Recipe: Cube Steak Cheese Burgers

Today I wanted a burger.  This was made difficult by the fact that I had no ground beef, no grill, and it was raining.  It was made easier by my knack for improvisation.  I had laid out some cube steak in the fridge and some rolls and cheese.  The recipe itself couldn't be easier:

You will need

1 pack cube steak (comes 3 to a pack, I found mine on sale for about $1.60)
Hamburger buns or rolls
Your favorite cheese
Sides (I did frozen green beans (16 cents a serving) and sweet potato fries (52 cents a serving)
Salt and Pepper

To cook the cube steak I coated in some flour, salt, and pepper. Heat a bit of oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Once the pan is extremely hot put in the cube steak (you should hear a loud sizzle). Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side or until the juices run mostly clear.  Top with cheese and put a lid over the pan so the steam will quickly melt the cheese.  Remove from heat and serve on your choice of bun.

I had never tried this recipe before today and from what I found the taste and texture of the cube steak done in this way was really nice.  I also liked that I didn't have to worry about the "burger" falling apart. My one caveat is that there were a few bites where the meat attempted to escape the burger  with the bite I took.  This was few and far between though.

Here is the finished plate:

Tips: Don't Skip the Sides!

So if you are a keen shopper you no doubt have a good bit of meat in your freezer that you got at a great price.  Now comes the challenge.  What do you cook with it? Not many people want to simply cook a piece of meat and eat it by itself.  Not only is this boring but it also robs you of many nutrients that the sides  can bring.  Buying them also doesn't have to break the bank.  Here are some ideas of things that every pantry should have that will keep the ideas flowing and the meats being used:

Pasta/Pasta Sauce:  With store brand (think Great Value or Market Pantry) regular and whole grain pastas going for little more than a dollar a pack you should always have a packet or two of pasta in your pantry.  Whole grain pastas cook in the same time as their regular counter parts.  Try and vary the pasta shape when you buy so you don't get stuck in a pasta rut.  As for the pasta sauce, go with what you like: Alfredo, pesto, garlic, tomato, sausage, basil. The possibilities to change up a dish are near endless with the variety ensuring that you will always have variety.

Rice:  Rice is another great pantry item.  Ready fairly quickly it can add a nice side to any meat.  If you are in a time crunch most evenings this is one place that I would recommend against a brown rice unless you can find a quick cooking version.  If not you are looking at a 40ish minute cooking process...not alot  of fun after a long day.

Frozen Veggies:  For the most bang for your buck go with frozen vegetables.  Store brands run around $1 per 16 oz bag.  Buy a few different types of vegetables and cook only what you need then put the rest of the bag back in the freezer.  They will keep until you cycle back to them.  You also have quite a few choices from broccoli to carrots to corn to green beans, all of which bring great nutrition to a meal.

Canned Veggies/Beans:  A few canned vegetables are staples too.  A can of your favorite type of tomato to add to a dish for example.  A few cans of beans are also good to have.  They can be seasoned and served on their own or added to a wide variety of soups and dishes.  Canned beans also do not need to be soaked before using so they are ready when you are.

Boxed Stock:  I always try and keep a box of chicken stock on hand for cooking.  It is great used for soups but also for rice and couscous to add flavor or added to the pan to make a gravy.  What is great about the boxed stocks is that after you use them they can be put in the refrigerator and kept for a good bit of time.

Misc:  There are many other things that can help round out a meal.  Boxed mashed potato mixes often come with two 2-serving packages that taste good and are ready quick.  If you like your vegetables with a sauce Green Giant and Birds Eye both make frozen veggie packs with cheese or butter sauces; however, they are more expensive so you might consider making your own.  If you are a fan of tacos keep some taco/fajita seasoning on hand and pretty much any protein can be turned into a fiesta night.  

Review: Alexia All Natural Sweet Potato Julienne Fries

I love sweet potato fries.  At this point in my life I think I love them more than regular fries so I am always looking for a way to have them at home instead of having to go to a restaurant to find them.  Problem is that many stores either don't carry them or they are expensive.  I also don't have the proper kitchen equipment or fortitude of will to buy my own sweet potatoes and cut them into fries.

The other day I was walking through the store and I saw the Alexia brand Sweet Potato fries for $2.09.  The bag isn't huge but I got 4 servings out of my bag, which is not a bad deal on sweet potato deliciousness.  The fries couldn't be easier to make either.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and cook, flipping once or twice.  For the first serving of them I cooked it the recommended amount of time- around 22 minutes.  The fries had a great flavor but weren't as crispy as I tend to like them, a problem that oven cooked fries will often have.  For the second cooking I let them cook closer to 30-35 minutes.  The fries were a little crispier but I don't think they would ever get the crunch of an oil fried fry.

