Hospitality Without Breaking the Bank

In Honour and Love Your Husband's Frugal Friday post she requested help for an inexpensive dessert that could be used when she hosts a bible study for ten.

Apple Crisp is one of my favorite desserts to make. It has multiple benefits: it is simple in that it has a limited number of ingredients to buy, most of them are probably already on hand, it is quick and easy to assemble, it is travels well, it is inexpensive to make, and is almost always enjoyed by all.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients
~ 3 Pounds of Baking Apples (Usually can be found for .99/pound, or less if they are in
season, look for bulk bags with smaller apples, to save even more. Aldi is a good place to look for these. Or better yet, pick them from your orchard or a pick your own orchard.
Stick of Butter or Margarine (Generic butter is .50/stick, Margarine is as little as .13/stick. Total of .50 - 2.00 for a box)
1 Cup of Brown Sugar (Normal Price $1/box. Use coupons and bring this cost down if you don't have any on hand)
1 1/2 Cups - 2 Cups of Oatmeal depending on how thick you would like your topping (Normal price ~$2.25 for a canister. Having these in your stockpile from a BOGO deal and using coupons will bring this price down considerably.)
1/4 Cup of Sugar (optional) (I saw a 4/lb. bag this week advertised for ~$2)

Directions
Peel and cut apples into slices or chunks. ( I usually slice them and cut them in half).
If apples are extremely tart roll in 1/4 cup of sugar.
Place in a layer in a 9x13 pan.
Melt butter.
Mix brown sugar with the butter until sugar is dissolved.
Add oatmeal.
Stir until oatmeal is well coated.
Cover the apples with the oatmeal mixture.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Be sure not to over bake them or you will have applesauce!
Let cool.
Serve and top with an optional scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Total Cost of Ingredients
Even if you had to go out and buy the full size containers at full price you would still be well under a $10 budget. However, this is a good example of where having a stockpile of ingredients on hand will really save you money. The apples are my biggest expense and I can do this for $3 out of pocket or probably a total of about $4 for all of the ingredients. If I choose to use ice cream that is another $2 for a carton. If you have budgeted for $10 and you end up spending less I would encourage you to save that money to apply it to future hospitality expenses. Maybe once a month use those savings to host an simple inexpensive dinner like a pasta, salad, and dessert.

It is great to practice hospitality in whatever way we can. Remember it isn't about what you serve or how much it costs, but spending time and fellowshipping with the people you care about.

Please check back for future posts on simple recipes on a budget.