I'm starting to keep track of meal costs

[sunnysideup]

I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I want to share my experience grocery shopping today because I've decided to keep track of how much each meal is costing me. I'm only cooking for two right now. I'm going to list what I bought and how much it cost this week. I came up with a few things I can throw together with it down below. Hubby and I love chicken and pasta.

Things I bought today

Chicken 5.59lbs – $1.27 lb
Tomato Sauce 13.25 cups – 25 cents per cup
20lbs flour = abt 6 cents per cup
1 gal milk $1.89 = abt 12 cents per cup
Mozz & Colby Jack cheese – 2lbs each for $4.97 - $2.49 for 1lb = $1.24 per cup
Cottage Cheese 1lb for $1.50 = 75 cents per cup
2 Cheese sauce – 99 cents for 1.5 cups = 16 oz
6 Gravy packets – 1 cup for 30 cents

Dinner One - Chicken and Spaghetti

Pasta already on hand
½ lb of chicken – 64 cents
3 cups sauce – 75 cents
Dinner Rolls – from scratch abt. 50 cents

Total cost – $1.89

Dinner Two - Chicken Pizza

Dough – from scratch abt 25 cents
½ lb of chicken – 64 cents
1 ½ cups sauce – 38 cents
1 ½ cups cheese – $1.86
Other toppings on hand

Total cost – $3.13 (one pizza is 2 meals so really $1.56)

Dinner Three - Chicken and gravy over rice

½ lb of chicken – 64 cents
3 cups gravy – 90 cents
Rice already on hand

Total cost - $1.54

I don't know how well I did just yet, because this is the first week I've been keeping track of prices and hopefully my math is correct. I know the meals would cost more if I had the cost of the other ingredients, plus the cost of side dishes, but its a start I guess. If anyone has other meals I could make with those ingredients, I would love some input.

[Darlene]

Good job Sunnysideup! It's really neat to see the breakdown on prices and how far you can stretch your budget.

[KimSecret]

I made this for the first time last night and everyone loved it.


Chicken Noodle Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. noodles (spiral, or wide egg noodles)
1/2 cup margarine
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth or water
1 lb. grated American cheese
2 lbs. cooked, boned chicken
PREPARATION:

Cook and drain noodles. Mix with margarine; stir well. Add soup, water (or broth) and cheese to the noodle and chicken mixture. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.