Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Sunday Roast Dinner: $1.62/person!

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I didn’t hold back on buying food to make our high-quality Sunday roast dinner. Still, the total cost per plate was only $1.62!

On a recent trip to Sam’s, I picked up a high-quality beef roast. I hesitated at the $17 price tag, but I knew it would feed a lot of people, so I took a deep breath and grabbed it. I also splurged on a package of Hawaiian rolls, which I don’t do very often. I got two meals out of this roast and the rolls, feeding 13 people (7 adults, 3 kids, 3 toddlers) the first meal and 10 people (4 adults, 3 kids, 3 toddlers) the second meal. (Details below!)

Here’s what I love about doing the price breakdown on meals like this:

If I can splurge on a big roast, mashed potatoes, grapes, green beans, and Hawaiian rolls and still get away with feeding everyone for just $1.62 per plate – how much less will I be spending when I make more frugal-minded meals?? I am so excited to challenge myself with this to see what other great meals we can all make for this much or less per person!

Sunday Roast Dinner: $1.62/person

This meal was super easy to put together before church. (As easy as it is to put a meal together while trying to get six littles dressed and out the door, ha!)

We hollered at a few college students to join us, and three took us up on our offer. We feasted on this:

Want to see what I did with the roast leftovers?

While putting away leftovers of our meal, I cut the remaining 16 Hawaiian rolls in half and spread the saucy roast over the bottom halves of the rolls.

I put cheese slices on top.

Then put the top halves of the rolls on. I covered and refrigerated the “sliders” I’d built and baked them for lunch a few days later!

This was a great way to use leftovers and to have a work-free lunch ready for my family!

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Sam’s or Costco: Which is Better??

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If you have a Sam’s or Costco membership – or both like I do – I’m wondering if you have an opinion about which is better. :)

My first membership purchase was Costco because I polled Facebook and the overall consensus was that Costco was better. So I joined in and love it!

A few months later, I came across a pay $45 for a Sam’s membership, get $45 back in gift card. So basically a free Sam’s membership! I took advantage of the deal simply because I live 45-minutes from Grand Island, which only has a Sam’s. And I live about an hour from Lincoln, which has both Sam’s and Costco. So I now have the ability to shop at either warehouse or both as needed!

Sam’s or Costco: Which is Better??

Well now, that’s the question, isn’t it?

I truly like them both for different reasons, and now that I have both memberships, I think I will keep them both for the long term.

My favorite aspects of Sam’s:

  1. Their Scan-and-Go feature. I absolutely love this! As I put items into my cart, I scan the bar code into my phone. It keeps a running tally of my order, then when I finish shopping I simply swipe to pay, then show my phone to the worker as I leave. SO EASY and a huge time saver!!!
  2. They offer a pick-up option. This is super handy if I want to avoid going inside to shop. Just like I do with my frequent Wal-mart pick-up orders, I can order my Sam’s groceries online and select a time to pick them up. Very convenient!
  3. They have a few fun food items that Costco doesn’t have. Now that I’ve shopped both stores for several months, I’ve found items that I prefer from each place so I make sure to grab them while I’m there. (Orange Chicken from Sam’s frozen section – a great convenience food I always pick up at my family’s request! And what is it about the delicious frozen Sam’s beef hotdogs??)
  4. Markdowns. Sometimes I find meat marked down. Sometimes they are clearing out items for huge clearance prices. It’s so fun to come across these steals!

I don’t have a fun money-saving code for Costco. But I do have this one for Sam’s and you’ll get a free $20 eGift card when you join!

My favorite aspects of Costco:

  1. Organic food. There is a much bigger selection of organic food at Costco – from fresh produce to frozen food to meat to cereal and coffee. I love this. So many organic items at such good prices! So overall, if I had to pick, I’d say I like Costco food better than Sam’s.
  2. Their clothes. Sam’s also has great clothes and I’ve found that with so many kids in our home now, I really take advantage of both stores when it comes to jammies, school clothes, and coats. But clothes for me and for my older sons – man Costco is awesome. Such a great high-quality selection (and you never know what you might find!) at such great prices.
  3. Gifts. There is always a really nice selection of items I like to look through to pick up as gifts for birthdays and showers. I have to be careful when shopping, actually, because their stuff is so cool, I find I want one of everything!

