Sometimes the simplest of meals are the best, especially when shared with great company.
Today I fed seven people, ages range from 15 to 81, for less than $20 total, and I had left overs. What did I make? Sloppy Joe's with home made french fries.
Sloppy Joes
3lbs fresh ground round (from my local butcher shop) $12.81
Manwich (large can) $1.32
Hamburger Rolls free, since I used the leftovers from my son's
graduation party; but $2 for 16 total if I had to buy them.
Brown the ground beef, drain. Then add in the Manwich sauce. Since this was on sale, I realize I couldn't make it for that amount. Putting this together was quick and it allowed me to spend time with the company, yet provide a fun and filling meal.
French Fries
White potatoes $1.50
I sliced the potatoes and deep fat fried them in my fry daddy. I didn't have to add any fresh oil, so I didn't spend anything additional on this one.
So, I spent a total of $15.63. If I had to buy the buns, I would have spent $17.63. Either way, it was a great meal, great time, great conversation, with each eating plenty (including 2nds) and giving me left overs for at least an additional lunch with the two teens this week. So, really it was $17.63 for one and a half meals (as I may add some chips for the lunch). WOW, how often can you do that?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Anniversary Dinner!
Today, my husband and I have been married for 24 years. Sometimes it seems longer, while at other times it seems like we just started dating. For our anniversary, my son, Aaron and my daughter, Jessie made us a wonderful dinner. This was the menu:
Besides the fact that my children did this for us, the best thing about this dinner is all together it was less than $15, it fed all of us, and we had left overs. Here is the breakdown:
Parmesan Encrusted chicken
Chicken leg quarters (pkg had six of them in there) $5.91
Plain Bread Crumbs, about 1/2 cup $0.24
Parmesan Cheese, grated, about 1/2 cup $0.74
any seasoning you like
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut apart the thighs and legs; put into a 10 x 13 baking dish.
3. Top with garlic salt, then the bread crumbs, and finally the Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for about an hour.
Total cost of Parmesan Encrusted Chicken $6.89!
Sauteed Yellow Squash and Onions
the squash I actually got for free from a neighbor, but will price it as if I bought it
Yellow Squash, about 1.5 lbs $1.94
Onions, about 1.5 lbs $2.00
Butter, 1 stick $0.49
Melt butter in skillet; while doing that slice the yellow squash and onions into about the same size slices. Throw into pan and cook until desire doneness. We carmelize ours!
Cost for the squash and onions: $4.43 (now, it actually only cost us $2.49 since our squash was free).
Broccoli and Cheddar Rice - I bought two boxes of Zantaran at $1.50 each plus we used 4 T butter in the dish for $.25. So this cost us $3.25
Even with using a convenience side rice dish, our meal, that fed HUNGRY teens and adults, gave us left overs, cost less than we could even eat at a fast food restaurant, and could feed a larger family than ours for the same cost. That is a success story.
Parmesan encrusted chicken
Sauteed Yellow (summer) squash and onions
Broccoli and Cheddar Rice
Besides the fact that my children did this for us, the best thing about this dinner is all together it was less than $15, it fed all of us, and we had left overs. Here is the breakdown:
Parmesan Encrusted chicken
Chicken leg quarters (pkg had six of them in there) $5.91
Plain Bread Crumbs, about 1/2 cup $0.24
Parmesan Cheese, grated, about 1/2 cup $0.74
any seasoning you like
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut apart the thighs and legs; put into a 10 x 13 baking dish.
3. Top with garlic salt, then the bread crumbs, and finally the Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for about an hour.
Total cost of Parmesan Encrusted Chicken $6.89!
Sauteed Yellow Squash and Onions
the squash I actually got for free from a neighbor, but will price it as if I bought it
Yellow Squash, about 1.5 lbs $1.94
Onions, about 1.5 lbs $2.00
Butter, 1 stick $0.49
Melt butter in skillet; while doing that slice the yellow squash and onions into about the same size slices. Throw into pan and cook until desire doneness. We carmelize ours!
Cost for the squash and onions: $4.43 (now, it actually only cost us $2.49 since our squash was free).
Broccoli and Cheddar Rice - I bought two boxes of Zantaran at $1.50 each plus we used 4 T butter in the dish for $.25. So this cost us $3.25
Our Total Cost???????? $12.63! If we had paid for the squash, it would have been $14.57.
Even with using a convenience side rice dish, our meal, that fed HUNGRY teens and adults, gave us left overs, cost less than we could even eat at a fast food restaurant, and could feed a larger family than ours for the same cost. That is a success story.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Crock Pot "Pizza" for less than $7
This fed two adults and two teens with multiple helpings! If you want to extend it more, add a salad or maybe some roasted zucchini (out of the garden would be FANTASTIC).
