Prices are valid the day this was published, but I do not know how long before there will be another round of price increases.
A friend of mine wanted to know if I had any meals that were economical. I started doing price breakdowns for her on some of the things I make for my family.
Another friend asked me on FB what meals I cook in bulk, so I shared the ones I had the price breakdowns on because the ingredients are listed and it was easy to copy and paste those. Then I added a few off of the top of my head.
I have shared it here to make it easier for people to get the information.
Working-mom friends contacted me in private and asked that I share if I do more meal ideas or price breakdowns on meals. Life is very busy right now with the commitments I have, so I am not making any promises.
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Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Burrito
3 1/2 dozen eggs 16 cents each (9.62 per 5 dozen
2x 24 packs cheese 2.48 per pack of 24, 10 cents each
restaurant foil wrapper .03 each
Total .73 each burrito
add cost of salsa/picante around 50 servings per 1.98 4 cents each
Tater tots added to some breakfasts. Came out to .11 per breakfast. Those packages cost .84 cents each.
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Hot Ham, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits
1 piece ham each sandwich, 32 per container, .26 each (Great Value Black Forest Ham)
eggs .16 each
cheese slices 6.78 for 72 =10 cents each
restaurant foil sheets 13.98 for 500 =3 cents each
.74 cents each
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Steak and Egg Ranchero Burrito
Eggs 9.45 for 60 = 16 cents each
tortillas 10", 8 for 1.98, .25 each
Steakumm 21 per box, 10.56 per box, .50 each
onions 3 lbs for 3.28, used 1.5 bags on 49 burritos, 10 each
Jalapenos, free, bits saved from tops cut off to make poppers
1.04 each Burrito
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Chicken Cheese Burrito I had a few leftover burritos and needed to do something with them, so I came up with these on the fly.
1 can chicken 2.94 each/ 3 servings each can/.98 per serving
1/4 cup cheddar cheese each or .20ish per burrito (I buy cheddar cheese in the 5 lb bags)
foil sheets 13.98 for 500 =3 cents each
1.48 per chicken cheese burrito
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Meatballs with Spaghetti Sauce and Cheese
Meatballs 14.98 per bag of 6 lbs from Sams Club
Sauce 1.48 per jar, used two
We get approx 12-15 individual meals from this when served with vegetables and a starch. $1.71 a meal for 12 , 1.37 for 15
I also do meatballs with gravy and other sauces like sweet and sour. Fully cooked frozen meatballs are inexpensive and work wonderfully for meal prepping because you dump the bag in, cover them with whatever you want, and pop it in the freezer or fridge until you are ready to cook it. Fast and easy!
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Homemade Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuits
Eggs 9.45 for 60 = 16 cents each
Sausage 30 patties for 12.34 =42 cents each
biscuits 1.48 for 8 = 19 cents each
foil sheets 13.98 for 500 =3 cents each
90 cents each
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Salmon Cauliflower Bake
I do not have a price breakdown on this one yet, but it is a very easy meal to prepare ahead of time.
This is also a very fast meal to prep for the family. This is one of our family's favorite meals.
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I also make different "egg muffin" cups..different flavors. My family enjoys these a lot. You can come up with all sorts of different flavor combinations, but they can get crumbly. Cheese really helps hold them together, so I almost always use some type of cheese. Clint really likes the ones I flavor with just a bit of chorizo. One small tube of that packs a lot of flavor into a lot of egg muffins.
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I have to cook according to nine different tastes and preferences, so I do open-ended items often too. For example, I'll cook a bunch of hamburgers and put them in a pan in the fridge. That leaves it up to the family member as to how they will eat it...as a "steak" with different toppings or as a burger on a bun.
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I cook Egg Roll in a Bowl a lot too. It freezes and reheats well.
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I also do a Low Carb Tuscan Chicken recipe for the fridge. I have not tried freezing it because I am concerned the sauce will separate. The whole family enjoys that too. I add extra spinach because I know they will eat it this way. I have substituted pork and it worked out very well.
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I also do soups and chilis that are pressure canned.
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I have friends who are having a hard time making ends meet and had asked me for low costs recipes. I thought the breakfast ideas would be the least expensive of the bulk meals I make, so I started doing the price breakdowns. All of my family loves the grab-and-go breakfasts, and those are the cheapest so far. They eat them for any meal and even snacks which I don't mind at all.
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Bernice, Yes, I have made my own biscuits, and that cuts costs even lower. I use so many biscuits (6-16 cans or 48-128 biscuits) per cooking session, I usually buy them to save on time and labor. It takes me two days to cook enough meals for everyone as it is, so I am thankful I can buy canned dough to catch a little break there. I have a tortilla maker too. I have also made my own spaghetti sauce, and we have put up our own chicken and pork. We also have our own eggs most of the time which helps. There are other ways we can cut costs if we needed, but again, there is a significant time/labor factor due to the amount I do at one time.
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I also do snacks and treats every week for the family. They REALLY like the cupcakes and brownies I make. I make those in silicone cupcake liners. I notice those help with portion control too. Still, they usually eat all of them in the first few days. I alternate between the regular size and the jumbo depending on what is ready to be put back to work. I see those like I do canning jars...investments that are saving me money when filled and not saving me money when empty.
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I also pressure can soups and chilis in pint jars which my family LOVES. They go through those so fast I can't keep them on the shelf.
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