Sausage and Potato Dinner for 6 - for Under $3 TOTAL

The other night we had a roasted sausage and potato dinner, with a side of steamed broccoli. It was not only very tasty, it was very inexpensive. The total cost of the meal, which was enough to feed six adults, was under $3.

That's right....$3 in total, not $3 per serving...just fifty cents per person for a complete meal.

With the cost of groceries constantly on the rise, it is getting tougher and tougher to create tasty, satisfying, healthy meals inexpensively. Even foods that you used to count on to be lower in price, the old staples such as ground beef, have risen dramatically.

I try to purchase only those food items that are on sale. I will stock up on canned goods and store them in the pantry, and when I come across a good deal on meat, I will buy extra and put it in my freezer.

We are not picky eaters, so when it comes to fresh fruit and vegetables, I usually buy only what is on sale, and then I plan my menus around that.

Here is a breakdown of the ingredients in this meal, and how much they cost. 

Potatoes, russet, just over 5lbs. (10lb. bag purchased for $2) - $1.25
Farmer's sausage, 500g (approximately 1lb.) - $0
Onions, two medium, (1lb. bag purchased for $1) - $.33
Broccoli - $.88
Olive oil, seasoning salt, garlic powder, black pepper, celery seed (nominal amounts used of pantry staples - did not factor into cost of meal)
Lipton's Onion Garlic dry soup mix, 1/4 package - $.25

Total cost of meal - $2.79

Hold on a minute though....farmer's sausage $0?

Yes, you read that right. The meat portion of this meal cost me zero. I received the item free under the Canadian Scanning Code of Policy (SCOP) programme followed by our local grocery store.

If you are unfamiliar with this policy, you might want to read my previous blog post. Essentially, if an item scans higher than the shelf price, the consumer is entitled to receive that item for free (to a maximum of $10).

The sausage was not on my list, but when I saw an in-store special for $2.99, regular price $8.99, I added it to my cart. I only took one package, because it was a brand we had not tried before, otherwise I would have taken advantage of the sale and bought several for the freezer.

At the check out, the package scanned at the regular price of $8.99. A price check determined that it was indeed marked at $2.99 so I received the sausage for free under SCOP.

You can read my previous post for more details, or visit this website: 
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/01262.html

Even if I had paid $2.99 for the sausage, the total cost of the meal still would have been under $6. Not bad for dinner for six adults.
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The recipe itself is very simple, and prep time was quick. The meal was tasty and filling. There were five of us for dinner, myself, my husband, our teenage daughter and son, and our son's girlfriend. Everyone ate an adult-sized portion, and there was more than enough left over for lunches for two the following day.

First I washed 5-6 lbs. of russet potatoes. I left the skins on, both because I like them, and because I hate peeling potatoes!

I cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and put them into a stainless steel roasting pan. I drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil, and tossed them to coat. 

Next, I sprinkled them with spices. I used garlic powder, seasoning salt, celery seeds and black pepper. You could use whatever spices you prefer. You could even make this a hot dish by using spicy sausage or spices with more kick. While I would have loved that, my husband would not.

I also sprinkled approximately one quarter of a package of Lipton's dry Onion and Garlic soup mix over the potatoes. I love the flavour that this dry soup mix adds to dishes, but try not to use too much at one time because of the salt content.

I gave the potatoes a stir, then put them in the oven at 350 degrees and started roasting them on their own. 

While they were cooking, I chopped up two medium sized onions and sauteed them on the stove top. I prefer the taste of fried and sauteed onions, though you could also add them directly to the potatoes without precooking.

Once the onions were done, I sliced the farmer's sausage.

I gave the potatoes a half hour head start. Thirty minutes later I took the roasting pan out of the oven and added the sliced sausage and the sauteed onion.

I didn't want to add the meat too early, and have it dry out, but I wanted to add it before the end of cooking so that the flavours had a chance to blend.

I popped the pan back into the oven for another half hour. 

I washed and cut up the broccoli and placed it in the steamer. When the roasted potatoes and sausage had fifteen minutes left, I turned it on.

On a side note, the steamer is one of my yard sale purchases. I bought it for $3.

I increased the oven temperature to 450 degrees for the last ten minutes because we like our potatoes on the crispier side. Total cooking time was an hour.

You could always adapt this recipe. It would probably be nice with carrots, peppers or precooked bacon added. 

Everyone enjoyed the meal, and I enjoyed knowing that it only cost fifty cents per serving.

There's not much you can get for fifty cents these days....you need three times that amount just to get a cup of coffee. 

Of course, if you go out to a yard sale, that fifty cents could buy a couple of paperback novels, a new top, a vintage apron, a lamp.....


Nifty, thrifty and (over) fifty,

Cathy