Sunday, November 6, 2011

Calculating meat costs per serving

As the price of food continues to rise (and my income is not) I am being forced to re-evaluate my weekly menu and shopping list.

We've cut way back on carbs which means that I'm not able to fall back on homemade breads, tortillas or pastas to stretch my meals. Our main meals consist of meat, vegetables and limited fruits. Thankfully I can make homemade soups during the winter to stretch my meat budget. I've been collecting vegetable soup recipes that work great for lunch. I am also focusing on recipes that use small amounts of meat and focus more on the veggies.

I found this 'cost per serving' meat calculator fascinating (I know, I know.. I live a boring life! *S*). When you put in the cut of meat and the price per pound it will tell you how many servings you'll get per pound. I just bought some skinless chicken breasts (all natural) for $2 a pound. The calculator told me I could get 4 servings per pound according to US governement standards. I want to take the information  from this calculator and use it with my recipes to see if my portion sizes are correct to get the greatest servings per recipe.

Calculate Cost Per Serving

I hope this can help you, too!