Eating or thinking about it
>> Saturday, April 26, 2008
Been keeping up with food prices and trying to pay better attention to how much a particular meal costs us.
The other night we had a really delicious and filling dinner for four for under $14.00. Now, I know this isn't anywhere in the range of the people eating for $1.00 a meal, but this was more substantial than just a veggie plate or such - which I like, but this pleased the guys too. AND, we had enough left over for dinner last night for Christopher and me.
Better yet, it was a crockpot recipe! Woo-hoo!!
The cookbook called it Royal Roundsteak, but it is a close kin to beef stroganoff. I bought (ON SALE) stew meat cubes, 1.63 lbs for $4.71. The best part: I had everything else on hand. Dry onion soup mix, two cans cream of mushroom soup, 1 - 2 tbsp oil, and egg noodles. (I used organic mushroom soup, and 'name-brand' noodles; I'm guessing you could make this meal for $10 ish with less expensive ingredients).
Heat the oil and brown the meat, then everything into the pot for 6 - 7 hours (high). Serve over noodles or rice.
Yummy!! We served this main course with cut Italian green beans. The meal went a long way (seconds) that night, and again, we had leftovers.
This is progress for me - even just the part of keeping track of costs. (And comparing it to going to Red Robin instead. . . )
Then today: Target had whole organic chickens on sale for 1.79 lb. This is a good deal for organic, so I bought four birds, and one is in the crockpot right now. A favored meal around here is poppyseed chicken, so I'm going to have plenty of the chicken on hand, and buy the sour cream when it's on sale or I have a coupon.
I'm still reading all the "frugal" blogs and I hope to have more and more success stories and tips of my own. Bear with me. . .
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7 comments:
I just may have to try this recipe. I LOVE beef stroganoff. I do believe it may be one of my favorite meals. I hardly ever buy the stew meat, but instead buy round steak when it's on sale. It browns a lot faster, and is usually quite a bit cheaper. It also doesn't take as long to cook til tender. I just use a package stroganoff mix and add sour cream. It is delicious!!! This would be a new twist, and I'm anxious to try it. I'm going to look now to see if I have any round steak in the freezer. I'll let you know how it goes over. Thanks for sharing.
That recipe sounds very good, and something my family would like. I have used stew beef to make beef tips before, and often do find it on sale. Thanks for passing this along.
A few weeks ago, at my local grocery store, they had a mid week special on roasts (half off) and pounds of boneless breasts of chicken for two dollars a pound. (all divided up in pound packages) They also had a good price on hamburger meat as well. I stocked up on all of it. The way it looks, all that I bought will have lasted for four-five weeks, which given what I paid for it is amazing. It certainly helped our grocery budget this month in a big way. This grocery store often has meat getting ready to go out of date (as was the case with all of this-I just froze it once I got it home). I also froze some sausage they had marked down (for egg casseroles) and some other assorted things that I normally wouldnt buy, but with what they marked it down to and with the coupon I had, made it next to free. (and I like free)
Will be interested in seeing how else you save money on your food budget there. I so often fall in the trap of perhaps having a meal I "could" make, but having the taste for something different and having to make an extra trip to the store for those ingredients.
Susan, I could have bought the roundsteak and cut it myself - I intended to - but when I found the stew beef on sale I declared it a sign that I wasn't meant to have to exert any extra energy whatsoever!
It was delish delish delish; let me know when you try it.
I'm a huge slow cooker fan! Good work!
This sounds like a really yummy recipe! I've never made Beef Stroganoff (or anything like it) before. I'm sure my husband would like this as he always asks me to make more "savory" type meals. This sounds like it fits the bill.
Oh and just to respond to the comment you left on my blog, I really did want to like Princess Bride. Really I did. If I come across it again, I'll try to give it another try. You may be right about the mood / timing thing. I'm sure a few years ago I would have hated P&P and I just love that one.
At the rapid rise in grocery prices, I've been on the lookout to become even more frugal than what I already am, yet hopefully not at the expense of eating healthy. I appreciate the tips you're sharing. :-)
Wow! Do you people really feed yourselves for a dollar a meal?! Nice work! Let us hear more!
sourpatch
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