Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the first week of July

Wednesday
bean burger patties, topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese
chicken, veggie, rice pilaf (I cooked brown rice in chicken stock that had small bits of chicken meat, and added garlic, carrots and onions in the last 20 minutes of cooking)
radish greens and onions, stir-fried in bacon fat
mini banana splits for dessert, with ice cream, banana halves, chocolate syrup, cherry preserves and chopped peanuts

Thursday
leftover rice pilaf, topped with meatballs and marinara sauce
garden greens salad
French bread
banana boats

Friday
baked chicken, topped with mock pesto
sauteed mustard and radish greens, with onion, in bacon fat
cream cheese and chive mashed potatoes
ice cream with fresh raspberries

Saturday (4th of July)
hamburgers
potato chips
leafy green salad
creamy rhubarb gelatin salad
s'mores

Sunday
fried corn tortillas
homemade refried beans topped with cheese
carrot sticks and 1000 Island dressing/dip
ice cream with homemade Magic Shell topping

Monday
kale-cheddar quiche
brown rice (cooked in chicken stock)
carrot-raisin-peanut salad
preserved figs (made last September with green figs)

Tuesday
bean patties with teriyaki glaze
fried rice with garden veggies (I had to add cooked, broken spaghetti bits to the leftover rice, to make enough fried rice for the entire family)
grilled canned pineapple rings

Wednesday
BBQ chicken sandwiches (using extra hamburger buns from 4th of July, cooked chicken legs, bottled BBQ sauce, mixed with canned tomato liquid and spices)
assorted homemade pickles and carrot sticks
leftover potato chips
sauteed swiss chard (in bacon fat)
rhubarb crisp

A cost comparison of homemade Peanut Butter Energy Balls and grocery store "energy" bars

I made these for my family this week, with my 2 daughters in mind, both working very physical jobs this summer, and one whose weight is lagging behind. I used to make these for my son when he was a small boy. He loved them! I made them a few times when my daughters were small, but for whatever reasons, I stopped making them.

Anyways . . .

I had been pricing "energy" products that would be easy for my daughters to grab on the way out the door in the mornings, things they could eat either as breakfast, or as a snack later in the AM.

You can buy cheapie granola bars for about 20 cents each. Or, those Kind, but not-so-kind-to-your-wallet, bars for over a buck each. I was specifically looking for a high quality, nutritious, protein-dense bar or product, so that puts me at the high end of the price spectrum, unfortunately.

That's when I pulled up a couple of old recipes from years' past. I priced out my ingredients, shopping 2 different stores (plus my pantry), to get the best price possible for my area. I found powdered milk at Fred Meyer (and with the Senior discount, to boot!), and honey and raisins at Cash & Carry. I had peanut butter and granola at home.

My complete cost to make 1 batch of 24 of these little energy balls (including ingredients I had at home) was $2.12. That works out to almost 9 cents per 110 calorie ball. Those cheapie granola bars have about 90 calories each, at 20 cents.

As I was specifically looking for protein, I also compared protein values between cheapie granola bars and my Peanut Butter Energy Balls. A small, 90 calorie granola bar contains 1 gram of protein. My homemade balls have 3.3 grams of protein each, over triple the store-bought item.

It's not entirely fair to compare Kind bars to peanut butter balls, as Kind bars are fruit and nut bars. However, stay tuned. I'll be pulling out my fruit and nut bar recipe next week, and give you the cost breakdown then. You just knew that was coming, didn't you?!

If you don't happen to have a Peanut Butter Energy Ball recipe, and would like to try mine, here it is:

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup dry milk powder*
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup raisins
something dry and flakey like wheat germ, grated coconut, cereal crumbs, or granola to roll bars in -- about 1/3 cup total

*if you are using instant powdered milk, you'll want to measure it, then run through a food processor to break down the tiny bits into a finer powder, before mixing with peanut butter. It doesn't need to be perfectly ground, just mostly so. Non-instant dry milk is a fine powder, mostly available in health food stores, and often used in baking (adding to doughs).

In a large bowl, stir together peanut butter, milk powder, honey and raisins. Divide "dough" into quarters, then each quarter into 6 portions (yielding 24 portions all together). Roll between the palms of your hands into balls. Then roll each into your dry and flakey stuff. Refrigerate.

Some people roll these in melted chocolate, for a healthier confection. Also yummy. But as I was looking for a snack replacement and not a candy-type item, I used homemade granola.

One of the aspects of making these products at home that I like is this -- if I buy a commercial product, once that box is empty, they're gone. But if I buy the ingredients to make something comparable, once the final item is eaten, I can turn to my pantry and make another batch. Or, and also appealing, I can use those same ingredients in other recipes.