Is there a price difference?

The Costco membership costs more, especially since I got my Sam’s membership for free for the first year.

Of the items we can get at both Costco and Sam’s, I’ve found that maybe a few items here and there are a few cents or dollars different in cost. But there hasn’t been anything I’ve found to be drastic enough for me to say, “I’ll wait and get that at Costco (or Sam’s).” Both have great prices on bulk items!!

So in summary, I love both Costco and Sam’s and I’m glad I don’t have to pick one!

What’s your opinion on which is better, Sam’s or Costco?

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How to Save Money on Eating Out

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We save money on eating out simply by not eating out much. Boring, right?? To some, maybe. But we have fun with food in other ways, which gives us treats while saving a lot of money! Here are some fun ideas I wanted to share with you today!

A few weeks ago, I shared about how our family avoids eating out. We do this to save money, to avoid the hassle of taking a bunch of little kids into a restaurant (oy!!), and to keep ourselves from feeling crummy.

The irony

As I’m writing this post, I’m currently sitting just outside of Panera sipping something delicious, for which I paid $4.00. Earlier today, I ate a burger and fries at Culver’s. What do I have to say for myself?? :)

I have to say that I’m not against eating out at all! We just don’t do it very often, and when we do, it’s a big treat! Today – the day I’m writing this post – I am taking a day off, which I do about once every month if I can. I leave the kids behind with Daddy and big brothers and any other helpers we wrangle, and I go out of town to do a big grocery shopping and work day. These days are INCREDIBLE for my mental health as we care for so many high-need children in our home right now.

My day off always includes at least one meal out and usually a coffee treat. It’s a hot one today, so I am really enjoying my Charged Lemonade from Panera (while I write about avoiding Panera, hahaha). Anyway…

Why don’t we eat out much?

We’re the geeky people who can’t handle ordering an $8 plate of pancakes and eggs for breakfast at a restaurant because we are silently (ok, verbally) calculating the $0.90 we would have spent on that same plate of food had we made it at home.

Truly, we are a barrel of fun at a restaurant. :/

Awwww. Here we are back when we only had four kids.
This was our traditional back-to-school restaurant meal.
See? We are so much fun. Sometimes.

Today I will share some ways we eat fun food at home while saving a lot of money on restaurant prices!

How to Save Money on Eating Out

The short answer is this: We make restaurant-type food at home when we need a fast meal or when we want/need a night off from cooking or dishes.

Here’s a price breakdown to show you how much money we save when we buy convenience foods at the store compared to buying them made for us at a restaurant. (Obviously, you’ll save even more if you make these foods from scratch!)

Chicken Nuggets and Fries

I buy big bags of nuggets and fries at Costco. We cook them in our air fryer, slice some apples, and this makes a delicious fast food meal for $10.16 – total! For ten people (four adults, three kids, and three toddlers). This is huge savings and super fun for our family! We had a movie night on this particular “French Fry Friday.”

Burgers and Fries

Burgers cost a bit more to make, but even with high quality, pre-made patties that I pick up at Sam’s or Costco, our family can have a burger and fry night for a total of $15.34.

How much would burgers and fries cost our family at a restaurant? Our littlest kids would eat from our meals, so we’d probably buy four adult meals, and three kid meals. This would cost $47.03 at McDonand’s. And we’d have spilled ketchup everywhere. We’d rather spill our ketchup at home. ;)

Note: We do grab fast food while traveling sometimes! Usually we pick up a few boxes of 20-piece nuggets and a couple large fries for everyone to share. It’s a fun, crazy picnic!

Pizza

The best I can find for a take-out pizza right now is $10.99 for a one-topping.

Meanwhile, I can make a loaded pizza at home for $5.75. Or I can make frozen pizzas from Costco for $3.42 each. We need three large pizzas for our family, so we can either spend $33 total for take-out or $10.26 total for frozen. Take-out is fun, but so is frozen pizza! The kids love pizza nights!

Chicken Sandwiches

I don’t buy these very much, but when I do, we all love this!

I buy a bag of frozen chicken patties at our local grocery store – $4.48 for a bag of ten patties plus a package of buns for $1.29. This makes each sandwich cost $0.58. Currently, McChickens are $1.79. :)

Hotdogs

You know me, I always grab a hotdog while I’m shopping at Costco.

