What's for your thrifty dinner?

      So about 10 minutes before my husband got home, I realized I needed to cook dinner! Panic! This is normally when I would get out a warm wash cloth and clean the toddler's face off to make sure we were all presentable enough to go out to eat.  But going out to eat can really add up. It's usually around $35 (including tip) to go to our favorite little Mexican Restaurant but that doesn't include a meal for the little one as she eats off our plates. 
     So I scrambled to make something quick.  We had ham, sweet potatoes, and broccoli for dinner.  We ate ham leftover from Christmas that I froze the leftovers. I threw it in the microwave for a minute and then heated it in a skillet. The sweet potatoes were from a can and I got it on sale for 82 cents. (It's a big can so that was 50% off.) The broccoli was frozen and only half the bag so maybe a dollar.  I am guessing on the cost of the ham. I don't remember what I paid for it exactly...It was about $15. We ate Christmas dinner, the day after, froze 5 other portions for later meals, and made a broth =Total meals 8... So $15 divided by 8 is approximately $1.87 per meal for the ham.
$1.87 for ham
$0.82 for sweet potatoes
$1.00 for broccoli
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$3.69 Grand total for dinner for a Family of 4! Less than $1 per person!


     This is a great example of an easy thing a family can do to save $. Skip going out to eat and cook a meal!

     I know... you don't happen to have any ham in your freezer. Well this month, I cooked a turkey!  A 13lb turkey that cost $13. (It was 98 cents a lb so a little less than $13. I didn't buy it on sale! Gasp!)
We had 1 meal and then I froze 9 portions for other meals. (Approx 1 1/2 cups of turkey per portion. Perfect for adding to soup, noodles,casseroles, salads etc) Then I cooked up the carcass for a broth. I actually got enough broth for 2 soups! So the cost of the turkey per meal... ($13 divided by 12) $1.08! It's easy to cook a turkey! It provides plenty of leftovers, so you'll have the meat pre-cooked for quick  and thrifty meals! You can use turkey in place of chicken in most recipes.
  
I'd rather eat at home of my own Dollar Menu!

Stay Thrifty!