That being said the fries themselves have a great flavor and taste like sweet potato.  The insides even manage to retain a bit of the "stickiness" that sweet potatoes have which gives a great mouth feel to them.  If you are watching your sodium these fries come with either very little or no salt on them so they are a great alternative to heavily salted potato fries.  Whats more is you probably won't even be wanting to put that much salt on them.

All in all I would definitely recommend everyone to try these if you can find them.  The ease of preparation, cost, healthiness, and flavor outweigh the lack of total crispiness.

4 out of 5 sweet potatoes

Under $10 Recipe: Pesto Alfredo Spaghetti with Chicken and Broccoli

I made the following 8 serving recipe for $7.35 (before taxes).  The recipe itself is not necessarily groundbreaking but it shows what a keen eye can find you and how a few additions can bulk up the base meal.  This turned out to be a meal that would be great to serve to friends or for filling and energy providing lunches.  All of these items were bought at Target (the ones in the north have grocery sections as well as dry food).

You will need:

1 6-pack Perdue Chicken Thighs ($1.26)
1 box Market Pantry Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti ($1.09)
2 16oz bags Market Pantry Broccoli Cuts ($0.99 each)
1 jar Archer Farms Basil Pesto Alfredo Sauce ($2.99)
2 cups spaghetti cooking water reserved

Fill a large pot 3/4 full of water and put over high heat on the stove.  Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized cubes and then season liberally with salt and pepper.  Cook thighs in a skillet with a a small bit of oil then set to the side.  When the large pot begins to boil salt heavily and add the two bags of broccoli (bring back to a boil) and cook for 6-7 minutes.  If the pot is large enough you can also add the spaghetti at this step.  If not, cook the broccoli, use a handheld strainer to remove it then add the spaghetti to the boiling water.  Cook 6-7 for listed spaghetti or follow the box if using a different brand.  Before you drain the spaghetti reserve 2 cups of the cooking water.  Drain spaghetti and add it, the broccoli, and the chicken back into the large pot.  Pour Pesto Alfredo over the top and mix in.  If you need to thin the sauce add the reserved pasta water as needed.
Serves ~8

A few notes about the recipe.  I found the thighs on clearance with a $3 off coupon, look to see what is on sale at your store.  The broccoli cuts add a good bit of bulk and nice texture but have more stems and less florets so if you prefer more florets you might substitute for the Green Giant Brand or buy a head of broccoli and chop it up.  Finally, you can really choose what sauce you wish for this, especially if you don't like pesto.  I would imagine you could cut off another dollar or so with a different stores pesto Alfredo sauce.  

Tips: Frozen Vegetables vs. Canned Vegetables

Given my last post on frozen foods you may be thinking I don't see a place for them in the kitchen.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Frozen vegetables can be a time saver and with constant sales a money saver as well.  Whats great about frozen vegetables is even with all of the big name brands and store name brands out there, they are all under the same guidelines about how soon they have to freeze the the vegetables after they are picked.  This can lead to frozen vegetables being "fresher" than the ones in the store, and for many of them a much better pick over the canned alternative.

Great Canned Vegetables: 
Tomatoes: Tomatoes are a great canned...fruit.  They don't need to stay firm and can pack a lot of flavor and ease.  You can buy the tomatoes in any size you want (small diced, diced, whole, crushed, sliced) so you can add it to your dish however you desire.

Beans:  Beans are another great option.  They come out perfect from the can as long as you wash off the starchy liquid they are in, and don't need to be soaked over night to be used.  A can of beans can add a great bump in protein to any dish.

Great Frozen Vegetables 
Broccoli:  Broccoli is a great frozen vegetable to add to pastas, curries, or as a side dish.  You can often find the store brand on sale for around a dollar for a large bag of it making it a great deal.  Boil the broccoli in salted water for around 7 minutes and it will come out green and crisp.

Asparagus:  Asparagus is something that I generally would suggest buying fresh however frozen can work nicely for pasta and side dishes, especially the asparagus cuts.  Cook it in some salted, boiling water for 5-7 minutes and then drain.  Asparagus should never ever ever ever be bought in a can.  When you open the can you will be hit by a very strong asparagus smell and droopy, soggy, mushy asparagus.

Spinach:  Occasionally you can find store selling fresh spinach for 99 cents to 2 for $5 in the stores.  However, if you are trying to make creamed spinach or add it to a sauce or soup, frozen spinach can be a great substitute.  Cost wise it is usually more effective to buy one block for frozen than it is to buy the same amount fresh and then wilt it down.  Make sure you salt and pepper the spinach before you add it to the final dish so that the natural flavors get kicked back up to life.