Ingredients (and the prices I paid):
1 lb pasta, cooked $1 for the entire box
1 can spaghetti sauce $1.40 for the can, which is a little high but didn't have it on hand
1/2 lb mozzarella $2.50 (this was for fresh, non-hormone, no steroid cheese)
1/4 lb pepperoni, $1.15 (another item that I got that was hormone free, no steroids)
cut this into cubes
1. Spray your crock pot with some cooking spray (this will help keep it form sticking to bad).
2. Pour in 1/2 of the cook pasta. Top with 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce, then 1/2 of the mozzarella, and then 1/2 of the pepperoni.
3. Repeat layers.
4. Put the cover on the crock pot, put on low and let it cook for a few hours. I can't give an exact time as each crock pot is different. However, in mine I let it cook for about 4 hours.
So, the grand total was $6.05 for this dish. If you add a salad as a side, you would need to adjust the final total, but it should still be less than $10 total for the entire meal.
This is a filling meal for real people with real appetites. If you buy the cheese and sauce on sale, the final price will be even lower.
ENJOY!
Ingredients (and the prices I paid):
1 lb pasta, cooked $1 for the entire box
1 can spaghetti sauce $1.40 for the can, which is a little high but didn't have it on hand
1/2 lb mozzarella $2.50 (this was for fresh, non-hormone, no steroid cheese)
1/4 lb pepperoni, $1.15 (another item that I got that was hormone free, no steroids)
cut this into cubes
1. Spray your crock pot with some cooking spray (this will help keep it form sticking to bad).
2. Pour in 1/2 of the cook pasta. Top with 1/2 of the spaghetti sauce, then 1/2 of the mozzarella, and then 1/2 of the pepperoni.
3. Repeat layers.
4. Put the cover on the crock pot, put on low and let it cook for a few hours. I can't give an exact time as each crock pot is different. However, in mine I let it cook for about 4 hours.
So, the grand total was $6.05 for this dish. If you add a salad as a side, you would need to adjust the final total, but it should still be less than $10 total for the entire meal.
This is a filling meal for real people with real appetites. If you buy the cheese and sauce on sale, the final price will be even lower.
ENJOY!
Welcome to Real Meals for Real Families
First, thanks for stopping by my new blog. It will be a learning process for us all and I ask for everyone to bear with me. I am new to the idea of blogging but after reading many, I have decided to jump in feet first. ;)
Second, what led me to this particular idea for a blog? While reading other blogs about saving money, fixing meals for under a certain amount, and investigating how that amount was real, I discovered that many of those bloggers were in a different demographic (or other part of the country) and/or they had families that were smaller or with young (baby, toddlers, and early elementary aged) children. Since I am on the Southeast coast (think four hours south of DC) AND I have a family of teenagers, who eat anything not nailed down, I decided that I needed to bring the concept of keeping meals as low as possible BUT deal with feeding older kids, large families, AND those who live in areas that prices for food are just plain higher.
I am NOT dismissing the other bloggers, as I have gleaned great ideas from them and they do serve a purpose. They are a wonderful resource. I just wanted something that is more in line with what I pay. For example, one blogger buys a gallon of milk for $2. I cannot do that. A gallon of milk here is almost $4. That is DOUBLE the price, hence will effect my bottom line.
I pray that I will be able to add more and more as time goes along and that I will help others reduce their food bill, provide nutritious meals, and maybe bring back the fun of cooking.
Susan aka crazylady
Second, what led me to this particular idea for a blog? While reading other blogs about saving money, fixing meals for under a certain amount, and investigating how that amount was real, I discovered that many of those bloggers were in a different demographic (or other part of the country) and/or they had families that were smaller or with young (baby, toddlers, and early elementary aged) children. Since I am on the Southeast coast (think four hours south of DC) AND I have a family of teenagers, who eat anything not nailed down, I decided that I needed to bring the concept of keeping meals as low as possible BUT deal with feeding older kids, large families, AND those who live in areas that prices for food are just plain higher.
I am NOT dismissing the other bloggers, as I have gleaned great ideas from them and they do serve a purpose. They are a wonderful resource. I just wanted something that is more in line with what I pay. For example, one blogger buys a gallon of milk for $2. I cannot do that. A gallon of milk here is almost $4. That is DOUBLE the price, hence will effect my bottom line.
I pray that I will be able to add more and more as time goes along and that I will help others reduce their food bill, provide nutritious meals, and maybe bring back the fun of cooking.
Susan aka crazylady
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