We gobbled up tonight's cheapskate dinner so quickly, I didn't even think to get a picture of it! I know, I know, I haven't posted any pictures at all yet. Yeah, I'm still working on it.
For tonight's dinner, I took a steak out of the freezer this morning and let it marinade in a bottled Italian dressing and marinade all day while I went to work. I fired up the grill pan and cooked the steak for about 5 minutes per side. (We do NOT like red or even pink meat, so we cook our meat to medium well.) The steak was probably 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, so it didn't take long at all.
While the steak was cooking, I put on a pot of water to boil, then added half a box of Barilla Piccolini wheels (my son's choice of pasta). When the pasta was cooked and drained, I added about 1 tablespoon (maybe 1 1/2) of butter, some garlic powder, and some oregano, maybe just 1/8 tsp. each. I sliced the steak up very thin and tossed the pasta and steak together.
It was such a quick and easy meal. I like that mixing the pasta with the steak helped me to stretch a steak that -- if I sliced it and served it on its own as a main course, would have been not-enough for the whole family.
Here's a cost breakdown for this very simple dinner:
about 1 lb. steak -- $2.58 (after $1 coupon)
Ken's steakhouse dressing/marinade -- just under 1/2 bottle -- $.20 (it's been too long since I bought this to know exactly how much it cost)
1 1/2 T butter -- $.18
Garlic powder and dried oregano -- $.05 (I'm positive this is an over-estimate since we used so little of these things)
To be honest, I did not serve vegetables tonight, because I just needed a quick meal before we move on to the next activity, and there's always something next to move on to.
Total for tonight's dinner: $3.01. I'd add $1.25 to cover the cost of the drinks and dessert we enjoyed (grape juice and Luigi's italian ice, both bought at Publix on sale with coupons). So, no more than $4.26 for tonight's quick, easy, and delicious dinner!
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