Steak on a Budget? Why Not? and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

London Broil, on the grill - and on a budget!

Some bad news to start things off. (If you receive food stamps, you’re already been dealing with this.) I’ve been working with the average benefit of $4.40 received per person per day in 2012 in Indiana, adjusted by the 5.5% reduction that went into effect a year ago, to come up with an estimated benefit received this year of about $4.15 per person per day. Today I looked online to see if I could find any actual figures, and I did. According to the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA, the average benefit received per person in Indiana in May of this year was $122.48, or $3.95 per day. In April of this year it was $121.01, or $4.03 per day. Let’s call it an average of $4.00 per day.

I’ve been allowing $1.00 for breakfast, $1.25 for lunch, and $1.50 for supper, or $3.75 per day. I’ve been figuring that the extra 40 cents per day or $12.00 per month was available for things like buying a big jar or box of something when you only needed to use part of it during the month. Or maybe being able to stock up a little bit when there was a really good sale. In order to keep that 40 cents per day buffer, I’m going to have to reduce the meal allowance somewhere by 15 cents. I’m going to take it off of breakfast. I’m going to allow an average of 85 cents a day for breakfast. After all, breakfast tends to be pretty basic anyway, at least in my family. So from now on, it’s 85 cents a day for breakfast, $1.25 a day for lunch, $1.50 a day for supper, and a buffer of $12.00 a month for buying in bulk and things like that. Feeding a family on a budget gets more challenging all the time, doesn’t it?

But now to some better news. The sales. Mostly produce again, but some buys there. Here’s what I found.

Aldi has cantaloupe for 99 cents each and honeydew melons for $1.99 each. Red and green grapes are 99 cents a pound, or $1.98 for a two-pound bag. Eggs were still $1.19 a dozen when I was there earlier this week, but don’t know if they’re still that price or how long they’ll stay there.

Kroger has ten ears of corn for $3.00, or 30 cents each. Bartlett pears and Hatch chili peppers are both 99 cents a pound. Peaches, plums and nectarines are still 99 cents a pound. Roma tomatoes are 99 cents a pound, iceberg lettuce is 99 cents a head, and organic kale is 99 cents a bunch.

Marsh has boneless skinless chicken breasts in the family packs for $1.96 a pound. Boneless top round steak, roast or London broil is $2.99 a pound.

When I was at Walmart last week, chicken leg quarters were still 69 cents a pound, or $6.90 for a ten-pound bag. That has been their regular price for some time now, and I assume it still is.

I have wanted to do something with roast beef for a long time now, but it’s so expensive. And it’s not like you can do much with a casserole, like you can with ground beef. Anyway, the reason I wanted to do something with roast beef was because it’s nice to have a hunk of meat sometimes, instead of meat that’s been stretched with other stuff.

My plan for this week was to allow up to $2.00 per person for supper by including cheaper lunches and breakfasts, while still keeping the day’s meals to $3.75 per person. I’m going to go ahead and do it that way, even though I only have $3.60 per person to work with. I assume a family of four, so that’s $14.40 for the family for the day. Fruit will be an important part of my budget breakfasts and lunches.

The nutrition folks say that a serving of cooked meat should be 3 ounces, which would mean starting with about 4 ounces, before it cooks down. I think that’s pretty skimpy, especially if I’m having roast beef as a special meal. I’m going to go with 6 ounces per person of raw meat, which will yield about a little over 4 ounces cooked. Six ounces of the top round roast, top round steak or London broil will cost $1.12.

London broil is almost always marinated, which both adds flavor and also helps to tenderize the meat. LONDON BROIL has a typical soy sauce and garlic based marinade. It calls for a three pound steak. Eat half of it as steak the first night, and then the other half on a steak salad a day or two later. The marinade costs next to nothing. Let’s call it 33 cents, which is probably high. The three pound steak, then, will cost $9.30, and each half will cost $4.65.

The first day’s menu will be cantaloupe and cottage cheese for breakfast; tuna salad for lunch; and 
London Broil, zucchini and carrots, and tomato and cucumber salad for supper.

