Still think you can’t eat delicious and nutritious food on a budget because groceries are super expensive? I SAY NAY. Today’s recipe is for green bean casserole and pan-seared chicken breast (boneless and skinless)! SO MUCH DELICIOUS FROM THIS.
(THIS actually is the food I cooked. Yes, I took a picture. Just for this.)
INGREDIENTS AND COST:
1 1lb bag frozen green beans ($1.50)
2 cans Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup ($1.69 each)
½ large onion sauteed in 1 tbsp margarine (1 onion=$1)
4 slices (about 2 oz) cheese (1Lb=$5, 2oz= 65 cents worth of cheese)
Breadcrumbs–any kind will do, I usually use the heel of the loaf that no one loves
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast: $4.50
TOTAL COST: about $11
Cost per meal: $5.50 for 2, makes about 2-3 servings extra of casserole.
If you want to know how to make this: boil green beans on high for about 5-10 minutes, while at the same time sauteeing your onions in margarine in a large skillet until they’re yellow and tasty. Make sure you preheat the oven to 350 degrees in the mean time! Add 2 cans Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup to the onion mixture and stir, turning heat down to low until it’s warm. Strain the green beans and add them to the mushroom/onion mixture, then cook for an additional 2 minutes or so, while seasoning to taste if you wish.
Now, add the skillet of goodness to a casserole dish, placing the slices of cheese on top, then bake for about 15 minutes. After cheese is melted, add breadcrumbs on top (I use this in place of fried onion bits just because it’s way cheaper…have you seen the price of those things??) and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
CALORIE BREAKDOWN:
Mushroom Soup: 259 calories per can (18g fat) (20g carbs) (5g protein) (x2)
1lb frozen green beans: 120 calories (28g carbs) (8g protein)
½ large onion + butter: 100 (11g fat) + 25 (6g carbs) (1g protein)
Cheese: 210 calories (9g fat) (1g carb) (7g protein)
Breadcrumbs: 90 calories (13g carbs) (8g protein)
ENTIRE CASSEROLE: 1,063 calories (4 servings) = 265 calories per serving, about a cup and a half
8oz Chicken: 280 calories (11g fat) (43g protein), round to 300 due to marinade in chicken (I used about 1/4 cup of Italian dressing and 2 tbsp vegetable oil, then seasoned with Italian seasoning, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and oregano)
Total per meal: 565 calories
NUTRITION BREAKDOWN:
Nutrition Breakdown for meal: 23g fat (24%), 22g carbs (23%), 51.5g protein (53%)
That means that this meal is over half protein! As I mentioned last time, this proportion allows your body to metabolize the calories more slowly and put them towards more useful processes, rather than allowing your body to store the excess calories from carbs and fat as–well, fat! GO PROTEIN.
The best part is that this meal tastes like it’s bad for you because of all the cream of mushroom (which of course means it tastes awesome), but it isn’t! You can trick yourself into eating healthy! It worked on my boyfriend, might as well give it a try…=D
Splatter Craze 