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I noticed a book that is supposed to be filled with recipes for $3 or less to feed the entire family. What the heck could they be eating???
($3 Meals: Feed Your Family Delicious Meals for Less Than a Gallon of Gas by Ellen Brown)
So I thought why not see what we can get here. Let's get some ideas together.
I'm not sure how much this is but here is mine
Broccoli stuffed Potatoes
4 Large baked potaoes
1/2 bag of frozen broccoli
4 pieces of cheese
4 TBS butter
Bake potatoes to desidered texture. Boil 1/2 bag of Broccoli. Cut open open potatoes, fill with cooked broccoli, top with tbs of butter and cover with piece of cheese.
Sam's has the huge potatoes so this is a filling meal. Enjoy!
Last edited by JennySquirrel; 02-04-2009 at 05:49 PM..
well, ground beef is on sale here right now fo $1.99 lb. so maybe if i take 1/2 lb of it, make a meatloaf and maybe a $1 bag of green salad from Aldi's....it could possibly end up being around $3
If I had to, I bet I could make several things for a family for $3. I'm not so sure about delicious, but it would be edible and filling.
Spaghetti and tomatoe sauce (no meat)--Pasta is cheap and canned tomatoes can be spiced up for a pretty tasty sauce. Maybe some garlic bread made with white bread on the side (not my favorite garlic bread).
Chicken and Dumplings--You can make a whole pot with only 1/2 of a chicken, some flour, a little milk, and a little butter. (But that would be delicious!)
Chicken Pot Pie--Made with 1/2 of a chicken, some flour, milk, butter, and some frozen mixed veg's
Salmon Croquettes--they're just inexpensive and good, maybe with a mac-n-cheese
I agree with Penny, $3 isn't going to get you a tasty meal, unless you find deals at the dollar store. Bag of Speghetti, jar of tomato sauce (the pre seasoned stuff) and whatever bread is available. That would be $3.18 or so at the dollar store (pre-made items are taxed)
I could make a tasty tomato sauce from canned tomatoes bought on sale, a few cents worth of dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder, and an onion. I like to add a diced up carrot too, for sweetness.
You could even add 1/2 pound of ground beef that you bought on sale for 1.99/lb, a price I see regularly around here.
The trick to the $3 meals is being able to buy in bulk. You don't just go to the store and spend $3 for an entire meal. You go shopping for a couple weeks' worth of supplies, and maximize that $3 by buying in bulk. So where you might spend $12 for a 20# bag of rice, that bag will give you a lot more than four meals worth of rice. Same with anything else -- meat, cheese, etc. If you really want to save money, go vegetarian or vegan (yes, I realize it's not for everyone and takes some getting used to).
Also, you will save a lot of money by not buying pre-packaged food and cooking the meals yourself from scratch. And buy a bread machine, and make your own bread. You'll recoup the cost of the machine in no time, and start saving right away. A loaf of homemade bread costs about $1 whereas storebought bread (if it's not the crappy white loaf of pasty doom) will cost $3-4 a loaf. If you don't want to spend the extra money on yeast, then make a sourdough starter and use it. They last indefinitely if you keep feeding them.
I've been making that no-knead bread there was another thread about.
I think I paid $3 for a sack of bread flour (7 loaves worth) and $1 for the instant yeast -- that is 54 loaves worth!!
Therefore I figure it costs me 56 cents per loaf to make, plus the cost of fuel for heating my oven but I'm not sure how to calculate that.
I don't eat as frugally as $3 per meal, but you can definitely eat very well, and cheaply, if you make your own "ingredients" rather than buying stuff that comes in boxes and bags (rice-a-roni, hamburger helper, pre-cut and washed veggies).
Actually, I spent around $3.00 for last nights dinner for the 2 of us. Four boneless chicken thighs $2.48, 1/2 red & yellow tri-color pepper, minced half onion, 1 clove minced garlic, handful of fresh mushrooms, w. wine & c. broth, & 2 cubed Yukon Gold potatoes baked at 375 1 hr. Delicious and plenty.
Jenny: Although the potato is delicious, if I tried to serve that to my h by itself as a meal he would have me committed.
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