Breakfast for four – 1/2 cantaloupe (50 cents), 2 cups cottage cheese ($1.53), total $2.02.

Lunch for four – 3 cans tuna ($2.04), 2 eggs (20 cents), 1 head lettuce (99 cents), 12 ounces (four) Roma tomatoes (80 cents), 1 cup Thousand Island dressing (65 cents), total $4.68.

Supper for four – half recipe (1-1/2 pounds) London Broil ($4.65), 1 medium/large zucchini (67 cents), 2 carrots (25 cents), 1 pound Roma tomatoes (99 cents), 1 cucumber (67 cents), 1/2 cup sour cream (33 cents), vinegar/salt/pepper (5 cents), total $7.61.

Total cost for four - $14.31.

Cost per person - $3.58.

The second day’s menu will be Peach Smoothies for breakfast; Zucchini and Egg Casserole with cantaloupe and grapes for lunch; and STEAK SALAD with SIMPLE VINAIGRETTE for supper.

Breakfast for four – 6 cups milk ($1.05), 1 pound peaches (99 cents), sugar (.10), total $2.14.

Lunch for four – Zucchini and Egg Casserole ($3.75), 1/2 cantaloupe (50 cents), 1/4 pound red grapes (25 cents), 1/4 pound green grapes (25 cents), total $4.75.

Supper for four – half recipe (1-1/2 pounds) London Broil ($4.65), 1 head lettuce (99 cents), 1 pound Roma tomatoes (99 cents), Simple Vinaigrette (75 cents), total $7.38.

Total cost for four - $14.27.

Cost per person - $3.57.

I wish I could get the produce at the Farmers Market, but it just doesn’t fit in the budget. Other than the zucchini and cucumber, that is. If you get Food Stamps, though, you should be able to get more of the produce there, by exchanging some of your food stamps for Market Bucks and essentially getting the produce for half price. Ask around, too, and see if you can get “seconds” on the tomatoes for a discount. Seconds are tomatoes (or other produce) that isn’t quite perfect enough to sell for full price. Sometimes I’ve been able to get them for as much as half off. If you exchange Food Stamps for Market Bucks, that’s the same as getting 75% off! If they have canning tomatoes, ask if you can have just a few of them. They’re basically seconds, too, though the vendors would probably rather sell you a big box of them instead of just a few.

I hope you’re enjoying this lovely cool weather as much as I am!

---Mary Anne---

Ground Beef and Summer Veggies and the Weekly Special with Mary Anne

Kroger has regular ground beef (73% lean) for $1.99 a pound in five pound chubs. That’s $9.95 for the chub. Cherries are $1.88 a pound. A four-pound bag of sugar is 99 cents. Eckrich franks are 88 cents for 14 ounces, which I assume is eight franks. Buns are 88 cents for eight hamburger or hot dog buns. That’s 11 cents each for the franks and the buns. (It’s not particularly healthy what with the processed frank and the white flour bun, but that’s only 22 cents for a hot dog, or say 30 cents with ketchup and so on. Not bad for a summer supper – once in a while!)  Local muskmelons (which as far as I know is just another name for cantaloupe) are two for $3.00, or $1.50 each. (Kayte got one and said it was wonderful! That's what she used in her watermelon/cantaloupe/cucumber plate that she prepared on Friday.) Peaches, plums and nectarines are 99 cents a pound. You may have noticed that there aren’t many peaches at the Farmers Market this year. The long cold winter damaged the blossoms so there’s a very small crop of peaches locally. Sour cream is ten for $10.00 or $1.00 per pint (16 ounces). Yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli crowns, and green beans are all 99 cents a pound. Cherry tomatoes are two 10.5-ounce boxes for $3.00, or $1.50 per box. Cheese is two packages of 12 – 16 ounces each for $7.00, or $3.50 per package. That’s a good price if you get the 16 ounce packages. Indiana sweet corn on the cob is ten for $3.00, or 30 cents each. I didn’t see it in their ad, but when I was in the store on Thursday I saw “jumbo” seedless watermelons for $3.99 each. (I have no idea how the “seedless watermelons” for $2.49 at Aldi compare to the “jumbo seedless watermelons” for $3.99 at Kroger.) Prices are good through Wednesday, July 30.

