Frugal Family Night

Every Tuesday, I try to have my immediate family over. My oldest sister and her husband have always lived too far away to come but they've moved back to us AND SOON will be able to be a part of my weekly tradition!!(insert thunderous applause)

My little monsters darlings start asking if it's time for dinner at around 10 am. You see, they don't really care about what I serve for dinner. All they care about is the fact that Papa and Nana and Uncle Jon and the cousins are coming over. (Aunt Bethi and Uncle Jake aren't cool enough for them at this stage, I guess. I don't get it...)

Most of the joy comes from the fact that my dear little brother is our own computer/video game guru. He's the only person I know that my oldest son ADORES. Jon has set up a computer network and the kids play some FPS game with him. I wonder if he realizes just how much of a role model he is. :)

My youngest son only cares that Dora is coming over. When my oldest niece comes over, my son ceases to be Klayton and she is no longer Annie. Dora(though, occasionally, she is Alicia) and Diego are off on an animal rescuing adventure for the rest of the night.

Someday, she is going to marry him because 'we love each other' and he is going to build her a huge treehouse because 'she will like it and smile.' Cousins are sooooo cute!!

Currently, there are twelve people at my house on Tuesdays, SEVEN adults and FIVE kids. It's not a small group and they aren't exactly small eaters either! For the first time, I figured out just how much it costs to feed this crew. Tonight's menu consisted of Grilled Chicken Tenders, Homemade baked beans, macaroni salad, and carrots with dip.

Cost Breakdown

Individually Quick Frozen Chicken Breast 6 pounds @ $10
Sweet Baby Rays Honey Teriyaki Marinade @FREE (God bless Meijer and coupons)
Beans from the freezer bought at 88c a dry pound, 4 cups @ 88c
Half a can of tomato soup (I totally cheated!!!) @ 20c
Molasses 32oz is $3, I used 4 oz or a half a cup @ 38c
Macaroni Salad @ FREE :)
Carrots about half a pound of regular carrots pealed @ 30c
8 oz Deans Dip @ 25c (again thanks to Meijer and coupons)
Lemonade and Tea @ about 22c for 2 quarts of FREE lemonade and a gallon of unsweetened tea
GRAND TOTAL:$12.23 or almost $1.02 per serving.


Normally, I would have served a green veggie but I haven't been to the garden since last Thursday and I don't buy produce this time of year, other than fruit. I also would have made some type of bread, probably corn bread, but my mom and dad are low-carb-ing right now and it's just not nice to see fresh homemade bread and not be able to have any of it!

Frugal Enough?? hmmm...
I was concerned, at first, because we don't normally use this much meat in a meal(a serving is 3oz!) but now I feel much better. This is more per serving than I would typically spend but it's still less than the cost of a dollar menu item per person at that McPlace. (Remember, food at the store is tax free but food from a restaurant is taxed. The dollar menu is REALLY the $1.06 menu.)

As I was figuring this up a verse kept coming to mind, so I researched it. It's fairly well known from Proverbs 31
Proverbs 31:27 King James Version (KJV)
31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

That's really nothing new but I looked at a couple different versions and found this:

^{Proverbs 31:27} She watches over family matters. She is busy all the time.

Ain't that the truth! :) Today, I was busy ALL the time, recovering from the 4th of July (visiting my grandma, and helping my sis get her stuff moved closer to us) on top of the regular chores. It was still a good day though! 

Be blessed! :)