3 Day Meal Plan 2: Rotisserie Chicken

I have another delicious, low-cost 3-day meal plan, using one cooked rotisserie chicken. In this plan, I relied on helpers (mixes and prepared sauce) but you can very easily modify this to be made from scratch, and I usually do. It was just one of those weeks, and since we all have them, it's actually nice to show how an affordable home-cooked meal can still be put on the table, in very little time.

First, complete the preparation I lined out in Meal Plan 1. Also, I use salt and pepper to taste in every recipe.

Day 1: Chicken with Rice and Vegetables

There are a ton of ways you can do this, even subbing rice for quinoa or cous cous or another grain. I have had a demanding week with the babies, so I used a prepared rice mix. 

We love the yellow Mahatma rice, so I prepared it according to its directions, adding in 2 cups of frozen peas and carrots once my mixture came up to a boil. In the final 5 minutes of cooking, I added a bit over 1/3 of the chicken pieces. 

That's it! Serve with a salad, more veggies or a good crusty bread to round it out.

Day 2: Chicken and Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo

I prepared fettuccine noodles according to the package.  Once the noodles only have a few minutes left, add in either frozen chopped or fresh spinach (in the amount you'd like.) Drain in a fine colander. (Tip: if your family scoffs at spinach, a great way to incorporate it is to chop it extremely fine, and fold it in at the end with the Alfredo sauce. It masquerades well as a seasoning. My son thought he was eating "Italian spices" in his fettucine and marinara for the longest time!)

You can either buy prepared Alfredo sauce, or make your own by melting about 1/2 cup of butter in a pan and adding 1/2 cup flour to it. Cook 3 minutes. Add 2 tsp garlic powder and whisk in 1-2 cups of warm milk. Add Italian cheese of your choice and 1/4 cup Parmesan. This is what I usually do, but remember that demanding baby week? Yep, I picked up some good Alfredo sauce in a bottle. 

Heat sauce and noodles/spinach together, add about 1/3 of the remaining chicken pieces and heat through. Yum!

Day 3: Broccoli , Cheese and Chicken Soup

I enjoy the Bear Creek soup mixes when I am low on time, but I always have to modify them because I am a bit of a control freak and like to put my own touch on things.

In this recipe, I prepared the soup mix according to package directions, with one important difference—I used my chicken broth from the preparation stage, which adds so many nutrients and flavor to the soup. I also added a package of frozen broccoli to the pot from the beginning. Once the soup was ready and broccoli was softened to my liking, I added 1/2 cup of sour cream, the rest of the chicken, and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.  I like to serve this with a green salad and crackers. Easy and delicious!

Now for the price breakdown.

As I stated in my first post in this series, I use the usual price my grocery sells rottisserie chickens for—$6.99—as my base price and assume you have staples like seasonings and oil on hand.

Day 1:

Prepared Rice Mix (family size): $1.89

Half a bag of frozen peas and carrots: 50 cents

Day 2:

Good bottled Alfredo sauce or make your own as outlined above: $3.50

Fresh (or frozen) spinach leaves--I used fresh from a salad mix I had, and about 1 good handful, so it's hard to price this: estimating 75 cents

Fettuccine pasta: 89 cents

Day 3:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup Mix: $2.59

1/2 cup sour cream: 50 cents

1 cup cheddar cheese: $1.25

1 package frozen broccoli: $1

Grand total for 3 meals:

$19.86

$5.25 a meal

$1.31 per serving for a family of 4!