Frugal Food for Others

Sometimes it can be challenging to know what to give another family when you are taking them a meal. It can also be pretty spendy too! At the beginning of the week I wanted to take a new friend a meal as she is struggling with morning sickness and has 3 small children, one of whom she has started homeschooling this year. I knew we couldn't afford to spend a bundle but I wanted to take a variety of food to bless them. So, this is what I ended up taking:

Vegetable Barley Soup with Hamburger in it-Made from stuff I had in the pantry and frozen veggies I had stocked up and cooked hamburger I had frozen before the baby came

Cost Estimate--$2 for a large bowl

Best-Ever Oatmeal Brown Bread-A new recipe from my Whole Grains cookbook that my family loves. It's quick and easy to make and very nutritious. The recipe will be featured soon on my blog.

Cost Estimate--$1-$1.50

Jello with Pineapple

Cost Estimate--$0.75

Green Leaf Lettuce (washed and bagged)

$1

New Bottle of Wishbone Dressing

Free thanks to couponing at Safeway!

Plate of Double Chocolate Oatie Cookies

$1

Small ziploc bag of oyster crackers

$0.12 thanks to a clearance mark-down

So, for approximately $6.50, the cost of an icky meal at Cholesterol Factory (aka fast food) I was able to make a meal for a family of 5 that probably lasted them through a lunch or two as well!

Hospitality and generosity can truly be frugal!

*Note* Cost estimates are based on the amount of food I gave the family. The soup's ingredients, even bought on a sale and stocked in my pantry, may have cost $5 total but I had so much soup that I gave my parents a meal, and we had a large bowl which lasted us at least 2 meals as well. So, though the jello cost $1.50 total to make, we kept half of it for our family, which is why I listed the cost as 75 cents.