Cheap Meals for Winter Evenings

We had one pork chop, and it wasn't huge, but I sauteed it with a little Sezchuan pepper.  Cooked a cup of rice.  Scrambled an egg without stirring, so it was nice and flat.  Found two slices boiled ham in the fridge.  Here we go! 


Stir fry is the next best thing to "soup from a nail."    I had some scallions, fresh ginger (I keep it around) and a little bit of baby spinach.  We always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer.  I keep soy sauce and sesame oil around, too.  I bought a box of mushrooms and divided them in two for separate meals.  Sauteed everything including the rice.  Topped it off with a handful of almonds for crunch.

You shred the egg with 2 forks into little pieces.  The dish is colorful. 

The interesting thing is that every bite had some meat which I had cut into small squares.  If I hadn't had spinach, I would have used a crown of broccoli.   There were plenty of leftovers for lunch.


Tonight we had Swiss steak, which I used to make all the time when the kids were little.  I had some round steak, an onion, the rest of the mushrooms, an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce and some herbs.  Cheap ingredients!  I used oregano, marjoram and a little smoked paprika for the spices.  Oh, and 2 garlic cloves.  Pounded the meat and dipped it into flour.  

In Paris at the Pompidou Museum

We ate it with lots of Brussels sprouts and some noodles which sopped up the sauce.  I used to braise it, but I put tonight's Swiss steak in the oven to bake.  


Tomorrow we're having French onion soup and I'm baking a baguette and have some Swiss cheese to make the soup in the traditional way.  Many years ago, in Paris, we wanted a late night snack and we each ordered a bowl of soup and a Croque Monsieur.  Enough, easily, for four people, maybe six. 


I'll publish my onion soup recipe tomorrow. 
This is the month to buy bed sheets and linens.  Also, pick up any needed cards, wrapping paper, and ornaments.  We've done this for years, and I always had a tradition of hitting the sales on the 26th.  This year, we were racing from New York back to New England before the blizzard.  You can still get very nice Christmas tablecloths at rock bottom prices.  How nice to have a fresh one for the 2011 holidays. 


Pare  yourself some cheese!