Ground Beef (and a few raspberries), and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Yogurt, blueberries and almonds -
50 cents

IGA has pineapples for 99 cents each. Tomatoes on the vine are 99 cents a pound. Vidalia onions are 79 cents a pound. And seedless watermelons are $3.89 each.

Aldi has 2-packs of tomatoes for 89 cents, but I don’t know how big those tomatoes are. Blueberries are 99 cents a pint. Strawberries are $1.49 per pound. Regular (73% lean) ground beef is $10.99 for a 5-pound chub, or $2.20 per pound. “Super Dog” hot dogs are $5.99 for a 5-pound package, or $1.20 per pound. Barbecue sauces are 99 cents for 18 ounces. Yellow mustard is 69 cents for 20 ounces. Pickle relish is $1.29 for 16 ounces. Salad dressings are $1.39 for 16 ounces.

Kroger has hot dog and hamburger buns for $1.00 for a package of 8 buns. Milk is two gallons for $5.00, or $2.50 per gallon, limit of two, and only through Sunday the 15^th. Cheese is $3.79 for 12- to 16-ounce packages, which is a good price for the 16 ounce packages. Cottage cheese is two pints for $3.00, or $1.50 per pint, or 16 ounces. That’s $2.25 for 24 ounces, which is the size carton I usually of cottage cheese coming in. Ice cream is $1.88 for 48 ounces, or about six ups, but only through Sunday the 15^th. Boneless chicken thighs are $1.99 per pound. Raspberries are 97 cents for 6 ounces, or about a cup. Green beans are 99 cents a pound. Cucumbers are two for $1.00, or 50 cents each. Corn on the cob is 10 ears for $3.00, or 30 cents an ear.

There are some pretty good prices here, but I’m having trouble putting them together into menus. I’ll be mostly working with the ground beef for $2.20 in the 5-pound chubs.

A bit of background material, since we’re dealing with a 5-pound chub of ground beef here, and have to keep to around a quarter to a third of pound per person per meal in order to keep the cost of the meal down.

First, a pound of 73% lean ground beef should yield about a cup and a half of cooked meat, assuming that the fat and juices have been drained off and nothing (onions, etc.) has been added. (Thanks to onceamonthmeals.com for this info!)

Second, a five pound chub of ground beef is a lot! And since we need to keep it to about a quarter to a third of a pound per person to keep the cost down to where we want it, it will last for several meals. So what do you do with it? Here are some ways to cook large quantities of ground beef (or ground turkey) without spending hours over a hot skillet – in the CROCK POT, in the OVEN, and in WATER. Of course, you can divide the ground beef into 1- or 2-pound packages before it’s cooked, too, but it’s handy to have the cooked meat on hand when you’re running late or you don’t feel like cooking it. Or you can make a whole bunch of hamburger patties, spread them on a cookie sheet to freeze, then stack them in a freezer bag with waxed paper between the patties and freeze them. The waxed paper makes it easier to separate them later, and freezing them first makes them stack flat, which also makes it easier to separate them.

But now to some recipes and menus.

Let’s start with your basic grilled hamburgers. If you make them a quarter of a pound each (do you remember when Quarter Pounders came out and everyone thought they were huge?), the patty itself will cost 55 cents each. I assume you’ll want a bun around that, for about 15 cents, plus another 10 cents or so for the pickles, ketchup, mustard, onion, and lettuce. That brings us to 80 cents for the hamburgers, and another 10 to 20 cents if you want some fresh tomato in it. Let’s skip the tomato, shall we? Unless you can slice it paper thin like they do at the fast food joints. An ear of GRILLED CORN ON THE COB for 30 cents, some COLESLAW or LAUREL’S COLESLAW for 20 cents, and fresh pineapple (about a fifth of a pineapple per person), and it comes to right at $1.50 per person. Or you can have tomato on your burger and skip the pineapple. Or skip the bun and have both the tomato and the pineapple.

My aunt’s friend, Toni, was a great cook. She was also a recipe collector. I think she had even more cookbooks than I do, and that’s saying something! Toni also had a drawer full of recipes she had clipped from the paper, from magazines, from fliers, from friends, and from just about anyone who published, printed or shared recipes. When she died, I was allowed to take whatever recipes I wanted from her drawer. CABBAGE GOULASH is one of the recipes I took from her drawer. I have no idea where she got it. It’s good, though, and so I’m sharing it with you. Using all ground beef instead of half sausage, it comes to just about exactly $6.00, and you get four big servings. That doesn’t leave any room for something to go with it, though, so we’ll have to go over $1.50 per serving. Some carrot sticks would be good with it and wouldn’t cost very much. Be sure to get carrots and cut them into sticks yourself. The “baby carrots” usually cost more than twice as much and, for some reason, seem to disappear faster.