Aldi has sweet onions, two pounds for 69 cents, or 35 cents a pound. I usually stock up on yellow onions when they’re three pounds for 99 cents, or 33 cents a pound. Same price. Corn on the cob is four ears for 99 cents, or 25 cents each. Seedless watermelon are $2.49 each. (I have no idea how the “seedless watermelons” for $2.49 at Aldi compare to the “jumbo seedless watermelons” for $3.99 at Kroger.) Mushrooms are 99 cents for 8 ounces. Zucchini (the smallish regular size ones, not the big ones like you can get at the Farmers Market) are three for $1.49, or 50 cents each. Green peppers are also $1.49 for a three pack. Organic baby carrots are 99 cents a pound, which isn’t a bad price even for conventional baby carrots. Ground turkey is $5.99 for a three pound chub, or $2.00 a pound. Plain non-fat yogurt is $1.69 a quart (32 ounces). Prices are good through Tuesday, July 29. They weren’t advertised, but the last few times I’ve been to Aldi milk was $1.69 a gallon and eggs were $1.19 a dozen.

I’ll go with the ground beef this week. Fortunately vegetables are cheap and can be used to stretch the meat. Hurray for the Farmers Market! (And don’t forget to double your food stamps with Market Bucks!) And while we’re talking about the Farmers Market and doubling food stamps and ground beef, the Market Bucks you get in exchange for your food stamps can be used to buy meat, too, which makes ground beef there about the same price as at Kroger. The one place I remember looking had ground beef for $5.50 a pound, or $2.25 with the 2-for1 Market Bucks. And you can probably find it cheaper than that at other stalls.

Zucchini (Or is it zucchinis? It sure sounds wrong with the s on the end, but that’s what the dictionary I looked at said was correct. I’ll go with what sounds right.) abound these days. They’re one of those bland foods that you can add quite a bit of because it doesn’t have much flavor of its own, as long as it’s fixed with other foods that do have a lot of flavor. That works best with grated zucchini, which sort of disappears. Do you remember the BZM (BASIC ZUCCHINI MIXTURE) I talked about last week? Recipes are available at the Hub near the zucchini, in case you didn’t get it last week. You can use the big zucchini that are so cheap this time of year, make up a batch or two of BZM and freeze it in two or three cup portions and use them all year long. Like in BZM-MHC ZUCCHINI MEATLOAF. It’s just a basic meatloaf except you add some BZM to it. You don’t even notice the zucchini. A big loaf of it costs about $5.10 and makes six good servings at 85 cents each, or $3.40 for four servings. Add CARROT SALAD or COLESLAW for about $1.00 each for four servings and an ear of corn apiece for another $1.00 and you’ve got a big meal for only about $5.40 per person. Depending on the size of the watermelons, you might be able to squeeze out watermelon for everyone. If not, make ORANGE MILK SHAKES (about 50 cents if you make a double batch and give everyone about a cup and half each, or you can give them more if you add some ice and make it into a smoothie) or ORANGE ICE POPS (25 cents for a whole batch of them. How many it makes depends on how big you make them. If you don’t have popsicle molds, just use small paper cups and popsicle sticks.)

The zucchini in ZUCCHINI AND GROUND BEEFCASSEROLE is cut into ¼” dice, so it doesn’t disappear like the grated zucchini, but the pieces are small enough to soak up all the flavor. Assuming that you use one large zucchini (they seem to be pretty much 75 cents each regardless of size at the Farmers Market), it should cost about $3.45. Serve it over half a head of lettuce with a cup each of shredded cheddar and sour cream (1/4 cup each per serving) for a total cost of $5.40. Half a cantaloupe at 75 cents would bring the meal to $6.15, or just over my goal of $1.50 per person. Or serve WATERMELON ICE POPS or homemade vanilla yogurt to keep it under $1.50. (Just add a bit of sweetener and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract to a quart of HOMEMADE YOGURT.) Not that you really need a dessert, of course. You could save that extra 60 cents and use it another day, instead. I’m just trying to show you how much food you can get for $1.50 per person.

