Good and Inexpensive American Food

We hear and read about how inexpensive food is in the United States, but with all the convenience foods out there, we may not realize how inexpensive it is to make a really good meal.

Yesterday, has an urge for some comfort food.  In our household, that sometimes means chicken dumplings.  I went to the store and found a chicken for $2.79.  Wow, What a bargain!  Then I got to thinking how much is was going to cost to prepare probably 8 servings of great food.

Chicken - $2.79
Flour   -      $.25
Egg     -       $.15
Onion  -      $.25
Celery  -     $.40 It was kind of high priced.
Salt       -     $.01
Sage      -     $.10  (optional)
Pepper  -      $.05  (optional)
Heat      -     $.05  to operate the stove

Total      -     $4.05

Eight servings, less than 51 cents per serving.  Less then 50 cents to add a serving of fruit or vegetable, although as you can see it already contains some vegetables.

Learning how to cook, might be in order if you think food is expensive.  The best home made foods are also simple.  I could think of  at least 6 ways to use that chicken that would make  a lot of meals for little money.