Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 8/28- 9/3

Stop and Shop has redesigned its flyer in such a manner that I find completely distracting... all over the place there's a tacky little logo that says "Weekly Specials!" and in other places there's another logo that says "Real Deal!" And there's green highlighting in random places, and the whole effect is just very busy and confusing and unpleasant. And the deals at Stop and Shop are no better than usual (I much prefer Shaw's, if you haven't noticed...)

I was almost going to throw up my hands about the Bargain Meal of the Week because there didn't seem to be much of anything on sale, but when I looked at the flyer again I got inspired. Avocados are .99/lb, corn is 8/1.99, and plum tomatoes are also .99/lb. These ingredients are what you need to make Swan's Summer Soup, a cold, gazpacho-like soup. I love having soup for dinner because that means I also get to have bread for dinner- and I (and my whole entire family) just really love bread.

Shaw's Bargain Meal, week of 8/28-9/3

This week at Shaw's, there are several kinds of meat on sale, so if you haven't stocked up on meat lately, it might be a good week to do that. Chicken is 1.79/lb, and through Sunday only, shoulder steak is 1.79/lb and ground beef is 1.99/lb.

I feel like I've been coming up with these kooky "meat and fruit" combos lately, but the only interesting produce that's a good buy this week are the peaches, plums and nectarines that are .99/lb. A recipe that sounds absolutely divine is Baked Chicken with Peaches - the ingredients are simple and it doesn't sound difficult to make at all.

Serve it with some nice fluffy white rice and a veggie for a very special meal!

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!

What To Do With Stockpiled Veggie Burgers: Shaw's Bargain Meal week of 8/21-8/27

This week there is another catalina deal going on at Shaw's- this time, it's ConAgra food products (so Hunt's ketchup & tomatoes, Wesson Oil, things like that) and Kellogg's products- buy $25 and get $10 for your next purchase. I was holding out for a good Kellogg's sale so I could do the $10 Fuel for School rebate- so that's what I did during my first shopping trip today. Basically, I got my 8 boxes of cereal (though I need more cereal like I need a hole in my head) and 2 boxes of Morningstar Farms black bean burgers for less than free! With my coupons, I spent about $17 out of pocket; then I got $10 back, and I sent in for the $10 rebate.

Can I just interrupt this blog posting to say that manufacturer's rebates are such a huge pain?? I mean, they ask you to buy 10 products, and not only do you send in the receipt, but you have to cut the UPC code off of every box? Do they realize that I'm stockpiling here, and these boxes will be in my basement for months- I don't want a whole bunch of mutilated cardboard boxes in long-term storage. And of course all that cardboard in the envelope makes it impossible to send in the rebate with a single stamp. Ok, complaining time over. Obviously, they make it difficult so that most consumers won't even bother with the rebate.

So, with sales like this going on, it's been easy for me to stock up on veggie burgers lately. Now, almost everybody in my family will eat veggie burgers without complaining. I really don't mind them at all. But they're not the kind of meal that you really look forward to. I generally serve them when I'm not feeling imaginative and I want something on the table fast. I think my mom used to serve us hot dogs (blech) when we were kids, when she was in the same situation. So I was curious- is there anything more interesting you can do with veggie burgers? Once or twice I've cut them up and used them in a pasta sauce or something, but I want more ideas now, because I have so many!

Some possible ideas:

• slice them up in strips and grill them; use them to top a salad
• slice them in strips for use in a stir-fry
• crumble up and use either alone or combined with ground meat in chili, shepherd's pie, pasta bakes
• add to ground meat in making meat loaf
  
• chop them up and mix with salsa and cheese- serve as a dip for chips.
• slice them up, cover in bread crumbs, and fry them
• mix them up with beans as part of a burrito or taco filling
• make Sloppy Joes
• use them as part of a stuffed peppers recipe

This week at Shaw's, there is a pretty sweet deal on potatoes- a 5lb bag of red potatoes is only .99 after you use a Shaw's coupon. Based on that, and our surplus of vegetarian fake meat, I think an attempt at Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie is in order. Most recipes online feature some form of curried lentils as the "meat"- I've seen a few with just chopped veggies and some with tofu, crumbled mushrooms, things like that. But this one involves actual veggie burgers. It has a lot of ingredients, but anything you're lacking you can probably substitute or leave out.

I prefer my shepherd's pie to be on the simple side. I usually just season my ground meat with pepper and salt, stir in whatever vegetables I have (corn is nice), top with homemade mashed potatoes, and bake (a few minutes under the broiler gives a nice crispy crust.) It's one of my family's favorite foods so I don't feel the need to try a fancier version anytime soon. I plan on trying out my own version of Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie in the near future, and I'll keep you posted as to the results!

On Vacation...

No bargain meal this week- I'm on vacation. Be back next week!

Another Frugal Food Experiment: Poor Man's Ricotta Cheese

Last week I subjected my whole family to the Poor Man's (Turkey) Burger. All the burger- eaters seemed to like it just fine. This week, I have been trying to use up random food in the house without buying more (well, apart from crazy Shaw's stockpile runs) because we're going away and I don't want things in the fridge to go to waste.

Anyway, I had this idea to make stuffed manicotti, only I didn't have any ricotta cheese. What I did have is a large zucchini. When I was a teenager I started making a vegetarian lasagne recipe that involved shredding zucchini and mixing it with the ricotta cheese. I have made this for years now, and no man, woman, or child of any age who has ever consumed it has ever noticed or complained, because it is tasty and no one notices the zucchini.

Well, today, I wondered, what would happen if you just had the zucchini, and no ricotta cheese whatsoever? Such as, right now? I was going to try.

Manicotti Stuffed with Kale & Zucchini

1 package manicotti
2 cups kale, washed and torn
1 large zucchini
5-6 leaves fresh basil, chopped (or dried, if you don't have fresh)
dash pepper & salt
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 jar pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese

a little fresh parsley (optional, but you knew that)

I also had some random beans from my garden. They are completely unnecessary in this recipe.

1. Prepare the pasta according to package directions. In a separate pan, steam or boil the kale. Meanwhile, grate your zucchini. I always use a regular cheese grater, but it takes a long time and makes my hand hurt. I'm sure a food processor would be faster. I got one at my bridal shower, but have yet to remove it from its box. I'm sure I'll use it someday.
2. Add pepper, salt, basil, and parmesan to the zucchini mixture. Drain the kale well and stir in with the zucchini. If the mixture seems overly runny, you can strain off any liquid, but I didn't bother.
3. Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan. Stuff the manicotti. I wasn't sure how to do this. I tried using my fingers. Most of the manicotti had tears in it, anyway, so I ended up just splitting them open, putting the filling inside and closing them back up. I guess I wasn't the first person with that idea. Arrange the manicotti semi-neatly in the pan. (I threw the beans on the top. Just ignore them.)
4. Pour rest of sauce over pasta and top with cheese and fresh parsley. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.
   

This was a very happy cheapskate meal. The zucchini was .50 a pound, the manicotti was reduced to .50 as well, the sauce I stockpiled for next to nothing, and the kale was .69/lb. The basil was free from the garden (along with the random beans that I threw in there. I had to do something with them) and the cheese was probably the most expensive thing, maybe .75 worth? We had it with some salad and slices of homemade bread. This meal probably cost $3.00 total, plus it made leftovers.

And- everyone liked it! The kids asked a couple of times, "What are the noodles full of?" and my husband said, "It doesn't matter. It's good, so eat it." And they did. I didn't think it tasted like cheese or anything, but grated zucchini is definitely a satisfactory pasta filling on its own. Another successful frugal food experiment... I'm on a roll!

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. )