When I was at the Hub on Tuesday (Did you go to the Hub Family Lunch? What a delicious bunch of food! And a lot of it came from things they had grown in the various gardens.), they had beautiful carrots with fresh feathery tops. When I saw the recipe for CARROT AND GROUND BEEF SKILLET, and especially the description of the little truly-baby carrots the author gets from her local farmer (about the size of her finger), it reminded me of those carrots. Not in size, of course, but in the fresh crisp sweetness of them. Actually, it seems a shame to use those Hub carrots in cooking; they should be savored raw and plain and fresh. Just buy some at the store. It won’t be as good as using the super-fresh carrots, but a lot more practical. A batch of this should cost about $4.75, assuming that you have to buy the green onions. If you happen to have some in your garden that need to be thinned anyway, you’ll save $1.00, and it will only cost about $3.75. But I’ll assume that you’re going to be buying them. You shouldn’t need much to go with it. How about a seedless cucumber (50 cents at the Market last Saturday) in either sour cream or vinegar and oil? Or some fresh fruit – maybe a couple of peaches diced and added to HOMEMADE YOGURT? Two peaches and a quart (4 cups) of yogurt and you’re still under $6.00. Or the cucumbers for a total of about $5.50. You can’t have both, unfortunately. But you could have the cucumbers and either ORANGE ICE POPS or WATERMELON ICE POPS and stay under $6.00.

Eggplant (another of those words that I don’t know whether to add an “s” to) is not nearly as prolific as zucchini, but it’s widely available at the Farmers Market now. (Kayte said they should be getting lots of it from the Hoosier Hills gardens later this summer.) They were running 75 cents to a dollar each on Saturday. It seemed to depend in part on the size but also on the vendor. If you have time, check around for the best deal. The original recipe for EGGPLANT AND GROUND BEEF CASSEROLE called for slicing four medium eggplants, sautéing them in butter, and then layering them with the meat sauce. Using one big eggplant, dicing it and combining it with the sauce makes the casserole a lot quicker and easier to make. It’s not as pretty, but lots, lots easier. The cost of $4.60 leaves room in the budget for a pound and a half of green beans or broocoli.

The final recipe, TURKEY LOAF, is meatloaf with ground turkey instead of ground beef. Since it’s on sale for the same price, I thought I’d include it. The problem is that with all the veggies in it, it costs $5.15 for a loaf. You can either go with four big slices and just have a simple salad or a pile of buttered zucchini to go with it, or you can get six smaller slices out of it. With six slices, four servings are just $3.90 and you can have a salad and/or ZUCCHINI AND CARROTS and/or some fruit for dessert. Any two out of three should keep it under $6.00.

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!

Where's the Budget Ground Beef? and Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

This is a horrible week for specials! Or maybe it’s just the price increases that they’ve been talking about so much and I don’t recognize good prices. Here are the few things that seem like good deals to me.

Marsh has family pack chicken leg quarters for 79 cents a pound. Three one-pound packs of strawberries are $5.00, or $1.67 per pound. Frozen vegetables are $5.00 for two 32-ounce (two pound) bags. That’s $2.50 per bag, or $1.25 per pound. When comparing this to the price for other vegetables, be sure to check the size of the packages. A lot of them are 10 ounces these days, or maybe 12 ounces. These two-pound bags come out to 78 cents for 10 ounces or 94 cents for 12 ounces. The picture shows corn and broccoli; other vegetables may be on sale, too. These prices are good through next Wednesday, April 2.

