Posting Hiatus

"What's for Dinner" posts stopped last week because I was very ill. They will start back soon so watch this space!

2010 is the year of art and creativity on a budget. We're going to be making gifts all year long as well as working on items to sell at local festivals. These will be over on my Gypsy Crafts blog.

It is also going to be the year of sticking with a food budget, eating out only at pre-approved intervals, and just having a great time at home as a family. Lots of tips and ideas will be posted here.

I'm hoping to build up my reader base and share some knowledge with each of you.

Happy Holidays!

What's For Dinner - Tuesday & Wednesday December 8 & 9, 2009

Let me preface this by saying that our meals this week have not exactly been well rounded. Hubby is working and I’m battling some personal issues so our meals are piecemeal at best.

Tuesday evening we had grilled cheese sandwiches.

Bread = 43 cents
Cheese = FREE (my mom bought Kraft singles but did not like them)
TOTAL = 43 cents

I need to add here that I had hubby go buy me a Bolthouse Green Goodness drink because I was feeling a little bit veggie deprived. This was $3.25 and will be added to our weekly total.

Wednesday we had soft tacos since I had seasoned cooked ground beef already in the freezer.

Ground Chuck & onion $1.39
Refried Beans – 1 can = 75 cents
Taco seasoning mix = 33 cents
Tortillas = 77 cents
Cheese = 41 cents
Salsa = 15 cents
Frank’s Red Hott & Sour Cream = 50 cents
TOTAL = $4.30

WEEKLY TOTAL = $10.00

What’s for Dinner – Monday December 7, 2009

Tonight was a spaghetti night. It is a weekly staple around here, usually made on the days when I am under the weather or we’re in a rush for a quick meal. No veggies with dinner, except for the tomatoes in the sauce and I guess they are more technically a fruit. Oh well, we’ll do better next time.

1/3 of a box of thin spaghetti = 58 cents

1 jar of sauce = $1.19

Parmesan Cheese = 25 cents

TOTAL = $2.02

Weekly Total = $2.02

Obviously we won’t be able to eat that cheaply most days. Of course, one day per week with spaghetti is always a budget stretcher for us.

How about you? Do you have any super cheap meals you toss in each week? If you do, please comment and let me know!

What’s for Dinner – Saturday & Sunday, December 5 & 6 , 2009

Jack wanted a yummy dinner and was talking about going out for dinner. This was not what I wanted to do so I suggested that he pick something up at Costco while he was there. He got a big bag of Tequila Lime Hot Wings and fries. This allowed us to have a “restaurant” dinner at home without the restaurant cost.

• 2/3 bag of a wings (the bag was $15) = $10
• French Fries (1/4 of a bag) = $1.05

TOTAL = $11.05

Sunday was shopping day. On our big shopping day (Aldi got me for $179.43) we get on “splurge” type item for that day’s meal. This time it was a bag of tamales. The bag contains 6 beef tamales in husk that we steamed for dinner. There are 2 left for my lunches but since they all were cooked, they are counted in the meal price.

Total = $5.45

Weekly Total = $35.47

What's for Dinner? Friday December 4, 2009

Tonight we’re doing breakfast for dinner. Jack has wanted to do this for some time and since I’ve been feeling bad the last few days, he is cooking. Tonight is Breakfast Bowls. We saw something similar on a commercial for Denny’s several years ago. Their bowls started at $5.99. We knew we could make something just as good or better for less.

• 10 ounces of Kroger brand hash browns (1/3 of a bag) = 74 cents
• 6 eggs = .53 cents (Yay for Aldi’s eggs!)
• Bacon Ends & Pieces box - 4 ounces = 28 cents
• Frozen spinach & Green Peppers – 2 ounces of each = 50 cents
• Shredded Cheese = 50 cents
• Spray olive oil, salt, pepper, Frank’s Redd Hot = 25 cents
• Canned biscuits = $1.37
• B&B and Jelly = 50 cents
• 32 ounces of milk = 66 cents
  

TOTAL = $5.08

Weekly Total = $18.97

What’s for Dinner – Thursday December 3, 2009

What’s for Dinner – Thursday, December, 3, 2009

Tonight’s dinner is a bit of a Jack concoction. Bless him, he is willing to cook tonight since I’ve been having a bad day. I don’t know what to call it – except dinner. LOL! It isn’t the cheapest meal but I’m sure there will be some leftovers.

I’m trying to add some more veggies into our diets. We try and honestly, we tend to eat with the seasons. In the summer, we eat a lot of fresh veggies from our garden and local food markets. In the winter we eat more stews and chilis and stuff of that nature.

I’m going to start adding a weekly total to the end of these posts. My week will start on Monday and end on Sunday.

• Bag of frozen Mexican Garden Blend Veggies - $1.10
• 2 chicken breasts (about 1 pound) - $2
• ¼ pound of shrimp – $1.37
• 2 packs of Goya seasoning – Free (we got this from a store that was going out of business – long story) if purchased about 25 cents
• 1 can of tomatoes - 54 cents
• Rest of the pack of tortillas from yesterday - 60 cents
• Spray olive oil, salt, pepper, etc – 50 cents
• 
  
• Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream = about 50 cents (cheese was free)

TOTAL = $6.86

Weekly Total = $13.89

What’s for Dinner – Wednesday December, 2, 2009

Jack is still working so I decided to go ahead and try to cook. I’ve been battling a migraine since 2:00 this morning. Anyway, I had to make something that would hold well in the event that we don’t eat until nearly 8pm.
We’re having soft tacos of a sort. It is basically just filling for tortillas.

• Ground Chuck – about 1 pound = $1.39 (sale meat)
• Refried Beans – 1 can = 49 cents
• Tortillas – Whole pack is $1.19 = half of pack = 60 cents
• Cheese – Free from the gift certificate Jack got at work but normal price is about 99 cents
• Frank’s Red Hott & Sour Cream = 50 cents

Total = $3.97 if we’d paid for all ingredients/$2.98 at price actually paid

Dinner Pricing - Monday & Tuesday 11/30 & 12/1

Hubby & I spent the weekend at a friend’s home. We brought some things to her house to eat so that she would not be footing the bill for our food. We took about $15 worth of stuff with us including apples, turkey, cheese, bread, and some other things like chips and granola bars. Had we been at home, we would not have gone through that much stuff, however, we wanted to be good guests. We left the rest of the food with the hostess as a thank you.

Monday night’s dinner was a simple affair of remade leftovers. We had turkey bites – bits of turkey cut into thin strips and dipped into barbecue sauce and ranch/Frank’s Red Hott dip. This was mainly food for my husband. I had a few of the turkey pieces but mainly I ate some leftover pasta topped with a tablespoon of butter & a small amount of shredded cheese.

Turkey – Free (from other meals)

Barbecue sauce, Frank’s Red Hott, & ranch dressing – 50 cents

Elbow macaroni – Free (from other meals)

Butter – 6 cents

Shredded cheese – Free (hubby’s gift certificate from work)

Total = 56 cents

Tuesday’s dinner was not nearly as cheap. We had spaghetti and jar sauce.

Spaghetti (1/2 a package) = 55 cents

Prego Spaghetti Sauce (on sale at Kroger) = $1.10

6 slices of bread = Free (hubby’s gift certificate from work) – good use of stale bread

Shredded cheese – Free (hubby’s gift certificate from work)

Garlic & Brummels & Brown margarine = 35 cents

Total = $2.00