Let's face it...going out on a dinner date gets pricey. A Friday or Saturday night dinner with a cocktail or other adult beverage for two of us can sometimes cost more than $70. It really starts to add up.
So, with a little elbow grease to clean off our dining table and some planning, hubs and I had 2 really nice dinners at home on Friday and Saturday night. On Friday, I made Slow Cooker Barbecued Pulled Pork from A Year of Slow Cooking. After 12 hours in the slow cooker, it was AWESOME! The recipe made enough for dinner that night, 3 containers for the freezer, and one container for the fridge. The sauce was sweet with a little kick. On Saturday, when we got home from class, I made Slow Cooker A-1 Dijon Steaks also from A Year of Slow Cooking. The recipe could not have been easier, the steak was tender, and the flavor of the A-1 and dijon really worked well together. To make both of these meals (both provided decent amounts of leftovers), veggies, and potatoes (either red or sweet), I spent about $40. Not too shabby at all for my first attempt.
What did I learn for this week? Cooking 2 meals with meat, in this case, a pork shoulder and 2 decent sized steaks, can be expensive. (Divided over the servings we have in leftovers, I suppose it isn't that bad. But I know I can do better.) So, next week, I'll plan to do one meaty entree and something either vegetarian or made with ground turkey breast (mega-healthy bargain at the local butcher) or frozen chicken breast tenders. Also, the slow cooker is a HUGE time saver. I'm so glad I found A Year of Slow Cooking. A lot of the recipes have very little prep (no cooking before you put the ingredients in the crock) and provide us with leftovers.
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