The secret to budget meals built around ground beef is, of course, to add lots of cheaper ingredients to get the bulk you want without the cost of the ground beef. HAMBURGER QUICHE uses eggs, cheese and milk as those extra ingredients. If I were making it, I’d use whipping cream instead of milk, and I’ll give the cost both ways. Using milk, a whole quiche would be about $3.25. With whipping cream, it would be about $3.65. Let’s assume you’re using milk. The quiche would be a great breakfast on its own (and well within the $1.00 per person that I assume, though well over the budget breakfast of 50 cents per person), but it’s not enough for supper. You could serve ice cream and fresh raspberries (one cup of ice cream and a fourth of a package, or a fourth of a cup, of raspberries per person) for another $2.25, which would bring the total to $5.90, or just under $1.50 per person. Or you could make your own YOGURT and serve that with the raspberries for $1.70, and have coleslaw, too, for a total of $6.15, which is just slightly more than $1.50 per person. The raspberries are the expensive part of these options, at 97 cents a carton, so you might want to skip them altogether. I’ve included them because that’s a great price and it’s good to splurge occasionally. Blueberries are 99 cents a pint, so you could have half a cup of them instead of the quarter of a cup of raspberries. Without the raspberries, you could have plain ice cream for dessert (a splurge, but the quiche is pretty light and you might have complaints from the rest of the family about having eggs for supper) and sliced tomatoes to go with the quiche. Arrange the tomatoes nicely on a lettuce leaf and the plate will look a lot fuller. A pound of tomatoes, divided among four of you, will keep the cost to just under $6.00, or under $1.50 per person.

Have you had a chance to attend one of the DOMESTIC DIVA’s demonstrations at the Hub? She demonstrates ways to make cheap, healthy food on Fridays, from noon to about 1:30 or 2:00. Check them out if you have a chance. Her demo of YOGURT making was a big hit a few weeks ago.

Budget Breakfast – Breakfast for 50 Cents per Person

HOMEMADE YOGURT makes a great budget breakfast, and you’ll probably be hearing a lot about it – in smoothies, by itself, or with fruit. Milk is $2.50 a gallon this week, or 16 cents a cup. A cup of plain homemade yogurt is 16 cents, too. Kroger has raspberries 97 cents for 6 ounces this week, or 24 cents for a fourth of a carton. (That’s not very many, but a few go a long way, taste-wise.) That’s 40 cents so far. You could add a few drops of almond extract and a bit of sugar. Or about a tablespoon and a half of sliced almonds. Or you could add half a cup of blueberries for the same price as the raspberries. That's what's pictured at the top of the post. A huge (more than a cup and a half!) breakfast of yogurt, fresh blueberries, and sliced almonds. Yummm!

Corned Beef (but no green beer) and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, and you know what that means! Besides green beer, that is. That’s right – corned beef. I thought I’d throw out some different ways of using it. Remember that I’m not including potatoes in my recipes or menus, which is why you won’t see them here.

But first, the specials. I was surprised to find that only Kroger has corned beef on sale. The veggies that traditionally go with it – carrots, onions, potatoes, and cabbage – are on sale some places, but not the corned beef itself. Or, at least, not at what I consider a real sale price. Marsh and Aldi both had it for $1.99 last week, but their “sale” prices are higher this week.

Kroger has corned beef points for $1.99 a pound, or flat cut for $2.99 a pound. Boneless chicken breasts are $1.89 a pound. Large eggs are $1.50 a dozen, which, I’m very sorry to say, seems to be a good price these days. I keep waiting for them to go down now that it’s almost Spring. Sour cream and cottage cheese are both three 16-ounce cartons for $4.00, or $1.33 each. Roma tomatoes are 99 cents a pound and whole cantaloupe are two for $3.00, or $1.50 each. These prices are good through next Wednesday, March 19.

As usual, Aldi has some great deals on produce. Baby carrots are 69 cents a pound. Mushrooms are 99 cents for an 8-ounce box. Red potatoes are 99 cents for a 5-pound bag, or 20 cents a pound. Onions are 79 cents for a 3-pound bag, or 27 cents a pound. (That’s the lowest price I can remember seeing in a long time.) Cabbage is 79 cents a head, which probably comes out to around 40 cents a pound, depending on the size of the heads. Could be 50 cents a pound, could be 20 cents. Salad mixes are 69 cents for a 12-ounce bag. Corned beef is $3.49 a pound for flat cut brisket. These prices are good through next Tuesday, March 18.

