Women's Wednesday: 4 Recipes for a Family of 4 for Under $40

Women’s Wednesday is back and here is a little recap from last week:

We discussed the difficulties that oilfield wives face. Two wives shared their stories and offered advice to the wives who may be struggling with the lifestyle.

Here is a comment that I received in my e-mail from a local oilfield wife: “Being an oilfield wife has its ups and downs. I married an oil field man and the first thing he asked me is would I be able to handle the lifestyle of him being gone a lot. Being a single parent already, it was really no big deal. In fact, I took it as dating every time he came home. He was home for only one week out of a month. With his job, I was fortunate to be home with my kids and raise them. This man had worked so much that we were able to appreciate one another and the jobs we do to make our family work. Unfortunately, when the oil field started to fail, my husband lost his job; but we were determined to keep going. He went overseas to work just to provide for us. Being in India and Saudi Arabia and what was going on over there, I was scared I may never see him again. That job depleted… We had just bought our first home and within months of that, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I couldn’t work at that time. We had four kids to provide for and this was supposed to be a stress-free environment for me so I could heal. But we got through it all; we survived. Now, I have to take care of my family and do what I can for us. If this man can take us to the top and sacrifice his time away from his family, then I sure can sacrifice some of my time to take care of us. Being an oil field wife has made me humble, wise, and thankful for the things I have now. Be smart with money because you never know what will happen. These men that are out of work are not looking for the oilfield pay; they are looking for someone to give them a chance to just work – construction, warehouse, anything. So many jobs will not hire them in fear that they are over qualified or they will leave once the oilfield goes back up. For some, that may be true. These men go above the call of duty in rain, snow, and heat just to provide for their family, and yet this town will not open their arms to them. We end up moving or getting on welfare just to survive. It just takes the community to help one another in hiring so we can all thrive. It has been almost two years since my husband worked steadily, but we are still here.”

Last week’s story can be found here.

For today’s topic, I am going to share with the readers four simple recipes that will feed a family of four for under $40. We all know life gets busy and a lot of people would rather stop at a drive-thru or order a pizza than go grocery shopping and cook a meal. However, with these recipes, you can get in and out of a store in 15 minutes, cook them in one hour or less, and they are much better, in my family’s opinion, than a Hot-N-Ready pizza or a greasy hamburger.

(Note: All ingredients and prices came from Albertson’s, and obviously prices are subject to change depending on where the consumer shops, price per pound, brand, etc.)

Chicken/Green Beans/Potatoes

This is actually a very popular recipe, and I have seen it posted on social media many times. However, there are some who may not be aware of its existence.

Ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts - $7.92

Five pound bag of red potatoes - $3.99

Bag of fresh green beans - $2.99

Package of Kraft Italian Seasoning - $1.29

Grease the bottom of a casserole dish with butter and lay the chicken, which should be cut into nugget size pieces, in the center. Cut the potatoes into fourths and lay those on one side of the chicken, and the green beans go on the other. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the entire dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Additional comments: I use the spray butter because it is just more convenient and less messy. I also like to add black pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt to the entire dish, and bacon bits to the green beans. I also made this exact meal with a package of Ranch mix instead of Italian, and my husband liked it even better.

Chicken/Bacon/Ranch Wraps with a Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

Whole grain tortillas - $2.49

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts - $5.14

Cheese (I used block of sharp white cheddar) - $2.50

Bacon - $3.69

Spinach leaves - $1.50

Brianna’s Poppy Seed Dressing - $2.99

Hellman’s Light Mayonnaise - $3.89

Daisy Light Sour Cream - $1.39

Turkey Bacon Bits - $3.39

Texas Toast croutons - $1.50

Package of Hidden Valley Ranch mix - $1.69

First thing, make your ranch dressing. Yes, it is much better than buying it in a bottle. The recipe on the package calls for 1 cup of mayonnaise, but I use ½ cup of mayonnaise and ½ cup of sour cream.

The salad is simple: just fresh spinach with the poppy seed dressing, garnished with some bacon bits and few croutons.

Cut up the chicken as if you were making fajitas with it. I cook it in a wok and add Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Fry up your bacon, just like normal.

Heat your tortillas via your preferred method, and grate your cheese. You now have chicken, bacon, ranch, and cheese on a tortilla. This is a perfect, non-messy meal for picky children. An even simpler way to do it, would be to buy canned shredded chicken and microwaveable bacon, for those who are really time consumed.

Brittany’s Pasta

I sort of invented this pasta one night by throwing random ingredients that we had in the pantry together, and it just turned out great. Now it is a recipe that we have quite often, and I am glad to share it with our readers! (Note: we also had the spinach salad with this meal)

Ingredients:

Whole grain penne pasta - $1.39

Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes (1 can; garlic and oregano) - $1.09

Alfredo Sauce - $2.29

Chicken - $5.04

Garlic toast - $2.99

Spinach salad ingredients - $9.38

Cube the chicken and cook in separate pan, while cooking pasta as directed. When both are done, drain pasta and add it to the chicken, along with the tomatoes (drained) and the Alfredo sauce. Let it all simmer for about 10 minutes while the garlic toast bakes. Throw your salads together, and you’re done!

Smothered Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

Whole sweet potatoes x4 - $2.97

Bacon - $3.29

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (4) - $11.13

Cheese (block of white sharp cheddar) - $2.50

Apricot preserves - $2.69

Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque sauce - $3.29

Make the glaze for the chicken: in a bowl, mix apricot preserves and barbeque sauce together and microwave for about 30-45 seconds. Peel and chop sweet potatoes; boil until you can easily put a fork through them. The chicken breasts will bake at 350 degrees, but the time will depend on their size and thickness of course. Every 8-10 minutes, you will want to pull the chicken out and baste each with the glaze. When the chicken is done, top each with a couple of strips of bacon and then cheese, and let sit in the oven for about 3-5 minutes to melt. Meanwhile, mash your sweet potatoes and add butter and cinnamon sugar.

I hope some of you try and enjoy these meals.

As always, questions, comments, or suggestions can be sent to [email protected].