IGA has “bunched broccoli” two for $3.00, or $1.50 each. It may be a good price, depending on how big the “bunches” are. Don’t forget that the stalk is good eating, too. It needs to be peeled, though. I use a knife to cut back the thick peel, then pull it off. Most of it comes off that way. “Tomatoes on the Vine” are 99 cents a pound. Frozen vegetables are ten 1-pound bags for $10.00, or $1.00 a pound. “Selected varieties” are at this price; the picture shows a bag of mixed vegetables. “Selected varieties” of canned vegetables are two for $1.00, or 50 cents each. Three 8-ounce packages of chunk cheese are $5.00, or $1.67 each, or $3.33 per pound. Shredded cheese is the same price. These prices are good through Sunday, March 30.

Aldi has fresh broccoli for 99 cents for a 1-pound package. If you shop there, you know that their produce is all prepackaged. I’ve noticed that some vegetables are a lot bigger than they say. You might be able to get a better deal if you can find a big package. Strawberries are $1.49 a pound. These prices are good through Tuesday, April 1.

Kroger has Anjou pears and Asian pears for 99 cents a pound. Are you familiar with Asian pears? They look more like apples, have brown skin and very crisp slightly grainy flesh. Ground turkey is $2.50 a pound.

It seems like all I ever talk about is chicken and pork, chicken and pork, with an occasion foray into fish or hamburger. I’m tired of chicken and pork! But then again, what else is there besides chicken, pork, beef and fish? OK, there’s also lamb (too expensive), turkey (done that one, too), duck and goose (also too expensive), venison (if you happen to hunt), and beef other than hamburger (too expensive). But from a practical standpoint, there’s not much except chicken, pork, beef and fish. The thing to do is to find different ways of fixing them.

Do you realize I’ve been doing this column just over six months now? The first column came out on September 3, 2013. I went back and did some checking and, if I’ve counted correctly (always a questionable assumption), I’ve given 166 recipes so far! A few of them are duplicates, but not many. Probably 150 is more like it. That includes 11 recipes for beef (6 corned beef and 5 hamburger – I thought there were a lot more for hamburger), 40 recipes for chicken (no wonder I’m tired of talking about chicken!) and 10 for turkey, 4 for eggs, 11 for fish, 40 for pork (17 for pork chops and roasts, 11 for ham, and 12 for sausage), 29 for miscellaneous things like tortilla chips and pumpkin pie, 13 for salads, 15 for soups, and 51 for vegetables! Yes, I know that comes to a lot more than 150, but some things fall into more than one category. Like chicken soup is both chicken and soup. Based on this informal and probably inaccurate analysis, it looks like I should see what I can do with hamburger, if it ever goes on sale again. Even at sales prices, though, it’s still too expensive to be much of a “budget” meat.

Hamburger isn’t on sale this week, but IGA has ground chuck for $2.99 a pound in the three pound or bigger packages. I guess that is on sale; I just tend to think that a sale price on hamburger should be under $2.00 a pound. Let’s go with the ground chuck. I’m going to try to keep my dinners to $1.50 per person, but I’m allowing myself some leeway here. I’m willing to go as high as $2.00 per person. That means cutting back on breakfast or lunch to keep the day’s meals at $4.00 per person or less, so I’ll throw in a couple of menus for them, too.

First, BREAKFAST. My breakfasts tend to be pretty boring; how about yours? Especially since I don't eat grains of any type, so no cereal, pancakes or waffles, toast, etc. I don't know how much cereal costs these days, but I'd guess that my eggs are probably cheaper than most name brand sugary cereals.

What’s a cheap LUNCH? How about a big bowl of soup or salad? Not just a bowl of lettuce, but lots of protein, too. And definitely not just a can of soup!

Back to the hamburger recipes. Cabbage rolls are very tedious to make. Or at least it seems to me that they would be. I’ve never actually made them because they sound so finicky. CABBAGE ROLL CASSEROLE gives you the flavor of traditional cabbage rolls without all the blanching and rolling and filling and so forth. A batch of this will cost about $5.00 and will make four big servings. If you want to serve something with it, how about some carrot sticks. A good dollop of sour cream on each serving would be good, too. These will keep it to $6.00 total, or $1.50 per person.

KANSAS CITY BEEF SOUP is full of ground beef and vegetables in a rich butter-and-flour gravy. 

