Guacamole, Salsa, and the BEST Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tonight for dinner we had a Chicken Tortilla Soup, recipe complements of the Skinny Gourmet. I highly recommend you check it out - it was fantastic even with the substitutions I made, like adding a little less chicken broth, and using diced tomatoes with jalapeno instead of the two different cans she recommends. Of course, I couldn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't have all the ingredients, but if you want to wow your guests or simply have the best version possible, make sure to follow her recipe! It took me about an hour and a half start to finish to make it the first time, but I'm sure now that I've made it once it will take me much less time in the future. Once again - it was absolutely delicious, and makes enough to freeze. Try it - I promise it will be worth your time.

Also, I've decided I'm never buying store made salsa or guacamole again. It's overpriced, and the fresh stuff tastes 100x better. I made some salsa and guacamole to complement the nachos that I bought (didn't feel like making the tortilla strips, so we bought triangle chips instead). So here are the recipes:

Salsa:
3 medium vine ripened tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup of onion, diced
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, diced
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
1/3 red pepper, diced
1/3 orange pepper, diced
1/3 green pepper, diced
1 tsp jalapenos, finely diced
(hot sauce may be substituted depending on desired level of heat)

Mix ingredients together in large bowl. I recommend using a knife to mix (carefully of course!) so that you break up the tomato a little bit, release the juices, and create that liquid that is in most salsas.

Guacamole:
2 very ripe avocados
1 vine ripened tomato, seeded, diced
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 cup leeks (or onions), diced
1 tsp garlic powder


Mix ingredients together in a bowl, mashing avocados to desired thickness.

So total cost for tonight:
Soup: $11.50 total, about $0.75 per serving
Salsa: $2.85 total, about $0.35 per serving
Guacamole: $3.25 total, about $0.40 per serving
Bag of Tortilla chips: $2.99/bag, about $1.75 for tonight

Grand total for two people eating all of that?
A mere $6.25, or about $3.15 per person.

Plus, we get to eat this delicious soup at our leisure for the next week or so, since it freezes nicely.

Citrus Chicken and a Revelation

Today was great - our dishes finally came, so we can eat off of these awesome polka dotted plates instead of out of stainless steel pans and mixing bowls! We celebrate by going out to the grocery store and getting some rice (and other things). So in addition to tonight's recipe, I've decided to start incorporating as much information about costs as possible. In response to girlyjock's post about childhood obesity, I want to show that eating healthy, delicious food, is truly affordable and not very time intensive.

So today's recipe is: Citrus Chicken and Rice with Mixed Green Salad

• 1.5 lbs boneless chicken breasts
  ($3.00 - we got it on a buy one get one sale, so we got 3 lbs for $7.50, and only used about half of 1.5 lbs for this meal)
• 1 cup long grain brown rice
  ($0.50 - we got a large bag for $2.69 and this is the cost for tonight's meal)
• water, salt, pepper
  (negligible cost)
• 3/4 cup Dole Pineapple Orange Banana juice
  ($0.50 - we used a small part of a $2.17 carton of 100% juice)
  
• 1/2 bag premixed Dole Italian Salad blend
  ($1.25 - we used half of a bag that was on sale for 2 bags for $5.00)
• 1 tomato, italian croutons, miscellaneous trail mix
  ($1.50 - probably overestimated)
  
  
• Total Cost = $6.50 give or take, for two people, or $3.25 per serving
  
  To make, simply mix all salad ingredients together. For the rice, cook as recommended, adding 1/4 cup of juice near the very end. For the chicken, begin cooking in skillet with spices, adding 1/2 cup of juice once the chicken has been flipped once. The juice will help keep the chicken moist and tender, and add a little flavor to the plain brown rice.
  

So it's really not very expensive to eat delicious, healthy food. My boyfriend agreed that it was delicious, after telling me I needed to make dinner because I was the "expert" since I had a blog. I guess I didn't let him down!

On a side note, we also shared a bottle of California Riesling with dinner, to complement the citrus notes in the chicken and rice. This white wine probably cost us all of $5.00, because we stocked up on cheap but tasty wines when the supermarket was having a sale - buy 6 bottles and save 25%.

I guess my biggest advice today would be to buy nonperishables while they're on sale. Or even if it is perishable and can be frozen, like meats, fishes, shredded cheese, bread, frozen fruits and veggies, take advantage of the sale! Keep the freezer filled with healthy items and leftovers, and you won't have to reach for the ready-made high sodium, high calorie, high fat foods.