Low Budget Birthday

Michael’s B-Day

Just wanted to give a quick update about Michael’s birthday which was Wednesday.  With Michael between jobs and the utility companies insisting they need to receive payment for services (I mean how rude), money in our house is like straight men in a Broadway musical, very little of it and I get excited whenever I find some.  So, right now any special occasion is celebrated mainly by remembering the reason we’re celebrating.  But, it wouldn’t be a birthday without a present and a cake.  I’d love to share some pictures of the giant chocolate chip cookie cake I made for him, but he ate it.  I turned my back for a minute and it was gone.

I did get some pictures of his pressie.  I was really pleased with my ultra low budget idea.  Have you heard of Heroics?  Unless you have a small boy or a big nerd man, my guess is no.  Michael has started collecting these things.  They’re the size of a ping pong ball and have little super heroes in them.  I bought him four at Wal-Mart for about $1 each. 

In keeping with the superhero theme, I bought an Avengers cup from the party supply section for around $2.

Packed some blue (his favorite color) tissue inside and put the Heroics on top adding another $1 to the cost.

I put the whole thing in a blue gift bag ($2) and topped it off with light and dark blue tissue.  Slapped a pretty premade bow ($1) on it and called it a gift.

Grand Total- $7

At his request, I made his favorite dinner, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and for desert was had his giant chocolate chip cookie.  The cookie cake was next to nothing since I made the cookie from scratch.  Much cheaper than buying one at the bakery.

To cap off his birthday we had a fabulous picnic at the park today.  I made a lovely roasted chicken (which will serve for a couple more meals) a salad, and some fresh made bread.  It was a fantastic birthday for almost no cost.  Our low key (and low budget) celebration gave us the opportunity to appreciate how grateful we are to have had another year together.

Thrifty Thursday-Whole Chicken

Thursday’s Thrifty Tip

This week’s money saving tip is saving money on dinner time.  The whole chicken!  If you’ve never cooked a whole chicken you’re missing out.  I too, was once intimidated by the whole chicken.  It seemed like a temperamental time consuming beast.  In reality it’s simple and cheaper than buying cuts and pieces.  A little seasoning and an hour or so in the oven and dinner is ready.

I regularly buy boneless skinless chicken breast, but at a minimum of $1.98/lb in my local grocery store it’s quite costly.  I regularly find a whole chicken for $0.89/lbs and just yesterday snagged several at the bargain price of $0.59/lbs because they were near their sell by date.

Preparing a whole chicken is really quite easy.  I loosen the skin and put whatever seasoning blend underneath it and rub it in.  Garlic and oil, your favorite BBQ seasoning blend, a curry powder, or whatever else you can think of work wonders to turn boring chicken into an exciting dinner adventure.  I rub a little olive oil on the skin, lay it on a foil covered baking sheet, and put it in a 350 degree oven for an hour to an hour and half.  The internal temperature needs to reach 180 degrees.  Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast without touching the bone.  When it hits 180 it’s done.  Let it rest for a few minutes and its ready to serve. 

It’s such a cheap alternative to my nearly $2/lb boneless skinless chicken breast.  For around $5 I have a roasted chicken for dinner, chicken for a buffalo chicken pizza (1 dinner), chicken for a casserole (3 dinners), chicken salad for a lunch, plus the carcass for stock.  I can usually get around five different dinners and a lunch or two out of one bird preparing enough for three adults. 

Menu Cost For A Whole Chicken

Prices are based on my local grocery store.  For obvious reasons your prices may vary. 

Meal 1
I have allowed $0.50 for seasoning on the chicken.  A couple of gloves for fresh garlic for the broccoli would be pennies extra and garlic powder even less.  The total cost of the chicken is included in the budget for Meal 1.  Subsequent meals will list the chicken at Free.

Garlic Seasoned Roasted Chicken- $6
Steamed Broccoli from frozen with Garlic- $1.50
Green Salad (Romaine lettuce and various in season produce)- $2
Fresh Whole Wheat Bread- $1

Total-$9.50

Meal 2

Chicken Casserole
The cost of the crushed tomatoes is based on the price of a 6lbs can from Sams Club.  If you’re using smaller cans from a grocery store estimate $1 for the tomatoes.
This yields about 9 servings.  I’m feeding three adults so it makes three meals for us.

1 c. Chicken- Free
½ lbs Dried Black Beans (reconstituted and cooked)- $0.75
1 small can Cream of Mushroom Soup- $0.80
2 c. Crushed Tomatoes- $0.25
½ c Diced mushrooms- $0.15
1 lbs Whole Wheat Pasta- $1.10
1 Bag Mixed Frozen Veggies- $1.20
1 c Shredded Cheese- $1.25
1 Sleeve Butter Rounds Crackers- $0.75

Total-$6.25
If you have a bigger family try adding a large salad for only a couple of dollars more, or bulk out the casserole with more beans and veggies to stretch your servings.

Meal 3

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Again the price is based on the tomatoes from Sams Club as well as the ranch powder in bulk from Sams.

1 c Chicken-Free
Homemade Pizza Crust-$0.50
Homemade Buffalo Sauce- $0.50
½ Medium Red Onion-$0.15
2 Stalks of Celery-$0.10
2 tbs. Ranch Powder- $1

Green Salad (Romaine lettuce and various in season produce)- $2

Total- $4.35

So the grand total for the entire menu from the chicken is $20.10
That comes out to $4.02/meal and an average of $1.34/serving. 
The per meal and per serving prices are based on serving three adults with the casserole yielding nine servings in a 9x13 baking dish.

Stretch that bird even further by throwing it in a pot with some water, herbs, garlic, celery, carrots, and onions to make a killer stock for soup and other delicious recipes.


That beautiful chicken up there is from pioneer woman.  Check her site out for the fabulous recipe.