It costs about $9.20 for eight servings, or $1.15 per serving. How about some carrot and celery sticks to go with. Or some wedges of iceberg lettuce with dressing. You can stay under $1.50 per serving either way. Using a can of vegetables instead of the frozen would save 50 for the batch. Or you could use two cans of vegetables instead of the frozen vegetables, which would make it even chunkier and would make the servings a little bit bigger and it would still cost about $9.20.

The final recipe, CHEESY BEEF AND GREEN BEANS, is super quick. The cheese makes it a little more expensive than the other recipes. It comes to $5.80 for four servings. They’re big servings, but you’ll still probably want something to go with it. Some iceberg lettuce with dressing would be good, or a simple cabbage salad or coleslaw. Or some fresh fruit. You could slice up a couple of pounds of the Anjou pears or the Asian pears. They would probably have to be sliced and shared because they will probably be too big for everyone to have a whole pear. Or some canned fruit would be good. Just be sure to get some that’s canned in juice and not in a sugary syrup. It should come to under $8.00, or under $2.00 per person, with any of these additions.

Steak Salad

Leftover LONDON BROIL, thinly sliced across the grain

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Other vegetables of choice (sliced onion, fresh corn, cucumbers, shredded carrot, etc.)

SIMPLE VINAIGRETTE, made with olive oil, vinegar (balsamic if possible, or red wine), garlic, oregano, extra mustard, and no honey

Make a bed of lettuce on individual plates, then layer the steak and vegetables. Drizzle with dressing. Or toss everything together with the dressing, which is a lot easier and gets the dressing better distributed but doesn’t look as nice.

London Broil

(based on http://allrecipes.com/recipe/london-broil-ii/ and reviews)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 t salt

3 T soy sauce

1 T ketchup

1 T oil

½ t pepper

½ t dried oregano

3 lb top round steak, 1” to 1-1/2” thick

Combine everything but the steak in a small bowl and mix well. Score both sides of the meat in a diamond pattern, cutting about 1/8” deep. Rub the garlic mixture into both sides of the meat, then put the meat and any remaining marinade in a zippered plastic bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours, turning occasionally. Broil or grill for about 6 to 10 minutes per side. It should be cooked no more than medium-well. Overcooking will make it tough. Slice diagonally across the grain in thin slices. Makes 8 servings.

Taco Salad

Taco salad is another main-dish salad that's made with whatever you happen to have on hand and feel like using. You can add additional toppings, if you like - salsa, jalapenos, olives, etc.

1 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

Taco seasonings

1 head lettuce, shredded or chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

Grape tomatoes, halved

4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

1 c sour cream

Cook ground beef, the first half onion, and the taco seasonings in a heavy skillet. Set aside. Divide the lettuce among four bowls. Top with the cooked meat, the remaining half onion, the grape tomatoes, cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Zucchini Skillet Supper

(More-with-Less Cookbook, by Doris Janzen Longacre, 1976)

4 c thinly sliced zucchini

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 oz mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1 T oil

1 14-oz can tomatoes, undrained

Salt, pepper and oregano to taste

2 c cooked chicken, beef, ham or ground beef

Parmesan cheese, to serve

Saute zucchini, onion and mushrooms in oil. Add tomatoes, seasonings and meat and simmer until heated through. Serve in soup bowls and sprinkle with cheese. 4 servings.

Eggplant Casserole

(allrecipes.com)

4 cups water

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil; add eggplant. Boil for 5-8 minutes or until tender; drain and set aside. In a skillet, cook beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until tomato is tender. Remove from the heat. Stir in milk, egg and eggplant; mix well. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Toss bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through. It would be good with grated Parmesan instead of or in addition to the buttered bread crumbs, but it would cost a bit more, too.

