Wednesday's dinner: black bean burger, brown rice, kale, fried purple potatoes,
tomato slices, plum cobbler topped with vanilla yogurt
Any meal of the day can easily tank the food budget. But for our family, I've found the "big meal", dinner/supper has the potential to be our most expensive meal of the day. In many homes, this meal is often the one that contains a meat entree. It usually comes with a couple of side dishes. And if it has dessert, that's tacking on an extra $ amount for those butter-rich, sugary calories. Plus, if I were to use very many convenience foods, well there goes the budget. So if there's focus anywhere in my meal planning, it's always the dinners/suppers.
Components of a cheap meal
Inexpensive protein source
eggs
dried beans
less expensive meats, like dark meat chicken, whole turkey, bone-in ham, ground beef
the relatively cheap nuts/seeds -- sunflower seeds, peanuts/peanut butter
Inexpensive starch
whole, fresh potatoes (not boxed potato dishes)
non-instant rice
homemade, scratch bread products, like biscuits, yeast bread, dumplings, or pastry
cheaper pasta (I look for sales on whole wheat pasta, or buy white pasta at Dollar Tree. Pasta can be an expensive starchy side dish, so we don't do these more than a couple of meals per week. Rice price per pound, about 40 cents for me. Pasta price per pound, 66 to 79 cents, if bought on sale or at DT, otherwise, pasta could be as much as $1.50 per pound.)
Less expensive produce -- in-season, long-keeping fruits and vegetables are often low in price, like:
apples
pears
oranges
cabbage
carrots
winter squash and whole pumpkins
onions, garlic
Some moderate-keeping, in-season produce (a week or maybe 2, depending on storage methods)
watermelon and other melons
bananas
in season tomatoes, green peppers, summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower
Home-grown fruits and vegetables
we try to grow produce items that are more expensive in the stores, and often relatively perishable, like berries, plums, leafy greens
home-grown vegetables which are somewhat labor-intensive to harvest, adding to the price when purchased, like green beans and peas
Frozen vegetables, bought in large bags or cases, plain varieties, like:
peas
cut corn
green beans
I make my own "mixed vegetable combos", instead of buying vegetable blends/mixes, combining carrots, corn, peas, green beans
Inexpensive canned vegetables
bought in large #10 cans, like pumpkin and tomato products
smaller cans (14-15 oz), when on sale, or w/ coupons, under 50 cents/can
Scratch-cooked desserts, no mixes, simple recipes, using ordinary ingredients, and often using home-grown fruit, such as
pies
cobblers
crisps
cakes
cookies and bars
cornstarch puddings
baked custards/flans/rice pudding
fruit sauces, using home-grown fruit
Fats -- I use saved meat fats, stored in the freezer, blended with oil at point of use, for sauteeing veggies, beans and vegetarian burger patties. I use vegetable oil, instead of butter, where flavor won't be a factor. (You already know that I like cake and cookies made with butter, but drop biscuits/dumplings/cobbler toppings can be made with oil or a blend of butter and oil. If there is some fat left in the skillet from a vegetable or bean burger saute, I spoon/scrape that over servings of plain rice, instead of using butter.
Those thoughts were rolling around in my brain today, so thought I'd share. Not all of our meals are cheap. But I figure if about 80% or so are of the "cheap" variety, then we can afford splurges, like when on a trip or for special occasions.
What we ate this week:
Friday (again a picnic dinner)
Almond butter sandwiches ($1.75)
Apples (free)
Bananas (50 cents)
Tea or milk
total cost, $2.25, plus beverages
Saturday
Take-out pizza, 2 mediums, with a $15 voucher, total came to $15.31, I found a quarter on the ground the night before, put in my pocket, then for pizza pick-up, used that quarter, plus 6 cents of my own
Fresh plums (free)
--total cost 6 cents
Sunday
Kale and shallot frittata (6 frozen eggs from last fall, at 11 cents each, plus butter/oil for pan, about 85 cents)
Brown rice (30 cents)
Plums (free)
--total cost, $1.15
Monday (Labor Day cook-out)
Foil packets of potatoes, shallots, tomatoes, green peppers, green beans, summer squash and hamburger patties
Fresh plums
S'mores
--total cost, $1.88 for the meat, and 50 cents for the s'mores
Tuesday
Meatloaf ($2.00)
Oven-roasted potatoes and garlic (free)
Sauteed Swiss chard and shallots (free)
Apple wedges (free)
Fresh tomatoes (free)
Hot fudge pudding cake (about 50 cents)
--total cost about $2.50
Wednesday
Black bean burgers (about 40 cents)
Fresh tomato slices (free)
Brown rice (30 cents)
Sauteed kale (free)
Purple potatoes pan-fried in saved ham fat (from our Easter ham) and oil (5 cents)
Plum cobbler topped with vanilla yogurt, a freebie (about 40 cents)
--total cost, about $1.15
Thursday
Corn souffle (about 75 cents), using ham fat, garden green peppers, some cream cheese, canned corn and 2 eggs
Little Smokies (75 cents -- I used 3/4 of a package that was marked down to 99 cents)
Spaghetti squash from garden
Leftover brown rice (about 15 cents, not much left), or
Bread and butter (about 15 cents)
Cole slaw (garden cabbage, plus dressing, about 10 cents)
Rhubarb sauce (about 15 cents)
--total cost, about $2.05
Well, summer came to a crashing halt at the end of last week. It has looked more like November, here, than September, dark, cold and drizzly, for a week straight. I am hoping the sun will come back and give us a few more summery days. It just feels too soon to lose those happy summer days.
I tried something this week that I'd never had before -- almond butter. WinCo has the machines which grind it for you, on the spot. I bought just a small amount, so we could try it. We had it as sandwiches, which I don't think was the best use for it, seeing as how it's so much more expensive than peanut butter. It was good, but not $7-per-pound good. Maybe it would be better on crackers or on apple wedges. That's just my take on it. If you have any suggestions for how it's best used, please share.
I hope your week went well. What was on your menu this past week?
Have a great weekend!
