Anyone else on a budget?

We recently moved to a larger apartment because our little one needed a room of her own!  While we are happy with the extra room, we are paying more in rent.  I stay at home and care for my daughter and tend my nephew for my sister 5 days a week.  My income is only a small percentage of our monthly budget but I am trying to do my best to pay for all the food we eat in our home.  I have struggled and decided that setting up a blog where I can record my failures and triumphs, and some of my favorite frugal recipes.
Today we start with soup!! I made a Turkey roast a few weeks ago and saved the leftover meat in the freezer. So I thought it would be a good start.  Especially since the turkey roast was donated to me for free!!

Turkey noodle soup

2 cups of cooked turkey- or chicken-{free}
12 cups of water{free}
12 chicken bouillon cubes- .96 cents
3 medium red potato's diced- 1.00
1/2 onion diced-.13 cents
4 carrots diced-.21 cents
1 can of corn drained- .48
1 TBS oil .12
2 TBS italian seasoning-.10
1tsp ground black pepper-.03
1 packet turkey or chicken gravy-.45
2 cups of rotini or broken spaghetti noodles cooked-.50
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                                                                              Total- $3.98
     If I had bought the poultry it would have been $ 2.00 more


In medium size crockpot, add turkey, water, bouillon and potato's.  In a frying pan on medium heat, add oil or butter.  Add onions and carrots to oil, stirring frequently until onions are soft and carrots have taken on a little golden color.  Add drained corn to skillet and raise heat slightly.  You are trying to pan roast the vegetables to give them a little more flavor.  You have to keep stirring so it doesn't burn.  When the vegetables are barely golden and fragrant, add to the crock pot.  Add seasonings and whisk in gravy packet.  Cook on low, 4 to 5 hours or until vegetables are tender.  Add pasta about 15 minutes before serving.  If you think you will be freezing any leftovers, don't add pasta to soup, just add to bowls as you serve.  Pasta will get mushy in soup if you freeze it.

Cost- $3.98 to$ 5.98 - about 5 quarts of soup= 1 1/2 cups per serving- about 13 servings-
so about .31 to .51 cents a serving.

I plan on serving this with a fruit salad tonight.

4 apples cubed- $1.12
1 can pineapple tidbits-drained, reserve juice- $1.18
4 Tbs raisins.10cents
1- 6 oz yogurt- I used strawberry banana today, almost any flavor works.33cents
2 TBS mayo-.20 cents
2 TBS reserved pineapple juice- free
1 TBS agave necter or honey.25 cents
1/4 tsp cinnamon.03 cents
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                                                                                                    total cost-$3.21
                                                                                                    total per serving-.32 cents a serving

Combine fruit in bowl.  In another bowl make dressing with yogurt, mayo, juice, agave or honey, and cinnamon.  whisk dressing and pour over fruit.  Toss fruit with dressing. Refrigerate and serve.
about 8 to 10 servings

Serving this meal with buttered rolls- .30 cents per serving.

Dessert Peanut butter cookies

2 cups peanut butter- $2.25
2 cups sugar- .75
2 eggs- .20 cents
2 tsp vanilla-.35 cents
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                                                      total cost- $3.55
makes about 3 dozen cookies- so cost per serving-approx .10 cents- we usually eat 3 cookies

So total cost of meal? 1.43 per person!!!  Also I am sharing this meal with another family who just had a baby.  So for me its a win- win situation, I fed my family providently and payed it forward to another family!