I love using my crock pots to make up sides! Not only does it free up my stove top and oven space, but it doesn’t heat up my kitchen! So I thought I would put together a list of 7 Easy Side Dishes just for you!
Aunt Lou here.
Indiana Family of Farmers has teamed up with me again to do the $50 Challenge. “What’s that?” you ask. I take $50 and see how many meals I can whip up without going over budget. Then I write a sponsored post to tell you all what I made up for $50 or less! Believe it or not, you can do this too with just a little bit of planning!
This time around though, instead of focusing on main dishes you can make in your crock pot, I thought I would do some simple non-crock pot (gasp!) mains and pair them up with these 7 Easy Side Dishes!
If you have read my $50 Challenge posts before, you are familiar with my way of doing things. When I am making up different pork recipes, I buy a $10 pork loin and cut it into thirds. After I do thirds, I either make it into chops or leave it together as a loin roast. It is a great way to make a lot of food for not a lot of money. It is a trick I do all the time!
If you aren’t quite sure what I am talking about, watch this video Mikey made. Sometimes it is easier to see it done!
Not only are these 7 Easy Side Dishes easy to make, they also provide a lot of servings, so you get more than one meal out of these sides! Mommy score!
Meal #1
First up is one of our absolute favorite ways to cook up chops on the stove with two delicious sides!
Meal #2
The breading on these chops is amazing! Pairing them up with two sides that are incredibly delicious makes this meal a home run! (Can you tell Ryder is playing baseball while I write?)
Meal #3
The next night we went fairly simple with the rest of our chops sprinkled with seasoned salt and threw them on the grill. If you do not have a grill, you can pan fry them on your stove with some seasoned salt. We really treated ourselves this night some delicious sides!
- Grilled Chops sprinkled with seasoned salt
- Slow Cooker Stuffing
- The rest of our yummy corn.
For the next two recipes, I bought a big ol’ package of boneless skinless chicken breasts (for less than ten bucks!) and split the chicken between these recipes. Not cutting up required to spread this pack of chicken between the recipes!
Meal #4
First up, we made part of the chicken up with an incredibly yummy recipe. (Don’t worry, the flavor is completely different then the crispy chops you made earlier.) We added in a family favorite potato recipe as well as the rest of our yummy green beans.
- Crispy Corn Flake Chicken
- Crock Pot Cheesy Ranch Potatoes (If you want to save money, you can make these up by slicing up potatoes. If you want quick and easy, go with the original recipe of a bag of shredded potatoes.)
- Crock Pot Green Beans
Meal #5
And last, but most certainly not least, we put some barbecue sauce on our remaining chicken and grilled it up (again, you can do this on a indoor grill or bake them if you don’t have a grill) and ate it with two of our new favorite sides! Both of these sides make up a bunch of servings, so you will have plenty left over to serve up with your next meal! Score!
- Grilled BBQ Chicken
- Old Fashioned Crock Pot Mac ‘n Cheese
- Crock Pot Sweet Tangy Carrots
So there you have it 7 Easy Side Dishes to go along with 5 meals for less than $50! What are your favorite ways to stretch your food budget dollar? I love learning new ways to save money. So share your tips and tricks with me in the comments!
Aunt Lou
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