The dog/drink deal there is $1.50 which is awesome and it helps me survive my huge shopping trip, ha! If we ever took the family there (maybe someday when the littles are old enough to help!), I think this will be a perfect “meal out” to treat everyone to the hotdog and drink for just a buck fifty each!

Meanwhile, at home I make the awesome beef hotdogs from Sam’s, which cost $0.56 each.

Ice Cream

We don’t give our little ones much sugar yet, but not to worry, our big kids make up for it. And at the end of a long day after all the littles are finally tucked in, Matt and I sometimes have an ice cream date on the couch. :)

We’ve been getting the 48-ounce Wal-mart brand cartons, which is a Bryer’s knock off. These are made with slightly better ingredients than some brands, and they only cost $2.24/carton! What a fun date for just a few cents!

Those are some of our treats at home. What ways do you have treats at home to save money?

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Our $2.00/Plate Ham and Potato Meal – with Walmart Groceries

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I’ve been sharing fun meals we’ve been making recently with groceries from Costco. (Check them out here and here.) Since not everyone has a Costco membership, I decided to also share the cost breakdown of a meal I made using Wal-Mart groceries!

None of us really has time to break down the cost of our groceries to calculate the cost of each meal. But I have enjoyed doing the math for this series of inexpensive meals I’m sharing so that we can all see that while grocery prices are going up, we can STILL eat great meals at low cost!

This meal broke down to just $0.99/person!! —>

I challenge you to consider doing a little price break-down sometime with some of your family’s favorite meals. I bet you will be surprised at how inexpensive it is to eat great food at home with your family. :)

Our $2.00/Plate Ham and Potato Meal – with Wal-mart Groceries

I chose to do a price breakdown of a meal that doesn’t actually use the least expensive of ingredients: pre-made frozen hashbrowns, a package of diced ham, sour cream, and cheese. While some of the other meals I make costs less than this one, this Ham and Hashbrown Casserole shows a great example of how even a meal like this can still be made for only $2.00/person!

This meal includes:

Total to feed our 10 family members that night: $20.26

This averages $2.03/person with (4) adults eating more and (6) kids ages eight and under eating less. Our eight-year-old eats more than I do though, ha!

Nervous about spending money on fruits and vegetables? Do you skimp on these healthy foods in an effort to save money? Eeeek! Read this surprising post which shares how our family daily eats a lot of fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and veggies for a shockingly low amount per month.

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Back-to-School Breakfast Ideas

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Here we are again, starting another school year. Need some back-to-school breakfast ideas?

Whether you homeschool or send your kids off for the day, they need a high protein breakfast so that they can focus and learn. But most of us don’t have time in the morning for cooking meat or flipping pancakes. For that matter, we barely have time to sit down in the mornings!

Some high protein, QUICK breakfast ideas:

Here are a few of the menu items I’ve give my kids before sending them off. Keep in mind they only have about 10-minutes to eat before leaving to meet the bus (because I let them sleep as late as possible). So the portions are small and easy to eat (and I don’t allow any chattering between bites because oh my goodness that…sloooowwwwws…themmmm…dowwwwwnnnn).

  • Fruit. Any Fruit. Then I give them something like:
  • Scrambled Cheesy Eggs
  • Apple Slices and Peanut Butter (this gives them both their fruit and their protein!)
  • Apple Slices and Cheese
  • Banana with Peanut Butter
  • Sausage Patties or Links
  • Peanut Butter Toast
  • Bagel with Cream Cheese
  • Fried Slices of Ham
  • Ham on Toast
  • Sausage Sandwich
  • Egg Sandwich
  • Summer Sausage and Cheese
  • Oatmeal with peanut butter and cinnamon

Want to make instant oatmeal on the cheap?? Here’s a recipe!

Also, you might want to read this method for having an easy system for breakfast planning:

To save me from having to think too hard, I have created a basic breakdown of what I now make or serve each weekday:

Monday – Muffins
Tuesday  – Toast
Wednesday – Oatmeal
Thursday – Eggs
Friday – Granola or Cereal
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Protein Bars (because some days there’s no time to stop and eat so I have to send the kids out the door with one of these)

With this skeleton plan, I can now make fun adaptations each weekday to keep our menu fresh and fun! (I save pancakes or waffles or other special breakfast ideas for Saturdays.) :) And now I will give you more specifics about how this works for us… Read all the details here.

