I have received TONS of questions from you all about meal planning.  Some wonder how I make meals from what seems to be a crazy weekly shopping list and some of you just want ideas about what to cook based on the weekly sale.  I am going to try very hard to start providing several posts per week on meal ideas.  I am sure you have seen that I have partnered with Amanda at A Few Shortcuts  to help bring some affordable meal ideas. I will also try to add some of my own meal ideas based on what I am cooking!
Here is tonight’s menu:
Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Knorr Rice
Squash Casserole
SteamFresh Peas
Watermelon (for the kids)
Here is a breakdown of the cost–some of the prices are not current…remember I cook from my stockpile. This is just to give you an idea of how my shopping trips create a meal!
Whole Chicken $5.27- $2 chicken winetag = $3.27
Philly Cream Cheese $1.25 – $1/1 Q from Grape Magazine = .25¢
Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing- $1.50 – $1.50 MQ = $0
Rosemary-pantry staple (but could use $1/1 McCormick MQ) = $0
Pepper-pantry staple = $0
Knorr Sides $.75 – .55¢ from Family Is It’s Own Reward = .20¢
Squash FREE – used $1.75 off produce from Simply Delicious WYB Kraft = $0
Kraft 2% Shredded Cheese – $2.79 – used $1/1 FLIP + .50/1 (doubles to $1) Kraft 2% tearpad = $.79
Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup $1 – .50¢ (part of $1/2 IP coupon) = .50¢
Daisy Sour Cream $1.39 – $1/1 MQ = .39¢
Breadcrumbs–FREE (part of my stockpile-can’t remember the details) = $0
Frozen Peas (I have plenty of frozen veggies but for the heck of it I will price it from last week’s 50% off sale) .45¢
Watermelon -FREE -used $2/1 Fresh Cut Fruit Q
TOTAL for this meal =$5.85 …or less than $1.50 per person ($5.85 is actually probably a high estimate as it doesn’t take into account any other coupons such as a $5/30 that might have been used or that the Kraft cheese price was for the full bag when I will only use maybe 1/2 of the bag as well as I will only use a few tablespoons of the sour cream.)

I know you all want the delicious Rosemary Roasted Chicken recipe 🙂
You will need:
-One whole roasting chicken
-8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
-2 tsp Rosemary
-1/2 tsp black pepper
-4 Tbs Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix cream cheese, rosemary and black pepper
Separate the skin of the chicken from the meat by using your fingers or a spoon to gently loosen it (be careful to avoid tearing the skin–but not the end of the world if it happens!)
Take the cream cheese mixture and push it between the skin and the meat of the chicken –don’t forget to do the legs and thighs as well.
Brush with the Zesty Italian Dressing
Bake the chicken for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until it is cooked through (165 degrees)
Let me know if you try it–this is always a big hit at my house!