33 cent Meals

[Amaranth]

This is a revival of the 20 cent meal thread, with a change to 33 cents to relect the rising food costs in many areas. If you can still do a 20 cent meal though, please feel free to share, and we can be amazed at your area's prices and your ability to sleuth out the amazing sales.

To get us started, here's a meal based on this week's seasonal spring foods.

***Salad Sushi and Root Vegetable Soup***
Root Vegetable Soup
Sauteed Greens
Salad Sushi

.09 Dark Chicken Meat Roasted 2oz
.00 Pan drippings from roasting chicken
.07 Cooked White Rice .75 cup
.00 Rice water from cooking rice in excess water
.03 3 leaves romaine lettuce
.03 Small carrot
.03 Asian White Radish half
.00 Greens from radish tops
.02 Scallion
.005 Garlic clove half
.02 White Vinegar 1.5T
.01 Sugar
.01 Salt, Black pepper
---------
.315

Roast Chicken. Reserve pan drippings.

Peel well scrubbed radish, julienne, marinate in vinegar and salt. Finely dice radish peels and reserve.

Cook rice in excess water.
Make sushi rice.

Peel well scrubbed carrot, cut off three 1/8 inch slices at wide end and reserve, julienne rest of carrot. Cut three end slices into flower shapes. Finely dice scraps from making flower shapes and peels and reserve.

Blanch 6 inch piece of scallion green and plunge into cold water to preserve color. Remove immediately and drain.

Slice white part of scallion into thin slices. Slice remainder of green part into thin rings.

Greens:
Cut radish greens into bite size pieces. Cook in small amount of water until just done. Drain and reserve cooking water. Drink cooking water if you like. Slice garlic thinly. Sautee in 1T drippings until lightly cooked. Stir into greens and toss to distribute.

To make soup:
Saute white part of onion and diced carrot pieces in 1T of onion drippings. Add 1 cup rice water, diced radish, and a bit of salt. Cut parts of the 3 lettuce leaves not being used for sushi wrappers into .25 inch dice. One minute before serving add lettuce pieces and turn off heat. Just before serving add 3 carrot flowers and green scallion rings.

Sushi-general:
Use the widest 6 inch section of the top of the lettuce leaves. Spread 1/3 of the rice mixture on each leaf. Add center ingredients, roll and cut into 4 pieces.

Chicken salad sushi:
Finely dice cooked chicken and add black pepper and a bit of salt.

Pickled daikon sushi:
Drain marinated radish (can use to dress a future salad)
Use blanched green onion strip and the drained radish.

Carrot sushi
Use julienne carrot.

Arrange sushi on plate with chicken in the center row or mix within each row with nicest cut side facing up.

[Stella]

Thanks for the recipe! I am going to give this some topic some thought. I always loved these topics!

[puglogic]

I love these too. I'll watch what we eat over the coming days and see if anything fits.

[Amaranth]

Here's another using Winter specials and sales.

***Winter Sweet Potato Soup with Onion Focaccia***

.03 2 oz diced onion
.01 ham fat
.06 1 oz minced smoked ham
.00 2 cups spring or filtered water
.06 4 oz sweet potato, diced
.08 2 oz collard greens, slivered

.08 1/6 homemade(sourdough starter) focaccia with sautéed onions
---------
.32

[Mrs-M]

Wow! Great recipes, Amaranth! I'm at the mercy of, and under the direction of a major handicap, related to challenges like this, seeing that we are such a large family, but I'm not discouraged. Dropping by and supporting those who can take part in creative meal options (for pennies) is fun, not to mention, there's a learning side that comes with it.

[mara61]

I was hoping you would do something like this again, thank you for posting!

[Amaranth]

under the direction of a major handicap, related to challenges like this, seeing that we are such a large family,

People with large families are welcome to participate. In this thread, we are listing one person's portion of the meal and the costs. So if your dish makes enough for 8 or 12, just divide the costs by that (see calculator on your computer, probably under accessories under the start button). If you make homemade bread and cut it into 20 slices, list the cost of 1 or 2 slices--whatever is eaten for that meal.


I was hoping you would do something like this again, thank you for posting!

You're welcome. Also I'd be happy to create regional meals if people want to let me know what the really good specials are in their areas in various weeks.

[Mrs-M]

Great point, Amaranth. Going to review this topic in the days to come in hopes of sharing a recipe or two.

