My goal is to provide dinner for my
family for an average of $5 except on special
occasions. We don’t have to eat beans and rice to
accomplish this goal! We typically only cook a main dish 4 or 5 times a week. Each
main dish cooked will serve 4-6, and the
leftovers will be for easy dinners on the weekend, or to freeze
for another week. This cuts down on cleaning,
cooking, and meal planning- saving us lots of time!
We made the last minute decision to go out to eat using a small GC last night. That sure made it hard to stay under $5 this week. We also needed to eat another casserole from the swap to free up space for more casseroles coming next week. I did my best and will have to be satisfied with $5.82. My averages this month $4.91, $5.06, $3.67, and $5.82, so at least I average under $5 for the month.
Dinner at Mercado’s
total including tax and tip, but after a GC = $18.06
Baked Beans and Weenies, Oranges, Sweet Peas and Toast
2 can pork and beans @ FREE
brown sugar etc.
4 hot dogs @ .22
2 oranges @ .66
1 can sweet peas @ .45
6 slices of toast @ .36 (good for sopping up bean juices) 
Total Cost: $1.69
Baked Potato Soup (we at this Saturday night after a garage sale and were so busy this truly was all we ate!)
4 oz bacon (crispy) @ .50
4 oz cheddar cheese @ .76
onions @ .31
3 large baked potatoes (peeled and cubed) @ .50
1/2 cup flour @ .03
1 stick margarine @ .15
3/4 cup sour cream @ .50
5 cups milk @ .35
salt and pepper
Total Cost $3.10
Hamburger Helper with Chicken, Toast, Apple Slices and Carrot Sticks with Ranch
Hamburger Helper @ .66
2 cups milk for helper @ .14
2 apples @ .80
carrot sticks @ .40
3 slices of toast @ .18
ranch
Total Cost: $2.18
Eeeny Meeny Miney Mo, pick a little casserole with green beans and corn
cost for my casserole for the swap 3.55, but we get to eat someone else’s tonight
1 can green beans @ .25
1/2 can corn @ .27
Total Cost = $4.07
Average Cost for these meals $5.82.
Mmmmmmm….Mercado’s…. 😉