IGA has corned beef for $3.47 a pound. Idaho potatoes (russets, not red potatoes) are $1.47 for a 5-pound bag, or 30 cents a pound. Ham sausage is $2.77 for a 1-pound roll. Roma tomatoes are 97 cents a pound. Sirloin pork chops are 97 cents a pound in family packs. (See my column from a couple of weeks ago for ways to cook pork chops.) A lot of other pork cuts are on sale, too.

Marsh has corned beef rounds for $2.99 a pound or corned beef briskets for $3.49 a pound. Cabbage is 19 cents a pound.

In case you’re wondering about all the different kinds of corned beef this week, here’s a quick run-down on them.  Figure on about half as much cooked as you started with raw. So to get a pound of cooked corned beef, you’ll have to buy two pounds raw. To get twelve ounces cooked, you’ll need a pound and a half (24 ounces) raw.

Both red potatoes and Idaho potatoes are on sale this week. Either one can be used when making a corned beef dinner, though the red ones are more traditional.

Here are some things to do with corned beef, in addition to the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage (or, more accurately, Corned Beef and Vegetables, since other vegetables are almost always included). You can use leftover corned beef in them, or you can cook up a chunk of corned beef special to use in these recipes. And don’t forget corned beef sandwiches. Corned beef on rye, with Swiss cheese and mustard. Or a Rueben sandwich, with sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. If you’re planning on leftovers, remember that there’s a lot of shrinkage. You’ll need to start with twice as much as you need cooked.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE SAUTE is sort of a corned beef and cabbage stir-fry. Sort of. With the larger quantities of vegetables, a batch of this will cost about $4.95 for the meat and veggies, and probably another 25 cents or so for the other ingredients, or about $5.30 total. I just make a meal of it, but you could add some of the cantaloupe that’s on sale if you wanted to, and still keep it to $6.00 for four people, or $1.50 per person.

I didn’t realize until I started working on this column that I don’t really use recipes when it comes to corned beef. I get ideas for things to do with the corned beef, but then I just go my merry way. Corned Beef and Cabbage Saute, above, is one example. CORNED BEEF OMELET is another one. For that matter, so is cooking the corned beef to begin with. Think of the following recipe as just a basic idea, and then use whatever you have on hand and like. I’ve never tried it, but sautéing some leftover Brussels sprouts with the corned beef and onions sounds pretty good to me. So does adding a good squirt or spoonful of spicy mustard. Or maybe some Thousand Island salad dressing, like in Reuben sandwich. Or whatever. Use your imagination.

When I make “omelets” I usually either make a scramble or I pour the eggs on top of the filling and cook it that way. Sort of like a frittata except I don’t broil it. I’m too lazy to bother with cooking the filling, then setting it aside while I cook the eggs, then putting the filling on the omelet and folding it. Suit yourself. It tastes the same either way. Making it into a scramble (cooking the filling, then adding the eggs and scrambling it all together) or making it into a frittata sort of thing (I need to come up with a name for this – how about a flat omelet) works better when you’re cooking for more than one or two people, because you’re not supposed to make an omelet for more than two people; you’re supposed to make separate omelets and that’s a hassle for everyone. So I’m going to skip the omelet bit and give directions for making a scramble or a flat omelet. Turning it all into a quiche would work, too, come to think of it. I’ll give directions for that, too. It’s all pretty much the same.

The CORNED BEEF SCRAMBLE and the FLAT CORNED BEEF OMELET both run about $3.90 if you use half and half, less if you use milk and more if you use heavy cream. It makes enough to serve four people for breakfast and maybe for lunch, but you’ll want to have something else to go with it if you’re having it for supper. Or at least I would. Coleslaw would go well with it, and with the cabbage and onions on sale you could make a big bowl of it for under a dollar. You’d still be able to get in some cantaloupe to go with it and keep it under $6.00 for four people, or $1.50 per person. With the extra cream and cheese, a CORNED BEEF QUICHE will cost about $6.00, but will make six generous servings, so it still comes out to about $1.00 per person.

I’ve never made CREAM OF REUBEN SOUP, but if I were to make it I would change the recipe quite a bit. I hesitate to give you my version, though, when I’ve never tried it. So I’m giving you both recipes. I can hardly believe I’m saying this, since I basically believe you can never have too much cream or butter, but it sounds too rich for me.

