Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 10/16-10/22

I apologize for my MIA-ness this past week... we had a death in the family and things have been a little chaotic... plus I really did not find anything particularly inspiring to write about last week. So I just didn't. But I feel like the crummy friend who doesn't show up for the 3 p.m. coffee date and then makes lame excuses afterwards. So, I am sorry.

You know how nutrition people recommend shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are, and staying out of the middle aisles? With Stop and Shop, I have come to find that to save money, I only need to look at the front and back page of the flyer. Deals are hard to come by in the middle pages- I find that lately I just skim the middle pages quickly because I never expect to find anything good!

This week, on the front page of course, boneless pork sirloin chops are 1.99/lb. I know, I know... pork, again? But I found a recipe for a Pork and Beans Skillet Supper that sounds quick, easy, and it uses a lot of ingredients most people have in their pantry all the time. If you need canned veggies, S&S has Green Giant canned veggies on sale for 1.99 for a 4-pack, and Bush's Best Baked Beans are $1 a can. This recipe sounds like it could lend itself well to crockpot experimentation- throw all the ingredients in the crockpot, put it on low all day and see what happens. I'm a heavy crockpot user once the weather turns really cold- nothing's better than coming home to a warm and comforting meal that's been cooking all day.

Shaw's Bargain Meal week of 9/25-10/1

Wow, is it really almost October? Time flies crazy fast.

When I checked out my Shaw's flyer, I was most excited about the 2.77 New England Coffee (I have some coupons that made it 1.77- boo-yeah!)- not because I am a coffee drinker, but my husband is, and he works the night shift, and he becomes grumpy and sad when all there is to drink in the house is generic coffee-in-a-can. (I'm sorry, baby!) So I stocked up on Cinnamon Hazelnut aplenty and he'll be all happy and wishing he married me all over again when he comes home tomorrow morning to find it. Fifty nine cents a pound for apples is good, too, and I picked up some spinach for .99 .

But what I didn't really pay attention to, is the .99 "Fresh Pork Picnic Shoulder." Now, the un-frugal part of my brain reads that and thinks, "Ugh, random cheap cut of meat. No thanks." But on my frugal journey I've learned all sorts of worthwhile things about random cheap cuts of meat, mostly involving the crock pot. So I did a little research and found some ideas on cooking a pork shoulder here and here. Basically, the shoulder roast does have a bone in it because it's part of the pig's foreleg, but it's supposed to be one of the most flavorful cuts of pork, and is really popular for making BBQ pulled pork. You can check out more details here.

The other thing about this, is that this week there is a coupon for free onions, carrots, and potatoes when you buy any pork or beef roast of 3 lbs or more. The ones that are featured in the ad are 2.99/lb- not that great of a deal if you ask me. But the pork shoulder is also considered a roast and therefore should be part of this deal... which would be a pretty great deal if you ask me. If you try it out before I do, let me know if it works.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 9/11-9/17

This week at Stop and Shop, broccoli is a great deal at .88/pound. Boneless Center-Cut Pork Chops are 1.99/lb, and Success Rice is 2 for $4 for both white and brown rice. I totally heart Success brown rice- regular brown rice takes 45 minutes to cook, and it is really nice to be able to cook up nice healthy whole grains in a matter of a few minutes. There were $1 off coupons for Success Rice a couple weeks ago, making the rice only $1 a box- there are also printable coupons here.

With these ingredients you could try this recipe for pork-fried rice. I also might make a pork stir-fry. I always have the ingredients on hand to mix up a stir fry. Using a little vinegar is a trick I learned from Erin at $5 dinners... it keeps you from having to use a ton of soy sauce and having really high sodium in your recipe as a result.

Easy Pork Stir Fry

3/4 lb. pork loin, sliced into thin strips
3-4 cups cut-up vegetables of your choice (broccoli, peppers, onions, carrot strips... anything)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp flour
pepper to taste
2 cups cooked brown rice

1. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pork until the outsides are no longer pink.
2. Put the vegetables in with the meat and turn the heat to medium-low. While veggies are cooking, mix up the sauce. Add all liquid ingredients together. Stir in the ginger and then stir in the flour gradually, breaking up any lumps. Pour sauce over the stir-fry and keep stirring.
3. When pork is cooked through and veggies are tender, remove from heat and add pepper to taste. Serve over rice.

