One of my favorite fast, frugal foods to prepare has always been baked potatoes. In fact, I almost continuously have them on hand, sitting in the darkness of our pantry, just waiting for an opportunity to come and be enjoyed at dinner.
There are not many foods that are as cheap as a potato. What other hearty food can be purchased in large ten and twenty pound bags for simply a few dollars? And if you are lucky and happen to have a farmer’s market nearby, you can get even better deals.
Awhile back I wrote about A Very Frugal Meal which of course, was about baked potatoes. I explained how our family eats a frugal meal once a week consisting of baked potatoes and salad. But since I am still on a quest to introduce these children to new foods, and get our oldest picky eater to try new foods, I am still challenging them to try new toppings on the baked potatoes.
I thought I would share a few of our favorites. Each of these toppings still makes dinner under $5.00 for our family of seven, given the prices for potatoes and the fact that practically everything we buy, we purchase in bulk.
Broccoli and Cheese – We had to test this one out a few different ways first. The kids loved canned broccoli but it was cheaper to purchase it fresh and cook it ourselves because then there were leftovers as a side dish or raw veggies and dip. However, we finally found a place that sells canned broccoli in bulk and cheddar cheese soup in bulk. We purchase these items and freeze what we don’t use for dinner, allowing for several meals to be made with just two cans. This is one of the healthiest toppings I can get them to eat.
Hamburger/Turkey Helper Potato – One night I browned and seasoned some hamburger meat and mixed in some cheese soup and beef gravy. I added some onions and green peppers for flavor and we topped our potatoes. It was a big hit, and was similar to my homemade hamburger helper, so the taste was something they were familiar with. And they really loved putting it on their potatoes. Our picky eater wasn’t sure she would like the taste on her potato so she heaped a pile on her plate and ate it like that. It works!
For more terrific topping ideas for your frugal baked potato meal, see The Frugal Baked Potato (2).
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