Just a Grillin

Hubby LOVES to grill. And I mean L.O.V.E.S. to grill! I found a veggie basket on clearance at Target so our standby is grilled peppers with chicken (omg my absolute favorite marinade is Salt Lick's marinade. yum!). I had also found some sausages on clearance at Randalls so we grilled those up too. We try to grill a bunch of meats so that I can use them later in the week in meals. We cooked up a whole package of chicken which can then be shredded, diced or sliced. Grilling this way saves us time later in the week.

Can you see Whiskey in the bottom corner? she is always hoping Hubby drops food

Cheaper than the Dollar Menu

People who say they can't afford to cook at home and instead go order off the dollar menu make me mad.  Now I have eaten my fair share of dollar menu meals so no argument there.  My gripe is when people believe that its cheaper to eat there.  Tonight I made a chicken pasta meal and it was delicious!  And each portion was less than a dollar!  My local Randalls has a clearance section that I adore!  The other day I stocked up on these Kraft Recipe Makers.  Normally they are $2.20 for the box (essentially just the sauce).  Since these were on clearance I paid $1.10 each.  The box doesn't include the pasta or meat, but that's okay because I have a stock pile of both!  This is where couponing and stockpiling can be incredibly helpful.  I never pay more than $1 per box of pasta.  I try to keep my meat costs around $1/lb.  

My cost break-down is as follows-
Sauce $1.20
Chicken 2 lbs @ $1.79= $3.58
Pasta $.80
Total $5.58
6 meals = $.93 per meal

Because I shopped sales and clearance I am able to feed my family delicious, inexpensive and wholesome meals.  No dollar menu tonight!

Eating In Weekly Update #1

Hubby and I are trying not to eat out this month.  We have fudged that rule a little but as a whole we are eating in.  That means lots of home cooked meals- like this chicken pot pie.
 I would love to hear about family favorite recipes!  Or ideas for semi-easy frugal meals for us to try.  We have basics that we use like taco night, soup night, etc.  If you have a good recipe I would love to try it out!