Italian Chicken Skillet

This is a great recipe from the book Diabetes Meal Planning on $7 a Day -- Or Less! by Patti Geil and Tami Ross. This recipe includes great meal-stretching ideas like cutting meat and veggies into small bite sized pieces, and thinning sauce out with water (or milk, depending on the topping) to help it go further. Because zucchini is a very inexpensive veggie, and DS LOVES them, I tend to add extra zukes and just reduce the water a bit so the sauce isn't too thin. This dish also works great over rice!

Italian Chicken Skillet

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 tsp corn oil
1 tsp (or 1 clove) minced garlic
1 small diced onion
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 7-oz can mushroom stems and pieces, drained and rinsed
3-4 small zucchini squash, quartered lengthwise and diced into bite-sized pieces
1 14-oz jar reduced-sodium spaghetti sauce
½ cup water
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 2/3 cups cooked pasta, cooked without added salt or oil

Preparation Instructions
Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add oil and warm over medium heat. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onion turns clear (about 3 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add chicken and cook until no longer pink (about 7 minutes).
Stir in mushrooms, zucchini, spaghetti sauce, water, and red pepper flakes.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring periodically.
Serve over hot pasta.

Total Cost:
Onion - $0.15 (about half a small onion)
Chicken - $2.00
Zucchini - $0.45
Can mushrooms - $0.40
Pasta sauce - $0.75 (about half a large jar)
Pasta - $0.60 (about 2/3 package)

Grand total (with leftovers) $4.35