My version of the recipe, using cabbage instead of sauerkraut (just because cabbage is on sale and I don’t know how much sauerkraut costs), comes to about $3.65 and makes about eight cups. A pound of baby carrots and a pound of sliced Roma tomatoes, with some Thousand Island dressing for dipping them in, would go well with the soup and would keep the total cost under $6.00, or $1.50 per person.

What Do We Do With the Veggies, and the Weekly Special with Mary Anne

Marsh has meat this week. Family pack assorted pork chops are 99 cents a pound. Hormel Cure 81 Spiral Sliced Half Hams are 99 cents a pound. Sugardale hams (water added) are 69 cents a pound. And they have iceberg lettuce for 99 cents a head. These prices are good through next Wednesday, February 26.

Aldi has some great buys on produce. Green peppers are three for $1.49. Mushrooms are 99 cents for eight ounces. Roma tomatoes are 99 cents for twenty ounces, or 80 cents a pound. Red potatoes are $1.89 for five pounds, or a little less than 40 cents a pound. Onions are 99 cents for a three pound bag. These prices are good through next Tuesday, February 25.

IGA has turkey breast for $1.19 a pound. Ten pound bags of chicken leg quarters are $5.99, or 60 cents a pound. These prices are good through next Sunday, February 23.

Kroger has their regular one-week sale and also a special four-day sale. The four-day sale ends Sunday, February 23. On sale for those four days they have milk for $1.98 a gallon (limit 2) and ten pound bags of russet potatoes for $1.98, or 20 cents a pound (no limit). On sale for the week ending Wednesday, February 26, they have iceberg lettuce for 99 cents a head and leaf lettuce for 99 cents a pound. Celery is 99 cents a head and Roma tomatoes are 99 cents a pound. Ragu spaghetti sauce of various types is $1.29 a jar after a 50 cent discount for buying six of various things. Split chicken breasts (including bone and skin) are 99 cents a pound. Various cheeses are $3.49 a pound. Cottage cheese and sour cream are $1.99 for 24 ounces. 

I’ve given recipes for all of the types of meat that are on sale this week, so I’m going to do something a little bit different. I’m going to focus on the veggies instead of the meat. I’ll still give recipes and menus that come in at about $1.50 per serving for the whole meal, though, and they will all include meat. I just won’t limit myself to one kind of meat.

The first recipe, SMOKEDSAUSAGE AND PEPPERS uses Bar S Smoked Sausage that’s $3.99 for two and a half pounds, or $1.60 a pound, this week at Marsh. There are a few different kinds at this price. I’m going with the Polish sausage. In case you’re wondering why I say to cut the sausage on the diagonal, it’s because it makes the pieces look bigger! This will cost about $5.15 and will make four servings. You could add a lettuce salad and stay under $6.00. Or a can of fruit. Or carrot sticks and dip. Or you could add some more veggies to the sausage and peppers. Carrots would be good, or cabbage, or mushrooms.

One of my favorite vegetable dishes is MUSHROOMS AND ONIONS. It seems to go over well with guests, too. It goes with just about any kind of meat. Here I’ll pair it with pork chops. You’ll think this makes a huge amount, but because the mushrooms and onions cook down so much you’ll end up with a lot less than you expect. It makes four servings as a side dish. With the mushrooms and onions on sale, it will cost about $2.50. Add four 8 ounce pork chops for another $2.00, and a salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, green pepper, and a diced Roma tomato for another $1.50, for a total of about $6.00.

And finally, PEANUT STIR-FRY. You can use whatever meat you want with this – IGA’s turkey breast or chicken leg quarters, or Marsh’s pork. It's the PEANUT SAUCE that's important here. Let’s go with the pork, shall we? Pork is so good in a stir-fry and goes well with peanuts, too. You can use pretty much any vegetables you have on hand. I just chose these because they’re on sale and the colors look nice together. Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are good in a stir-fry, too, as are fresh green beans, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Pretty much anything goes. This will come to a little over $5.00 and will make a lot. You shouldn’t need anything to go with it.

Isn’t it great when veggies go on sale? These are good, but I can hardly wait till summer!

Cabbage Salad

This kind of cabbage salad is sort of a cross between a chef salad and coleslaw. It's a main dish, cabbage-based salad with whatever kind of vegetables and protein you happen have and feel like using.

2 lb cabbage, shredded

4 oz onion (about 1/2 onion), finely chopped

2 carrots, grated or chopped (optional)

6 hot dogs, thawed, cut into fourths lengthwise, then sliced

6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1/4 c mayo

1/4 c sour cream

1 T apple cider vinegar

Dash sweetener

1 t pepper

Combine cabbage, onion, carrots, hot dogs and eggs in large bowl and toss to mix. Combine remaining ingredients in small bowl and mix well. Add dressing to cabbage mixture and mix well. Four servings.

