We've been attending Financial Peace University classes at our church for the last few weeks.  It has been a lot of fun and we just love listening to Dave Ramsey, who helps us keep on track with our money.   

The last couple of weeks, our group had a challenge to come up with the cheapest meal idea, and the cheapest dessert idea.  We were to calculate how much our meal and dessert ideas cost per person, and report that to the group.  It was a very fun challenge. 

The rules of the dinner challenge were that it had to be real food (in other words, eating something like crackers with mustard didn't count), there had to be at least 3 different foods served, and it had to be something tasty (something that other people might want to make themselves).  Also, children were counted as half people for the challenge- so our family of 5 actually was considered to use 3.5 servings.  (This made it more fair for the others who had fewer children).

My dinner recipe for the challenge was this:

1.) Baked Chicken Thighs with Rosemary, Parsley, Oregano, Basil, and Garlic
2.) Caramelized Onions
3.) Mashed Potatoes

It was absolutely delicious!


Directions for chicken: Place 8 chicken thighs in 9 x 12 casserole dish. Drizzle with 4 tbsp olive oil, and sprinkle with various spices (ex. rosemary, parsley, oregano, pepper, and basil).
Bake for 1 hour at 425 degrees.

Ingredients and total cost:

8 chicken thighs (family pack ) = $2.88
2 onions =                                        $   .70
5 large potatoes =                           $   .90
1 stick butter (great value)=           $   .37
Spices, total=                                   $   .20
1 clove garlic=                                  $   .08
Olive oil=                                            $   .10
_________________________________
Total Cost =                                       $5.23

For a family of 3.5,
The cost per person =                      $1.49

It was cheap, and tasty- but unfortunately did not win- there was a recipe that included pinto beans with bacon, cooked carrots, and double baked potatoes which was cheaper.   It sounded good too!  

So I was determined to win the dessert challenge, and came up with a recipe that was super cheap, but still delicious.

Orange Granita



This was really, really good...and the kids wanted me to make it again.  I have also made a coffee granita that was just as good.

Here are the ingredients:

  23 cents for 1 1/2 cups orange juice
  11 cents for 1/4 cup sugar
+10 cents for 5 servings whipping cream (great value)
______________________________
  .44 cents total

Recipe:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups orange juice

and the directions:
Boil water and sugar till dissolved. Cool, and add orange juice. Place in 9 x 12 pan, cover and stick in freezer. Every hour, scrape with fork, until mixture is firm.

Makes 5 servings

Total money spent per person (for a 3.5 family): 13 cents! 

We won this challenge!  

********************************

I would love to extend this challenge to the readers here, and see what kind of cheap meal and dessert ideas you can come up with.  Post them below in the comments if you happen to take me up on it!