Last night's supper cost only $.39 per person. Yes, that says thirty-nine cents! I'm sure you are protesting, "There's no way! You have to be exaggerating!"
Here's how I did it ...
EJ cooks supper on Wednesdays. This week I taught him how to make vegetable beef soup in the crock pot which he served with fruited jello salad and slices of homemade whole wheat bread. After everyone was satisfied and full, we had 2 c. of vegetable beef soup left over.
Yesterday evening, I warmed up the leftover beef soup, added thickening, made a double pie crust & turned that little bit of soup into beef pot pie. It was served with a lettuce & tomato salad. This meal fed 5 people with 1 serving of beef pot pie leftover for Mr.B's lunch pail.
Here's the cost breakdown:
vegetable beef soup - a leftover
pie crust & thickening - $.83
lettuce & tomato salad - $1.26
Total: $2.09 OR $.39 per person (6 servings pot pie / 5 servings salad)
Stewardship of ones resources is not just about purchasing sale items or even second hand items. It involves adopting a lifestyle free of waste and making the most of what one has. I could have served the 2 cups of leftover soup to Mr.B or the littles for dinner accompanied by some fruit or a salad. However, by preparing a pie crust and adding thickening, I was able to stretch what many would see as 1 or 2 servings of food into 6 servings.
I hope you will be inspired to make the most of your resources.
How wonderful,I read recently of how much food we waste in our country.I find it so much easier in the winter to use up leftovers,in summer we eat totally differently as it is so hot most meat etc is BBQ and salads and all gets used up.Winter is wonderful we make fritters with veg and pies and jaffles and soups,stews as you do and there is not much waste here and as we have chickens if i have to throw anything out it goes there.I find your ideas very inspiring as i would not have thought to do that we would probably had the 2 cups.
ReplyDeleteOH, you're good! I am working on reducing waste as well as reducing my waist. ~smile~ I can see that I need to spend some time reading your recipe pages. Here was my response to you at Harvest Lane Cottage.
ReplyDeleteMrs. B,
I just feel tickled to my toes with your sweet comments! Thank you. I'm sitting here with garlic cloves in my ears since my throat is sore. After this post published, I started feeling sick!
Blessings to you!
Laura
Good "late" Morning, Laura ... If you try some of the them, I hope you and your family enjoy our family recipes. Being from the south, I must disclose that not all our recipes are waist-line or restricted diet friendly but, most of them are frugal. Because I immensely enjoy southern cuisine, I've learned that portion control is key to maintaining a lower calorie count when consuming my cooking. I often use raw veggies and salads as a "filler" while enjoying smaller portions of the more decadent southern dishes I enjoy. Of course, it seems Mr.B and the kiddo's can eat as much as they want, whenever they want and never gain an ounce ... Oh! how I wish I had that problem.
DeleteI pray you are feeling well very soon.
Blessings,
Mrs.B