The Breakdown: Broccoli and Beef

Anytime I talk about a specific meal, like the dinner in the leftovers post, I'll try to give you an actual cost breakdown of the meal. Most meals that I make employ several money saving strategies, but I think it's a good idea to see those strategies in practice. So, here's the breakdown on our recent meal, Broccoli and Beef:

3.50 - 1 lb petite sirloin (bought on sale 2 weeks prior and stored in freezer)
.20 - 1 cup rice bought at 8.00 for 20 lbs makes 3 cups cooked
.09 - 1 lb broccoli, homegrown*
.20 - 1 lb pea pods, homegrown*
.11 - 1 carrot (for color) @ .69/lb carrots
.25 - spices (soy sauce, garlic, ginger, oil to stir fry in)
free - chicken broth (saved from boiled chicken and frozen for future use

For a grand total of 4.55 for meal or 76 cents a person (six servings).

And remember, I splurged on the petite sirloin. If I were to use leftover beef roast or boneless skinless chicken breasts at 1.99 or less a lb, the cost would be 3.05 a meal or 51 cents a meal. And, if I used leftover cooked chicken that was bone-in or tofu, the cost would be even less! And this is a meal that would be approved by any nutritionist. Heavy on veggies and lighter on carbs (only 1/2 cup serving of rice).

*I know many of you are saying, "How is she getting that low of price on produce? To figure my veggie costs, I divide the total output of my plants by the cost of the seeds and plants. $2.00 of pea seeds produced 10 lbs of peas. $2.50 of broccoli plants will produce 30 lbs of broccoli (this is a conservative estimate - I'll be getting broccoli out of the garden from May til October). I don't factor in water and amendments, because if I didn't have a garden in that spot, I'd be mowing and watering lawn there. The garden takes the same amount of water and fertilizer as my lawn does.

.