First of all, I would not be able to make my family $5 (or less) dinners if it were not for shopping with coupons and sales together, and then stocking up on those great deals. If you would like to read about how I do that, go HERE. And if you have ANY questions feel free to ask!
Second, in making our meals, I MAKE THEM. So, for a super of Chicken and dumplings, I make everything. We don't have a dinner kit or anything. Those are nice if you are on the run, not not as good for you (sodium content is through the roof) and the prices usually aren't that great either. Plus, in making our own, we usually have leftovers! So you can get a bonus meal out of it!
So, I will start with our meal that we had last night, which was Tuna Noodle Casserole. It is a super simple, throw together meal.
Here are the ingredients and the (approx) prices that I paid for them:
1 can tuna ( we like the chunk Albacore tuna, in water. I hate the other stuff. I got this on sale at Walgreen's I think it was 3/$1 and I actually paid nothing for it because I used their RR (Register Rewards) to pay for it.) $0.
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I have got this on sale several times this winter and spring. I won't pay any more them $.50 for a can because I can get it around that cheap at Aldi's. But I think with coupons and sales I payed around $.30 per can.) $.60
1 bag noodles, cooked. (I think these were about $1.75 for a bag, and I had a coupon that made it about $1.) $1.
All of the above ingredients are mixed together, and we added frozen corn for a side (frozen corn was about $.50 on sale with coupon). $.50
Total for the meal: $2.10!
Feeding our family of 6 for one meal, $2.10!
Now, it's your turn... do you have any meal ideas for under $5??? (Link directly to the $5 meal link)
5 comments:
Wow, that's a great price for a meal. If I find meat on sale and pasta on sale and sauce on sale, I can make spaghetti for a really reasonable price. But then I buy fresh veggies to make a salad to go with it which brings the cost up.
Could you make it with chicken/cream of chicken? If I cooked up a breast myself that would probably keep the cost close? My hubby can't even stand the smell of tuna (I could eat it everyday!)It sound really yummy though!
Spaghetti is a cheap meal - I try and serve it with unsweetened/natural applesacue. A bit cheaper than a salad and in our case healthier because you can't smother it in ranch;)
I hate to play devil's advocate, but I have several questions...
Do you serve vegetables and fruit with this meal? Since they are part of a balanced diet and the meal, they should be considered in the cost.
Second, how much less sodium is in two cans of cream of mushroom soup than a mix?
STeph- Yes, I think with cream of chicken and a chicken breast would be delightful. And the cost can still be kept low!
Brook- You can get lower sodium soups, and if you look at the sodium content in a premade meal, it is outragious, and it even tastes like there is a lot. I ususally do lower sodium, low salt, no salt, and unsweetened... Even in regular soup, I am guessing it it still less in sodium, plus it tastes a TON better. Also, on this meal there IS the frozen corn counted in the cost already($.50). I figure it all in because I know all of the cost comes in somewhere. We could have easily added a muskmellon to this too for $.97 more, and the total still would have been $3.07. Devil's advocate, that's ok! You just want to know...
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