Unit Cost Breakdown

Heather and I were trying to decide how economical the cooking we did on Sunday was. Fortunately I hadn’t thrown out the receipts yet, so I did a little spreadsheet work.

Let me explain a few details here, some things I had to estimate the price of, because we didn’t use the entire package. The “Mexican Blend Cheese” comes to mind, although I think there were some others. Some things, like the fresh parsley, I just counted the entire cost, because we didn’t save the rest. There is also a question of how much the seasonings for some of these items cost, but I didn’t think that was worth the effort to try and figure out.

(Editors note, I just let Excel generate these tables, and they are really ugly, probably shouldn’t look at the source on this one)

Chicken and
Potatoes
Item: Price:
Boneless Chicken Breast $17.40
B Size Red Potato $3.96
Total Price: $21.36
Servings: 10
Unit Price $2.14

Enchiladas:
Item Price
Whole Grain Total Shells $3.19
Ground Beef $2.05
Cream of Chicken Soup $0.88
Enchilada Sauce $1.20
Mexican Blend Cheese $1.84
Refried Beans $1.32
Total $10.48
Servings: 7
Unit Price $1.50

Lasagna
Item: Price:
Ground Beef $2.05
Ricotta Cheese $2.35
Sliced Mozzarella $4.72
Red Sauce $3.46
Egg $0.08
Parsley $0.99
Noodles $1.75
Parmesan cheese $2.00
Total: $17.40
Servings 12
Unit Price $1.45

The conclusion is, not too shocking, but we do in fact save quite a bit eating stuff we pre-made. The challenge is having enough variety that we don’t feel like we are eating the same thing every day for two weeks 🙂

-Jordan

2 thoughts on “Unit Cost Breakdown

  1. Props to you guys for actually cooking. With the exception of chili and pasta sauce, everything we eat is frozen and comes out of a box.

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