[mara61]

bump..I'm still working on some recipes, don't want this to get lost

[Amaranth]

Chickpea Curry 25 cents per meal
http://www.womenthrive.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1127&Itemid=1
Serve with 8 cents of cooked rice for a 33 cent meal

Spicy refried beans 7 cents per serving
http://www.womenthrive.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1128&Itemid=1

Polenta-biscotti style 9 cents per serving
http://www.womenthrive.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1134&Itemid=1
They suggest topping the slices with marinara and basil.

[rosarugosa]

Oh, I'm going to ask DH to try the polenta!

[Amaranth]

Bumping this up to work in tandem with the $1 and under meal thread.

[Amaranth]

Red and White Fish Soup with Onion Foccacia

.025 Red Onions .25 lb
.04 Oil 1 T
.00 Water or fish broth 2 cups
.05 Carrot .1 lb
.10 Fish .1 lb
.06 Bok Choy 2oz
.005 or less Salt and Pepper
--------
.28

.05 1/6 of a Homemade Onion Foccacia (better sale on flour than the last time making this for the thread)
_____
.33

[shadowmoss]

When I try to click on the links for the recipes I just get the index page for that site with no search window. Can you post the recipes or give directions on how to get to them?

[dado potato]

For one:

2 c. Cooked pasta in a dinner plate
Drizzle olive oil, use a fork to distribute.
(My EVOO is Manestrini, $25 for 500ml; I don't claim that it is frugal.)
Half cup of shredded mozzarella
(costs less if you shred your own at home)
1/8 green bell pepper (seeds excluded) chopped
microwave 2 minutes

Use fork to distribute melted cheese.

Serve with 12 roasted unsalted almonds.
(I buy in bulk at about $8 per pound, but I haven't gone to the trouble of calculating the cost per almond. Anybody know how many roasted unsalted almonds in the pound?)

[Amaranth]

Here are the new link addresses for the three recipes:

Chickpea Curry
http://womenthrive.org/blog/2-recipe-challenge-chana-masala-chickpea-curry


Refried Beans
http://womenthrive.org/blog/2-recipe-challenge-refried-beans

Polenta Biscotti Style
http://womenthrive.org/blog/2-recipe-challenge-polenta

[Amaranth]

Roasted unsalted whole almonds average 22 per ounce
So 16x22=352 per pound

[SteveinMN]

.10 Fish .1 lb

Amaranth, where do you find fish for $1/pound? And is it dressed or boned?

[Amaranth]

We live in an area where fresh fish is caught, so there are usually 1-2 varieties of fish on sale for .99 a pound whole. It costs more if you want them to prep it.

[SteveinMN]

Thanks, Amaranth. The only time we see fish that cheap here ... well, come to think of it, we never do. Even the "rough" bottom-lake fish, chunked and entombed in Styrofoam and wrap, goes for $2-3 a pound. Fish at $.99 here would be an incredible find or food poisoning waiting to happen. :0! I sure wish I lived closer to more fresh fish, however.

[dado potato]

Amaranth,

Wow, thanks! With your nugget of information I can say the almond aspect of the above recipe would run about 27 cents per serving.

Even if the oil were a more economical canola (for which we have Canadians to thank), I seriously doubt the meal would come in at less than 33 cents!

[dado potato]

SteveinMN,

I am waiting (just a little while longer) for conditions to be right to ice-fish for bluegills and crappies. You might be fairly close to some decent spots too. The best bait on our lakes is a "waxy".

In addition to the cost of bait, there would be gas plus a thermos of whatchyagot to drink (in my case chai spiced tea).

[SteveinMN]

I am waiting (just a little while longer) for conditions to be right to ice-fish for bluegills and crappies.
I've never been ice-fishing, though last night we were with some friends who want to go and who have invited me to join them. I have gone fishing two other times. I enjoyed both trips. But all I had to show for them was a pound-and-a-half Northern (which was considerably less than a pound-and-a-half once it was gutted). At $15 for the fishing license, I might as well show up at Coastal Seafoods and get the fish from them.:doh:

But, yes, if I were equipped to fish regularly, that would be one way of acquiring fresh tasty fish for not much money.

[Stella]

Tonight's dinner was probably close to that. We had Senate Bean Soup. One onion, a ham hock, a package of Great Northern Beans, a splash of oil and salt and pepper makes a pot big enough to feed my family of 8 for two days if it's served with bread.