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Make an Amazing Costco Salmon Meal for just $2.20/person

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This isn’t just any meal. This is a complete, delicious Costco salmon meal for just $2.20 per person!

I’m on a mission to share how we can still feed our families wonderful, healthy meals without breaking the bank – even with the cost of groceries on the rise!

Here’s a recent Costco meal I shared that only cost $0.99 per plate – amazing!

Today I’ll share how used Costco groceries to fill our plates with:

  • Smoked Salmon Burgers
  • Green Beans
  • Corn
  • Sweet Potato Fries
  • Blackberries

For just an average of $2.20/person! ($22.00 for ten people)

Worth Noting:

We fed 10 people this meal, but we only ate 8 salmon burgers. :) Our adults and our 8-year old ate full burgers but our littlest five kids shared halves and quarters of burgers we’d prepared. Then they ate their weight in sweet potato fries, veggies, and berries.

Here’s one of our babies’ plates. She ate this then ate some more, then ate some more. :)

Make an Amazing Costco Salmon Meal for just $2.20/person

Have you tried the Salmon Burgers from Costco? They are so delicious!

By the way, Costco doesn’t pay me anything to share their goodness with you. ;) I just love Costco and know that a lot of you do too. I’m excited to share these ways we can eat so well for such little money!

If you don’t have a Costco membership, I’m sure you can eat similarly wonderful meals at low cost. :)

I smoked our Salmon Burgers on our Traeger smoker, which makes them taste incredible. (Cooking them on the stove top also turns out delicious burgers!) While they cooked, I washed berries, steamed veggies, and air fried sweet potato fries.

The meal was easy and we love the fun variation these salmon burgers provide compared to our normal chicken or beef meals!

What are some of your favorite Costco meals to make? Have you ever done the math to see the cost breakdown? I think you’ll be encouraged!

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How to Get Dinner on the Table Fast!

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Busy school night? Here’s how to get dinner on the table fast!

I’ll write this quickly because we are all busy and need to just get right meat of to the “how to get dinner on the table fast!”

These are my tried and true tips – methods I use now more than ever!

How to get dinner on the table fast!

Here’s the simplified version, and I’ll elaborate below.

  1. Make anything you can, especially the main dish, ahead of time.
  2. At meal time, warm up simple veggie side dishes.
  3. Or get out greens and dressing for a salad.
  4. Wash fruit and put it on the table.
  5. Eat.

1. Make anything you can ahead of time.

This means, build your casserole when you have spare minutes and put it into the fridge to bake at meal time. It means smoke or grill your meat and put it in the crock pot to stay warm until dinner time. It means put something in the crock pot before you leave for work in the morning. It means put burritos together to warm up at dinnertime. Do anything you can when you have a few minutes to get ahead.

2. At mealtime, warm up simple veggie side dishes.

I always have frozen green beans, peas, and corn in my freezer. These cook very quickly! Fresh broccoli is easy and fast to steam while I’m getting everything else out for dinner. Or…

3. Get out greens and dressing for a salad.

I buy pre-washed spring mix and spinach and keep them in the fridge at all times. It’s ready to throw on the table to go with our meals, and it takes no effort!

4. Wash fruit and put it on the table.

Grapes, strawberries, blackberries, pears – whatever you have on hand – wash it and throw it on the table (or slice it if needed, then throw it on the table). This is one of the easiest side dish options you can provide for your meal!

5. Eat.

Because that’s it. Your meal came together so quickly!

Find all kinds of simple, fast main dish recipes here!

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What to Add to Meat to Make it Stretch

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Looking for more ways to save money? Here are some ideas for what to add to meat to make it stretch.

I recently shared How to Save Money on Meat. These ideas have been working very well for me lately and I’ve been saving quite a bit on our grocery budget!

With these in mind, I’ve been considering more ways I can save.

