Second week and not depressed yet!

Phew! Another week flew by! My efforts yielded better results than last weeks' experiments. I incorporated the idea of saving energy while cooking affordable meals into my daily routine. I realized that the more work I have to put into preparing something, the cheaper it is. For instance, I purchased a whole chicken for $1.00 a pound. I cut two breasts and ground them in my food processor to create ground chicken meat. I used one half for a lasagna and the other half in my taco potato recipe. Instead of cooking the meat a little at a time, I cooked it all at once. I took out what I needed for the lasagna and placed the rest in the fridge. When I cooked the lasagna in the oven, I also cooked the rest of the whole chicken to use in another recipe later in the week. The biggest Ahuh! moment this week came when I realized that a little planning can save a lot of money!

Taco potatoes: $4.09 total = about .82 cents a serving

5 medium - large potatoes ( will make 5 servings) $1.24

1 pound of ground chicken (Hamburger or ground turkey can be subsituted) $1.00

1/2 of a 24 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce .50 cents

1 1/2 cups of water

1 tsp garlic powder .10 cents

1 tsp cumin .10 cents

1/2 tsp cayenne red pepper .05 cents

1/2 tsp curry .05 cents

1 cup of shredded chedder cheese .75 cents

1/2 cup of sour cream .30 cents

Wash the skins of the potatoes, poke holes in each potato with a fork and bake at 375 for 60 - 90 minutes. When the potatoes have about 30 minutes left, begin browning the chicken. When the chicken is cooked and juices run clear, add the spaghetti sauce, water, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, curry and Mix until blended. Simmer on low until sauce thickens. When potatoes are done, cut the skin off the tops and fluff the potato with a fork. Put potatoes on each plate and spoon the meat sauce over each of them. Sprinkle chedder cheese on top of them to melt. Serve with sour cream.