Challenging Myself: Five Dinners for $50 or Less

This week, I wanted to begin challenging myself to make some healthy, cheap meals for my family. This challenge has several reasons:

1. I’ve been a bit preoccupied (read: tired; lazy; holding a baby) since July. I try to make dinner at home every night, but it doesn’t always happen. When I do, it may be a bit on the fly and not as healthy as it should or could be.
2. My husband and I have discussed multiple times that we should make a menu a week or month ahead of time. This way we could shop for ingredients in advance and be prepared… yeah, that hasn’t happened. Reference number 1.
3. I am not working outside of our home currently, so planning helps to save a little money. Because on a less than ideal day, I text my husband around 4:00 to ask if he will make dinner. We both know this is more often than not code for, “Let’s go out”.

First up: The menu. To make the most of the menu for the least amount of money it is helpful to find 5 options that are different enough that we won’t get bored, but similar enough that we won’t be buying entirely different ingredients for 5 different meals. My goal is to purchase the non-pantry type items for less than $50 for the week. Pantry items would include, generally: spices, condiments, flour, sugar, etc.   Things that one would typically have on hand.

Now, I love cooking. LOVE it. But, my time in the kitchen has been a bit… distracted… recently. It is not uncommon for dinners to be prepared during two separate 30-minute nap times. So, the name of the game is how can I make a yummy dinner, relatively quickly? I have entrusted a few of my friends to assist: the almighty crockpot, toaster oven, and my new love, the instant pot. I will do my best to provide options that will suit any home cook and kitchen. I hope to make this a semi-regular challenge (mostly with myself).

The menu this week includes:

1. Chicken Fried Rice
2. Chicken Pot Pie
3. Spinach, Sun Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Quiche
4. Grocery Store Copy-Cat Winter Salad
5. BBQ Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potato

My grocery list looked a bit like this:

Costco

Chicken*                                             $21.26 ($3.54 per package, using 4 = $14.16)

Goat Cheese                                       $6.79 (2 large ‘logs’, using 1 = $3.40)

2 dozen eggs                                      $2.99 ($0.13 per egg, using 6 = $0.78)

 

Meijer

Sweet Potatoes (4) @ $0.99/lb            $2.67 (~$0.67 each)

Brown Rice                                          $1.49 ($0.25 per cup, cooked)

Frozen veggie mix                               $2.39 ($0.48 per cup)

Balsamic Vinegar                                 $3.59

Spinach                                                $3.99

BBQ Sauce                                          $1.49

Organic Milk (gallon)                           $5.99

 

Total spent                                         $52.65           

Projected total used for recipes         $39.95  

 

*I recently had a conversation with my brother about Costco chicken. He brought up a great point that at ~2.79/lb it may not be the cheapest option out there. You can absolutely get it for a better price per pound for whole chicken, bone in pieces, or just boneless chicken breasts elsewhere. Generally speaking, the less the chicken has been cut up for you, the cheaper it will be. I like Costco chicken breasts because it comes portioned into 2 chicken breasts per package (purchased as 6 packages total), it is usually trimmed pretty well of fat, the size of the chicken breasts isn’t inspired by the Hulk and I find the quality pretty good compared to other large packages of chicken I have purchased at other retailers. Ultimately, you do you.

In total, I have gone over budget. But, I won’t be using all of the ingredients for these recipes and will be able to use them in coming weeks. This brings the total down to $36.74, and adding to my pantry/freezer/fridge for future ease of meal prep.

I would typically have balsamic vinegar in my pantry and milk in my fridge, but was out. Let’s call this investment a wash for all of my pantry items that I will use this week to make things easy.

Now, I realize that not everyone has a Costco membership, but there are other great alternatives for bulk or low-cost alternatives. Pre-baby, I would take my sweet old time going to Aldi, then Meijer to get the most economical options possible. I will get there again. But for now, if I don’t have a reprieve during the week (thanks, grandpa!) to shop alone, I can hit one grocery store, max per day. I mean, for my sanity. Had I gone to Aldi for items like rice, eggs and vegetables, I feel confident my overall and final totals would be lower. Hitting up multiple grocery stores works for us, as they are in very close proximity to one another. If your stores are more than a few miles apart, it may not be beneficial to save a few dollars while spending extra gas money, offsetting the cost savings.

In the past I have purchased pre-made pie crusts. But, as I perused the pie crust selection at Meijer, my cheapness got the best of me. $2.39 for two crusts?!?!?! I would have needed to purchase two packages… no bueno. I then said the famous last words, “I can make that”. Why have I been buying pie crust? It is stupid easy and a fraction of the price! Score.

The best part of this menu is it prepared extras, meaning we were able to share dinner with friends and family two of the five nights and had plenty of leftovers, making lunches a simple choice for me throughout the week.

Check in throughout the week for a some fun recipe ideas – maybe an idea for dinner!