Friday, December 30, 2011

Poor Man's Dinner


That's what the recipe was called.  It looked better in the magazine, but it still tasted pretty good.  It's a layered dish of ground beef, potatoes, and onions topped with mushroom soup.  I found it in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks.

Living from paycheck to paycheck is not fun.  It sucks to check your balance and discover you have $20 to last until you get paid again in 4 days.  My New Year's resolution is to save up several month's rent (at least) in readily available cash so I don't have to stress over that particular situation any more.  I'm not going to buy any more furniture or take any more non-camping trips until I've succeeded.  I'm also going to be eating at home.

I'm not talented enough to come up with my own recipes, but I can take a look in the pantry and then dig through my books to find something utilizing ingredients I already have.  The trick is to hunt for menu ideas while you're hungry and everything looks good, but go shopping when you're not hungry and nothing does.  It's much easier to stick to a list when it's not dinnertime.

I'm off to a decent start.  I already had pepper, garlic powder, and onions.  I bought ground beef ($2.98), potatoes ($3.72), 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (56 cents each), milk (98 cents), and parsley (50 cents).  I forgot to use the parsley.  Ooops.  It came to $1.55 per serving.  Yes, I can eat all six servings because I freeze the leftovers for later.  They are tastier, healthier, and far less expensive than the frozen dinners you buy at the grocery store.

What do you cut back on when you're tightening your budget?  Got any ideas for me?


     

8 comments:

Jen said...

I'm not sure if it's Blogger, my computer, or my internet provider, but this isn't working tonight. I meant to schedule this to post at a later date. I give up. Happy New Year everyone.

Tempo said...

Australia has it's own special cook book thats been going since the lean days of the worldwide depression of the 1930's. It comes out afresh every few years with revised recipes..The Green and Gold.

Brian Miller said...

nice...my mom used to make this all the time...eating out we cut, and we come up with creative ways to be entertained...there are lots of free things if you search online for entertainment...

Kelly said...

Despite seeing all the food "presentation" on TV and in magazines...the bottom line is how it tastes!

One thing I've learned from comparing notes with my siblings is that we all have our own ways of cutting back and saving, depending on what things are important to us.

Hope you have a great 2012!

Amanda said...

My life involves a lot of beans. In fact, I used to hate legumes and trained myself to like them to save money.

Also, smoked ham hocks can cure a mountain of ills.

sage said...

That looks good. There was a time when I used to eat very cheap--in the late 80s and early 90s, my grocery bill was less than $100 a month--I ate lots of beans and rice--I'd fix a pot every week and eat it until gone. May you have a wonderful 2012!

Claire said...

well i'm sure it tasted better than it looks ha! I'm on a soup run at the moment. If it's left over...we're having it for soup the next day! I feel like a new woman and cant believe i've never done this before haha!

Anita said...

Good that you know how to stretch a dollar! Keep making wise decisions and you'll get back on track.

Best wishes for prosperity this year!

I gotta go eat now! :)

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