This Week's Menu With Cost Breakdown!
We had a very busy but wonderful weekend - I hope yours was great too! I have a yummy menu planned for this week, and I'm eager to share it with you! I'm not going to list out breakfasts and lunches...they tend to be simple, and we utilize leftovers whenever we can, because it saves money and it's convenient. Since there's nothing especially spectacular going on there, I'll just post our suppers, OK?
This week, I decided that I wanted to figure cost on my meals. We grow a lot of garden, and I put up a lot for winter. I shop sales too, and I use coupons. I buy many things in bulk as well, and all of that is reflected in this menu and the cost. I am feeding 2 adults and one child. Here we go!
Monday - vegetable beef soup, corn bread, mint brownies
breakdown: I'm combining a jar of homegrown/home canned vegetable soup with some leftover Italian beef and gravy from last week. I may even throw in the last of the chili that's in the fridge. The corn meal for the cornbread is home-milled, and the eggs in it are from our hens. For the brownies, I confess - it's a mix I got for free with coupons, an egg from our hens, and some mint chocolate chips I got on clearance (just a handful). This is a very affordable meal since we raised a good bit of it...I'd estimate the cash cost at under $2, and there will be plenty left for lunches during the week. Well...not plenty of the brownies!
Tuesday - glazed ham steak, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, mint brownies
breakdown: At Christmas I bought a whole ham for .99 a pound and cut steaks from the center part. The glaze is a sauce I canned from fruit from our orchard. We grew the potatoes and the sweet corn, and you read about the mint brownies on Monday. The ham steak I'm cooking weighs a pound, and there is some milk and butter in the potatoes. Then again, I got about 13 pounds of butter with coupons in the fall - for .48 a pound. So this meal's cost is approximately $1.50. It will be enough for the night's meal and Hubby's lunch at work one day.
Wednesday - tongkatsu chicken, rice, kimchee, frozen green beans, pineapple
breakdown: tongkatsu is a sauce...I make mine by mixing ketchup and barbecue sauce half and half, then I add a little Asian plum sauce. I got the barbecue sauce free w/coupons...the ketchup is homemade from our garden, as is the plum sauce. The chicken thighs were .69 a pound on sale, and the panko flakes were free with coupons. I'll cook the chicken in a little oil. I buy rice in bulk for about .75 a pound. The kimchee is homemade, but I did buy the napa cabbage. We grew the green beans and the pineapple was free on sale with a coupon. Total cost for this meal is about $2.25. There will be enough for Hubby's lunch one day, and pineapple left over for Sunday.
Thursday - fajita quesedillas, salsa, sour cream, garden salad, jello
breakdown: I have chicken legs (.69 a pound) to season and cook for this meal, along with fresh onions and frozen pepper strips, both from our garden. I'll use a little oil. The tortillas were $1 a package on sale and with a coupon, and we'll use less than half the package. The mozzarella was 1.25 for 8oz, and we will use only about 4 oz. The salsa is homegrown/home canned, but I did buy vinegar and I think cilantro when I made it. The sour cream is the last of a 16 oz. container I got on sale for .99, The salad is the last of my lettuce from Bountiful Baskets and a tomato my friend game me. We don't put dressing on it - it's more of a condiment for the quesedillas. The jello was from an after Easter clearance last year - 5 cents a box. This meal will cost about $2.25.
Friday - eggs, breakfast sausage, hash browns, toast, oranges
breakdown: The eggs are from our hens, and I made the sausage from some pork I got free when I helped my friend butcher her hog. We grew the potatoes, but not the oil. The toast is bread from the bread outlet, I told you about the butter on Tuesday, and the oranges are from Bountiful Baskets. I love having breakfast for dinner! Total cost for this meal is about 50 cents!
Saturday - cheeseburger macaroni, corn on the cob, apple slices with cinnamon sauce dip
breakdown: I got some hamburger on sale for 1.99 a pound this week - just as I was running completely out. The macaroni and cheese (in a box, for shame!) was free with coupon. I make some homemade cream of mushroom soup type stuff to make it more creamy and it is yummy! We grew the corn, and we're getting the apples this Saturday from Bountiful baskets. The cinnamon sauce is a recipe I am going to try, and I'll post it along with a link if it's good, K? Total cost for this meal is $1.50, and it should leave us with leftovers.