One thing about my cooking is that I never make dinner with measuring cups- I've been mixing up my own tasty stir-fry sauce for eons but I have only a rough idea of how much I use of each ingredient. So please feel free to adjust amounts- if your sauce seems too sweet, add a little more teriyaki; too salty, add more orange juice.

I was very flattered last night at my daughter's open house at school- she had a poster taped to her desk with all of her "favorites." Under "Favorite Smell?" She wrote "My mom's cooking." Which is too funny, because she's a very picky eater! She says she loves the smell, even if she doesn't want to eat what I'm serving. Oh well.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 8/21-8/27

I apologize for my lateness in getting my bargain meals up. My kids are out of the house for a few days and I spontaneously decided to purge all the clutter, trinkets, trash, and Barbie shoes from their bedrooms. It ended up being a monumental task... I am basically done, but I have a mountain of perfectly good useless stuff to donate to Goodwill. Anyway...

Hrm, guess what's on sale at Stop and Shop? Pork chops again, 1.99/lb (and grapes again, .99 lb.) What on earth can we do with that? Well, I am learning not to be surprised when I find recipes that involve odd combinations of ingredients. When I typed "pork" and "grapes" into Allrecipes.com, I got a list of possible recipes (some involved grape juice, some involved grape tomatoes, but some involved actual grapes! Imagine that.)

One recipe that sounded good, and do-able, with some substitutions, is Pork Tenderloin with Honey Grape Sauce. The recipe calls for a 2 lb. pork roast that you grill, and then you make a sauce with the grapes that you pour over it. Obviously, you can just cook the pork chops any way you like, and then make the sauce. The recipe calls for red grapes rather than green grapes, but it's certainly worth giving a try with green grapes. Most of the other ingredients are common pantry staples, and if you don't have something you can always substitute (chop up a little onion in place of shallots, or use ground ginger instead of fresh.)

To serve with it, you can make a box of Rice-A-Roni, $1/box this week, and whatever vegetables you have on hand. I bet the grape sauce would be very nice poured over rice!

Pork Chops are Peachy: Shaw's Bargain Meal

Okay, I just explained my thought process when I try to come up with a Bargain Meal of the Week. I just looked at my Shaw's flyer, saw that Pork Chops were 1.69/lb and peaches are .77/lb. I would never think to put those two things together. And yet, lo and behold, the internet bursts forth with all kinds of recipes involving peaches and pork! Apparently this is a classic flavor combination, like pineapples and ham, or apples and pork, or raisins and pork... hmmm... maybe pork just goes well with fruit, in general?

Peachy Mustard Pork Chops seems like a good, basic recipe to start with- I imagine you could substitute the peach preserves with some fresh peaches that were chopped up and mashed a little bit. You could serve it over some hot rice with a little butter and salt. If you want fast, Shaw's has Kraft Minute Rice (does it really only take a minute?) on sale for 1.89/box, or if you have more time, Shopper's Value Long Grain Rice is 2.99 for 5 lbs.

I will be taking my Shaw's bargain shopping on the road this week- we are going on vacation Saturday! We rented a house near Acadia National Park in Maine, and I was so thrilled to learn that there is a Shaw's (and a Hannaford's) close by so I can pick up some perishables. (I'm bringing non-perishable stuff that I've stockpiled with me, of course.) I wish there were more types of meat on sale this week... it will be hard for me to pay more than 1.99/lb for meat. (But making dinner ourselves for eight people will be a lot cheaper than going out to eat every night! I have to remind myself of that. )

Oooh... pork loin.. again!?!

I thought we just did this... Shaw's is having yet another sale on good ole pork loin. No worries mate; you can do a lot of things with pork. So if you pick up a pork loin, cut it into whatever you plan to use: roasts, strips for stir-fry, or pork chops.