What to Add to Meat to Make it Stretch

I had mentioned that we’re eating less beef. When we do eat beef, I’ve found that I can use much less ground or shredded beef in a recipe if I add any of these to the meat:

  1. Rice
  2. Beans
  3. Corn
  4. Tomatoes
  5. Extra veggies

Now, most of these are a no-brainer. We’ve been taught these tricks forever, right? Right. But I still feel like it’s worth a mention as I share a few specific ways we can stretch our ground beef (and shredded beef too!)

Recently I cooked three pounds of meat for tacos. I then put only about two cups of cooked meat into a bowl with a can of black beans, a can of corn, and a can of rotel. This was a delicious combination in our tacos that night, leaving all kinds of cooked meat left over for me to use in several meals in the future.

I used to employ these tricks a lot when our first set of kids was younger. Now that we have more mouths to feed, I’m implementing them again. And note this: while we are currently feeding a lot of small children again and I can get away with stretching meat because they are little, we are also still feeding at least 4 adults at every meal. These meat-stretching ideas are working just as well for the Bigs as they are for the Littles. No one is complaining about “mom holding back on meat.” Why? Because no one has noticed!

Make Meat Secondary

Typically, we think of meat as our main dish, then our carbs, veggies, and fruit as side dishes. But what if we change our thinking just a little bit and serve meat as a “side dish.” Or as an “add-in.”

I’m not willing to compromise our health and add a bunch of fillers or empty carbs to our diets in an effort to fill us but not nourish us. I’m simply looking for ways to stretch our meat into providing more meals! So adding nourishing add-ins like beans, rice, corn, and extra veggies to our meals really makes sense!

And don’t forget what I learned when I did the math here: Fruits and vegetables are actually not expensive. We can eat a lot of them and easily! stay within budget!!

Bonus

I’m finding that these meat-saving tricks are also simplifying my kitchen life. How? Well, I don’t have to cook as much meat. This means that I don’t have to plan ahead as much. It’s easier and faster to open a can of beans than to thaw and cook meat, right? Like, much easier and faster!

Keep sharing the ways you are saving too. I learn so much from you!

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Why Did I Spend $7 on a Coffee?

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This, my Why Did I Spend $7 on a Coffee? post, is the intriguing sequel to my previous Why Did I Spend $8 on a Watermelon? post. I bet you wonder what’s next in this series. (Spoiler: Why Did I Take a Nap?)

I did not, in fact, take a nap. That is why I needed coffee. Mmm-hmm.

Why Did I Spend $7 on a Coffee?

I’m here today to make some observations after recently buying an $8 watermelon and a coffee from Starbucks. But first, let’s talk about gas. That sounds fun, doesn’t it?

People are freaking out about the price of gas, basically making Facebook not fun anymore. I want to see pictures of your kids, not a picture of how much it cost to fill your tank this morning. By the way, ever filled the tank of a Ford Transit? That’s what we drive now to accommodate our entire tribe. I could take a picture next time I fill up, but wouldn’t you rather see this?

That’s four of our six littles walking into church one Sunday morning. It was the sweetest so I grabbed a picture. Five minutes later, our two-year-old melted down in the foyer and took off her shirt, refusing to let me put it back on. But this picture is sweet, isn’t it?

Back to the coffee.

Online and in-person, I’m hearing all the woes about the price of a gallon of gas, a gallon of milk, and a bag full of groceries. Indeed, inflation is real and we are all feeling the sting right now.

Meanwhile, for the past several years, people have been – without question – lining up at coffee shop drive-thrus as if paying $4 or $5 or more for one cup of coffee wasn’t strange, scary, or painful. Some do it daily, and now it’s an unquestionable part of their normal routine. I’m not criticizing as we are all allowed to enjoy our fun and our splurges!

But why aren’t people complaining about the cost of a coffee? Isn’t its cost outrageous too?

Recently I had a glorious day to myself in which I left all the littles in the care of friends, my husband, and our older sons. I ate a meal at a restaurant (all by myself), shopped at fun stores (all by myself), and went to a coffee shop (all by myself). It was quiet and wonderful and needed. I had been blessed with a gift card for the coffee shop (thanks, Mara!) so I walked up and ordered a large blended iced coffee with cream. I think the gal might have misunderstood some of my request (because most people add syrups and such so me asking for just cream always throws workers off a bit). “That’ll be $7.04 please.”

