Publix Bargain Meal May 21-27

My local Publix runs sales Thursday-Wednesday. Yesterday, however, we were visiting my mom, and I got to go to a Publix that runs Wednesday-Tuesday. I don't want to admit how geeked out I felt at getting the sales a day early. If you have coupons, you can get free salad dressing and A-1 sauce for 10 cents. A great coupon week.

This week, my thoughts run to enchiladas. We had them last night, and it's an incredible "loaves and fishes" type of meal. Last night's meal included 3 types. Beef, cheese, and roasted veggie. Honestly? Anything can go in an enchilada. It's a great place for leftovers. A small amount of ingredients can stretch a long way. This recipe shows how to assemble the enchiladas. Oh, and while I've made my own homemade sauce many times, for this, we really do like Old El Paso best. **hangs head in shame**

not every blogger remembers to swat away the family to take pictures of a meal when it's hot and bubbling

Enchiladas

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded--thighs on sale--$0.99

Corn tortillas--around 20--$1

Canola oil for frying--$0.50

Enchilada sauce--$1.39

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)--$0.50

2 cups water

chicken bouillon (I use a Mexican brand that is chicken and tomato)--$0.07

salt--go light on this

pepper--around 1/2 t

chili powder--around 1 T

garlic powder--around 1 t

Cheese, usually about 4 ounces--on sale $2/8 ounces--$1

To make the sauce, combine the enchilada sauce, the tomato sauce, water, and bouillon. Add spices to taste. Simmer this on a back burner. Meanwhile, fry each corn tortilla in a bit of canola oil. Dip each one in the enchilada sauce, and then stack them all on a plate (to me, this is the least messy way to do it). Then fill each enchilada with some of the meat. Place seam side down on a plate or a casserole dish.

To serve, I do this two ways. One way is to place 3 enchiladas on a plate, microwave for a minute, top with warm sauce and a bit of cheese. This makes them more like restaurant style enchiladas (which we prefer). The second way is to put them all in a casserole dish, top with sauce and cheese, then bake until warm and bubbly. This is definitely more homestyle, but very tasty, and easy to freeze. And, having casseroles in the freezer is a very good thing.

For us, this recipe makes about 20 enchiladas. That's enough for a supper/lunch (4 servings), plus another for the freezer (another 4 servings). So, I'm counting this as an 8 serving meal.

Total cost--$5.45--for 4 servings $2.73

We serve this with shredded lettuce, a few sliced onions, and sour cream. You could also add rice and/or beans.

Lettuce--approx $0.50

Onions--on sale $0.67/lb--$0.20

Sour cream--on sale $1.25--$0.30

Rice--$0.30

Beans--I use dried--about 1/4 pound for 4 people--$0.25

Total cost for 4--$4.28