Frugal Finds for Dinner

Eating at home often saves time, money, and calories! We love family dinner at Mama Henley's house and try not to miss one. Thankfully our move to Florida has allowed us to focus more on this grand old family of 7. Feeding a big family is no easy task as it's hard to find meals that please everyone while not eating Chick Fil A nuggets 6 nights a week! Therefore, I have started trying to make meals that make one child really super happy while most everyone else will eat it. I rotate so that everyone enjoys their favorites at some point during the month.
Coming home after a week away means lots of extra laundry and gifts to put away in a new home. We've been cleaning house, putting away the last of the Christmas items, and washing lots of clothes. I have also been trying to cook at home every meal. Last Monday night we had the frozen PF Chang's entrees. Tuesday morning I cooked 4 pounds of ground beef. I cooked 2 of those pounds with chopped onion and the other without. Cooking all of your ground beef at one time saves a lot of time! Sometimes I freeze some of the cooked ground beef, but this week I was able to use all of it.
The ground beef cooked with onion was used to make spaghetti sauce. I brown my beef and then add things like oregano, basil, garlic powder, chopped green peppers, chopped carrots, diced tomatoes, a little Maldon sea salt, and tomato sauce. I usually add a really big container of store bought spaghetti sauce as well. The brand depends on what is in our garage pantry! I buy pasta and pasta sauce on sale. We have not found a huge difference in taste. I probably had $3-4 in extra ingredients and $6.00 in the 2 pounds of ground beef. At most our meal cost $10.00. All 7 of us had spaghetti and then I made a spaghetti pie for some friends. I even had a little sauce leftover! So $5.00 for one meal for 7 people is great plus the $5.00 to feed our friends a spaghetti pie!
The other 2 pounds of cooked ground beef was used to make tacos on Wednesday night. Our children LOVE tacos. I have quit buying the store bought taco seasoning because it is cheaper and better for you to make your own. There are no preservatives when you make it yourself. I brown the meat and add LOTS of chili powder, some cumin, some garlic powder, and a little red pepper if we want it to be spicy. After the meat is cooked and covered in these spices, I add at least 1/2 cup water just like you do with the seasoning packets. I just shake the chili powder until it looks right and the tacos always taste great! We love to dress up our tacos with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, black or refried beans, et cetera. I made a taco salad over spinach and arugula and added some of the jasmine rice from Monday night! I usually just buy tortillas, but I had a really cheap soft taco kit from a buy one/get one free deal, so we used those tortillas for this meal. Since all of the toppings are things we keep on hand, this meal only cost around $7 or $8!
Thursday is a full day for our family with lots of activities. I am not home to start dinner until after 6pm. Therefore, dinner has to be prepared in advance or cooked when we walk in the door. This week I decided we would actually eat our leftovers rather than just say we were going to eat them! Some of us had pasta with red sauce or spaghetti sauce and others had tacos! Of course we had fruit and salads with our meals as fillers. All in all, it was a frugal week of eating at home!

Frugal Finds for Dinner

It's January. Your heart is full, but your wallet is not. Perhaps you ate like a queen during the month of December. You ate well, attended many a party, and gave and received fabulous gifts. January 1, 2011 rolled around, and you realized it's time to reel it all back in. Perhaps you've put yourself on a spending freeze or you're vowing to be healthier in 2011. We could all stand to do both of those!
At Mama Henley's house, our move to Florida has really put our lives in perspective. Knowing God and enjoying Him is our first priority. Our next priority is the 7 people who live under this roof. We've enjoyed lots of good family time, and one of our favorite times together has always been dinner together. In the past two years, we've eaten at home more than ever. Now don't get me wrong, I love nothing more than to sit and be served and to not have to clear the dishes and put away leftovers. However, reality is that it is smarter to eat at home than to eat out. It saves money and is often healthier.
Last night we drove in from a 12 hour drive. I did not make it to the store today in time to buy dinner. However, I have always been a planner and a girl who is not afraid to store some food. In situations like today, it pays off. I knew that I had plenty of delicious jasmine rice on hand and that our freezer contained some BOGO (buy one, get one free) PF Changs entrees. Voila! We had dinner. We simply warmed the beef and chicken dishes in the skillet, cooked the rice, and poured milk for the children. Using my coupons, I am guessing we did not have more than about $6 or $7 invested in our dinner that served all 7 of us with some leftover rice!
This month I will try to tell you ways that we are cutting back and eating at home!