Toasted cheese and chili

Back in June, I made a VERY large pot of chili.  I froze the leftovers in quart baggies, which are the perfect size for my family of four.  It fills us up with no leftovers.  I calculated at the time that each baggie cost $2.90.  Tonight I wanted something fast and easy, so I pulled a baggie out of my freezer and thawed it in the microwave.  Since I had already done the chili as a main course, with cornbread as a side, I "officially" served the chili as a side dish tonight, with the main course being toasted cheese sandwhiches.



Also as a re-purposed leftover, the last time I posted about pizza, I said I was going to try adding seasonings to the dough.  A few days ago I did just that (it was delicious) and used the excess dough to make sandwich rolls.  They didn't rise enough, and resulted in a very flat, but tasty bread.  So, if you're wondering what those dark flecks on the sandwiches are, it's generic italian seasoning baked into the bread.







 Each of these sandwiches with shredded mozzerella cheese cost about 43 cents.  I arrived at the calculation by dividing the cost of pizza + mozz ($2.55) by two, since my recipe makes enough dough for two pizzas and the rolls are made from excess dough, then by 3, since I was able to bake one large (10-inch) and one small (5-inch) and these two sandwiches were from the one large roll. These two halves were heated in the microwave.  Only my youngest opted for a "traditional" sandwich (with storebought bread and american cheese).  This sandwich cost $0.21. I counted 26 slices of bread in a loaf which cost $1.69, and right now you can buy 16 slices of Sure Saving American cheese slices for 99 cents, so you have the materials to make 13 sandwiches for $2.68.  That makes each one about 20.6 cents.


I didn't have any cheese on bread, because, honestly, that's a lot of calories right there, and I weigh more than I would like to, so for the rest of my meal I had a plum and a very large glass of ice water with lemon juice.

"Look, Mom, I ate it all! But I don't want applesauce, I want Lucky Charms!"  And that's exactly what he got.  The box cost $3.50 (on sale right now at Dollar General) and the side of the box says it contains 12 servings.  Andrew and Emily both had Lucky Charms for dessert, so $3.50 divided by 12 servings times 2 kids = 58 cents.  Lucas had applesauce, $2.65 for 48 ounces; I poured his applesauce into a used yogurt cup (6 ounces), which is 1/8 of 48, so $2.65 divided by 8 = 34 cents. 

I had no dessert.  Again, watching my figure.  But Lucas ended up eating two cups of applesauce, so the cost of dessert for the family was 58 + 34 + 34 = $1.26.  So, our total for tonight was... $2.90 leftover chili + 43 cents x 2 homemade sanwiches + 21 cents "traditional" cheese sandwich + $1.26 dessert = $5.23.  And I almost forgot.  That single plum cost 56 cents.  Ridiculous, isn't it? 

So the total was actually

$5.79

Now y'all are gonna start eating cereal for dessert.  I've started the weirdest trend ever.