Meal Solutions--cheap ones!

Bad economy, spend less, blah, blah, blah....

There have been a LOT of articles out there about how to make simple changes--specifically in the food budget--to save your family some money. I am embarrassed to admit that, despite having one extremely FRUGAL mother, I don't take advantage of a LOT of the stuff I learned from her. Why? Because I'm LAZY. There, I said it! Happy?

The sad truth is that even though I KNOW that if I cut coupons and create a weekly meal plan and make a list ahead of time, blah, blah, blah I'll save OODLES of money at the grocery store, I hardly ever do it. Because it EXHAUSTS me. Over and over and over again. It's like laundry or cleaning the house--it always HAS to be done, and it's a task that is NEVER finished. And cooking is such a chore anyway since except for Pizza Fridays (oh, thank heavens for Pizza Fridays!), there is very rarely a day in which all five of us will eat what I've cooked. I'm lucky to get TWO of the five to eat--and honestly, I'm a semi-decent cook. So planning ahead for five people and trying to bring in variety so that we don't get scurvy and die of pizza boredom is a bit DAUNTING. Oh--and I'm LAZY.


BUT: here is ONE somewhat easy, cost-saving step that I almost accidentally tripped over, and it actually WORKS for my family.

My boyfriend Danny (Wegman, that is) carries those super-saver big packs of meat. I don't always indulge as 1) Not all five of us will eat it, so half of it'll go to waste, 2) I've got a tiny freezer (currently stuffed with pizzas and last year's Halloween chocolate that Mary has surprisingly not found yet), so not a lot of room to store the stuff, 3) Storing it takes WORK to separate and put in freezer bags and hello! LAZY!, 4) John does NOT like frozen meat, so if he even catches a HINT that it came out of the EVIL, only-good-for-making-ice-cubes portion of our fridge, he refuses to eat it, 5) And um...well, I'm SURE there was a 5, but...well....YOU GET THE POINT!

Anyway, I have discovered that on MOST nights I make it, MOST everybody WILL eat pork. (Who knew, right?) I've got a great recipe (again, another present from my boyfriend Danny) for baked pork chops with balsamic vinegar. And you just wouldn't believe it, but the whole gang eats it!

SO: I go to Danny's, buy the huge pack of BONELESS pork chops--eight in a pack. And on the first night, I make about five of these:


Balsamic Pork Chops
4 bone-in, center cut pork chops, 3/4 in thick (about 1 1/2 lbs). (Yeah, I use 5 boneless)
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped, or 1 tsp dried (or none if feeling lazy)
1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1. Place pork chops on a baking dish and rub each chop with 1/2 tsp EVOO and season with
salt and pepper. (Or just quickly drizzle a bit on each chop, 'cause who wants to measure?)
2. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until only a trace of pink.
3. Remove from oven and sprinkle with rosemary and balsamic vinegar. Return to oven for 2
minutes.

NOTE: To serve juicy, tender and safe pork at home, Wegmans recommends cooking to an
internal temp of 160 degrees....(Which always takes my oven MORE than the recommended
15-20 minutes--wonder if it's because I use boneless? Or if it's because I need a new oven?).

200 calories per serving.
Total fat 12g
blah, blah, blah.

OK. We have enjoyed our pork chop dinner. Usually I only have about a half of one left (the boy is the biggest pork eater and may not leave leftovers). So, usually two days later, I grab the rest of the chops left in my super-saver bag, and do the unthinkable--I make ANOTHER meal out of them!

Pork Stir Fry!
I chop the chops into one-inch pieces, season and flour them, and I stir-fry them quickly in the wok. I then throw in a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies and some terriaki or Kikoman or stir-fry sauce (whatever I have around). I make a big batch of brown rice ('cause I'm all nerdy and healthy like that)--and that's it! Easy to make, and the kids usually find SOMETHING in that big batch of meat/veggies that they like and will pick out to eat.

See--two easy meals with ONE meat purchase. And now I only have four other meals to dream up for that week (cuz, Pizza Friday is ALWAYS a given)!