The Christmas season is busy for everyone. Lighten the load this year by whipping up a budget-friendly holiday meal.
Taco Soup
Ingredients and prices from Walmart:
- 2.25 lb. All-natural ground beef chuck, $14.93
- 48 oz. Swanson beef broth, $3.68
- 10 oz. Rotel diced tomatoes(original, mild, hot or fire roasted) $1.32
- 15 oz. Great Value golden sweet whole kernel corn $0.50
- 1 green bell pepper $0.78
- 1 or 1/2 yellow onion $0.86
- 6 oz. Great Value tomato paste $0.86
If you’re from a family like mine, maybe buy two packs of ground beef chuck and another container of beef broth. For any spicy food lovers, I highly recommend getting the Rotel with diced tomatoes and habanero peppers, though you can never go wrong with the original. Add all your ingredients into your Instant Pot, or other cookware of your choice, and enjoy your bowl of goodness.
Chicken and Vegetable Casserole
Ingredients and prices from Walmart:
- 2lb Top Chick breaded chicken tenders, $8.96
- 3.5oz Great Value crispy onions, $1.66
- 14.5oz Great Value French style green beans, $0.76
- 14.75oz Great Value cream style sweet corn, $0.76
- 10.05oz Great Value cream of chicken soup, $0.70
- 15oz Great Value bread crumbs, $1.22
Top Chick chicken tenders can be replaced with any chicken of your choice, this is simply something my household has grown fond of using since they are already breaded. It is a simple option for the recipe. Plus, if we don’t use all of the chicken tenders in this casserole, which we normally don’t, you can never go wrong with Top Chick chicken wraps.
The crispy onion topping is best added into the mix of chicken, veggies and cream of chicken soup in our casserole dish, then also sprinkled on top with the bread crumbs for the extra crunch.
My favorite part about this meal is getting toward the last few servings and making chicken and veggie casserole sliders. Put a few spoonfuls on some King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls and maybe even add some jellied cranberry sauce. Don’t knock it until you try it!