I think our Friday dinner would have been close if we had used milk instead of half and half bought from a small local dairy. That was cream of broccoli soup. 2 onions, 1 lb frozen broccoli ($1 at Aldi), 3 potatoes (10lbs for $1.99) and a cup of milk or half and half. It fed my family and there was enough leftover for someone for lunch, so probably 6-8 servings (Dad wasn't home that night and Charlotte doesn't eat that much).

[Amaranth]

Stella, you can definitely do the Senate Bean soup for this challenge. We also do one that's similar to the second variety of Senate Bean soup that they do except we swap out the garlic and use carrots. And it's still within the challenge as well.

Festive Senate Bean Soup III
.00 water 2 cups
.09 navy beans 2oz
.10 ham 1oz
.02 oil 2t
.01 onion, diced and sauteed 2 oz
.025 potatoes, cooked and mashed .25 lb (peeled or not as you like or save the peels for potato skins)
.015 stalk of celery, .5 stalk, diced fine
.025 carrot, .5 carrot, diced fine
.005 pepper to taste and maybe salt if ham is not salty
A sprig of parsley chopped if you grow it, added at the end
_______________
.29

.02 Slices of homemade bread 2
.02 Butter 2t
____________
.04

.33 Total

If not sticking to the challenge constraints, a whole carrot is nice and perhaps a whole stalk of celery if your family likes celery a lot as we do. This would add .04 to the recipe. If you wind up buying parsley that could add another .02-.04 to the total per serving. It isn't really needed taste wise, but it adds good color and nutrition and some more flavor.

I bet the broccoli recipe would fit in the challenge as well. Will cost it out when I get a chance.

Ice fishing sounds like a great addition to meals this time of year. I have seen pictures of people doing it. How is that done while minimizing the change that the area the ice fishing house is over will melt?

[Amaranth]

I think our Friday dinner would have been close if we had used milk instead of half and half bought from a small local dairy. That was cream of broccoli soup. 2 onions, 1 lb frozen broccoli ($1 at Aldi), 3 potatoes (10lbs for $1.99) and a cup of milk or half and half. It fed my family and there was enough leftover for someone for lunch, so probably 6-8 servings (Dad wasn't home that night and Charlotte doesn't eat that much).

Worked out a cost for Stella's Broccoli Soup with it serving 8.
Stella, please let me know if I need to increase any of the ingredients per serving.

.01 Onions 1oz
.01 Butter 1t
.06 Broccoli 2oz
.02 Potatoes 1.5oz
.00 Water 1.25 cups
.03 Milk 1oz or .07 Half and half
--------------
.13 or .17 with half and half

This is only 118 calories though with milk and just 19 more with half and half. So if you added 2 slices of homemade bread and butter, that would get it up to .17 or .21 and make it about a 400 calorie meal.

[Stella]

That sounds about right Amaranth. Thanks for doing that.

[Tiam]

Somehow I'm sure I couldn't buy a carrot for .03 though.

[Amaranth]

Somehow I'm sure I couldn't buy a carrot for .03 though.
Some people on here can get carrots for about 2.5 cents. Our best at the moment is about 5 cents for the standard size carrot, hence the use of half a carrot in the soup serving.

What are the best deals for you at the moment? For ours I would say:
1 or 2 for 10 lbs potatoes
.99 for 5 lbs flour
.25 or .33 lb sweet potatoes
.26 or .30 lb onions
.33 or .39 for a pound of cabbage

[Amaranth]

33 cent meals from Ms. Jack Monroe
http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/below-the-line-budget-recipes/

Meal #1 22p
Jardaloo Ma Murghi (Curry With Apricots) 22p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/04/09/jardaloo-ma-murghi-curry-with-apricots-22p/

Meal #2 24p
Indian spiced Veggie Burger with fixings 9p+15=24p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/04/06/carrot-cumin-kidney-bean-burger-9p/

Meal #3 17p
Sunshine Bread (A golden loaf with pineapple, carrot, and sultanas) 8p
Egg 9p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/03/20/sunshine-bread-pineapple-carrot-sultana-8-pennies/

Meal #4 22p
Carrot and Coriander Soup 15p
Parsnip, Thyme, and Parmesan Loaf, but made with sourdough and divided into 6 servings 7p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/02/20/carrot-and-coriander-soup-15p/
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/02/04/parsnip-thyme-and-parmesan-loaf-14p/

Meal #5 19p
Tomato and Haricot Soup 15 p
Simple Herb Bread, but made with sourdough 4p
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2012/12/19/tomato-and-haricot-soup-15p/
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/02/13/simple-herb-bread-7p/