Variations -
Cooked and crumbled bacon, diced ham, or diced summer sausage instead of the hot dogs.
Shredded cheddar instead of or in addition to the eggs.
All mayo instead of half sour cream.

Cabbage Goulash

3/4 lb bulk pork sausage (or more ground beef)

3/4 lb ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, chopped and drained (drink the liquid – it’s just tomato juice)

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

2 T vinegar

1 T chili powder

1 t garlic powder

1/4 t dried crushed red pepper flakes

2 lbs cabbage, shredded (about 10 cups)

In a large kettle, brown sausage, beef and onion; drain off fat.  Add remaining ingredients except cabbage; mix well.  Stir in cabbage and simmer 15-20 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

Coleslaw for Company

(closely based on a recipe in 500 Low-Carb Recipes, by Dana Carpender, 2002)

1 head red cabbage, finely shredded (about 3 pounds)

1/4 sweet red onion, finely minced (about 1/2 cup or 2 ounces)

1 carrot, finely shredded

Coleslaw Dressing:

  1/2 c mayo

  1/2 c sour cream

  1 to 1-1/2 T apple cider vinegar

  1 to 1-1/2 t prepared mustard

  1/2 to 1 t salt

  1 to 2 t sugar (or 1/2 to 1 packet artificial sweetener)

Mix the dressing in a small bowl. Combine the cabbage and onion in a big bowl, pour on some of the dressing, and toss well. You may want to use all of the dressing, or you may not. Or you may want to use more, in which case you’ll need to make another batch of the dressing. In any case, it’s a lot easier to add more dressing than to take some back if there’s too much.

Russian Vegetable Pie

(from The Vegetarian Epicure via tastebook.com)

Crust

1-1/4 c flour

1 t sugar

1 t salt

4 oz softened cream cheese

3 T butter

Filling

3 cups shredded cabbage

1/2 lb (8 oz) fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, peeled and chopped

3 T butter

4 oz softened cream cheese

4 – 5 hard-boiled eggs

Basil, marjoram, tarragon, salt and pepper to taste

2 T dried dill weed (the leaves, not dill seed)

Make a pastry by sifting together the dry ingredients, cutting in the butter and working it together with the cream cheese. Roll out 2/3 of the pastry and line a 9” pie dish. Roll out the remaining pastry and make a circle large enough to cover the dish for the top crust. Put it away to chill. (Or you can use two purchased pie crusts. Leave the second one out for a bit to soften, then roll out flat to use as a lid for the pie.)

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onion and cabbage and sauté for several minutes, stirring constantly. Add at least 1/8 teaspoon each of the marjoram, tarragon, and basil, and the salt and pepper. Stirring often, allow the mixture to cook until the cabbage is wilted and the onions soft. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan and sauté the mushrooms lightly for about five to six minutes, stirring constantly. Spread the softened cream cheese in the bottom of the pie shell. Arrange the egg slices in a layer over the cheese. Sprinkle them with the dill weed, then cover them with the cabbage mixture. Layer the mushrooms on top, then cover with the circle of pastry or the second crust. Press the pastry together tightly at the edges, and flute them. (Or use the tines of a fork to press them together, going all around the flat rim of the pie pan so the two crusts are pressed tightly together.) With a sharp knife, cut a few short slashes through the top crust. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 and continue baking for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is light brown.

Hamburger Veggie Soup

1 lb ground beef

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 c chopped celery

1 lb baby carrots, sliced

8 oz mushrooms, washed and sliced

8 oz cabbage, shredded

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can green beans

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 t oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef, onion, garlic and celery. Drain the fat off if you want to; I seldom do. Add the rest of the ingredients, plus a tomato can of water that you use to rinse out the can. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the carrots and cabbage are done.

Spicy Mexican Coleslaw

(based on a recipe at low-cholesterol.food.com)

3 c shredded cabbage (about 8 oz)

1 carrot

1 tomato, seeded and diced (about 4 oz)

1 minced seeded jalapeno

1/4 c chopped cilantro

2 T lime juice (bottled is fine)

2 T orange juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T sugar

1/4 t ground cumin

Combine the cabbage, carrot, tomato, jalapeno, and cilantro and mix well. In a small bowl or jar, combine the lime juice, orange juice, garlic, sugar, and cumin and mix well. Toss the dressing with the vegetables. Refrigerate until ready to serve. If possible, let it sit for at least a couple of hours so the flavors can blend.

