So tonight I made the First Chicken Casserole recipe (Karmel, Annabel. (1999). First Meals. New York: DK Publishing).

Here is a run down of how much I spent:

Carrots: 1.5 cups = $0.50 (3 medium carrots)

Leeks: 1 = $0.59

Chicken Breast: 5 oz. = $0.40 ( I had a bag frozen chicken breasts  in the freezer, I paid $4.99 for 4 lbs a few weeks ago)

Potatoes: 1 lb. = $0.40

Parsnips: 1 medium = $0.29

Total: $2.18

I didn’t quite follow the directions in the recipe. Instead I chopped and steamed the potatoes, carrots and parsnips together in my steamer and boiled the frozen chicken breast in water and covered until cooked through—about an hour. I boiled enough chicken for this recipe and Chicken with Sweet Potato and Apple. I then boiled the chicken and leeks together in a small pot for 15 minutes.  Then I pureed all the ingredients together.  I added 1.5 cups of water (I used the water that I boiled the chicken in) to the puree to thin it—I would say about a stage 2 consistency. Being paranoid also, I ran the puree through my food mill, just to make sure my son didn’t get any unexpected pieces of chicken in his mouth.

The puree was tasty, but a little bland.  I think I may add a second leek to the recipe next time just to give it a little bit more flavor.  But we will see how my little man likes it tomorrow.

The above ingredients made 31 ounces: which breaks down to $0.07/oz.  Depending on how much your baby eats at one sitting this recipe will make 10 to 15 meals (2-3 ounces each).

So for $2.18, I made 10 to 15 meals. Not too bad!