Hello, Hello! As promised, yesterday, I am sharing something fun that your family, or friends can do too. I was watching a Youtube video last week and it was a family that challenged each other to make a themed meal. Their theme was a Dollar Tree theme challenge. It was really interesting, and the creative meals they came up with were amazing, well two of them were, lol. Plus, they had three meals worth of leftovers for the rest of the week. Brilliant! So, in my house at this time is myself, my husband, and my 17 year old. I proposed to them that we try this on Mondays when my husband and I are both off from work. My daughter decided she did not want to be a judge between her father and myself, so she will compete each week, and one of us will be the judge. For the first Monday coming up I picked the theme and it is a Fall casserole. Casseroles are easy, convenient, and we should have a ton of leftovers, making them also economical. I will be sure and share how it works out next week.
But, I wanted to do a challenge this week, so last night I challenged myself to make a Thanksgiving dinner that was not a Dollar Tree challenge, for as affordable as possible. I spent only $6.04 on my meal. Now, this is not a traditional Thanksgiving meal. That is not the goal. But, if you are tight on money, don’t really know how to cook, or maybe you just want a really chill Thanksgiving instead of all the hassle of cooking all that food, and the dishes oh my, then this might be for you. Maybe you are stuck at college for the holiday, or some other reason. This would also be great for leftovers after the big day. Check it out. I don’t have my receipt because I order online now, but I can tell you from my order the price for each item.
Ingredients:
Great Value Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup 1 can .57 If I ever make this again, and I probably will I would get low sodium.
Great Value Turkey Flavored Stuffing Mix 1 box .82 again if there is a low sodium option I would get that next time
Great Value Thin Sliced Oven Roasted Turkey Breast 1 pound $3.28 You honestly only need half of this so it could be even cheaper.
Daisy Natural Sour Cream 8 oz $1.37
1 cup of water free
That’s it! Now, if you bought half of the turkey breast you could get some canned green beans for .46 I had some already in my pantry and we ate them as a side.
To make this you need a crockpot. I chopped the turkey breast up and put it in a pan to sautee with some olive oil, and poultry seasoning. In hindsight I would not use the poultry seasoning the next time. This only took a few minutes. Then I layered it on the bottom of my crockpot, after spraying it with non stick spray. Open the stuffing mix and pour it over the turkey breast as evenly as possible. In a large bowl mix together the water, sour cream, cream of chicken soup. Then pour it all over the stuffing spreading it out to make it even. Cook on low for 2.5 to 3 hours.
My daughter and my husband were the judges. Now mind you my daughter does not eat stuffing. She hates it! But, she didn’t know what was in this meal because when you stir it all up to serve you really might think it is mashed potatoes. Anyway she ate it and had seconds. She gave me a 7! My husband said it was too salty, and I agreed. But, it really did taste like Thanksgiving in a bowl. He still gave me a 6. I would recommend the low salt versions that I stated above. I could have made the presentation better as well, but I didn’t think of that.
Anyway, I would definitely make this very easy, affordable meal again. This is obviously not a well rounded meal, but when you are in a pinch for time, and money, it will work.
How affordable can you make a Thanksgiving meal? Leave me a comment below. Probably Friday, for Foodie Friday, I will be sharing a chocolate recipe. Come back to check it out.
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Living Life With CKD 