Pork and Vegetables

Most vegetables go well with pork. Ones that are traditionally associated with pork include:

Cabbage
Sauerkraut
Mushrooms
Acorn and other winter squash
Green beans
Peas
Broccoli
Corn
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Greens
Sweet potatoes

Dried beans and other legumes go well with pork, too, specially split peas and white beans.

Cabbage Roll Casserole

CABBAGE ROLL CASSEROLE gives you the flavor of traditional cabbage rolls without all the blanching and rolling and filling and so forth. The original recipe calls for some white rice, and some broth to cook the rice. If you want to try it that way, add half a cup of rice and a can (2 cups) of beef or chicken broth when you add the cabbage and tomato sauce.

(based on a recipe at allrecipes.com)

1 lb ground beef

1 c chopped onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

16 oz can tomato sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

2 lbs cabbage, chopped

1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 T Worcestershire sauce

Brown beef, onion, and garlic in a large pot or Dutch oven, seasoning with the salt, pepper and cayenne as you do so. Add the Worcestershire sauce and mix well. Spread the beef mixture evenly over the bottom of the pot or Dutch oven, spread the cabbage over the beef, and then the tomato sauce over the top of that. Cover tightly and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir well, cover, and cook another 5 minutes or so, or until the cabbage is done to your liking. Some like it really soft, others like it to still have a bit of crunch.

Cream of Reuban Soup

I’ve never made CREAM OF REUBEN SOUP, but if I were to make it I would change the recipe quite a bit. I hesitate to give you my version, though, when I’ve never tried it. So I’ll give you both recipes. The basic recipe will be the one from the website, and I’ll give the changes I would make in italics next to it. Take your pick. I can hardly believe I’m saying this, since I basically believe you can never have too much cream or butter, but it sounds too rich for me. Some rye croutons (toast some rye bread, then cut it into 1/2” to 1” cubes) would be good on top of the soup.

CREAM OF REUBEN SOUP

(from biglove.lvhr.com, with my variation)

1/2 c beef stock (2 c broth from cooking corned beef instead of stocks)

1/2 c chicken stock

1/4 c coarsely chopped celery

1/4 c coarsely chopped onion

1/4 c chopped green pepper

2 c coarsely chopped cabbage

1 T cornstarch dissolved in 2 T cold water (skip)

1 c [1/4 lb] coarsely chopped corned beef (2 c)

1 c chopped Swiss cheese

3/4 c sauerkraut, drained and rinsed (or another cup of cabbage)

1/4 c [1/2 stick] butter

2 c half and half (1 c half and half)

Chopped fresh chives for garnish

Combine stock, celery, onion and green pepper (and cabbage if using) in large saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are crispy-tender (I’d cook them until the cabbage is soft but not over-cooked). Add dissolved cornstarch (if using) and continue cooking until the soup thickens. Remove from heat and stir in corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut, blending well. Melt butter in a large double boiler over medium heat. Stir in half and half. Add soup and blend until smooth. (I’d add the butter to the soup and run it all through a blender until smooth. Return it to the pot it was cooked in and add the cream.) Heat through, but do not boil. Garnish with chives.

By the way, an easier soup is to just combine some leftover corned beef with leftover vegetables in leftover cooking liquid from cooking the corned beef and vegetables. Add more veggies if the soup needs them. If you add raw veggies, cook them first in some of the cooking liquid so the leftover veggies don’t overcook. Reheat it all, then serve with rye croutons if you have them.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Saute

The first dish, CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE SAUTE, is sort of a corned beef and cabbage stir-fry. I found the recipe in a drawer of clipped recipes at my aunt’s house after she died, so I have no idea where it came from originally. I usually make it when I have leftover corned beef, but I just use whatever vegetables I have handy. Actually, come to think of it, I really don’t use the recipe at all. I just saute/stir fry (I’m not sure what the difference is – maybe sautéed veggies are usually cooked until soft while stir fried vegetables are cooked only until tender-crisp?) some onions and carrots and cabbage, usually in fat from cooking the corned beef, and then add some corned beef. But here’s the official recipe. Take your pick whether you want to do it “right” or take the easy route. Either way, it should be good. By the way, when I was looking for recipes online, a lot of the bloggers said that they just start with a 12 ounce can of corned beef. Not corned beef hash, which has potatoes in it, but plain corned beef.