Eggplant Soup

(based on a recipe in Healthy and Hearty Soups: Vegetable, Chowder, Creamy, Chilled, All-in-One, edited by Cynthia Krejcsi)

2 T butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 14-oz can tomatoes, undrained

1 large eggplant, chopped (1 lb)

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

6 c water

1 lb beef, fish or chicken, cut into small pieces

In a large saucepan, melt the butter; saute the onion, tomatoes and eggplant until tender. Add salt and pepper. Puree vegetables in a blender or food processor. Return to pan and add water and meat. Heat not quite to boiling; reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until meat is tender. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Eggplant and Ground Beef Casserole

(based on a recipe at cooks.com)

1 big eggplant, diced
1 lg. onion, coarsely chopped
butter
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
2/3 c. tomato paste
2 c. water
1 tsp. salt
Black pepper to taste

Saute chopped onion in butter until golden. Add ground beef and cook, stirring constantly, until it is crumbled and browned. Combine tomato paste with water, add salt and pepper and pour mixture over meat. Add diced eggplant, bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Put the beef and eggplant mixture in a baking dish and bake, uncovered in a 350 degree oven until eggplant is tender, about 20 minutes.

Carrot and Ground Beef Skillet

(based on a recipe at http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/meat-charcuterie/spiced-carrot-and-ground-beef-stir-fry-recipe/)

2 lbs carrots

1 bunch green onions

2 T olive oil or rendered chicken or pork fat

2 t cumin

½ t cayenne, or to taste

1 t salt

1 lb ground beef

2 T lemon juice or lime juice, or 1 lemon or 1 lime

Peel the carrots and cut them into sticks about 4” long and ½” wide. Slice the green onions, separating the white and green parts.

Heat the oil or fat in a large skillet. Add the carrots and the white part of the onions. Sprinkle with cumin, cayenne and salt; stir well to combine. Cover the skillet but leave the lid slightly ajar and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the carrots are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Crumbled the ground beef into the skillet and mix it with the carrots. Add the green part of the green onions and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes, stirring often, until the meat is done. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle with the lemon or lime juice and serve immediately. If using the whole lime or lemon, serve the beef and carrots and immediately and give each person a quarter of the fruit to squeeze over their own serving.

Zucchini and Ground Beef Casserole

(based on a recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/zucchini-and-ground-beef-casserole-461077)

1 lb ground beef

1/2 medium onion, chopped (about 1-1/2 oz)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 c salsa with tomatoes, onions and chilis

1 t ground cumin

12 oz zucchini, in 1/4” dice (if seeds are big, remove them before weighing), about 2 medium or 1 large or part of a really big one

Brown ground beef with chopped onion and garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until meat is well done. Add salsa and cumin. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes over low heat. Add the zucchini, cover and cook for about 10 minutes longer. Zucchini should be cooked but not mushy.

BZM-MHC Zucchini Meatloaf

(based on a recipe at http://articles.philly.com/1990-09-02/food/25878500_1_zucchini-bread-dessert-recipes-onion - which, by the way, includes 50 recipes for using up overgrown zucchini!)

2 slices bread, crusts removed (save crusts to make breadcrumbs)

1/2 c milk

2 lbs ground meat (all ground beef or a mixture of beef, pork, veal, sausage, chicken or turkey)

1 medium onion, minced

2 eggs

1/2 c ketchup (or tomato sauce – it has a lot less sugar than ketchup)

2 T Worcestershire sauce

2 t mustard
1 t salt

2 c BZM (BASIC ZUCCHINI MIXTURE)

Start by getting out the pan you’re going to be using to bake the meatloaf. You can use a small, rimmed (definitely rimmed!) baking sheet, or an 8-cup casserole or a 9x9 baking dish. The reason for getting the pan out first is that your hands are going to be really messy and if you have everything out you don’t have to wash your hands in between steps.

Soak the bread in the milk for a few minutes while you mix up the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix the ground meat, onion, eggs, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and BZM. The best way to mix it is to get in there with your (clean!) hands and mix it up good. If you really can’t stand the idea of raw egg and raw meat on your hands, you can wear clean plastic gloves, but bare hands work better. You’re going to give them a really good wash when you’re through, anyway. Crumble the soaked bread on top of the meat mixture, pour any remaining milk over it, and mix it all up together. Form it into a rough loaf on the baking sheet, casserole or baking dish you got out first. Now you’re done mixing things with your hands, so go ahead and wash them. Really well. Including under your fingernails. Bake it at 375 for about two hours.

