Black Bean Quesadillas

I am always looking for good vegetarian options and this fits the bill nicely! Found at Taste of Home, it is easy, healthy, delicious AND straight from the pantry, so it's perfect for fast meals or snacks. Add extra veggies to your tastes and serve with fresh avocado for a really healthy meal.

Black Bean Quesadillas

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 2/3 cup salsa, divided
10 8" flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese
2/3 cup sour cream

Directions:
1. In a bowl, mash the beans; add 1 cup salsa and mix.
2. Place 5 tortillas on ungreased baking sheets; spread with bean mixture. Sprinkle with cheese, top with remaining tortillas
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until crisp and heated through.
4. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges - serve with sour cream and remaining salsa.

Total Cost:
Beans - $1.32
Salsa - $1.00
Tortillas - $2.30
Cheese - $1.50
Sour Cream - $0.50

Grand Total: $6.62 for 4-6 servings ($1.10-1.65 per serving!)

Chipotle Ranch Chicken Fingers

I scored some fancy salad dressing but since we don't do a lot of salad at home, I wanted to try something else - this recipe is a nice deviation from plain old breaded chicken, I like to do it as chicken fingers but you could just as easily marinate other (and larger) cuts of chicken.

Chipotle Ranch Chicken Fingers

Appx 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken, cut into tenders
3/4 cup ranch dressing (I used a Chipotle ranch, but any Ranch variety will do)
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large ziploc bag, combine chicken tenders and ranch dressing. Marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.
Remove chicken fingers from ziploc bag, making sure they are coated in dressing. Roll in breadcrumb mixture and place in a single layer on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and coating is crispy.

**for drumsticks, bake at 375 for appx 45-50 minutes. for boneless breasts, bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.


Total Cost
Chicken - $2.99
Ranch dressing - $1.00
Bread crumbs - $0.30
Parmesan Cheese - $0.50
Seasonings - negligible

Grand total - $4.79, or $0.80 per serving

Cheesy Zucchini Crisps

This recipe comes from Amy's Finer Things - I was looking for an alternative to potatoes as a side dish/starch and these are perfect! The boy wonder appreciates them too, he's not a big potato fan but zukes are his favorite :)

Cheesy Zucchini Strips

1/3 cup cornflake crumbs
2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
dash of garlic powder
4 small zucchini or squash (I use both) cut in sticks
1/4 c. melted butter

Combine corn flake crumbs, cheese, and seasonings in a plastic bag. Dip zucchini in butter and shake in bag to coat. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes


Total Cost:
Zucchini - appx $0.80
Cornflakes - appx $0.10
Butter - appx $0.25
seasoning - negligible

Grand total: $1.15

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

I adapted this recipe from this quesadilla recipe at Allrecipes.com based on what I had on hand and the Lloyd's BBQ chicken I had picked up last week. I used 6 inch tortillas instead of the 10 inch, and I sandwiched the filling between 2 tortillas instead of folding. They didn't come out as crisp as I was hoping in the broiler, so next time I think I will try pan-frying them instead. One tub of Lloyds and all other ingredients yielded enough for 5 quesadillas plus enough meat mix to do BBQ nachos the next night :)

Ingredients:
1 container Lloyds BBQ chicken
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced into strips
2 med tomatoes, diced
6 ten inch tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large skillet, heat the onions and tomatoes in the vegetable oil (stirring constantly) until onions are translucent. Add BBQ chicken, cook until heated through.
Place the tortillas between two damp paper towels and microwave on high for 1 minute.
Fill half of 1 tortilla with the chicken mixture and cheese, then fold the tortilla over the full half. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
Arrange the quesadillas on a cookie sheet.Bake the quesadillas in the preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until the cheese has melted.
Cut the quesadillas into fours.
Serve with sour cream.

Appx cost:
BBQ chicken: $2.00
Onion: $0.20
Tomatoes: $0.55
Tortillas: $0.75
Cheese: $0.95
Sour cream: $0.50

Grand Total: $4.95