Superbowl Sunday - Pizza Hut pizza, veggie tray with ranch dip, tortilla chips w/queso, soda, fruit kabobs
breakdown: Pizza Hut has any size pizza with any toppings for $10. I go pick it up, because it's about 2 miles from here, no trouble, and saves me the delivery charge and tip. Also, DD has a coupon for a free personal pan pizza for reading for a school program. The veggie tray will be some celery (.88 a bunch), carrots and turnip strips from our root cellar, some ranch dip I'll make from sour cream and ranch seasoning and water to thin it down some. I will make the queso dip from some velveeta I have in the freezer (I cut it into smaller pieces and then freeze, otherwise it gets 'snacked on' and disappears way too fast) mixed with home-canned jalapenos. The tortilla chips were $1 for a 10 oz. bag (but we won't eat the whole bag). However, I got a $25 credit for transferring a prescription, so they were actually free...and so was the 2 liter of soda. The fruit kabobs will be the leftover pineapple from previous, plus I'll cube up some apples, and since we are getting a Bountiful Basket on Saturday, there may be grapes to add too. If not, I'll cube some oranges and add those, and we can use the cinnamon sauce from Saturday. Total for this meal is approximately $12.50, and there will be leftovers for sure!
Our total cost for suppers for the week, including one night of what we consider eating out (the Pizza Hut), is 22.50. Over half of that is our Superbowl feast. If you average all 7 days, it's about $3.20 per day...and if you throw out Sunday completely and average the other 6 days it's $1.66 per day.
I love seeing the ways that gardening, canning, freezing and coupon/sale shopping save us so much money. The little things really do add up, and careful spending is part of what makes it possible for me to stay home with DD...so yay!
Wishing you a yummy week,
-Laura at TenThingsFarm
linked to HomeStead Barn Hop and Menu Plan Monday
This week, I decided that I wanted to figure cost on my meals. We grow a lot of garden, and I put up a lot for winter. I shop sales too, and I use coupons. I buy many things in bulk as well, and all of that is reflected in this menu and the cost. I am feeding 2 adults and one child. Here we go!
Monday - vegetable beef soup, corn bread, mint brownies
breakdown: I'm combining a jar of homegrown/home canned vegetable soup with some leftover Italian beef and gravy from last week. I may even throw in the last of the chili that's in the fridge. The corn meal for the cornbread is home-milled, and the eggs in it are from our hens. For the brownies, I confess - it's a mix I got for free with coupons, an egg from our hens, and some mint chocolate chips I got on clearance (just a handful). This is a very affordable meal since we raised a good bit of it...I'd estimate the cash cost at under $2, and there will be plenty left for lunches during the week. Well...not plenty of the brownies!
Tuesday - glazed ham steak, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, mint brownies
breakdown: At Christmas I bought a whole ham for .99 a pound and cut steaks from the center part. The glaze is a sauce I canned from fruit from our orchard. We grew the potatoes and the sweet corn, and you read about the mint brownies on Monday. The ham steak I'm cooking weighs a pound, and there is some milk and butter in the potatoes. Then again, I got about 13 pounds of butter with coupons in the fall - for .48 a pound. So this meal's cost is approximately $1.50. It will be enough for the night's meal and Hubby's lunch at work one day.
Wednesday - tongkatsu chicken, rice, kimchee, frozen green beans, pineapple
breakdown: tongkatsu is a sauce...I make mine by mixing ketchup and barbecue sauce half and half, then I add a little Asian plum sauce. I got the barbecue sauce free w/coupons...the ketchup is homemade from our garden, as is the plum sauce. The chicken thighs were .69 a pound on sale, and the panko flakes were free with coupons. I'll cook the chicken in a little oil. I buy rice in bulk for about .75 a pound. The kimchee is homemade, but I did buy the napa cabbage. We grew the green beans and the pineapple was free on sale with a coupon. Total cost for this meal is about $2.25. There will be enough for Hubby's lunch one day, and pineapple left over for Sunday.