I didn’t argue and my gift card covered it, and I was super thankful for the amazing treat. But $7 for coffee with ice and cream? As I sipped its deliciousness, I mentally made a list of everything else I could buy with $7 because I’m so fun and practical like that.

A package of chicken. Two bags of apples. Three pounds of strawberries. Many pounds of rice. Three loaves of bread. I’ll stop (except for in my head – five pounds of mandarins, two pounds of hamburger, a big bag of frozen fruit…).

I think we are a funny people

I have inconsistencies too – some things I feel passionate about that completely contradict something else that I don’t even give a thought to. But it might be worth us all recognizing that there are things we spend too much money on while we complain about the cost of necessities like gas and groceries. Just something to think about.

Why did I write this post? I have no idea. My coffee cost seven bucks. It blew my mind because I can make an entire pot of high-quality coffee at home for about $1.00. :)  I couldn’t let it go. And now here we are.

Thanks for listening. I’m sorry I’m weird.

Coffee at home

Enjoy your coffee however you like it!!

Maybe you have the special coffee-shop coffees that you enjoy on the regular. Perhaps you have another non-guilty pleasure. I most certainly enjoy an occasional coffee from a shop as a splurge and treat every once in a while.

Here’s how we make our coffee at home, in all kinds of delicious ways. I calculate that each big mugful costs about $0.35, and that’s a price I can get behind! :)

Which of these cost me $7.00?? Ok, Laura. You can stop now.

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Why Did I Spend $8 on a Watermelon??

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I spent $8 on a watermelon, and I learned a thing or two. I figured it’s worth a conversation here.

Grocery prices are scaring everyone right now. I keep finding myself with the desire to stay calm and positive in the midst of the inflation storm and encourage others that there’s hope at the grocery store. I really do think we are all going to be ok! One day at a time, right? No need to panic. We can still be so thankful that we have plenty to eat. And there are still plenty of ways to save!

So about that watermelon…

Is it worth it to spend $8 on a Watermelon??

A few weeks ago, I was shocked that the watermelon at Sam’s cost $8! “No way,” I thought. “I’m waiting until they go down to at least $5!”

But then I wondered: Is that a thing anymore? Will watermelon ever be $5 again?

As I got closer to the melons I was talking myself out of needing/wanting it. I just didn’t feel I could justify it, even though it’s fruit, and therefore good for us. But then I saw how big these watermelons were (huge!!!). So I decided to go ahead and “splurge” on the $8 melon.

I spy a great big watermelon —>
(And corndogs, which makes you wonder why I overthought my watermelon splurge.)

The next day at home when I cut it all up to make it easy to serve at mealtime and snacks, here’s what I got…

Two 9×13 dishes plus a huge bowlful. It was an incredible amount of watermelon!!! Much to our delight, it was also super sweet and crisp. We ate on that watermelon for a week and a half.

The following week, I bought another watermelon at our local store “on sale for $4.” Guess what? It was less than half the size of my $8 melon. Hmmm…

I learned that I don’t have to always say no to a produce purchase just because its price looks higher than what I typically might want to pay. I need to consider:

  • how many meals and/or snacks we can get out of my purchase
  • how it will help me get good food into my kids
  • how it will provide easy side dishes or snacks that I can grab and put on high chairs and plates

That $8 watermelon provided for our family about 6 meals or snacks worth of provision. (We feed 10+ every day.) Since I spent a few minutes getting it cut and ready to serve, it also provided a really easy-to-grab side dish or snack option for us, which is especially helpful for me right now.

When the price feels high

It’s a good idea to consider:

  1. Fruits and vegetables are one of the best forms of nourishment we can put into our bodies. We need to buy them and eat them on the regular.
  2. What is the cost break-down per pound for the item? My $8 watermelon ended up being only about $0.40/pound. That’s cheaper than bananas. Who knew?!
  3. At the end of the day, I found that I’m actually only spending $1/day per family member to feed us a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Even when I buy more expensive fruits and veggies like organic greens and fresh berries.

Apparently, I can’t stop talking about how affordable fruits and vegetables are compared to most foods. I mean, what else can I fill and nourish my kids’ bellies with for $0.33/meal??

Long live the $8 (which is really only $0.40/pound) watermelon. Thank you for putting up with me. :)

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