Eating Better Than Beans! Sneak Preview of My New ebook

I'm putting together a new freebie (well - it will be free for a limited time!). It's an ebook on how we feed our family of 8 for about $600 a month.

I realize $600 is not record-breaking cheap - I've read many articles on families who only spend $30-$50 a week on food, but that's because they eat a TON of dried beans and cornbread. $600 is cheap for a huge portion of the population. Statistics for average spending for a family of four range from $560 to a whopping $1100 per month! So $600 is pretty good!

We eat a wide variety of food around here, and we eat meat. We are not vegetarians and I make no apology for that. I do like dried beans; I use beans several times a month. But I don't use them 3-4 times a week. I also don't make pan after pan of cornbread and biscuits.

Anyway, I thought I would share some recipes with my faithful readers over the next few days. I'll start with Breakfast Items:

cpp = cents per person


Apple Raisin Oatmeal

Prepare oatmeal for 8 people as directed on the package. Add 1 small jar applesauce, ½ box raisins, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon. Stir well. Serve.

Costs: ¼ lg. round container of oatmeal ~ 50 cents) + 1 sm. jar applesauce ~ $1.00 + ½ box raisins ~ $1.00 + .20 (sugar) + .10 (cinnamon) = $2.80 (35 cpp)


Pancakes

I used to make my own mix. Now I buy a box mix. There are several brands, and they all work about the same. Just add water, mix well, and pour onto a hot griddle. It’s a fast and simple hot breakfast. Serve with butter, jam, peanut butter, or syrup.

Box mixes usually cost ~ $2.00 and last my family for 2 breakfasts.
1 Bottle of maple syrup ~ $2.00 and lasts about 4 breakfasts.
Butter costs ~ $2.39 for 4 sticks
Jam ~ $1.50 a jar, lasts for 4 breakfasts
peanut butter ~ $3 a jar. lasts for many breakfasts

Costs: ½ box mix + ¼ bottle syrup + ¼ box butter = $2.10 to make enough pancakes for 8 people. (26 cpp)


Waffles

Usually the pancake mixes will also be used for making waffles, simply by adding an egg or two and by substituting milk for water. This may increase the above cost of pancakes by about 25 cents, or .03 cpp.


Kielbasa Toss with Scrambled Eggs

Fry together:
One pound sliced kielbasa sausage
1 diced onion
1 diced green pepper

In another frying pan, fry up scrambled eggs, using 12 eggs and ½ cup milk, whisked together. Salt and pepper to taste.

Costs: Kielbasa ~ $2.60 + Onion ~ .30 + Bell pepper ~ .60 + Dozen eggs ~ 1.25 + Milk ~ .13 = $4.88. Serves 8. (61 cpp)