By Faye Prosser

This week at the Prosser kitchen, I am serving some very frugal beef stroganoff, tofu stuffed peppers (hey – quit making that ewww face every time I mention tofu!), and yummy BBQ chicken in the crockpot. The beef stroganoff is especially frugal because of the the great Harris Teeter coupons that I posted about on Friday. Check out the cost breakdown of the meal below.

What’s on your menu this week?

Monday

Creamy crockpot beef stroganoff
Egg noodles
Sugar smap peas
Cantaloupe

Tuesday

Tofu stuffed peppers
Spanish rice
Orange slices

Wednesday

Veggie burger melts
Sweet potato fries
Apple slices

Thursday

BBQ chicken in crockpot
Brown rice
Mixed veggies in a rosemary butter sauce
Rolls

Friday

Bagels
Cream cheese
Tomato slices and onion slices
Pasta salad
Fruit (depends on what is on sale starting Wednesday)

Saturday

Choice of tuna, ham, or turkey sandwich
Creamy tomato soup
Leftover pasta salad

Sunday

Not quite sure yet

Cost Breakdown of Beef Stroganoff Meal on Monday

Here is the cost breakdown of the beef stroganoff meal. I am double batching this crockpot dish and will freeze half to use another night in the next few weeks.

2 lbs Beef Stew Meat: on sale at Harris Teeter for $1.99/lb AND I used 2 of the $1 off $2 purchase coupons from the Harris Teeter coupons that I posted about on Friday. They were in the paper and only good through Sunday. I bought 2 packages that were each just over 1 lb. I used 2 coupons so my total for 2 lbs was $2.00 ($1.00/lb – a great price!). Total cost for this meal since I am freezing ½ = $1.00

Progresso Beef Broth: Bought carton on sale with coupon a couple months ago for .50. Used ½ of carton. Total cost for this meal since I am freezing ½ = .13

1 onion, sliced - .25. Total cost for this meal since I am freezing ½ = .13

8 oz Sour Cream - .50 on sale with coupon. Using ½ for this meal = .25

½ cup Flour to thicken - Free (flour was free at HT months ago with sale and .75 printable coupon)

2 Bay leaves, Garlic Powder and pepper to taste = .25 approximately. Total for this meal = .13

No Yolks Egg Noodles = FREE (noodles were free with a coupon and e-Lowe’s discount at Lowe’s Foods a few weeks ago.)

Green Giant Sugar Snap Peas = .50 on sale with coupon at various stores in last couple weeks

½ Cantaloupe = on sale last week for $1.50 for whole cantaloupe = .cost for this meal .75

Milk for kids to drink = .25

Total cost for this meal = $3.14

Crockpot beef recipe – add beef, broth, onion and spices to crockpot and cook on high for about 3.5 - 4 hours or low for about 7 hours. Take out bay leaves. Mix sour cream, flour and 1/4 cup water in a medium bowl. Add 1 cup broth from crockpot to sour cream mixture and stir well. Pour sour cream mixture into crockpot and stir. Let cook approx. 30 minutes to thicken sauce. Add more flour if you prefer the gravy even thicker. Pour over noodles. Enjoy!

Tofu Stuffed Peppers Recipe

This is one of our favorite meals to eat when green or red peppers are on sale. This week Harris Teeter has some large green peppers on sale for .99 each. There are many variations on stuffed peppers. I usually make them with tofu or crumbled veggie burgers as a hearty vegetarian meal. They are also great with cooked chicken or ground beef. Steam the peppers in the microwave to soften and lesson cooking time in the oven.

Stuffed Red Peppers

4 red or green peppers
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, patted dry with towel and cubed
2.5 cups cooked mexican rice (1 pouch Knorr Fiesta Sides Mexican Rice works well)
1 cup shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese for inside of peppers
¼ cup shredded cheese for top of peppers
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and spices
Garlic powder to taste
Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cut off top of peppers and core. Place peppers standing up in microwaveable glass pan. Add 1/3 cup water to bottom of pan. Microwave on high approximately 3-4 minutes until softened (length of time depends on size of peppers). Do not overcook or peppers will be too mushy to stuff. In medium mixing bowl, combine the cubed tofu, cooked rice, 1 cup shredded cheese, diced tomatoes including juice in can, garlic and pepper. Remove steamed peppers from microwave, empty any water still in them and place upright in baking dish. Fill with tofu and rice mixture. If there is extra mixture (because the peppers are smaller), place it in the pan around the peppers. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 20 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of peppers and bake for additional 5 minutes. Makes 4 hearty servings.

Cost breakdown:

Trader Joe’s Tofu: $1.49
4 Green Peppers: $4.00
Knorr Fiesta Sides Mexican Rice Pouch: $0.25 with sale and coupon
Shredded Cheese: $0.50 with sale and coupons
Can of diced tomatoes: $0.25 with sale and coupon
Garlic powder and pepper: $.05

Total cost for dish: $6.54
Cost per serving: $1.63

**We usually have 1 stuffed pepper left over to share for lunch the next day since most of us don’t eat an entire stuffed pepper at one meal (as much as I might like to eat a whole one!). The total cost for the dinner meal ends up being closer to $5.54 ($1.38 per person) since we only use 3 stuffed peppers for dinner.