Frugal, but Filling Meals

I have been trying to find more recipes for meals that are both frugal and filling. I finally got around to making chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes, a recipe I got from Crystal's e-book, Simply Suppers, which I purchased last fall. I doubled her recipe so we would have plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. I also made her banana-chocolate-chip muffins for dessert and added Caesar salad for a side dish, along with fresh-squeezed lemonade to drink! It was a very hearty meal and we had enough noodles, potatoes, and salad left over for not one, but TWO lunches!
I estimate that the total amount of food cost us: $7 This includes the muffins and drinks
This fed 2 adults and 2 small children
The muffins not only served as dessert (and late night snacks for the itty bitty belly dweller) but also for breakfast the next morning.
So, I estimate that this meal only cost about $3 to feed all 4 of us for supper! We ate heartily and had seconds too! I will say that I got the chicken on sale (it was a big bag of frozen breasts) so that is one reason it was so cheap. But perhaps you could make it for even less where you live!

Here's the recipe. I've doubled Crystal's original and tweaked it a bit:

Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen)
6 C. water or broth (I used broth made with chicken base I had on hand)
4-6 large carrots, sliced
I large onion
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. basil
1 package of egg noodles (or use frozen noodles if you like)

Place ingredients in crock pot and cook for 8-10 hours. Take chicken out, turn crockpot to high and put noodles in. Frozen noodles need 30-45 minutes to cook, dry noodles need about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut chicken up into small pieces and then put back in crockpot. Serve over mashed potatoes.

I didn't make this in the crockpot, but instead made it on the stove. I let it simmer for about an hour or two, adding the noodles about 10 minutes before it was time to eat.