The Return of Bargain Menus

It’s the return of the weekly menu! Here’s dinner for two for 6 nights (assuming you want leftovers or take out once a week) complete with shopping list & recipes.

These menus assume that you know how to cook already, so it may call for something like cooked rice without telling you how to cook it. Most recipes are super flexible so you can substitute whatever is in your pantry or fridge at will.

Tips for cooking, or for cooking ahead are included - if you see “Save for future meals” then set those ingredients aside for later in the week.  Since the original menus were meant to be low cost, they shopping lists don’t include a lot of luxury. If you have the extra funds you can toss in an avocado or fancier cheese.

BARGAIN MENU B01

Saturday

Fish Cakes

Rice

Peas

Save for future meals

cooked rice

frozen peas

egg yolk

Tip:  Cook and refrigerate extra rice for Tuesday night.

Sunday

Waldorfish Salad

Cheese Toasts

Save for future meals

bread

celery

Tip:  Mix a little grated cheese with a little butter, spread on bread and run under the broiler. MMMMMM.

Monday

Pink-o Flannel Hash

Poached Eggs

Toast

Save for future meals

frozen mixed veg

sour cream

Tuesday

Fried rice

Tip:  Almost any protein (nuts, tofu, meat, even scrambled egg) and any veg, frozen or leftover, will work with this basic technique.

Wednesday

Cream of Celery Soup

Grilled Cheese

Tip:  Tuna sandwiches would also be nice here.

Thursday

Mushroom Stroganoff

Peas

Tip:  For more flavor, choose more exotic mushrooms – crimini and shitake are nice here.

Shopping & Recipes

Shopping & recipes are scaled for two adults.  Increase or decrease as needed to allow for your household.  I assume you have a few things in the pantry, but since your pantry may not look like mine, those items are separated out on the shopping list.

In the pantry:

cornstarch

bay leaf

soy sauce

vinegar

sugar

red pepper flakes

oil

dried dill

mayonnaise

ground cumin

mustard

salt

garlic

curry powder

bread crumbs

vegetable oil spray

Produce:

onion, 5 small

apples, 2

limes, 2

mushrooms, 26

celery, 1 bunch

potatoes, red 3 small

potato, 1 russet

beets, 2 small

carrot, 1

bean sprouts, 1 cup/3 oz.

Dairy & cheese:

butter, 1 stick

whipping cream, ½ pint

eggs, 3-5 depending on hash

blue cheese, small chunk

sour cream or Greek yogurt, 8 oz.

cheese for sandwiches, 6 oz.

Grocery:

pasta

bread

tuna

mixed vegetables, frozen

peas, frozen

rice, 12 oz.  

broth, 5 cups

Meat:

1 lb. cooked chicken, turkey or ham, in one chunk if possible

Fish Cakes

1/3 cup finely minced onion

1 tsp. good olive oil

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. mustard

1/4 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 egg white (save yolk for later)

12 oz canned tuna

1 ½ cups dried bread crumbs

vegetable spray

Sauté onion in olive oil until soft.  Drain tuna.  Mix together everything but bread crumbs.  Form fish mixture a teaspoon at a time into small flat cakes.  Dip in bread crumbs and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment.  Spray lightly with vegetable oil.  Bake at 350° until golden, about 20 minutes.  Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Waldorfish Salad

8 oz. cooked turkey, chicken or ham, chopped

2 crisp apples

1 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice

1 cup sliced celery

¼ cup minced onion

¼ cup mayonnaise

blue cheese to taste

lettuce

Chop apple and toss with lime juice. Mix everything together, adding blue cheese last. Serve on a bed of lettuce.

Pink-o Flannel Hash with Dill Sour Cream

1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

1 tsp. lemon or lime juice

2 tsp. dried dill

2-3 small boiled potatoes

1 small onion, chopped

~ 2/3 cup frozen vegetables

2 small beets, steamed

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 egg yolk

olive oil

kosher salt to taste

Mix together sour cream, juice and dill. Refrigerate for one hour before using. Coarsely chop potatoes, onions and veg. Mash half of the mixture. Add egg and soy sauce to the mash, then stir gently into vegetable mixture. Chop beets and add to vegetables. Heat a large skillet and add olive oil to coat the bottom generously. Heap hash into pan and press into a tidy cake, salting if desired. Cook until bottom is brown and crisp, pressing down occasionally to compact hash. Add more oil as needed. Turn cake and cook until second side is browned.  Serve topped with one or two poached or fried eggs.

Fried Rice

2 Tbsp. oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, thinly sliced

6 mushrooms, quartered

1 cup cooked veg

1 cup bean sprouts

2 cups cooked rice

8 oz. diced cooked chicken, turkey or ham

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. vinegar

½ tsp. sugar

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

Cook onions & carrots in 1 Tbsp. oil for 2 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook two minutes.  Throw in cooked veg and bean sprouts and cover pan.  Let steam 4 minutes.  Remove lid and push vegetables to edges of pan.  Pour remaining tablespoon of oil in center of pan and add rice and nuts.  Cook, stirring frequently, until rice is hot through, about 2 minutes.  Mix remaining ingredients together and drizzle over rice.  Stir and serve.

Cream of Celery Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 cups celery,  chopped

1 onion, diced

1 russet potato, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic

4 cups broth

1 tsp. salt

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup whipping cream

Sauté celery and onion in oil 5 minutes. Add garlic. Add remaining ingredients except cream and cook uncovered until vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf and discard. Reserve 1 cup of cooked celery; puree remaining soup. Return to heat and stir in reserved celery and cream. Heat to a bare simmer and serve.

Mushroom Stroganoff

6 oz (uncooked) pasta

1 tsp. olive oil

20 mushrooms, sliced thin

1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin

1 cup broth

1 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. cold broth

1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

Cook onions in oil 2-3 minutes.  Add mushrooms and sauté 3 minutes.  Remove & reserve.  Turn heat to high, add broth and cook 5 minutes.  Turn to low, add veg.  Add cornstarch/broth mixture and stir until sauce thickens slightly. Turn off heat and add sour cream. Serve over cooked pasta.