Cheap Chinese

What do you do with one pork chop?   This was my quandry.  It was a meaty boneless chop, and I decided to make an Asian dish.  Didn't get around to cooking the rice until late, but I did fry up two  pieces of bacon and scramble an egg.  I had a few chicken scraps that I had leftover from a rotisserie chicken, what our supermarket calls Five Buck Cluck, because on Thursday, it's reduced to $5.00.  
We had some mushrooms, celery, various kinds of onions, and I bought some green beans for 99 cents a pound, the remainder of which will be used tomorrow.  Cooked up the rice and started sauteing.    And slicing and chopping.  Started to smell really good.  Added some sesame oil.  Parboiled the beans, yada, yada.  Made a nice salad of romaine and oranges.   Concocted some broth from the pork chop frying and the bottom of the chicken container.  Thickened with a bit of cornstarch.  Added a dash of Chinese hot pepper sauce and some soy.  Final touch was the bacon, egg and a few sliced almonds.  Yum!  Enough left for lunch. 


I saved a few mushrooms to put into the Swiss steak tomorrow.   We do eat well, but I am finding it difficult to buy a week's groceries for under $100.00.  We are all stocked up on frozen items now, and have some meat in the freezer.  Plenty of pasta and canned soups.   Company coming for a week the first of the month, so some extras have been purchased.  Still . . 


Round steak on sale for $3.39  per pound.  I  pound it, flour it, and saute it in some canola oil.  Add an onion, the mushrooms (remember the mushrooms), an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, some dried marjoram, and plenty of salt and pepper.  We'll have asparagus, green beans, mashed potatoes and a salad.  Good deal on romaine today.  My sales slip said I saved $35.00.  Not too bad.  


It's a struggle, isn't it?  I spend a lot of time looking at the specials and planning menus.  Of course it pays off in the long run, but the effort isn't fun.   We splurged on fresh rhubarb.  I'm taking an upside down rhubarb cake to a party on Saturday, and we'll have some rhubarb cooked with strawberries, raspberries and cranberries.  


In Europe in the summer, esp. in Germany and Austria, there's a red fruit dessert called "rote gruetze" or red groats.  Very healthy and nutricous.  We never find red currants here, but we concoct our own take on the dessert and it's invariably delicious.  


I worked in the garden today.  Almost 80 degrees and a beautiful day.     The beds are ready for planting, and I'm doing just that tomorrow:  mesclun lettuces, spinach and dill.  The lilac that took a direct hit from a big oak during Hurricane Irene is looking pretty good.  My wild ginger is spreading and the heath has bloomed all winter, a first.  Crocus blooming and daffodils ready.  Forsythia coming soon.  I never remember a spring this early.  Somebody steals the suet out of the bird feeder every night.  Ants in the house.  Spring!  




The Cheeseparer


The orange cat constantly escapes but is pretty good about coming home soon.