A Meal that Keeps on Giving

My food and nutrition teacher in high school said when it came to cooking for two, it was cheaper to eat out. Pretty much every word that came out of her mouth was wrong, and this was no exception.

When my boyfriend and I started dating, he introduced me to this thing called “appetizers.” You eat them before you eat. His love of appetizers and my love of desserts produced hefty bills for our meals out. But this year we moved in together, and now that the bills are on us, we make an effort to eat at home and save some dough.

I won’t pretend eating in is easier than eating out, but you do save money. Sure the grocery bill is going to be higher when you start buying more than cereal and chips, but those meals turn into lunches later, which means that 1 1b of ground beef is providing three meals at least.

Here’s an example of a recent meal I made for us, which so far has provided two dinners and two lunches:

Peppers and Potatoes Beef Skillet

Ingredients

1 T Olive Oil

1 onion

1 1b ground beef

1 1b baby red skin potatoes

2 bell peppers

1.5 cups frozen peas

15 ounce can tomato sauce

12 ounce bag egg noodles

Steps

1. Slice the onion and potatoes.

2. In a large skillet heat the olive oil on medium-high and cook the sliced onion for about 3 minutes.

3. Add the beef and brown, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and move beef and onions to large bowl.

4. Boil water and cook egg noodles in saucepan.

5. Cook potatoes in skillet until tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in bell peppers and cook for an extra 8 minutes. Stir in beef, onions, frozen peas, tomato sauce and 1 cup water.

6. Cook for about 8 minutes.

Serve beef mixture on top of egg noodles.

This recipe is tweaked from a Rachael Ray recipe in Everyday Living. I strongly suggest adding Italian seasoning to the beef and onions if you make it, the tomato sauce just did not bring in enough flavor. I do plan to make this again, though, because it is filling and creates plenty of leftovers! =)