Made roast beef last night, medium rare. Used bolar blade, marinated for 24 hours. Turned out really well, and photo shows that I don’t know how to slice meat properly 😂 Also had potatoes and carrots roasting under the meat.
Sandwiches and wraps for the week, for sure!
Edit: It’s been a real weird last few days. Slipped my mind to post recipe: https://www.recipetineats.com/marinated-roast-beef/
This is bolar blade, which is a pretty economical cut of beef. I paid about $18 for this 1.1kg, so it was $17/kg or something.
Man it is getting expensive, I haven’t bought beef in like a year. I buy cuts around up to 6/pound, just like roasts and those other cheaper cuts, at aldi or otherwise on sale at the regular grocers. 9/pound is just too much, especially as I eat so much.
I know. I have embraced my love for legumes so I’ve been eating more vegetarian nowadays. If you have an instant pot, cooking up legumes from dry is excellent on the wallet. My partner is more of a meat eater, so I will make some meaty things every week to keep him happy. I do make an exception for chicken, though.
Shopping around has been a habit since I was young, and I don’t like to buy from the big grocery chains (especially: Coles, Woolworths, Galen Weston, Walmart. 🖕) unless I have to… Like if Aldi (best of what’s around me) doesn’t have what I need.
I’m sad couponing isn’t a thing in Australia, or I’d be all over it.
Giant bag of rice is another great way to stretch the meal dollars and works great with an instant pot too!
100%. Make a real nice saucy chickpea curry with all the veg and you’re set!
I have been doing beans from scratch as well, I don’t know why I never did before, canned is ok but when you eat a lot it’s way more expensive than it has to be. They take forever to cook but I just put a pot on my woodstove and 12 hours later they are done.
Beans are great with like canned tomatoes, even tofu, and other veggies.
I need other better meat substitutes, tofu is so so, not all that cheap though, it’s like 1.50 a pound even at aldi, and it doesn’t go that far.
Other that that in the city there’s a place that often but not always has young turkeys on sale for .50 a pound, I stocked up but am running low, except I have a lot of turkey stock I need to use, freezer is full of remnants of carcasses and bit pots of some, heating some right now, maybe to throw carrots and celery in there for soup which is good but gets old quick eating it back to back for a week.
Other than that I’ve lots of vinegar from alcohol brews that got infected, so I buy vegetables and wash and cut and throw in the buckets of vinegar, which is great, and keeps the veggies forever. Cabbage, zuchini, cucumber, jalapeno, garlic, onion, even radishes, and the like.
I’ve been saving money, haven’t been to the grocery store, or to town, since the holidays, have to run soon before maple syrup season starts in earnest around march 1st. Unfortunately turkey place is not near though, lots of beans this time around and idk what else, I guess tofu if not meat on sale which is unlikely. Chicken maybe. Hopefully I can find a fresh deer on the side of the road instead.
That’s a long time to cook beans from dry, though I’ve never done it before except in an Instant Pot, which takes less than an hour to turn two cups of dried chickpeas in to about 5-6 cups of edible chickpeas.
I don’t want to assume anything, but have you tried different cuisines to change things up? I’m trying to up my beans and lentils and chickpeas intake, so I’ve done all sorts of things like hummus, Brazilian chickpea curry, Indian chickpea curry, bean chili, pasta e fagioli. I’m also one of those people who can’t eat the same thing for more than a week, so I’m always looking for different ways to change up flavours and textures.
That’s a killer price on turkey! Do you have a stick blender to use to make a blended vegetable soup? Potatoes, pumpkins, leeks, turkey stock, pretty much all of the vegetables. And then put in shredded turkey and noodles/pasta or something. Add the usual salt, pepper, cumin, etc. Serve with smoked paprika, or cream/Greek yogurt/coconut cream, and bread on the side.
One of the most important things for me is to have a full stock of different herbs and spices, and ice cube trays to freeze leftover anything small enough to freeze (I especially do this with ginger, garlic and other herbs destined to die in the back of the fridge).
It’s a struggle. I’ve been there, too. I’m happy to share recipes that I’ve made, and substitutes that I’ve done. Absolutely no shame or high-horsed-ness about any of this - Food is food, and we’re in this together. 👊