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Cheapest Dinner Ever

Tonight we had a lasagna that cost $.79, some carrots and radishes with salad dressing, and home-made (from our trees) applesauce. The whole dinner, for three adults and a toddler, cost less than two dollars. I have been working at getting our food expenses down and this is the cheapest thing we've done yet! I've GOT to get back to the Grocery Outlet for more Buitoni frozen lasagnas before they run out. I think the reason for the sale at the G.O. is that the box is labeled to hold two lasagnas but there is only one inside.

We've been doing really well at eating inexpensive dinners since Sunday, actually. I should have been taking pictures!

Our menu has been:
  • Sunday night we had pork buns that a friend brought for my husband's birthday the day before, along with green beans that a relative had brought for Thanksgiving dinner and never cooked (frozen). I cooked the green beans with some onion (5/ $1 - and local!) from the Grocery Outlet, and some soy sauce and they were pretty good. We also had the applesauce, which I made on Saturday from the last of the apples that fell from our latest-blooming tree. I don't know how much the pork buns or beans cost but our expenditure was about $.25.
  • Monday night we had turkey sandwiches (leftover from Thanksgiving) on whole wheat bread, and butternut squash soup. The soup is somewhat pricey, for soup that is, - like $3 or $4 for a box - but Sweet Pea loves it and it is organic and pretty healthy. We also had a sliced red pepper. Probably $7 total for the meal.
  • Tuesday night we used the very last of the turkey in burritos made with dried beans that we soaked (probably $.50 worth, at $1 per bag, and we had lots left over). We used the last of the red pepper from the night before, some Tillamook sharp cheddar (spendy!!$$), sour cream, lettuce, and a variety of spices for flavor and filling. Average made the burritos big and just one was enough for me. He had two, and Sweet Pea ate a lot of beans, which she loves, as well as cheese and turkey, and we all had frozen blueberries for dessert. I'm estimating $4-5.
  • Tonight = super duper cheap lasagna, explained above.
  • The plan for tomorrow is tuna steaks (also from the Grocery Outlet, 2 for $2.49 frozen) with rice. I'm not sure what the vegetable will be. 
  • Friday will probably be a frozen pizza (2 for $5) and salad.

Right now I am super excited about being able to spend this little on food for our family while still eating filling, fairly healthy meals. However, next time I go shopping I might not find as many good deals, and I bet we'll end up going out sometime in the next week or two due to being too busy or not planning ahead enough. But heck, we can afford it after this week, right!? And then there's that car we need to buy......

What's your favorite inexpensive meal plan? Give me more ideas!
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