Skip to main content

Chili Casserole

Well since the grocery budget is a sore subject in this family I am trying to figure out how to make cheap cheap meals while not depriving us of vegetables. Last night I made what I call a Chili Casserole and surprisingly everyone gobbled it up. I guess you could also call it dinner in a can, but I don't feel too bad about it. I came up with this on my own so feel free to change it to suit your family's tastes. Here is the breakdown of ingredients and cost:

Chili Casserole by Shannon

2 cans of Pork and Beans (.58 each)
1 can Diced Tomatoes (.57)
1 ear of corn (.25)
1 package of Crescent Rolls (1.50)
1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
1/2 tsp. of ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large casserole dish empty 2 cans of Pork and Beans, draining the juices from one can. Drain half the liquid from the tomatoes and add to the dish. Add in chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Add corn (I used one ear of corn I had precooked, chopped and previously frozen. You can use a small can of corn instead.) Stir together. Unroll the entire package of crescent rolls together and lay on top of the mixture. If you are like me and all of the rolls broke apart by themselves just layer them on top of the mixture. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the top of the casserole is golden brown and the mixture is bubbling. Garnish with sour cream, cheese or green onions if desired.

Serves 5-6

I also chopped up half a head of lettuce (.78) to serve as a salad. Add a glass of free water and there you go, a dinner for 6 for under $5.
I'm not sure of the exact cost of the spices but most people will have these on hand. If not, your local dollar store should have a good assortment of quality spices. If I had a can of sliced olives on hand they would have gone in very nicely with the mixture, but I didn't so just throw in whatever sounds good to you!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Belated Christmas Pics

Because I didn't download any pictures for a while, and then it was after Christmas and things got wild for a while I kind of skipped over the actual holiday so several weeks late, here is how we spent our Christmas. I didn't get any pictures when we were over at Shane's family's house but we spent lots of time over there too.  All four kids in one picture together! Warner kind of blends into the tree skirt but his little baldish head stands out. Luckily the matching pajamas I bought for the boys last year still fit too.  Head lamps for spying on Santa. Opening presents was a daunting task for Lincoln. I think this was when he realized asking only for a "princess and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" wasn't the best of ideas. Don't worry he got plenty spoiled. The messy aftermath. Lincoln playing in his new tiny little kitchen. My brother and dad at our house. My mom and brother decorating a giant gingerbread...

Overnight Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

I've been tweaking this overnight sourdough cinnamon roll recipe over the last few months and I think it's finally, exactly, the way I like it. We love this for slow weekend mornings, to take to family and friends, or for special holiday get togethers. It's also the same recipe I use when making them to sell locally. I've been keeping it under wraps for no reason in particular but it's just too good not to share.  I don't have a reliable kitchen scale so this recipe uses good old fashion cups and goes a lot by the feeling of the dough. It will get messy but don't be discouraged if it doesn't turn out just right the first time. No matter the flop, these cinnamon rolls will never disappoint taste wise.  The PDF printable can be found here or you can keep reading.  Overnight Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls  The night before you want to make rolls: 8 Tablespoons cold butter, shredded (a whole stick) 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour  1/2 cup sourdou...

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

We love chicken in our house because it is yummy, very versatile and somewhat affordable. It is also Shane's meat of choice for his "tone and sculpt" plan. (ok so I just love how special he is and really I am not making fun of him)  I generally try to find boneless, skinless chicken for less than $2 a pound. These days it is getting increasingly difficult, even looking into Zycon or Costco so when I found some for $2.30/lb I got all the had... two packages. I frozen one because Shane will BBQ that for lunches on the weekend. With the other package, which I think was about 3.5 pounds or 5/6 breasts, I was able to look on the monthly menu plan and figure out what chicken type dinners I had coming up and chop from there. Since the breasts are usually very thick I slice them in half, like a top and bottom part. Then I either chopped up into bite sized pieces or froze whole. For less than $9 in chicken I made four meals that will serve at least two adults and two children. ...