The produce selections at Shaw's this week are a little on the pricey side (1.99 isn't too bad for a head of cauliflower though- and that's one of the few vegetables my kids are equally enthusiastic about. The dog likes it too... weird.) Anyway, cabbage is always a cheap staple, and Shaw's has it on sale for .49/lb. I found a number of recipes that called for pork and cabbage; these two are simple and earned good reviews: Pork Chop and Cabbage Casserole and Pork Loin and Cabbage.

If you're in the mood for barbecue but you don't have time to fuss with the grill (or your grill is full of bees- hi, mom and dad!) try doing barbecue pork in the slow cooker! Slow Cooker BBQ pork chops sounds delicious and so easy- you basically layer pork chops in your slow cooker with a bottle of barbecue sauce and let it cook all day on low. Then you can make some cole slaw with that cabbage and serve that on the side.

Shaw's Bargain Meal of the week, 7/10-7/16

This week, Shaw's has Swift Premium Half Boneless Pork Loin on sale for 1.49/ lb. Prior to acquiring mad grocery shopping skillz, I would have never considered purchasing a pork loin. I sometimes bought pork chops when they were all neatly cut up and trimmed and arranged in a blister pack, but usually I stuck to the cheaper basics: boneless chicken breast and ground turkey or beef. But one of the great things about being a bargain hunter is the variety it has brought to my family's diet. We try new foods all the time now- when they're on sale!

Last fall was the first time I bought an actual pork loin- I noticed that the price per pound was 1.79 or so, which is my target price for meat. I was a little scared when I actually looked in the meat case and saw how big it was. When I got the huge slab of meat home, I cut it up into three roasts (maybe 2 lbs each?), some pork chops, and some little strips of pork for a stir fry. So that one huge slab of meat provided us with maybe 5 or 6 meals. Some of the smaller pork loins can be cut into only 2 or 3 roasts, but that's okay.

Then, I checked online to see how to cook it. This site was very helpful to get started. Usually, when I cook a pork roast, I mix together pepper, sea salt, some garlic, and maybe basil or oregano, with some olive oil, and rub it all over the roast. Then I put it in the broiler under "low" for a few minutes until the top starts to caramelize. While that's happening, I cut up vegetables (whatever I have handy- but root vegetables hold up well to roasting) and I also coat them with pepper, salt, spices, and olive oil. Then I arrange the vegetables around the meat and bake the whole thing at 350 until the temperature of the roast is 160 degrees ( a meat thermometer was a worthwhile investment for me.) I probably cook the meat a little more than most people like, but I'm sort of easily sketched out by undercooked meat.

Recently I tried cooking a pork loin on the grill. Basically, I took a 2 lb roast and "butterflied" it- cut it up the middle. I rubbed it all over with a spice rub. You cook it on the grill over very high heat, and then turn the heat down to low (some people recommend grilling the pork indirectly, away from the flames.) It took a really long time, maybe 90 minutes? I was shocked my grill didn't run out of propane. But my family loved it. I didn't like the spice rub I used- it had tomato flavor and for some reason I don't think tomato goes well with pork, for me.

So, my recommendation for this week is to get a pork loin, cut it up and freeze part of it, and make sure you have plenty of charcoal or propane so you can grill that baby! The Shaw's produce sales seem to have calmed down this week- but get a Fresh Express Garden Plus Lettuce bagged salad for 2/$3 to serve with it. The Carolina Rice Mixes are 5/$3, and are free if you have coupons (.75/2, exp. 7/31/2009) because they will double. I personally find the rice mixes to be a little too salty, so I mix them with chopped vegetables or plain brown rice.

Apart from a pork loin, I think I may pick up some raspberries this week for 3/$5- I have recently planted raspberries all over my yard but as I wait for them to ripen (and with 50-degree nights who knows if they ever will,) 1.67 for a little container isn't a bad price. I bought a whole watermelon for 3.99 last week and we've only been able to eat half of it so far. I might pick one up next Thursday before the sale runs out, for the following week (unless of course, watermelon continues to be on sale next week... stay tuned.)