Recent Dinners

I haven't made any nightly dinner posts since last Wednesday, so let me do a quick update:

Thursday afternoon was spent sleeping off a migraine, so I was in no shape to cook that night (nor did I have much appetite). So my family opened up a frozen bagged meal - Birdseye Steamfresh was the brand, in some beef, mushroom and pasta flavor. The funny thing is, I served this exact variety a few months ago and everybody (including sister, who was joining us that night) liked it. Not loved it, but liked it well enough for me to buy the same thing again. This time, however, we all thought it was terrible. Go figure. I don't recall exactly what I paid for it, but I think it was around $3 after sale & double coupon. Good thing it wasn't expensive, because we didn't even keep the leftovers.

Friday we ate out.

Saturday I roasted a Hormel Mesquite BBQ Pork Tenderloin in the oven. On the side I served sauteed pierogies and buttered cabbage. The pork tenderloin was only $3 (down from $8 or so) after sale + super double coupon. The pierogies only .75 a box after BOGO + $1 off coupon. And the cabbage was about $1 for a small head. So $4.75 for dinner for 4 (sister joined us) with leftover pork and cabbage left over. It was a nothing-special sort of meal, but everyone left the table satisfied.

Sunday is The Kid's night at youth group, so we heated a frozen pizza.

Monday night was the biggest disappointment of all. I found this recipe for Balsamic-Glazed Lam Meat Loaf in last month's Real Simple magazine and couldn't wait to try it. The verdict: The Kid liked it a lot, but both of the adults thought it was awful. The thyme called for in the recipe completely overpowered the flavor of the meat, even though I had cut the amount by more than half. (I've come to the conclusion that I just don't like thyme and won't be using it in any future recipes.) I would have thrown out the leftovers but The Kid wanted to save them for lunches. (I think I'll serve it on pita bread with lettuce and tomato, sort of gyro-style.) The only saving grace of the recipe was the red onion/red pepper/white bean mixture served on the side. We all really liked that and I'll be making that on its own again. (I purposely left out the thyme, and used jarred roasted red peppers because that's what I had on hand.) Luckily I didn't pay much for the ground lamb. Harris Teeter was the only store where I was able to find it, but I got it on meat markdown for $2 instead of the normal $6/lb. The cost of the rest of the meatloaf ingredients were negligible, and the total cost for the bean/onion/pepper mixture was about $2.