I got tired of rice and beans the other night. Though it's a great and cheap meal, and I usually have no problem eating it nearly every night, it's nice to change it up a little bit. I splurged a bit and got pesto the other night. I made a nice little grilled cheese with a small bed of lettuce on the side. I used cheap whole-wheat bread, spread a little bit of pesto on one side, followed by thin slices of tomato, sauteed mushrooms, shredded mozzarella cheese, and a few leaves from the side salad. Then, I heated a pan up with a little spritz of Pam, and made a grilled cheese. Gooey, pesto-ey heaven.
Calories: ~325
Cost: less than $1.50, including the salad (It's a small splurge. Take out the mushrooms for an easier and cheaper sandwich. Or you can have a classic grilled cheese. A classic grilled cheese with 2 slices of bread and one serving of cheese is $0.40)
I'm dividing the price of the food by the amount used. I understand this can be questionable, as food does go bad, and you throw out some. I generally manage to use all of my food before they go bad, with the exception of carrots. For some reason, I can't get rid of them fast enough. But, they are about 75 cents a bag, so that isn't a disaster. I recommend that for perishable food, you limit what you get based on the meals you tend to eat. For some, that means a meal plan where you can effectively use everything in your refridgerator before it goes bad. I don't use meal plans, but I highly recommend them. They make each week much less stressful. When you budget for the meal plans, don't forget to make a little room for slippage. There will be times when someone gets something from a snack or drink machine, or purchase a treat, or go out to eat because something went wrong with the food that you had planned to eat (at work, school, etc). If possible, make room in your budget for those times.
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