Parmesan Chicken with Bow Ties

(Image Credit)

I generally try to keep all of our dinners around $5 total, which is quite a challenge especially with grocery prices continuing to rise. The most recent copy of All You magazine features 38 recipes for no more than $1 per serving. Perfect! I suggest if you haven't picked up a copy that you do so ASAP!

Wednesday nights are pasta nights. We do themed nights to help me with meal planning. When I was meal planning, I flipped through the magazine and saw this dish. Perfect for pasta wednesdays! Andrew, my picky eater, was fairly skeptical, but it turned out delicious.

Did Parmesan Chicken with Bow Ties turn out to be a recipe that cost me $5 on less? Lets figure it out...
1 box of pasta - FREE! (I hate to pay for pasta. If you pair a coupon and a sale on pasta, you usually can get it for free - at least at Kroger!)
1 can of diced tomatoes - $.56 (thanks Aldi's!)
1/2 bag of frozen broccoli florets - $.53
1 chicken breast (might need more, but this breast was huge and I butterflied it - we all had a nice amount of chicken) - $1
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese - $.50
salt and pepper - pennies!

Grand total for me - $2.59. If the pasta wasn't free for you, then $3.59 - a bargain!

Did I mention as Andrew was eating it, he goes... Ok, so this isn't bad at all! I didn't think so ;-) I paired with some Baked Cinnamon Apples for dessert and I promise, no one left the table hungry! When paired with my cost of dinner and the dessert, I still hit $4.59 - thrifty mama won that dinner!