Better than Banquet

Here's a new one:

Turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy.

• 3lb turkey @ Aldi – $9, used 2lb/$6 worth
• stove top turkey dressing – $1.88 @ Walmart
• 1 egg – $4/12, so $.33
  ‐ 5lb bag potatoes – $2.39 @ walmart, used half, so $1.20
  ‐ 6T butter – $4/lb @ walmart, $0.75
  ‐ Frozen peas – $2.48 for a big bag, used about $0.75 worth
• Jar turkey gravy – $2.82 @ walmart

Mix the turkey, dressing mix and one egg in a bowl, then form into a loaf and bake at 400° until internal is 165°. It doesn't need salt & pepper because there is plenty of seasoning in the dressing mix.

Peel & boil potatoes, then mix with butter, milk, salt & pepper.

You can simmer the peas and add butter, but I just put them in the microwave and seasoned with salt & pepper.

Total cost is $13.73, if you consider that several items (butter, peas, potatoes) will be used for multiple meals. It made 6 servings (except the peas, I only made 3), so we will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

You could of course cut costs by using store brand stuffing mix, or just bread crumbs & seasonings to your taste, as well as buying store brand gravy (which we don't like, so we do use name brand for that). It was just like a banquet meal but better!

It could easily be a Thanksgiving meal, especially if you're able to add another vegetable (corn casserole: 2 cans corn (drained), 1 can cream corn (not drained), 1/2 can cream of anything, half package of saltines crushed, salt & pepper and an egg, bake @ 400° until hot – my grandma's recipe – feel free to add cheese), a pie (I saw Dollar Tree Dinners posted a cheap banana pie recipe) and maybe a package of dinner rolls (or homemade if you have yeast – you probably already have everything else).

It's not the cheapest meal, but it's pretty cheap @ ~$2.92/serving.