*Note to Self...copyright and pitch the show "The Messy Chef" to Food Network
Cue the one pot meals. I love these kinds of meals. Everything in one pot means less dishes that need to be cleaned and put away.
I checked my fridge and my haul from Aldi's, and I found some ground beef and some beautiful looking green peppers. I knew that I had some frozen peas, some onion, some pasta sauce and some quinoa (again, I could have purchased these at Aldi's but I didn't want to be wasteful).
The choice was obvious....
STUFFED PEPPERS!!!!!!
So here's what I did
Ingredients
Approximately 1 lb ground beef (I used 80/20)
1 cup frozen peas
1 small onion chopped
2 medium green peppers, sliced in halves
2 cups pasta sauce
11/2 cup quinoa
1 tbsp. butter
4 slices provolone cheese (optional)
Directions
1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside
2. Heat butter in a sauce pan. Add onions and cook until translucent.
3. Add ground beef and brown until done. Drain off excess grease (optional)
4. Add pasta sauce and peas. Simmer for approximately 10 minutes, stirring mixture.
5. Combine quinoa and meat mixture. Mix thoroughly.
6. Spoon mixture into green peppers halves. Transfer to a baking dish. Add enough water to cover
the bottoms of the peppers.
7. Cook on 375 for approximately 45 minutes or until pepper is tender.
8. Add optional cheese to tops of peppers 10 minutes before removing from the oven.
This recipe gave me a TON of leftover mixture. I froze half of what remained for another night. The rest I gave to my kids, who do not enjoy eating peppers. They chose to top their mixture with "Chinese cheese" which to the layman is grated parmesan in a shaker.
It was super tasty and super filling. Cost wise, here is the breakdown:
Ground Beef: $4.35 (but more like$2.20 because I had leftovers)
Green Peppers: 66 cents
Peas: 50 cents for a can (based off prices at Aldi)
Pasta Sauce: $1.50 (based off prices at Aldi)
Onion: 50 cents (based off prices at Aldi)
*The quinoa I used I could not find at my store. I will have to look for it again on my next trip. I paid approximately $10 for a 2 lb bag, of which I used approximately 1 cup, bringing my cost to roughly $2 for the quinoa.
That brings my grand total for this meal to $9.51, leaving off the provolone cheese (which I don't have a price for), which I will divide in half, since I have leftovers. The total cost is $4.75. That fed two hungry adults, and two not so hungry kiddos.
WOW! I can't believe how little it cost to make so much! As you can see, one pepper half is enough for me. My husband ate 2, and we had one half leftover. The meal is full of vegetables (I count 4 different vegetables, which includes the tomato sauce), protein and vitamins and minerals. It's quick and easy, and involves minimal dishes.
Let me know what you think of the recipe!
TOMORROW NIGHT: Turkey kielbasa, sauerkraut and sautéed spinach, all purchased at Aldi
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