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A day late and a dollar short as usual...

Saturday, November 01, 2008



I've been meaning to do the LOK Kitchen Challenge all month. My camera has been "borrowed" for the long term by someone who will remain nameless. (think they'd be happy if I said Merry Christmas and then bought myself a new one with my income tax refund? lol) I'd have to buy the ingredients since we're eating out of our freezer right now with lots of venison and I can't include that into the price of the meals...and I can't buy it right now.

So I'm doing it unofficially and with a little twist to show that it's not so hard to do. No pictures, no actual meals made but all actual prices used. While I've noticed people not using what they paid for things because they buy in bulk or from a discount store like Aldi's. I say too bad!!! I'm not getting an expotential amount of money ($10 for 4 people so 12 people should get $30 with all things being fair). So I'm allowing myself to use my price cutting tricks to help me make my meals (buying bulk from apple farm, shopping at wholesale clubs and discount markets). I've noted the store on parenthesis that has the price I quote

The way I figured things was I'd try to keep my meals within a certain price frame...$4 each for breakfast and lunch...$7 for dinner. I'm feeding 12 people. My estimated cost of bread dough is under $1 for a 2 loaf recipe.

Breakfast

Eggs, Toast, Bananas $3.90
2.40... 2 dozen eggs (BJ wholesale)
1.00... 2 loaves of bread (see note above)
.48... 1 lb bananas (walmart)

Apple Oatmeal $3.50
1.55... 2/3 box of Walmart oatmeal (30 servings/container)
1.00... lots of apples (apple farm)
.60... quart of milk (walmart)
.35... 1/2 pound brown sugar (BJ wholesale)

Pancakes, Bananas $3.64
1.20... box pancake mix (aldi)
.60... 1/2 bottle pancake syrup (Aldi)
.40... 2 sticks margarine (walmart)
1.44... 3 lbs bananas

Yogurt with Bananas and brown sugar, Toast $3.76
1.00... 2 loaves bread
.98... 2 lbs bananas
1.60... 8 cups homemade yogurt
.18... 1/4 lb brown sugar

Frozen Waffles with ice cream $3.62
2.40... 24 frozen waffles (dollar store)
1.22... quart ice cream (walmart)

Peanut Butter Toast, Bananas $3.44
1.00... 2 loaves of bread
1.00... jar of peanut butter
1.44... 3 lbs bananas

French Toast $3.68
2.00... 4 loaves of bread
.80... 8 eggs
.30... 2 cups milk
.40... 2 sticks margarine
.18... 1/4 pound confectionary sugar


Lunch

Any of the meals above, any leftovers from dinner

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches $4.00
1.50... 3 loaves of bread
1.00... jar of peanut butter
.50... jelly/jam
.99... 1 lb baby carrots (walmart)

Baked Potatoes and toppings $3.77
1.44... 8 lbs baked potatoes (apple farm)
.40... 2 sticks margarine
1.33... pt of sour cream (BJ's wholesale)
1.00... half jar of salsa (walmart)

Black bean and cheese quesadillas $4.00
1.00... double batch homemade tortillas
2.00... 8 oz shredded taco cheese (walmart)
.50... can of black beans (aldi's)
.50... 1/4 jar salsa

Ramen noodles with veggies, apple slices $3.86
2.00... 12 pkgs ramen noodles (BJ's wholesale)
.37... can of sweet corn
.37... can of green beans
.37... can of sweet peas
.75... apple slices

Boxed Mac and Cheese with broccoli $3.70
2.00... 4 boxes Mac and Cheese (Aldi's)
.40... 2 sticks margarine
.30... 2 cups milk
1.00... 1 lb frozen broccoli (BJ's wholesale)

Dinner

Chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, bread $5.99
3.00... 3 lbs chicken thighs (BJ's Wholesale)
.50... chicken boullion
1.44... 8 lbs potatoes
1.00... bread
.40... 2 sticks margarine

Cowboy Beans $6.90
2.00... 2 lbs hot dogs (walmart)
3.00... 9 cans pork and beans (aldi's)
.50... onion
1.00... bread
.40... 2 sticks margarine

Spaghetti, bread $5.80
2.40... 3 lbs spaghetti (BJ's wholesale)
2.00... 2 cans spaghetti sauce (price chopper)
1.00... bread
.40... 2 sticks margarine

Spanish Rice $6.50
2.00... 1 lb ground beef
.50... green pepper
1.00... 1.5 lbs rice (4 cups) (BJ's wholesale)
.40... 2 sticks margarine
1.60... 2 cans crushed tomatoes/puree (wegmans)
1.00... can of whole tomatoes (wegmans)

Chili $6.76
2.00... 1 lb ground beef
.50... green pepper
.66... 2 pkts chili seasoning (dollar store)
1.60... 2 cans crushed tomatoes/puree
1.00... can of whole tomatoes
1.00... bag of dried kidney beans


Chicken noodle soup $6.22
3.00... 3 lbs chicken thighs
.50... boullion
1.00... wide egg noodles
.40... 2 lbs potatoes
.66... 2 cans green beans
.33... 1 can sweet corn
.33... 1 can sweet peas

Bean and Cheese burritos
2.44... 2 lg cans refried beans
2.00...
1.00... double batch homemade tortillas



Stir Fry $6.90
.60... 3 cups rice
3.00... 3 lb broccoli normandy (BJ's wholesale)
3.00... 3 lbs meat (this week different stores in the area have pot roast, boneless breast, ground beef, and assorted pork chops for $1.99 or less)
soy sauce and brown sugar for

So pick and choose. Could my family survive on this? Yes. Would they be happy? No! The might with a few dollars alloted to me a day. Giving us room for an after school and/or bedtime snack. Figuring most of my meals left a tiny bit of change left I figured I'd include a cheap snack category too. I'll keep them at $1.50 or less

Apples
Apple slices with peanut butter
Popcorn...various flavors
Pretzels with honey and mustard dip
Baby carrots and dip

Hmmm...getting ready to post this I looked back at the rules. I see I broke the dinner must include sides rule. It took much work to not post, (took me 2 days!) so I'm going to post it anyways. Thing is, this is how we eat...a large amount of a dish with bread as a filler if need be. I guess it's a good thing it's unofficial. lol

1 comments:

Anne Coleman said...

You outdid yourself here! I don't have the patience.