Don’t you love easy weeknight dinners that don’t take long? Me too! This chicken, broccoli and pasta dish is the perfect family meal and all for under $10!
I’ve been making some changes and really working on saving money on groceries. If you don’t watch it, your grocery bill can easily get way out of hand!
I shop at Food Lion and you can get a ton of ingredients there to make a lot of meals that are under $10. Sometimes that’s tough with a family of 5, but my goal this year is to make my dinners under $10. I can put that extra money away for our beach vacation.
When you pull out of my neighborhood you can turn right or left and either way a Food Lion is there. They’ve made some changes in the last few months that I really like and I’ve noticed that the staples I buy like eggs and milk are priced low and the weekly sales are items that I normally buy too. They are priced low every day, both name brand and Food Lion brand and makes it easy to save.
Saving money is easier if you have a ‘regular’ grocery store. I tried “shopping the sales” and hitting different stores to get the best price, but that was exhausting and I don’t recommend it. The time and gas used was definitely NOT worth it.
Food Lion has BOGO’s (which I LOVE) and personal MVP offers, coupons and weekly specials. I even get some in the mail every once in a while.
They just started a Shop & Earn program on their website and I love it. You get money back on your next order if you meet certain goals and it sure is nice to look at your receipt and have money off you weren’t expecting. I saved over $300 this year on my MVP savings.
More Tips to Save Money on Groceries
Before you go shopping take inventory or what you have in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer. You may not have eaten all the apples you bought. My kids have a tendency to put empty boxes back in the pantry so shake all those to see how much you have.
Save money by making a list of food you want to cook during the week. My family is so busy I’m not super strict about mine. I write down dinners I want to make. This is a cute menu you can print out to help organize your thoughts. Comfort foods are always winners in my house.
Have a couple of back up recipes that are easy, cheap and always on hand. Mine are frozen pizza, pasta salad, rice and black beans (with cilantro) and spaghetti. These are great when you lose track of time, have something come up, have extra kids for dinner or you just need an easy meal. One pot recipes are my speciality! I like to keep things simple.
I know I just said make a menu , but you also have to shop the sales. I was at Food Lion the other day and I saw two whole chickens that were just lowered in price and needed to be cooked that day. It was 10 in the morning and thought about my day. I came home and put one in the crockpot and one in the oven.
We ate the one from the oven and I chopped up the chicken from the crock pot, split it up, and froze it to use later in soup. (Hint- Now I have an extra easy meal on hand ready to go.) I also made homemade broth and froze that. That’s so easy to do and makes soup taste so much better.
Once you have some extra money in your food budget, you can start shopping ahead. When you see a sale item you can buy two or more, saving one for a future meal. I love doing this for meat and cheese. (My family can never have too much cheese.) Always keep an open mind about your dinner ideas.
Chicken, Broccoli and Pasta Skillet
This is a great one pan pasta dish with a yummy cheese sauce. Remember- anything with cheese is GOOD!
Ingredients for Chicken, Broccoli and Pasta main dish
- Chicken- I like boneless and skinless thighs, but chicken breasts works too.
- Broccoli crowns
- Rotini pasta- I like the tricolored pasta.
- Butter
- Flour
- Garlic- You can mince fresh garlic or use the jarred minced garlic. I usually use that to save time.
- Milk
- Parmesan cheese shredded
- Nutmeg
- salt and black pepper to taste
- olive oil
How to make chicken broccoli pasta
Step 1
Cook pasta according to directions. While pasta is cooking, slice chicken into strips and brown in skillet.
Step 2
In another skillet, add butter and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add flour and nutmeg and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Slowly pour in milk while stirring. Add in parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3
When chicken is done, cook broccoli in the same pan for about 4 minutes.
Step 4
Combine all ingredients and stir until chicken, pasta, and broccoli are coated in cheese sauce.
More easy family meals under $10 (that don’t have ground beef)!
- Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas
- Slow Cooker Salsa Verde– You can use pork chops in this!
- 30 Minute Mexican Sausage Casserole
- Garlic Butter Shrimp with Tomatoes and Kale
- Slow Cooker Pork Roast and Apples– This one is very popular!
Chicken, Broccoli and Pasta skillet
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- 2 broccoli crowns
- 12 oz rotini pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- dash of nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to directions.
- While pasta is cooking, slice chicken into strips and brown in skillet.
- In another skillet, add butter and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add flour and nutmeg and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Slowly pour in milk while stirring. Add in parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.
- When chicken is done, cook broccoli in the same pan for about 4 minutes.
- Combine all ingredients and stir until chicken, pasta, and broccoli are coated in cheese sauce.