Meal Planning Monday! Chicken Tortilla Soup



              (This week’s post is by Leah Kelley.)

            This week is all about being creative with your stockpile deals and your leftovers!  Sometimes kids and husbands can rebel against leftovers, saying, “Not that again!”  However, if you’re sneaky, you can disguise leftover ingredients into a whole new meal that your family will love.  You can also freeze many leftovers and pull them out a few weeks later.

            I recently scored some free pasta and $.75 pasta sauce from a Kroger Mega Sale (using my coupons, of course)!  I picked up a two-pound package of manager special hamburger for $2.13 and made meatballs a few weeks ago and froze them. So, on Monday, we’ll have Spaghetti and Meatballs.  The total cost of the meal is only $2.88 to feed a family of five - Not too shabby!  I will send leftovers to work with my husband, which is cheaper and tastier than anything he’ll get at the drive-thru. 

            On Wednesday, we’ll have Meatball Subs for dinner, using leftover meatballs and sauce from Monday. I'm attempting to make homemade wheat buns, so we'll see how they turn out!  On Sunday, I’ll make Chicken Tortilla soup using the leftover roast chicken from the night before.  As you can see, it’s not hard to use a little creativity, and repurpose your leftovers into something tasty, saving a lot of money in the process.

So here is what’s on the Meal Plan this week for the Kelley household:

Monday~ Spaghetti and Meatballs

Tuesday~ Dill Salmon, sugar snap peas, and brown rice

Wednesday~ Meatball Subs

Thursday~ Chili and cornbread

Friday ~ FFY (Fend-For-Yourself) Night.  I'll be at a Thirty-One party at my sister’s house, so my husband will be on his own for dinner. He'll either eat leftovers or pop a pizza in the oven.

Saturday ~ Roast chicken, mashed cauliflower, creamed spinach

Sunday~ Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup (from the website HeavenlyHomemakers.com)

8 cups chicken broth

2 cups cooked chicken

2 cups frozen corn

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped green chiles

1/2 t. chili powder (or more to taste)

1/2 t. sea salt

5-6 whole wheat tortillas

Simmer all of the ingredients…except for the tortillas for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, tear the tortillas into bite sized pieces and stir into the soup. Heat for five minutes.