The Change That Adds Up…Week 7
Last week we made Chinese Food for The Change That Adds Up…so this week I wanted to go bigger. Like Big Big. No, there isn’t going to be any pomp and circumstance, no elaborate recipe. Nothing crazy. Just good – and on the cheap.
Most of us around here tend to “go out” to eat at a place like an Outback. You know, a steakhouse of some sort. But steaks out are really pretty pricy. And if you have a grill at home, and it’s the weekend, and the weather is in the 70s, well, you should just stay home and have some meat. Play in the yard. Hang out and relax. Pray that those buds on your peach trees won’t shrivel up and die tomorrow when the weather drops a whopping 50 degrees. Just saying.
This week, Food Lion had their Porterhouse Steaks on a huge sale…and when I caught the butcher there, I had him cut a couple of extra thick ones – over an inch thick each. This brought the weight of each steak to just over a pound – like 19 ounces each. They were ginormous. Obviously, we couldn’t even eat a whole one, so we took the leftovers and had steak fajitas the next night. Yum.
But back to the steaks…
Jon does a pretty simple marinade, salt and pepper, a little Worchestershire. Let the meat speak for itself, you know? While he was grilling the steak and an aluminum foil pouch full of buttery mushrooms, I was baking up some jalapeno and four cheese scalloped potatoes and cooking some green beans. It all came together in about 20 minutes – less than the amount of time it would have taken us to drive to Princeton or Blacksburg for dinner out.
Now, for a meal like this out, we’re talking high dollar…
2 19oz. Steaks – $24.95 each
2 drinks – $4.50
Add the Mushrooms – $3.98
Tax & Tip – $18.00
Total – $76.38
Ouch and a half.
Our meal at home…
2 19oz steaks (at $4.98/pound – half price!) – $11.83
Can of Beans – $.76
Butter, Seasonings – $.50
Mushrooms – $1.99
Scalloped Potatoes – $1.00 (really, using a coupon, I got them for free.)
Drinks – $1.00
Total – $17.08
Total Savings – $59.30, plus, we had plenty of meat for the fajitas the next night and Seven and I had beans and potatoes the next day for lunch. Nothing went to waste.
Not too shabby, eh? Make sure to come back next week for round 8…who knows what we’ll have? Any suggestions? Anyone?
One last note…
Fear Not! I have winners for the Yoplait Giveaway!
Dayna – Maria – Katrina…You Win!
Each of you have won the Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack…I hope you’ll have a lot of fun with it!
Click on the email button on the sidebar above to get me your full name and address and I will get you your winnings!
For more things to win – check out the Bumkins Bib Giveaway and an Apron Giveaway from The Way We Wear – there’s still time, so scroll on back a few posts for details!