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE SAUTE

2 T cider or white vinegar

1 T sugar

1 t caraway seeds

1/4 tsp salt

1 small head Savoy cabbage – about 1 pound (I use green cabbage, which is cheaper, and I’d use about a pound and a half)

1 large carrot (I’d use at least a couple, or half a pound or so, but then I like carrots)

1 medium-sized red onion (or yellow onion or whatever you have)

1 lb lean, sliced cooked deli corned beef (or leftover corned beef)

Salad oil

Mix the vinegar, sugar, caraway seeds and salt in a small cup.  Set aside. Remove core from cabbage and coarsely shred it.  Coarsely shred the carrot.  Cut the onion in half, and then slice it. Cut the corned beef into short sticks. In a 12-inch skillet over high heat, cook the onion in 1 T oil until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes.  Remove to bowl with slotted spoon. In the same skillet, cook cabbage and onion in 2 T oil until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add vinegar mixture, onion, and corned beef.  Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through. 

Pork and Peanut Stir-Fry

You can use whatever meat you want with this – IGA’s turkey breast or chicken leg quarters, or Marsh’s pork. Let’s go with the pork, shall we? Pork is so good in a stir-fry and goes well with peanuts, too. You can use pretty much any vegetables you have on hand. I just chose these because they’re on sale and the colors look nice together. Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are good in a stir-fry, too, as are fresh green beans, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Pretty much anything goes.

2 lbs pork spareribs

3 T oil

2 peppers

3 carrots

8 oz mushrooms

2 onions

PEANUT SAUCE (recipe follows)

Start by preparing the meat and vegetables. It goes together quickly once you start cooking, so you want to have everything ready before you start.

To Prepare Ingredients:

Remove the meat from the bones and cut it into thin slices, about 1/2”x1/2”x2.” Basically, you want matchstick shaped pieces, as tall as they are wide. The length of the pieces will depend on the size and shape of the pork chops. Set the pork aside. Save the bones to make bone broth.

Remove the seeds and stem from the peppers and slice them about the same size as the pork strips. Peel the carrots and cut them on the diagonal into 1/2” slices. Peel the onions, halve them through the stem and root ends, and cut them into 1/2” slices. Clean the mushrooms (the experts say to wipe them with a damp cloth, but I rub them gently under running water) and slice them into 1/2” thick slices. If the mushrooms are big, halve them before slicing.

Make the PEANUT SAUCE (recipe below)

To Cook the Stir-Fry:

Heat the oil in a big skillet or wok. When it’s hot, add the meat and keep it moving around in the pan until it’s done. Not necessarily browned, just done. Remove the meat. Add the carrots and onions to the oil and drippings in the skillet and toss them around for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms and peppers. Remember you want the meat in a stir-fry to be crisp-tender, and they’ll cook a little bit more after you add the meat and sauce. (If you like your veggies soft, go for it! Just cook them a few minutes longer. I won’t tell.) Add the meat and sauce and toss it over the heat just until the meat is heated through and the sauce is evenly distributed. Add water a tablespoon at a time if you need to thin the sauce.

PEANUT SAUCE

(A Cookbook for the Financially Challenged, by Alexandra Pauley)

½ c smooth peanut butter

2 T soy sauce

2 t minced garlic (or 1 T garlic powder)

1 t chili powder

1 t minced fresh ginger (or 1 t powdered ginger)

Combine everything and pour it over the cooked meat and vegetables. Toss well to coat. You may need to add a bit of water to thin it, but wait and see how it works once it’s on the meat and vegetables. There may be enough moisture in them to thin it enough.

Chicken and Cabbage Lo Mein

Technically, lo mein is a dish containing wheat noodles, so this isn't really lo mein at all. It uses shredded cabbage instead of noodles. But it's good anyway, even if it isn't at all authentic.

3 c cooked chicken

1 T oil or chicken fat

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 head cabbage, shredded (about 2 lbs)

3 T soy sauce

1 T fresh ginger, grated

Briefly sauté the garlic and ginger in the oil, then add the onion and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Add the carrots and cabbage and stir-fry until not quite tender-crisp. Add the chicken and soy sauce and cook until the chicken is hot.

Pork Chops Bakes with Cabbage and Cream

(from  Lose Weight the Smart Low Carb Way)

1 small head (1-1/2 lbs) green cabbage, cored and finely shredded

4 boneless pork chops (6 oz each), each 3/4” thick (or whatever pork chops you have)

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

2 t olive oil

1/2 c half-and-half

1 t caraway seeds

1/2 t sweet Hungarian paprika

1 t dried marjoram or thyme

1/2 c shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat the oven to 350. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the cabbage and cook until soft, 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain in a colander and dry it well with paper towels. Season the meat with 1/4 t salt and the pepper.  Heat the oil in an oven-safe, large, heavy skillet over high heat.  Add the meat and cook until just browned, 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove to a plate. Discard any fat in the skillet and heat over low heat.  Stir in the cabbage, cream, caraway seeds, paprika, marjoram or thyme, and the remaining 1/4 t salt.  Cook and stir until heated through, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and arrange the pork over the cabbage, adding any juices accumulated on the plate.  Sprinkle with the cheese.  Bake until the pork is done, about 25 minutes for medium-well.