Hamburger Quiche

(based on a recipe at food.com)

1/2 lb ground beef

1/3 c chopped bell pepper (it’s great if you have it, but just skip it if you don’t)

1/3 c onion

1/3 c mayo

2 eggs

1-1/2 c shredded cheddar or Swiss cheese

Salt and pepper

1/2 c milk (or cream)

Brown meat with onions and pepper. Drain fat. Meanwhile, blend remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth, for at least two minutes. (If you don’t have a blender, use a mixer, or just stir it really well with a spoon.) Spoon the ground beef into a 9” pie pan or into a baking dish and spread it evenly over the bottom. Pour the egg mixture over the meat. You may need to rearrange the meat a bit to get it spread evenly again. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

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.

Browned in the Oven Bulk Ground Beef

Spread the ground beef out on rimmed baking pans. Some people pat it down flat and others crumble it in the pans. Some people cover the crumbles with water and others don’t. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Remove from heat and drain off fat. When it’s cool enough to handle, break it up into crumbles. Divide it into recipe-size containers and refrigerate, then freeze. To use, thaw the meat, break it up, and use it in soups, casseroles, etc. as you would browned ground beef.

From comments online, many commercial kitchens brown their ground beef in the oven when they need to cook large quantities.

Browned in Water Bulk Ground Beef

There are two ways to start this. One is to put a good amount of water in a big pan, like a stockpot (depending on how much meat you want to cook), then break it up with your hands in the water until it’s in small, watery bits. The other is to put the meat in the pan first, then add water and mash it up until it’s in small, watery bits, with plenty of water to cover. Boil for about 30 to 40 minutes. Drain carefully, saving the water/juices/fat. Use the water and juices for making soup and either save the fat to use as drippings or throw them out. Don’t pour them down the drain, though, or you’re likely to clog up your drains and/or the sewer lines. Divide it into recipe-size containers and refrigerate, then freeze. To use, thaw the meat, break it up, and use it in soups, casseroles, etc. as you would browned ground beef.

I read someplace, but can't find it now, that you can do something similar if you just chucked the chub of ground beef in the freezer when you got it, because you just couldn't face dealing with it at the time. As I recall (and I wish I could find it so I could verify it), you put the whole frozen chub in the stockpot of water and scrape off the thawed meat whenever you think about it until it's all thawed and loose in the water. Then proceed as above. 

Browned in the Crock Pot Bulk Ground Beef

Put raw meat in crock pot or slow cooker and break it up some. Add some onions, garlic and/or peppers if you want to. You might not want to add them now, since you don’t know what you’ll be using it for. And peppers will be cheaper in a month or so anyway. You can add salt and pepper and other seasonings, too, but you need to remember it’s already seasoned when you use it later. Cook on high for about 4 to 8 hours, depending on how much ground beef you’re cooking. It will take longer if you’re cooking more. Break it up every now and then, like every 15 to 30 minutes if you happen to think about it, or at least every couple of hours. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a huge meatball like hunk of meat. Drain thoroughly. Divide it into recipe-size containers and refrigerate, then freeze. To use, thaw the meat, break it up, and use it in soups, casseroles, etc. as you would browned ground beef. Note that some people have expressed concern that the meat will remain in the “danger zone” of 40-140 degrees too long, increasing the danger of food borne illness. You’ll have to decide that one for yourself. But you definitely won’t want to use a big hunk (like a 5-pound chub) of frozen meat for this. And, by the way, you can cook ground turkey the same way.

Moroccan Rub

(parade.condenast.com)

1 T ground cumin

1 T paprika

1 t onion powder

2 t turmeric

Pinch of cayenne

Pinch of garlic powder

1 T dried parsley

2 t dried coriander

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

Mix all ingredients. Store in a cool, dark place. Use within three months. Use on chicken, beef and fish.