Crock Pots Rock: Make Meals for Just $.47 Cents Per Serving

I've always had more time than money. Spending it in a kitchen isn't how I'd like to use it though.

My crock pot rocks! Having one enables me to prepare nutritious meals that taste good, don't break the bank and allow me to plan for overs in one fell swoop.

This meal is one of my faves. I simply add the ingredients in the morning and go about my  day. There's nothing like knowing dinner's ready the minute I get home.

Plus there is always enough to freeze for another time or have for lunch the next day. ∞

 

Lima Bean Stew with Smoked Pork/Turkey

This recipe makes about six one-cup servings at an average cost of  $.47 cents.

Ingredients:

16-oz bag dry baby Lima Beans $.99

1 smoked pork neck bone            .40  (They were $1.39 pound yesterday)

1 small onion                                .25

1 stalk celery with leaves             .16

2 Bay leaves                               

4 cups chicken broth or water     1.00 

                                                 

                                                  $2.80 for 6 servings = .47 per serving

Optional:

Serve with rice and corn muffins. I keep a few boxes of canned muffin mix on hand. To zhush it up I add a small can of creamed corn and Greek yogurt. Other additions that wow a plain box of corn muffin mix are cheese, jalapeno peppers and sour cream.

Pack Your Lunch & Save $2,000+ A Year

For as long as I can remember I’d spend no less than $10 a day for lunch. I justified the expense as a break from the office and would eat out daily without fail. I absolutely never took my lunch from home.  This was my practice for more than a decade of my working life.

Those days are gone.

At $50 a week that quickly adds up:

$50 week x 4 weeks = $200 month x12 months – give or take a two-week vacay, a few days off here and there, the occasional non-Dutch outing, office-sponsored lunch and those    forgot-my-money involuntary fasts—and that’s $2,400 a year. 

Did I really eat $24,000 worth of lunches over 10 years? You better believe I did! Earlier this year I lost 50 pounds of the evidence. Let’s just say I gave new meaning to “penny wise pound foolish”.

With just a bit of advanced planning and prep, you can create delicious lunches for pennies on the dollar. From sandwiches and salads to planned overs, you can save a couple grand each year.

To sweeten the pot, pay yourself and watch your lunch money stash grow.∞

photo credit  pan bagnat.(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)