Pumpkin, Cabbage and Chicken Soup

(Adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American and other recipes)

6 c peeled, seeded, and sliced pumpkin (about half of a smallish pumpkin)

3/4 c onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove garlic

2 T vegetable oil

4 c chicken stock or broth

1 small green hot pepper (optional) (or red pepper flakes)

1 smoked ham hock (don’t leave this out - it really adds to the soup!)

3 pounds chicken thighs (2 pounds if you’re using boneless skinless thighs)

Salt and pepper to taste (needs a fair bit of both)

4 – 6 c shredded cabbage

In a large pot, brown the onion and garlic in the oil.  Add everything but the cabbage.  Cover and cook about 2 hours.  Add cabbage about 15 minutes before serving. Or cook it 6 – 8 hours on low in the crockpot, adding the cabbage for the last hour.

Roasted Cabbage

(from a recipe at this site)

1 small to medium head cabbage, about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds before trimming
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Salt and pepper


Cut the cabbage into 1-inch wedges, making sure to keep the core intact on every wedge. You may lose a few of the loose outer leaves that aren’t attached to the core. Place the cabbage on a baking sheet and brush with half of the melted butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn the wedges over and do the same on the other side using the rest of the melted butter. Roast at 450º until the cabbage is browned around the edges, about 20-25 minutes. You can try to turn it over about half way through, but it’s likely to fall apart, and while it still tastes good, it doesn’t look as nice.

Serve the cabbage with the pork chops, and put the sauce over both.

Pork Fried Cabbage

1 lb pork shoulder, cooked and diced

2 T oil or drippings (bacon drippings would be great, or drippings from cooking the pork)
1 lb cabbage, sliced about 1/2” or diced about 1”
1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t red pepper flakes

You can use leftover pork for this, or, if you don’t have any, cut the pork into about 3/4” cubes and cook in a little water until done. Just cut it off the bone before cutting it up. Or you can cook it on the bone, and then cut it up later. If you’re cooking it just for this, be sure to save the cooking liquid.
Heat the oil or drippings in a large skillet, then add the vegetables and seasonings and cook, stirring, until almost done. Add the pork and continue cooking until the meat is heated through and the vegetables are done to your liking. Sometimes I like them tender-crisp, and sometimes I like them quite soft. It’s up to you. If you want them soft, add a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid about half way through cooking the vegetables. It should all cook off.
As always, you can change the vegetables around to suit yourself, depending on what you like and what you have. You can change the seasonings, too. Some caraway seeds would be good in this, for example.

This would cost about $3.00  at this week’s prices.
This combination of cabbage, carrot and onion is a common go-to dish for me in the winter, when there aren’t many fresh vegetables available. Cabbage, carrots and onions are always available, keep well in the fridge, and are usually fairly reasonably priced. Sometimes I cook meat in it, for a one-dish meal, other times I have it to accompany some meat.

Laurel's Coleslaw

(based on a recipe in Laurel’s Kitchen, by Laurel Robertson, et al, 1976)

1/2 head cabbage, red and/or green, finely shredded, about 1-1/2 pounds

1/4 c mayo

1/4 c lemon juice or vinegar

Salt to taste

Toss everything in a big bowl. It’s only half a head, so it should make about six cups of coleslaw.

Variations (don’t use more than one or two added ingredients at a time):

Dill weed

Tarragon

Caraway seeds

Poppy seeds

Celery seeds (that’s my addition – she doesn’t mention them)

Toasted sunflower seeds

Chopped walnuts

Slivered almonds

Raisins

Dates

Chopped dried apricots

Fresh pineapple chunks

Fresh orange chunks

Grated apple

Cardamom (if you’re adding fruit)

Green beans, cooked

Grated carrots

Corn (she says cooked, but I think it’s even better raw off the cob)

Minced green pepper (red pepper would be even more colorful)

Chopped celery

Minced parsley

Shoestring beets, cooked (in which case I think you’d end up with oddly colored salad)

Onion (again, she doesn’t mention this, but I think it’s good)

Buttermilk instead of some or all of the mayo