Saving Money with a YUMMY Recipe!

It seems as though every time I go to the grocery, I notice food costs continuing to go up.  One way I save money is by buying bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts instead of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Now, before I go on any further with this post, I have to share my tale of woe.  I had taken pictures of how much chicken I got off of my bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, the prep work I did ahead, and the final food created with the recipe which will follow, but I had a mishap, and the pictures didn't end up on my phone.  When I told my husband about this, he said with a hopeful tone, "Soooooo....you have to make it again?!?"  To say the recipe I made last night was a hit is an understatement.  Since I didn't want to wait to post this until next week, when I make this again, I thought I'd go ahead and post, even without the pictures.  Please forgive the lack of pics!  :)

So back to the money savings here...  I put the bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in a gallon sized bag with the marinade the night before I was going to grill them.  The package of chicken I was able to get on sale had three enormous pieces in it, and was $2.97.  It was an awesome deal! 

After marinating chicken overnight, I grilled the chicken when I had the grill going for another meal.  I wanted to get the chicken cooked so I could have a quick meal the following night.  I allowed the chicken to cool after I grilled it, so I could easily take it off the bone.  I put the chicken in a plastic container and stored it in the fridge.  I also cut the onions and peppers the night before.  Storing them in a gallon sized bag was an easy way to have everything ready to throw together when I wanted to prepare them.

The flavor of brushing the lime butter over the quesadillas gives this recipe a blast of flavor on the shell of the tortilla.  I sprinkled a bit of  Fleur de Sel Salt from the S.A.L.T. Sisters website.  This salt works wonderfully as a finishing salt and added the perfect touch on these quesidillas.  (You can order it here:  http://www.saltsistersonline.com/classicsalt/product/fleur-de-sel-organic-french-grey-sea-salt) 

With a bit of thinking ahead, you can easily save money and have a delicious meal with this recipe.  Please let us know how you like it if you try it!  :)

-Olivia

Margarita Chicken Quesadillas

Recipe from:  Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
• 3/4 cup thawed frozen limeade concentrate
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 medium sweet orange pepper, julienned
• 1 medium sweet yellow pepper, julienned
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 flour tortillas (10 inches)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• Lime wedges, optional

Directions

Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag; add limeade

concentrate. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 6 hours or

overnight.

In a large skillet, saute the onion and sweet peppers in oil until

tender; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs,

lightly coat the grill rack. Drain and discard marinade. Grill 5-8 minutes

on each side or until a thermometer reads 170°. Cut chicken into 1/4-in. strips; set aside.

On one half of each tortilla, layer Monterey Jack cheese, chicken,

pepper mixture and cheddar cheese; fold over. Place quesadillas on a

baking sheet. Combine butter and lime juice; brush over tortillas.

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Cut each quesadilla into 4 wedges. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve with

lime wedges if desired. Yield: 16 wedges.