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This is another short week for us. Weather permitting, we’ll be making the trek home on Wednesday to see family for Christmas.

We’ll be traveling from the 19th-25th (we have to drive back to Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, can you believe that? DH has to work on the 26th. Arg.)

I know it’s a busy time for us all, but I will have scheduled posts run each day I’m out of town, in case you want to stop by.

Now, to the short menu:

We’ll be trying a new recipe for slow-cooker chicken and noodles.

Some of the reviewers have mentioned the as-is recipe is a little bland, so I’ll be adjusting it a little.

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves ($6.49/bag of six pieces at Aldi, so $4.33 for this recipe)

* 6 cups water I’ll use chicken broth and bullion instead (.39 per can at Aldi and I have 3. The bullion I might have to add won’t cost more than a few cents, so let’s call it $1.20)

* 1 onion, chopped ($0.15)
* 2 stalks celery, chopped (optional) I don’t have any $0
* salt and pepper to taste (and I will add some garlic and some ‘chicken seasoning’ $0–cost is minimal

* 1 (12 ounce) package frozen egg noodles (I don’t have the frozen variety; I have the dried. I will boil the noodles in some chicken broth pulled from the crockpot before serving. This will give the noodles extra flavor)(package of egg noodles cost .69 at Aldi)

Total: $6.37

We’ll eat this (and hopefully some fresh baked bread) on Monday and Tuesday. I might add a twice-baked potato for each of us ($0.30) one day, and cook some canned corn (.39) on the other day, to add to the meal.

We’ll also eat whatever perishable items are still in the refrigerator.

So, this week it will cost about $7.06.

If you’re interested in learning more about calculating your recipe costs, visit my post explaining it and try out my recipe cost calculator.

Be sure to visit Laura at orgjunkie for more menus.

Additional related posts:

1. $15.57 Menu for the week of Dec. 10
2. $16.58 dinner menu for the week of Oct. 15-19
3. How I planned this week’s menu

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This was another menu I quickly threw together. I only went to Aldi this week, and I’ve saved tons of time by doing so.

One thing I really want to push on y’all is to calculate the cost of your menus. Figure it out (it’s simple) and see in real dollars how much you’re saving by making frugal menu decisions and avoiding take-out.

I have a post detailing how you can figure a recipe’s cost, and I also have a nifty recipe cost calculator tool on my site that you can try.

Please give it a go, and if you blog about your recipe’s costs–let me know!

Monday- Split pea soup (love this stuff!) $2.62

Tuesday- Cheese quesadillas (Tortillas are $0.09 each and I’ll use 4, so $0.36; will use about $1.50 worth of shredded cheese, maybe $0.50 worth of salsa), refried beans ($0.49 can) Total: $2.85

Wednesday – Baked chicken ($1.08 per chicken breast at Aldi, using 2, so $2.16, can of corn $0.39, twice-baked potato [$0.30 (yes, I still have tons of servings left from that huge batch)] Total: $2.85

Thursday – Whiting fillets (either steamed, grilled, or baked…haven’t decided)($0.49 per fillet, using 2 = $1), cooked spinach (made from leftover spinach from fresh bag; about $1 worth), ranch & bacon pasta salad ($0.99 box kit) Total: $3

Friday – Aldi’s frozen pizza with some additional pepperoni ($1.99 for the pizza; maybe $0.20 worth of more pepperoni from their “pillow pack pepperoni”) Total: $2.20

Total cost for dinners and lunches (since leftovers make the lunches for the next day: $13.52

Also, this week, I’ll be making banana pineapple bread (hat tip to Mrs. Nichole Jordan) and I’ll be using my bread machine for the first time to make a loaf or two there, as well.

The banana pineapple bread will cost a little more than $2.05 (I didn’t figure the costs of the tiny bits of spice. But the flour is about $0.15 (a nickel a cup); the eggs are about a quarter; .34 for the sugar; .62 for the bananas; and .69 for the pineapple)

I haven’t yet selected a recipe to use for my bread machine, but I’ll be sure to blog about it when I do.

Total including banana pineapple bread: $15.57

P.S., this menu feeds just my husband and I.

For more menus, visit Orgjunkie.

Additional related posts:

1. Menu for the week of Dec. 3
2. $20.93 menu for the week of Nov. 12-16
3. $11.13 dinner menu for the week of Oct. 22-26

If you’ve seen my weekly menus (usually posted on Mondays), you know that I like to break down the cost of each meal.

Knowing the cost of each recipe has plenty of benefits. You can be choosier with ingredients (perhaps make substitutions or eliminate an expensive item). You know exactly how much a recipe costs per serving, and depending on the cost, you can cook the recipe often or only on special occasions.

I’m not a math person. But ya know what? I’m good enough at math to put a calculator to use, and so are you. It’s good for your brain if you regularly put math skills to use–and since you probably have graduated from high school, you absolutely have the skills needed to calculate a recipe’s cost.

Knowing how much recipes and meal costs can help you save on your food budget since you will know exactly where your grocery budget is going.

I was surprised when I found out that a pan of lasagna cost more than $7. But, when I realized that I could get many meals out of it, the high initial cost was justified.

Similarly, I was surprised to discover just how cheap breakfast-for-dinner can be. I would have never known this had I not calculated the cost of each meal.

