Many of you tried the BBQ Cheddar Crusted Chicken recipe I shared as part of The Hellmann’s Chicken Change-Up and really enjoyed it. This time our focus is on budget friendly chicken change-ups.
This week my son and I tried another of the recipes from Hellmann’s, Mouthwatering Baked Buffalo Chicken which prices out at $1.74 per serving on average. Everyone’s total will differ a bit. I used the Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise in the recipe. I also used a full teaspoon of cayenne pepper – we like things spicy. I happened to have plain Panko bread crumbs in the pantry instead of regular plain bread crumbs so that is what I used and I omitted the fresh parsley because it is not a value for me to buy a bundle for 99¢ at the store that I will only use a bit of in the recipe. So while I did make changes in the recipe, the flavor component of the mayo and cayenne pepper were essentially the same. T did not care for this recipe very much. I thought it was ok, but if I made it again I would season the bread crumbs also with at least salt and black pepper. 
The chicken was nice and juicy though!
There are a few things I regularly do to try to keep my grocery costs down each week.
- Shop the Weekly AdI only go to one grocery store for regular shopping, Dierbergs, and each week they have a new ad that starts on Tuesday. I look at that ad to see what is on sale, especially in the meat and produce sections. Then I try to come up with meal ideas for the week based around as many of those as I can. I have a small freezer so I cannot really stock up on a ton of meat deals, so this works for me.
- Switch Cuts of MeatIf you have a recipe like this chicken one that calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, don’t be afraid to change the cut of chicken if something else is on sale. For us, I found chicken tenders on sale cheaper the day I went shopping so that’s what I used instead. Legs and thighs are good bargains also, just increase your cooking times as needed. Other meats like beef and pork have more differences in texture, so make sure you swap cuts that are for similar types of cooking for best results.
- Use What You Have
Make sure you go through your pantry and fridge regularly to see what extra things you already have. Use those for this week’s menu. This is really handy when the budget is extra tight on certain weeks. - Always Use a List
If I go to the grocery store without a list I always end up buying so much extra stuff or odd things and forget what I really need. If you make a menu and then create a list it is much easier to not get extras and stay on budget.
Two more budget friendly chicken recipes for Hellmann’s are Oven-Fried Herb Chicken and Tuscan Glazed Chicken. Hellmann’s is also sponsoring the Chicken Change Up Facebook promotion until April 30, 2012. Just try one of the featured recipes and sharing your thoughts and a tip and you can enter to win a $5000 grocery store gift card and other daily prizes. Stay tuned for my next Hellmann’s Chicken Change-Up post (in late April) where I will have a giveaway of my own just for my readers!
Do you have any budget friendly cooking tips you can share with us?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. Hellmann’s product and additional incentives were provided to me. All opinions stated are my own.
© 2012, Robyn Wright. All rights reserved.
