Maybe I am wrong, but I always considered tacos a cheap meal. Maybe I am delusional because it is my boys favorite meal and we make it often. But I just broke down the cost for tomorrow's meal and found I was wrong, it is not a cheap meal:
$5 1 lb. ground beef (85%)
$2 Sour Cream
$3 Cheddar cheese
$2 soft shells
$2 taco seasoning
$14 total
I didn't even get the lettuce and tomatoes I usually get.
Since I have about $400 a month for food, that is about $13 a day. So a $14 dinner will not cut it. I figure breakfast should be about $3, lunch about $4, dinner about $5, and snacks about $1. I used to be able to do this, but lately with everything costing more and with me buying more organic, this can be very hard.
Tomorrow we are eating:
breakfast- watermelon, cereal, & organic milk (cost about $5)
lunch- organic peanut butter on homemade bread and green beans (cost about $4)
dinner-tacos and carrot sticks (cost $15)
snacks-green smoothies, tostitos and salsa (cost about $4)
I will have to plan some cheaper and meat free meals this week to make up the difference in cost. I know I will make rice and beans for dinner one night this week, which is about $3 to make with lots of spices and beans, and it makes left overs. Plus we all like to eat it (except when I don't cook it right.)
Can you share some frugal meals with recipes?
-Becky
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Tacoes, not a cheap meal anymore
Posted by Becky R at 9:13 PM
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9 comments:
Becky, is hamburger really 5.00 a lb there? Wow, it is 2.98 here at the highest. Often i can find it for 1.98 or less on sale. When I do find it, I really stock up on it. Honestly, it's pretty tragic when hamburger is that high isn't it. Frustrates me how much food is costing anymore.
I know Sandra Lee has some pretty inexpensive meals on her new program on food network, I cannot remember the name of the new program, but I've seen some yummy looking things.
All in all, you are really doing a good job...you should be so proud of yourself, not in that prideful way, but in a way that you are working so hard to accomplish what is a priority to you. Keep up following what God wants you to do..you cannot go wrong walking His path!
Blessings, Tina
Try buying the ground beef when it's on sale, and make 1 lb packages for the freezer. Actually you can cookup the taco stuff and then freeze it
It's harder to feed kids on a budget, as adults we eat mostly anything, kids don't and won't as you've learned.
Love you
I totally understand. Prices are raising QUICK! And it's so annoying. We go through A LOT of tacos.
The $5 was not on sale at all. Usually I shop sales, but last night ran to the store so I would have food for today. Usually I can get ground beef for about $3 a lb. Sometimes even less. But at $3 a lb., the meal still cost $12. At $2 a lb. it is $11. Dinner still needs to cost less than that.
Nothing I bought yesterday was on sale at all. I could probaly reduce the sour cream, cheese, and shells by half price if shopping sales. Then tacos would be in the dinner budget.
rice and beans are the yummiest and cheapest meal ever. specially when you find the beans on sale. we got them once 4 cans for 2 dollars! i love them and they are soooo healthy.
You need to divide out the cost PER taco, not for the entire meal. I would think you would have at least one day of leftovers with that meal! When I make tacos, it works out to about .25 cents each, because I always buy the meat on sale (and I use ground turkey because it is so much healthier). Plus, I can always find the taco shells and seasoning at the dollar store. I would never buy produce there, but boxed foods are fine. When I make a pound of the meat, I can get 12-15 tacos out of it, depending on how much you put in each shell.
I have an excellent vegetarian taco recipe if you're interested. It's easy & cheap.
Shelley
OK, first off- I would NEVER pay $5/lb for ground beef, that is way too pricey! Overall $15 to feed all 3 of you is not bad - that's only $5 per person.
Secondly, You need to plan your meals with the sales flyer and buy what's on special and plan your menu accordingly. Maybe stock up on certain meats when they are on sale. You can brown up your meat and freeze it in meal sized portions. If the ground beef is not on sale, maybe ground turkey is? It's much better for you, and , IMO, tastes much better. I make turkey tacos all the time.
Perhaps you can browse some websites for recipes / freezer cooking? I like Money Saving Mom, and Life as Mom - they have great recipes, meal planning ideas.
I usually am good with budgeting and buying on sale. This was a trip just so I wouldn't have to go today. It was not planned, so nothing was on sale.
The $5 was for almost a lb. and half of meat, so I was wrong on that. But still that is what I will cook for tacos. We each eat 3-4 tacos, so their will probably not be leftovers. I was thinking about adding beans to stretch the meat, but not sure if my kids will eat it that way.
Th huge expense is trying to buy organic meat, seasoning, sour cream, and soft taco shells (we don't like hard shells.)
This makes the meal very costly. This time the meat is not even organic, but the soft shells, seasoning, and sour cream are.
I am going to attempt to make my own whole wheat soft taco shells (not today, but soon.) Maybe this will save money.
Thanks for all the tips. I guess it is a reminder to back to planning, and how costly a run to the store without a plan can be.
Shelley,
I would love a vegetarian taco recipe.
Thanks all!
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