Frugal Meal: Sausage Pasta and Salad

I did not have cheese on my food so that is not pictured

One of my tips for saving money on food is to shop stores that offer a discount on dairy, bread, meat and produce that needs to be sold that day. I often am able to find some great deals and stock up when I can. 

 I usually try to feed my family a diet of whole foods. I am 24 weeks pregnant and try to eat the Trim Healthy Mama way at least 75% of the time. I am not perfect with either and  you will see that in my meals. 

 On this day I ran across packages of Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage. Bonus it was the natural variety with no yucky hormones, chemicals, etc! I paid a dollar and change for each package. I have 2 gluten free people so I have to spend a little more on pasta for them. This day I scored a box of gluten free pasta for .89. I usually would not purchase this brand because it is only an 8oz box and it is not worth the normal price. The rest of us had whole wheat pasta which I purchased for $1. 

 I purchased 2 cans of cheap Hunt's pasta sauce for $1 each. I do not love the ingredients but it actually is one of the lower sugar varieties. It also does not contain any of my daughter's allergens. 

At home I added a salad of free greens from my garden, with a few pennies worth of carrots and cucumbers. I also had a pepper from my garden and cheese that I made for pennies from our own goat's milk and milk I get from WIC. 

 To cook I cut each sausage into 4 pieces and browned in some coconut oil to make little sausage balls. I added the sliced pepper to this and cooked a bit more. 

Unattractive sausage cutting shot 

 I drained off some grease and added in the sauce. I also added about 1 cup of crushed tomatoes from a can I purchased for .89. The sauce was seasoned with some extra garlic, onion powder and Italian seasoning. 

 The sauce cooked for about an hour and was served on pasta with cheese, salad and some green beans which I purchased on sale previously. 

Total meal cost approximately 

6.50

This meal fed 3 teens, 2 adults and allowed 3 meals of leftovers for my husband who eats enough for 2 people. I did have to cook some extra gluten free pasta for the left over meals but that is ok.