Kroger has 8-ounce packs of cream cheese ten for $10, or
$1.00 each. I don’t think you have to buy ten to get that price. Butter is two
pounds for $5.00, or $2.50 a pound. Chicken drumsticks, thighs, and whole
fryers are 99 cents a pound. That’s not a great price unless you specifically
want whole birds or just the thighs, but it’s not bad if you do. “Crisp
broccoli” is three for $5.00, or $1.67 each. Unfortunately, it doesn’t say how
big the “crisp broccoli” is, so there’s no way of knowing whether it’s a good price.
I sure wish they would be more precise with their descriptions. Eggplants are
99 cents each and green beans are 99 cents a pound. It’s making me think of
summer produce at the Farmers Market! Check the eggplant to be sure it’s fresh.
If it is, and it’s a reasonable size, that’s a good price. Sweet potatoes are
99 cents a pound, too. Whole cantaloupe are two for $3.00, or $1.50 each. These
prices are good through next Wednesday, April 9.
Marsh has red, white, and black seedless grapes and red
grapes with seeds for $1.47 a pound. Family pack assorted pork chops are 99
cents a pound. And fresh tomatoes are 97 cents a pound. These prices are good
through next Wednesday, April 9.
Aldi has strawberries for $1.49 a pound. Anjou pears are
$1.49 for a two pound bag, or 75 cents a pound. Pineapples are $1.49 each and
mangoes are 69 cents each. Fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.69 a
pound in family packs. These prices are good through next Tuesday, April 8.
IGA has fresh fryer leg quarters in family packs for 59
cents a pound through Sunday, April 6. Dole Classic Iceberg Salad and Classic
Coleslaw Mix are both 99 cents for a 12-14 ounce bag, but only on Friday, April
4. Large eggs are 99 cents a dozen, but again only on Friday.
Do you remember the column a few weeks ago when I talked
about buying herbs and spices and gave recipes for three very different yet
very similar fish soups? They all had fish, tomatoes, onions and green pepper,
but the seasonings made them very different. I’m going to do something sort of
similar this week. I’m going to start by talking generally about different
seasonings for pork chops, and then will give the regular three recipes or so
for pork chops and menus using them. Sometimes you don’t need a new recipe as
much as you just need a new idea for varying an old standby with some new
seasonings.
Herbs and spices that go well with pork.
Fruit that goes well with pork.
Vegetables that go well with pork.
Sauces that go well with pork.
I haven’t given any recipes yet, but I hope there’s
something here that made a light bulb go off for you. While I don’t think you
can get away with serving pork chops every night by just changing the
seasoning, sometimes all it takes is a small change to make something
acceptable instead of boring.
OK, now for some recipes and menus. The first recipe,
creatively titled PORK CHOPS, is
seasoned with tiny amounts of several Indian seasonings. Be sure to buy them in
tiny little dabs at Bloomingfoods and not in the jars or cans at a traditional
grocery store.
The pork chops
themselves are going to cost about $2.00. Let’s say 25 cents for the smidgeons
of spices - it only comes to a total of one teaspoon. If you use drippings,
they’re free. If you use vegetable oil, it will cost less than 10 cents. Let’s
call it $2.35 altogether. That’s so cheap you can spend more than usual on side
dishes.
The original recipe
says to serve it with applesauce (in fact, the original name is Pork Chops and
Applesauce), so let’s go with that. You want unsweetened applesauce, and not
very much of it – only about a cup, or a fourth of a cup per person. Let’s say
50 cents for the applesauce. Sweet potatoes would be good. Two pounds would
allow an 8-ounce sweet potato per person. Just bake the sweet potatoes in the
skins; they don’t need any butter or anything else. Add coleslaw or other
cabbage salad for about a dollar and you’ve got a hearty meal for under $6.00,
or $1.50 per person.
This next recipe, EASY MUSTARD PORK CHOPS, is super easy.
The author describes it as a recipe for those days when just getting dinner on
the table seems like more than you can do. We all have those days, don’t we?
The only significant
cost here is the pork chops, which will run you about $2.00. The mustard,
garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper won’t cost more than a dime.
If getting supper on
the table is almost more than you can manage, you definitely won’t be spending
any extra time on the side dishes. How about a couple cans of green beans
($1.00), half a head of lettuce cut in wedges (50 cents), two tablespoons of
salad dressing per person or half a cup total (50 cents), with half a
cantaloupe for dessert (90 cents). The whole meal can be prepared in less than
half an hour for a cost of right about $5.00 or $1.25 per person, and no one
will guess that it was that cheap and easy. Or have some broccoli instead of
the green beans. It’s still well under $6.00.
The final pork chop
recipe for SMOKEY CACAO NIBS ENCRUSTED PORK CHOPS. And just what are cacao nibs, you ask? Nibs
are bits of cacao seeds that have been processed almost but not quite to the point of being
ground for cocoa powder or made into chocolate bars.
I have to admit that I’m just
guessing at the cost of the cacao nibs and smoked paprika. I haven’t bought
them or checked the price in a long time. I’m going to guess about a dollar for
the two of them. I think that’s probably high, but I don’t know. Let’s use that
as an estimate anyway. The pork chops will run $2.00, the bacon grease would be
free if you have it, or the butter would run about 35 cents. So let’s say $3.35
for the whole thing.
The picture on the blog shows
the pork chops served with a baked sweet potato and something that I can’t
identify. A pound and a half of sweet potatoes (six ounces per person, or about
three-fourths cup) will cost $1.50, which leaves us $1.15 for something else.
How about some fresh green beans (a little over half a cup of cooked beans per
person) or, depending on how big the packages are, some fresh broccoli. Either
way you should stay at right around $6.00, or $1.50 per person.
An old standby when it comes to sauce for pork chops (or just about anything else) is Campbell's Cream of Something Soup - Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken especially, but also Cream of Asparagus, Cream of Celery, Cream of Onion, etc. A can is likely to cost at least $1.00 and, like all processed foods, be full of chemicals and stuff that you don't really need. CREAM OF WHATEVER SOUP MIX makes a substitute for those cans of soup. (I guess recipes these days don't call for Campbell's soups as much as they used to. Back in about the 1960s, practically everything called for either jello or Campbell's soup. Usually not in the same recipe.)
And finally, a couple of recipes for pork seasoning mixes. You can make them up ahead of
time and have them ready the next time you’re cooking pork chops, or other pork
dishes.
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