Thursday - fajita quesedillas, salsa, sour cream, garden salad, jello
breakdown: I have chicken legs (.69 a pound) to season and cook for this meal, along with fresh onions and frozen pepper strips, both from our garden. I'll use a little oil. The tortillas were $1 a package on sale and with a coupon, and we'll use less than half the package. The mozzarella was 1.25 for 8oz, and we will use only about 4 oz. The salsa is homegrown/home canned, but I did buy vinegar and I think cilantro when I made it. The sour cream is the last of a 16 oz. container I got on sale for .99, The salad is the last of my lettuce from Bountiful Baskets and a tomato my friend game me. We don't put dressing on it - it's more of a condiment for the quesedillas. The jello was from an after Easter clearance last year - 5 cents a box. This meal will cost about $2.25.
Friday - eggs, breakfast sausage, hash browns, toast, oranges
breakdown: The eggs are from our hens, and I made the sausage from some pork I got free when I helped my friend butcher her hog. We grew the potatoes, but not the oil. The toast is bread from the bread outlet, I told you about the butter on Tuesday, and the oranges are from Bountiful Baskets. I love having breakfast for dinner! Total cost for this meal is about 50 cents!
Saturday - cheeseburger macaroni, corn on the cob, apple slices with cinnamon sauce dip
breakdown: I got some hamburger on sale for 1.99 a pound this week - just as I was running completely out. The macaroni and cheese (in a box, for shame!) was free with coupon. I make some homemade cream of mushroom soup type stuff to make it more creamy and it is yummy! We grew the corn, and we're getting the apples this Saturday from Bountiful baskets. The cinnamon sauce is a recipe I am going to try, and I'll post it along with a link if it's good, K? Total cost for this meal is $1.50, and it should leave us with leftovers.
Superbowl Sunday - Pizza Hut pizza, veggie tray with ranch dip, tortilla chips w/queso, soda, fruit kabobs
breakdown: Pizza Hut has any size pizza with any toppings for $10. I go pick it up, because it's about 2 miles from here, no trouble, and saves me the delivery charge and tip. Also, DD has a coupon for a free personal pan pizza for reading for a school program. The veggie tray will be some celery (.88 a bunch), carrots and turnip strips from our root cellar, some ranch dip I'll make from sour cream and ranch seasoning and water to thin it down some. I will make the queso dip from some velveeta I have in the freezer (I cut it into smaller pieces and then freeze, otherwise it gets 'snacked on' and disappears way too fast) mixed with home-canned jalapenos. The tortilla chips were $1 for a 10 oz. bag (but we won't eat the whole bag). However, I got a $25 credit for transferring a prescription, so they were actually free...and so was the 2 liter of soda. The fruit kabobs will be the leftover pineapple from previous, plus I'll cube up some apples, and since we are getting a Bountiful Basket on Saturday, there may be grapes to add too. If not, I'll cube some oranges and add those, and we can use the cinnamon sauce from Saturday. Total for this meal is approximately $12.50, and there will be leftovers for sure!
Our total cost for suppers for the week, including one night of what we consider eating out (the Pizza Hut), is 22.50. Over half of that is our Superbowl feast. If you average all 7 days, it's about $3.20 per day...and if you throw out Sunday completely and average the other 6 days it's $1.66 per day.
I love seeing the ways that gardening, canning, freezing and coupon/sale shopping save us so much money. The little things really do add up, and careful spending is part of what makes it possible for me to stay home with DD...so yay!
Wishing you a yummy week,
-Laura at TenThingsFarm
linked to HomeStead Barn Hop and Menu Plan Monday
Comments
Have a wonderful week!
Kelly, I don't figure in feed cost, because I sell enough eggs to cover the cost of feed and the occasional 'Oh Mama, PLEASE can I get that chick?' at the feed store. ;)