To help you with calculating your recipe costs, I will show you my process. Also, my husband has created a new tool [you can regularly find it under the "Frugal Tools" tab above, and click on the "Recipe Cost Calculator" link in the left sidebar].

If math really makes your head spin, do try out that calculator.

- First, I look over a recipe’s ingredients. I typically don’t calculate the cost of seasoning, since it tends to be less than a penny.
- Then, I determine the cost of the ingredient–but only the amount of ingredient I am using. For this to work, you need to know how much you paid for the item. Save your grocery receipts or keep a price book. It isn’t that hard–believe me
- I write down the cost of each ingredient for the recipe, then add up the cost of all ingredients.

Presto! I know how much a recipe will cost. It takes just a couple of minutes to do this–honest! If those calculations made your brain hurt, you can try using our recipe cost calculator instead.

Once you calculate the cost of a recipe, write it on your recipe card or in your cookbook. It won’t always be the same amount (depending on sales and store prices) but it will probably be close to this amount every time.

I’d be thrilled if you tried this out. Let me know if the calculator makes sense–or if you prefer to work your brain and do the pencil-and-paper method, let me know how easy or hard it was for you to figure the cost of a recipe.

I’d love to know how much your recipes cost. Tell me about it or figure the cost of a recipe on your blog (and let me know), and I’ll give you a shoutout in a future blog post.

And, if you give it a shot and find out that you really are allergic to math, tell me. I will help as much as I’m able.

For an example, see my post below.

**Updated to include a link to my costs for my most common baking items.(Thanks for the reminder, Bethany! Also, be sure to check out Bethany’s blog post on her own costs for a meal.) I think I’ve found a friend in her! :)

Additional related posts:

1. An example of calculating recipe costs
2. A little help for calculating recipe prices
3. The cost per unit of baking items

As a supplement to my post on calculating recipe costs, I’ve provided you with an example:

Let me walk you through calculating the cost of one of my new favorite recipes, split pea soup.

Here’s the ingredients:

* 6 slices bacon
* 1 small onion
* 1 leek
* 1 large carrot
* 2 cloves garlic
* 4 (10.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
* 1 1/2 cups green split peas
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

(I crossed out the seasonings because the amount is minimal. You can estimate the cost if you want to be precise).

OK. Start with bacon. How much did you pay for that package of bacon? Say it cost $2. Look at how many slices are in the pack. Sometimes, I look at the nutritional label to see the serving size and servings per package. Let’s say there are 12 slices in the pack. This recipe is asking for 6 slices.

Take the TOTAL COST divided by SERVINGS IN PACK to get the COST PER SERVING.

So, $2 (total cost) / 12 (servings in pack) = $0.16 per slice of bacon.

You are using six slices, so multiply $0.16 by 6 = $0.96 for the amount of bacon you are using in this recipe.

Keep track of that number on a scrap piece of paper.

Next item is one small onion. If you bought it as one onion, great, you already know how much it was. But if it came in a 3-lb. sack, you need to whip out your calculator.

Say you bought a sack of onions. Before using any, count how many you have. Take the cost per sack divided by the amount of onions in your bag, and that will tell you how much each onion cost. (This way, you won’t have to calculate the price per onion for all of those onions–you’ll calculate it once and know it for the next 10 meals)

The same goes for the rest of the vegetables on the list.

The cans of broth should be easy to calculate–just multiply the price of one can by 4, since the recipe calls for 4 cans.

To calculate the cost of 1.5 cups of split peas, again, consult the nutritional label on the peas. My split peas state: Serving size 1/4 cup. Dry servings 26.

So, .25 cup X 26 servings = 6.5 cups in a bag.

The bag cost $1.

I will take $1 divided by 6.5 cups to determine how much one cup costs:

$1 / 6.5 = about $0.15 per cup.

I need 1.5 cups for this recipe, so I multiply the cost per cup ($0.15) by 1.5 cups = about $0.23

Add up the cost per ingredient, and you know the cost of the recipe. Once you’ve made it to this step, you can calculate the cost per serving–simply divide the cost of the recipe by the amount of mouths it will feed.

Additional related posts:

1. A little help for calculating recipe prices
2. Banana bread and bread crumbs
3. The cost per unit of baking items

When I did the shopping for this week’s menu, I just got back in town from a long Thanksgiving holiday. I wasn’t in the mood to go to several groceries, so I just went to Aldi to keep things simple. [singlepic=27,320,240,,right]

This menu isn’t exciting, but it’ll get the job done.

Monday

Baked herb chicken ($2) with stuffing ($0.79), steamed broccoli ($0.50) and twice-baked potatoes ($0.30) Total: $3.59

Tuesday

Tuna melt sandwiches [$0.33 for tuna, $0.03 each slice of bread, about $0.20 for cheese], side salad Total: $0.65

Wednesday

Scrambled eggs or omelette ($0.45), fruit ($0.50), toast ($0.12)Total: $1.07

Thursday

Slow cooker taco soup $4.65

Friday

Frozen pizza ($1.99), side salad

The side salad will be included throughout the week in lunches and dinners. It includes spinach ($1.60 I think), some carrots $0.50, celery ($0.50) and bacon bits. Total for all salads is $2.60.

Total for the week: $14.55

For more menus, visit Orgjunkie.

Additional related posts:

1. My first Menu Plan Monday! Yay
2. $16.58 dinner menu for the week of Oct. 15-19
3. $15.06 menu for the week of Oct. 29