Oh yeah.
Oops. Somehow even though it was written on my calendar in black letters, which I had seen previously in the week, it had slipped my mind, and I had the rest of my Saturday to throw something together.
I'm such a wing-it person. It seems like these last-minute things are attracted to me. I try to plan ahead, but somehow ... it just doesn't work for me. I'd love tips and tricks, if you all wouldn't mind filling the comment box below to help me out. I need help.
My original plan (from months ago), has been to make a certain yummy summery casserole for my next crowd meal, but that plan kept getting shoved off month after month due to either lack of time, or lack of desire to use the oven for cooking. Well, this particular weekend we had record-breaking, sweltering hot temperatures. In fact we - north-central Michigan - went on record as the second warmest place in the United States that weekend, at 91*. This being said, it was no time to be slaving away in a hot kitchen. Thus our decision to put off that casserole yet another month, and find something more friendly to warmer weather.
I wasn't prepared, so my meal had to be fast enough to throw together in an evening (or the next morning), and I had to be able to find everything locally for a half-decent price, regardless of sales. We decided on sloppy joes, since that was something I could heat in the crock-pot, and also went well with cold sides. Aaron really wanted potato salad, so the sloppy joe meal idea was kind of formed around that. :)
Main Dish
I was hoping to find meat for around $2.00/lb, so I went to the "cheap store" in town. It just opened this summer, and I have been there twice to get meat on sale, both times around $1.79/lb. So while I was hoping for a sale, I figured their non-sale price couldn't be too much more than that. Unfortunately it was not ground beef sale week, so I paid full price, which I believe was $2.39/lb. My goal was to get 10 lbs and spend $20 on meat, but I ended up getting closer to 9lbs and spending $20.82. I had a few pounds of cheap ground beef in the freezer at home, but I wasn't sure exactly how much and didn't want to have to wait for it to thaw before I could get started cooking. I need to gather all those random containers and compile them for my next beefy crowd meal. If I can remember to plan ahead. Anyhow. The worst thing about buying cheap meat at a non-sale price, is that this stuff was 73/27 beef-fat ratio, which means over 1/4 of it disappeared when I cooked the meat. I really, really dislike buying meat at this ratio, even if it is a half okay price, because I feel like whatever money I'm trying to save all drains out in grease. By the time I added my filler ingredients to actually turn the meat into the meal, my cost into the sloppy joe was around $23.50. I was able to find hamburger buns at retail for a nice low price of $1.09/package, which isn't much higher than the Aunt Millie's Bakery Thrift Store, but I get an extra week shelf life! I bought 6 packages of 8, totalling $6.54.
Sides
For sides, we went simple. Aaron got his potato salad, and we decided on baked beans as the second option. Looking back, I wish I would've gone with something of lighter fare, like watermelon or a veggie tray, just to give the meal more variety. This actually really bugged me. A well-rounded meal should not consist of only heavy foods. At least not on a super hot day. My cost into sides was around $12.05 between the salad and beans. I used 4 28-ounce cans of beans, in case ya'll are trying to calculate numbers for your own event.
Leftovers
There was quite a bit of food leftover, due to less people eating than originally anticipated. I'd say there were 25 mouths to feed. We brought home half of the sloppy joe meat, two packs of buns, and several servings of potato salad. It was at least $14 worth of leftovers, and was enough to feed us for two suppers with both salad and sloppy joe and a couple more lunches of sloppy joe.
In conclusion, my total bill for the meal was $42.09, which is a couple dollars over what I try to spend when cooking for 40. I'm not really sure how to calculate the per serving cost here. Do I divide the total expense by 40 [$1.05/person], or by the 25 [$1.68/person] I actually served? Do I subtract the cost of leftovers, and divide the remainder [$28.09] by 25 mouths [$1.12/person]?
YAY you have a cheap store! It's always nice to have those for buying certain items. I'm not sure how you'd calculate the per-serving cost, especially because there were more sloppy joes left over than the salad or beans. I think I would subtract the leftovers and then divide the remaining cost by the amount of people actually served.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered canning ground beef when it goes on sale? It doesn't require a freezer that way and would make it easier to take advantage of sales. The meat wouldn't be as versatile as frozen ground beef, but you could still use it for sloppy joes, casseroles and the like. Plus no thawing out to worry about. :)
Canning meat is something I would love to do, but still never have! So honestly, the thought never even crossed my mind. It would sure make it easier to know how much I have left. I don't use store bought meat for us; only for quantity cooking, so it's hard to know if and when I'd use it. But if I'd learn to PLAN AHEAD, then I really should can sale beef. ;)
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