Most Anything Else:  Corn, carrots, peppers, and on and on can now all be bought frozen.  If the store selection doesn't look great check out the freezers and see what is on sale.  It can be your best friend in trying to add some fresh veggies to your diet on the cheap without sacrificing any of the flavor or nutrition.

Tips: How to Capitalize on Clearance/Food Reaching Exp Date

When living on a budget, clearance shopping can be very smart, but if you are not careful it can also cost you money.  Many times clearance comes when a product is either overstocked or getting close to its expiration date.  This can lead to the store putting clearance stickers, specials sales, or other promotions on it leading to great deals.  Getting some things on clearance can be luck, but it can also come from a keen eye.

Buy it on Markdown/Clearance:

Meat
As you look at this you are probably thinking ewww, but you shouldn't be.  The "expiration date" on meat is really a freeze-by date.  If the meat looks to be in good condition, i.e. ground meats pink with no grey and no strange spots or dull color on whole meats, then you are good to go.  Working in the grocery section of a retail store I no longer spend more than $3 on packs of meat.  This is the good stuff too: Chicken Breasts, Chicken Thighs, London Broils, Ground Beefs, and so on.

Don't Be Afraid To Ask
Let's say you are in the store and you see a pack of Chicken Breasts expiring that day.  They look really good but they are at full price.  Don't be afraid to find someone working in the meat or grocery department and ask if you can get a price cut.  Many places already have a system in place for it but it is possible that they missed it during their daily routines.  Spotting it and asking, at least where I work, could net you up to $3 off the product.

Things You Usually Buy
If there is a food product you usually buy and you see it on markdown and clearance, stock up.  This is especially true if it can be frozen.  Always look at the dates on the items you are buying, sometimes it can be from overstock and not expiration that leads to clearance so you can know how long you have to enjoy it.

What Not to Buy

Milk
This is more of a general tip, but occasionally milk does get a clearance sticker.  This is when date is key.    If the date is a couple of days away and you have a gallon you need to realistically assess whether you can drink it all before it goes bad.  If not, it is money down the drain no matter what you saved on clearance.

Bread/Bakery
Another set of items very similar to milk.  Just because you see the bread on the $1 cart doesn't mean it is a good deal.  Look to see when it expires.  If you aren't going to use it that night, I would say pass...or you might wake up to a science project (mold) happening in your kitchen.  Leading to more money down the drain.

Things you Don't Like/Don't Need/Not Sure You'd Like
This is a tricky one because clearance can be a great time to try something out.  However, if it is something outside of the realm of things you think you would like, or a brand you usually don't prefer, skip it.  If you don't wind up eating the food you buy it is money down the drain.  So if you don't like soy milk, but see it on sale....don't buy it.  Same goes with something you don't need (obviously excluding to some extent things that you can freeze).  This is a judgement call on your part about how low the price is versus how much you want it/can use it.

So there you go, a couple of thoughts on clearance items.  They can be a great way to save money as long as you don't simply buy because you see a sale.

Recipe: Salsa Chicken

Today I decided that I needed to start using up the rest of the tortillas I had from the last time I made taco meat (most of which I wound up freezing).  However, I didn't really feel like having run of the mill tacos.  So on the fly I whipped this up and I have to say it turned out really well.  The flour on the chicken helps the sauce thicken and stick and the salsa gives it a great flavor.  The best part is that no taco seasoning packet is required so you can make this pretty much any time.  You could even do it without the tortillas and serve it alongside spanish rice and beans.  The dish can easily be doubles or tripled but the recipe will feed 2 people no problem and 3-4 if you portion the meat out smaller.

You will need:

3 Chicken Breasts or 4-5 Chicken Thighs cut into chunky cubes
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
~3 tablespoons flour
Vegetable Oil
Optional Spices:
Paprika
Red Pepper Flakes
1/4-1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4-1/2 cup salsa (your favorite brand; not pico de gallo)

Tortillas
Cheese
Other Taco fixings if desired (lettuce, tomato, guac or sliced avocado)

First cube the chicken into sizable chunks.  Season with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes.  Mix to evenly coat chicken.   Begin heating vegetable oil in a large saute pan, just enough to cover the bottom, you will not need a huge amount. In a paper bag, large plastic container with top, or large bowl add around 3 tablespoons of flour, a little salt, and a little pepper.  Add the chicken and toss to coat the chicken in a light dusting of flour.  Test the oil with one chicken cube.  If the pan is hot enough you should hear a sizzle.  Add the chicken and cook on medium high to high until golden on all sides and the chicken is cooked through.  This should take around 6-8 minutes.  When cooked add the chicken broth and salsa to the pan and stir to combine.  You will see it turn into a golden sauce that coats the chicken.  Reduce heat to medium and allow the sauce to thicken (around 3 minutes).  Serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 tacos