33 cent Meals

[dado potato]

Amaranth,

Wow, thanks! With your nugget of information I can say the almond aspect of the above recipe would run about 27 cents per serving.

Even if the oil were a more economical canola (for which we have Canadians to thank), I seriously doubt the meal would come in at less than 33 cents!

[dado potato]

SteveinMN,

I am waiting (just a little while longer) for conditions to be right to ice-fish for bluegills and crappies. You might be fairly close to some decent spots too. The best bait on our lakes is a "waxy".

In addition to the cost of bait, there would be gas plus a thermos of whatchyagot to drink (in my case chai spiced tea).

[SteveinMN]

I am waiting (just a little while longer) for conditions to be right to ice-fish for bluegills and crappies.

I've never been ice-fishing, though last night we were with some friends who want to go and who have invited me to join them. I have gone fishing two other times. I enjoyed both trips. But all I had to show for them was a pound-and-a-half Northern (which was considerably less than a pound-and-a-half once it was gutted). At $15 for the fishing license, I might as well show up at Coastal Seafoods and get the fish from them.

But, yes, if I were equipped to fish regularly, that would be one way of acquiring fresh tasty fish for not much money.

[Stella]

Tonight's dinner was probably close to that. We had Senate Bean Soup. One onion, a ham hock, a package of Great Northern Beans, a splash of oil and salt and pepper makes a pot big enough to feed my family of 8 for two days if it's served with bread.

I think our Friday dinner would have been close if we had used milk instead of half and half bought from a small local dairy. That was cream of broccoli soup. 2 onions, 1 lb frozen broccoli ($1 at Aldi), 3 potatoes (10lbs for $1.99) and a cup of milk or half and half. It fed my family and there was enough leftover for someone for lunch, so probably 6-8 servings (Dad wasn't home that night and Charlotte doesn't eat that much).

[Amaranth]

Stella, you can definitely do the Senate Bean soup for this challenge. We also do one that's similar to the second variety of Senate Bean soup that they do except we swap out the garlic and use carrots. And it's still within the challenge as well.

Festive Senate Bean Soup III
.00 water 2 cups
.09 navy beans 2oz
.10 ham 1oz
.02 oil 2t
.01 onion, diced and sauteed 2 oz
.025 potatoes, cooked and mashed .25 lb (peeled or not as you like or save the peels for potato skins)
.015 stalk of celery, .5 stalk, diced fine
.025 carrot, .5 carrot, diced fine
.005 pepper to taste and maybe salt if ham is not salty
A sprig of parsley chopped if you grow it, added at the end
_______________
.29

.02 Slices of homemade bread 2
.02 Butter 2t
____________
.04

.33 Total

If not sticking to the challenge constraints, a whole carrot is nice and perhaps a whole stalk of celery if your family likes celery a lot as we do. This would add .04 to the recipe. If you wind up buying parsley that could add another .02-.04 to the total per serving. It isn't really needed taste wise, but it adds good color and nutrition and some more flavor.

I bet the broccoli recipe would fit in the challenge as well. Will cost it out when I get a chance.

Ice fishing sounds like a great addition to meals this time of year. I have seen pictures of people doing it. How is that done while minimizing the change that the area the ice fishing house is over will melt?

[Amaranth]

I think our Friday dinner would have been close if we had used milk instead of half and half bought from a small local dairy. That was cream of broccoli soup. 2 onions, 1 lb frozen broccoli ($1 at Aldi), 3 potatoes (10lbs for $1.99) and a cup of milk or half and half. It fed my family and there was enough leftover for someone for lunch, so probably 6-8 servings (Dad wasn't home that night and Charlotte doesn't eat that much).

Worked out a cost for Stella's Broccoli Soup with it serving 8.
Stella, please let me know if I need to increase any of the ingredients per serving.

.01 Onions 1oz
.01 Butter 1t
.06 Broccoli 2oz
.02 Potatoes 1.5oz
.00 Water 1.25 cups
.03 Milk 1oz or .07 Half and half
--------------
.13 or .17 with half and half

This is only 118 calories though with milk and just 19 more with half and half. So if you added 2 slices of homemade bread and butter, that would get it up to .17 or .21 and make it about a 400 calorie meal.

[Stella]

That sounds about right Amaranth. Thanks for doing that.

[Tiam]

Somehow I'm sure I couldn't buy a carrot for .03 though.

[Amaranth]

Somehow I'm sure I couldn't buy a carrot for .03 though.

Some people on here can get carrots for about 2.5 cents. Our best at the moment is about 5 cents for the standard size carrot, hence the use of half a carrot in the soup serving.

What are the best deals for you at the moment? For ours I would say:
1 or 2 for 10 lbs potatoes
.99 for 5 lbs flour
.25 or .33 lb sweet potatoes
.26 or .30 lb onions
.33 or .39 for a pound of cabbage

[Amaranth]

33 cent meals from Ms. Jack Monroe
http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/...udget-recipes/

Meal #1 22p
Jardaloo Ma Murghi (Curry With Apricots) 22p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/04/0...-apricots-22p/

Meal #2 24p
Indian spiced Veggie Burger with fixings 9p+15=24p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/04/0...ean-burger-9p/

Meal #3 17p
Sunshine Bread (A golden loaf with pineapple, carrot, and sultanas) 8p
Egg 9p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/03/2...ana-8-pennies/

Meal #4 22p
Carrot and Coriander Soup 15p
Parsnip, Thyme, and Parmesan Loaf, but made with sourdough and divided into 6 servings 7p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/02/2...nder-soup-15p/
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/02/0...esan-loaf-14p/

Meal #5 19p
Tomato and Haricot Soup 15 p
Simple Herb Bread, but made with sourdough 4p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2012/12/1...icot-soup-15p/
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/02/1...herb-bread-7p/