Albertsons frequently has their petite sirloin steaks on sale for buy one pound get TWO free-which makes it about $3.00 a pound…this is the price I paid for the stroganoff recipe. You can always substitute wheat pasta or any type of rice for the egg noodles. The original recipe for this was in The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook….I just changed up a few things to fit my dollar amount. The entire meal for a family of four came in at $9.27.
Beef Stroganoff with Egg Noodles
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 for approx $8.32
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes or pieces
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 small onion, chopped (whatever type of onion you like)
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/4 cup dry white wine*
- 1 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 1/4 cup sour cream
- 8 oz egg noodles (or rice or wheat pasta)-cooked according to package directions
- Few snips of parsley (optional)
Directions:
Combine flour, salt and pepper in large zip-top plastic bag; add steak. Seal bag, and shake until meat is coated.
Melt butter in a large skillet, add sirloin and brown, stirring occasionally. Remove meat from skillet; cover and keep warm. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic to drippings in skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until tender. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Add wine to skillet; cook over high heat, de-glazing skilled by scraping up bits on the bottom. Cook until the wine is reduced by half.
Add beef broth and tomato paste, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Add meat and mushroom mixture; cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream; cook just until mixture is hot, stirring constantly. Serve over noodles. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
*White wine (or red)…if you don’t drink wine or have leftover wine that you won’t drink before it goes bad…pour leftovers in ice-cube trays and then put in a freezer bag when frozen. You can pop out the wine cubes and add to soups, stews, gravies or any other recipes that call for wine.
Fresh Carrots with Ginger and Garlic
Cost: about 60 cents for 4 servings
Fresh ginger is so good! When I buy it, I don’t get the entire root, I simply break off a small piece. You can freeze ginger (chopped or minced or sliced) and toss in to recipes as you want
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias (or just sliced however you want)
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
- salt and pepper
Directions:
Steam carrots in a pan of water (just enough to cover them) until almost tender. Toss in the garlic and ginger and finish cooking till carrots are fork-tender. Drain water. Add salt and pepper to taste. …..You can cook the garlic and ginger in butter and then toss in to the carrots but because the stroganoff had so much butter, I didn’t. And it still tasted great!
The BEST 4 Ingredient, No Knead Homemade Bread – Costs about 35 cents!
I got this recipe from my good friend Rachel (she made a few changes from the original recipe “New York Times No Knead Bread”.) The recipe was adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery. This is CHEAP, DELICIOUS and SO SIMPLE! It literally takes minutes to prep…don’t let the rising time put you off…once you try it, you’ll be making it all the time.
Time: 1 1/2 hours (prep and cook) plus 14-20 hours rising
Yields: one 1 1/2 lb loaf for about 35 cents
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, bread flour OR (what I used) high-altitude flour
- wheat bran (I used) or corn meal or flour as needed
Directions:
In a large bowl combine flour and salt. Add yeast to warm water and let dissolve, then whisk. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl of flour and salt and combine gently with hand. Cover bowl and let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 hours, at room temperature.
Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Lightly flour a work surface and drop bread out. Pat it down a bit, fold it and place folded side down on wheat bran (or whatever you’re using). Sprinkle top with more wheat bran and fold towel around it to where it’s loosely covered. Let sit 1-2 hours.
About thirty minutes before dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up. It may look like a mess, but that’s okay. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes then remove lid and bake 15 minutes uncovered. (If you want your bread a little less crusty, remove after 30 minutes baking.) Cool on wire rack and enjoy!
*When storing the bread you want to just loosely wrap it, don’t cover it tightly.