ve got a delicious treat for you all tomorrow!