Another budget meal – this one for the crockpot! Again, it makes 6-8 good sized portions, and can be easily halved or doubled. Average cost, less than $11 – slash that with sales and coupons. (Note that canned broths are on sale BIG TIME this time of year – hint, hint.)

I have never had much luck with chicken in the crockpot. Unless you watch it like a hawk, it tends to go all mushy on me – and watching it seems to defeat the purpose of using a slow cooker. I use precooked chicken strips, and dump them in 20 minutes before serving.

It’s a good way to use up leftover chicken, “on sale” chicken you’ve precooked and frozen, or you can pick up those precooked strips in the meat aisle.

1/2 pound baby carrots
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp allspice
1 dash Texas Pete Hot Sauce (optional)

Toss in crockpot, cook on low 7-8 hours.

1 can juice-packed pineapple chunks, drain and save juice
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 bag of frozen stir fry vegetables or 2 bell peppers cut in small strips
2 cups pre-cooked boneless chicken breast

Mix cornstarch with pineapple juice and stir slowly into crockpot. Add chicken, pineapple, and peppers. turn crockpot up to high and heat for 15-20 minutes.

Serve over rice.