Food Budget, Day 11

I tried something new for dinner tonight. I had found a recipe in one of my cookbooks for Cardamom Beef. I am a huge fan of cardamom. I did not like every aspect of this recipe, so I modified it - as I usually do. I took an onion, sliced it and sauteed it until it was caramelized. Meanwhile I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper and cardamom. I then thinly sliced the meat and added it to the onions. I continued to cook it until the meat was done, about 8 minutes. I served this with some mashed sweet potatoes and whole wheat biscuits. This was the comfort meal that Lamar was looking for. The meat was delicious and everyone had rave reviews for it.

The meat was locally raised and purchased from a local butcher in November when I did a large stock up on meat. A great way to save money on meat is to become friends with your butcher. He knows what I like and does not roll his eyes when I ask for grass fed local beef. He will order in whatever I want and when I buy a larger quantity he gives it to me for very close to cost.

So where am I on the budget. I mentioned the $25 spent earlier in the week, Lamar spent $8 on food when he went to the bowling alley with the girls (although it was on crap food, it was well spent in my opinion, since I was completely incapable of cooking). I will estimate that the meat for last night cost about $6. This brings us up to $39 for the week. I still have $41 to get me through the next few days. I will go to the store on Friday for produce. I also need to come up with a great meal for Valentines day, since we are not going out for dinner this year.