Ok, I feel shame for not participating in TNS's monthly throwdown of cheap eats, and this month was extra challenging. I was going to make this, but stupid Boursin cheese costs $2.99 which is half of my budget of $6.00 for 4 servings (yes, I know our family is 3 people which should limit me to $4.50, but some people that are not me love leftovers for breakfast or a snack after school or work, so I always plan on 4 servings - does that make me a cheater?).
So I decided on this cheese and onion tart, which I made a while back in a convection toaster oven when my range died. This time I made the crust myself (saving the $1.99 on Pilsbury). Every ingredient was a pantry ingredient so I spent no money.
What? It doesn't work that way? Ok.....Onions, I always have - but for arguments sake they were about $1.50 (I think $3/lb last time I bought the big ones), maybe less. A block of sharp cheddar which was $3.72, I used half of it, shredded ($1.86). Flour, butter, salt, pepper, dry mustard, thyme, milk - all pantry staples. One egg, $.08 (.99/dozen). That's $3.44 for the tart. And, I think it looks better this time than with the prefab crusts.
I used a 1/3 bag of "Italian" salad mix ($1.99/bag, so $0.67), 1 roma tomato ($.50) and pantry oil, vinegar, salt & pepper for a salad.
So, even for 4 servings (which 3 people ate with leftovers), I'm at $4.61. You can only buy 3 soft tacos and a Coke at Del Taco for that.
1 comment:
Nice job!
And yeah, it's hard to tell what's a pantry item and what isn't (if I counted everything as "from the pantry", then my cost would have been $1.10..but I'm playing fair too!). Can't believe you once pulled this off in your toaster oven!
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