Confetti cupcakes, just for fun

Kids like rainbows of color. And frankly, so do I! Those "funfetti" cake mixes are always a hit for kids' birthday cakes and cupcakes. They're also fun, just because.

I had the occasion to bake a just because, fun treat item last week. But I was short on time, and wanted to bake from what I had on hand. What I did have was all of the ingredients for vanilla cupcakes, and some rainbow sprinkles.

My cost for the confetti cupcakes was about 73 cents, plus 12 cents for cupcake liners. That's about 7 cents per cupcake. Not bad for a fun treat, just because.

• My scratch vanilla cupcake recipe, for 1 dozen (cost 61 cents)
• plus, 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles from Dollar Tree (about 12 cents worth)
• plus, 12 cents for the cupcake liners, bought 100 for $1 at Dollar Tree

Here's the breakdown for one dozen cupcakes, halving a recipe for a 2-egg yellow cake (this recipe, here):

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (7 cents), flour bought at $12 for 50 lbs
3/4 cup sugar (10 cents), sugar bought at $19 for 50 lbs
1/4 teaspoon salt (1 cent)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder, or equivalent substitute in baking soda/vinegar (2 cents)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (4 cents)
1 egg (7 cents), eggs bought at 79 cents per dozen
1/2 cup milk (6 cents)
1/4 cup butter (24 cents) butter bought at $1.89 per lb

(Your costs may vary, according to prices in your area.)

I could have shaved costs on these cupcakes, by subbing oil for the butter, and using imitation vanilla in place of real vanilla extract, but I like the flavor of the butter and real vanilla. Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the end of August

Friday, picnic for girls and I (very easy)

PB sandwiches on homemade bread (40 cents)
Macaroni salad, with canned tomatoes, parsley, olives, vinaigrette (40 cents)
Apples, from garden
Bananas (45 cents)
--total cost $1.25

Saturday (very easy)

Italian chicken sausages ($2.49), with
Chopped canned tomatoes, and liquid plus seasonings (15 cents)
Brown rice (20 cents)
Kale and Cabbage from the garden, sauteed in fat from sausages
Fruit cups of nectarine and apple (60 cents)
--total cost $3.44

Sunday (very easy)

Egg fried rice with garden shallots, cabbage and kale (90 cents)
Baked apples with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans (75 cents)
--total cost $1.65

Monday (so so)

Meatloaf, topped with chopped canned tomatoes ($2.15)
Garden purple and white potatoes, rosemary and garlic (free)
Garden yellow crookneck squash, sauteed in reserved chicken fat (free)
Apple and nectarine wedges (apple from our trees) (40 cents)
Brown rice for anyone still hungry (25 cents)
--total cost $2.80

Tuesday (easy)

Black beans and rice, with chopped, canned tomatoes, garden green peppers and cheddar ($1.50)
Garden green beans (free)
Apple wedges (free)
Tossed salad of garden lettuce, yellow peppers, pickled beets, cabbage in a homemade vinaigrette (10 cents)
Scratch vanilla-confetti cupcakes with vanilla icing (45 cents)
--total cost $2.05

Wednesday -- dinner at a church event, no cost

Thursday (easy)

Black bean, rice and cheese burritos in homemade flour tortillas (70 cents)
Tossed salad of lettuce and garden carrots in vinaigrette (5 cents)
Fresh peaches (75 cents)
Blackberry cobbler (50 cents)
--total cost $2.00

I was totaling the cost of our dinners this past week to use as a tool for planning meals in the future. I'm trying to balance ease of making dinner with low cost. Some dinners just cost a lot more, yet are quick to make. And some dinners cost very little, but are labor intensive. But there are a handful of meals that are both cheap and quick 'n easy. Those are the meals I'm trying to ferret out. I'm putting together a basic menu plan for weeks with little time and tight budget, for my own use.

I ranked my dinners as "very easy", "easy", "so so", "time intensive", and I would have "extra time intensive", but I rarely put together weeknight dinners in that category. Those dinners would fall on major holidays, like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. And this week, I didn't even make a time intensive dinner (something like meatballs would fall under "time intensive", for me).

I had 3 "very easy" dinners this week. The PB sandwich picnic dinner, the egg-fried rice, and the Italian chicken sausage dinner. Of those 3, the PB sandwich picnic and the egg-fried rice were both under $2.00. I could tweak each individual menu and make some of them easier or less expensive. And I'll work on that in coming weeks. I think it's important to have a couple of super easy, but still cheap meals in your back pocket, for those hectic days.

So, how did your week go? Any super easy, but cheap meals this past week that you'd like to share with us?

Have a great weekend! And if you have a holiday this weekend, enjoy your long weekend!