Home Schooling in the Kitchen: Time and Money Budgets

Some of my recipes are designed to be quick and easy. That generally means using already processed ingredients. While that can save time, it doesn’t necessarily save money. I’m thinking specifically of my recipe for Hearty Meatball Stew, which uses all pre-made ingredients. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Have your kids make the recipe on two separate occasions. The first time, have them make it as written, leaving out the frozen peas. The second time, have them make it from fresh ingredients. You can still use powdered gravy mix (soup stock from scratch takes a long time), but have them buy potatoes and carrots that they have to wash, peel and cut up themselves. Also, have them use a pound of lean ground beef, and form it into small meatballs (you want to make sure they’ll cook through). If they prefer larger meat balls, they’ll have to fry them up before adding them to the slow cooker.

Both times, have them keep track of how much time it takes to put together (don’t count the actual cooking time, as it will be the same), and how much the ingredients cost. Then they can answer the following questions:

Which version took longer to put together?

Which version cost more?

Which version did they think tasted better?

Which version do they think is healthier? Why?