Price Chopper Bargain MEALS of the Week

Don't forget - if you're not a Price Chopper Shopper, you can click the link above to go to $5 Dinners and find a Bargain Meal of the Week for your grocery store!

Ok, since I've been neglecting you...and feeling really uninspired by the PC flier in recent weeks (good for snacks, etc. but the main dish meal menu was hard to come up with), I'm making a comeback with a week's worth of dinners for you at Bargain Prices! The PC flier was pretty good this week! Here are 5 day's worth of meals you can make for about $25, assuming you have a few ingredients on hand (like milk for your scalloped potatoes, butter for your corn, and salad dressing). If not, your total will increase slightly by $3 or $4. (Keep in mind that some of the meat will have to be bought in bulk - but that will help cut down on next week's shopping trip).

I'm even including a shopping list:
1 lb of London Broil Steak = $1.79/lb
2 lbs Chicken Drumsticks = $1.19/lb
1 lb 80% lean Ground Chuck = $1.99/lb or 1 lb of Villa Capri Italian Style Sausage
1 lb of boneless pork chops = B1G1 Free, these are usually $4.99 pound w/ B1G1 = $2.50/lb
1 Can Price Chopper Petite Tomatoes = $1.00
2 Zucchini @$1.29/lb = about a $1.00
1 jar of PC Applesauce = $1.oo
1 box of Betty Crocker scalloped or au gratin potatoes = $1.50, although I'm sure you could save a few cents by buying the PC brand which will be slightly cheaper, probably closer to $1.00
1 loaf of PC Italian bread = $1.49
1 bag of PC French Fries = $1.99
1 can of PC chick peas = $0.69
1 can of PC green beans = $0.50
4 ears of sweet corn = $1.92
1 box of Prince pasta = $1.00 (though I thought PC pasta is on a lower price sale for $0.87 - I'll get whichever is cheaper)
1 cantaloupe = $2.50
1 head of romaine lettuce = $0.99
2 tomatoes - $1.00 (roma tomatoes are usually about $1.88/lb)

From your pantry (or add to the shopping list if you don't have on hand) - milk, butter, Italian salad dressing, Buffalo Wing Sauce

Meal 1:
Grilled London Broil w/ corn on the cob and tossed salad
Marinate your london broil with your favorite marinade, using ingredients you have on hand - soy sauce, lemon juice, spices, salad dressings. I usually cut it into 2 or 3 pieces for faster cooking.

Meal 2:
Grilled Chicken Salad with Italian bread
Cut chicken into strips and marinate with Italian dressing or your favorite marinade (soy sauce, lemon juice, etc.)
Grill on medium for about 10 minutes on each side
Add to tossed salad made with Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and chick peas along with your family's favorite salad dressings.


Meal 3:
Goulash with Ground Beef or Italian Sausage
w/ zucchini and Italian bread
Cook pasta as directed (we like spaghetti but mostly any shape will do!)
If using ground beef, brown in skillet with diced zucchini. If using sausage, slice skin off sausage and crumble into skillet to brown.
Add diced tomatoes to skillet to heat through and add cooked pasta.
Serve with Italian bread.

Meal 4:
Grilled Boneless Pork Chops
w/ Applesauce and Scalloped Potatoes
I like to marinate my pork chops in what else? some type of salad dressing!
Grill about 15 minutes on medium each side. About 5 minutes before finished, you can add some (hopefully free with coupons in recent weeks) Kraft BBQ sauce.
Make scalloped potatoes as directed on box.
Serve with applesauce.

Meal 5:
Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks (more meat, less fat, same great taste!)
w/ french fries and cantaloupe wedges. My family usually eats about a 1/2 a bag of fries with a meal.
Try this recipe at Woman's Day here.
I omitted the celery and blue cheese because they are more expensive. I thought the fries and fruit would balance out the meal nicely.

Enjoy! Please and comments would be great! Let me know if you can do dinners for $25 this week!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Don't forget - if you're not a Price Chopper Shopper, you can click the link above to go to $5 Dinners and find a Bargain Meal of the Week for your grocery store!

Crock Pot Chicken W/ Black Beans and Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
Boneless frozen chicken breasts - $1.66/lb (must buy 4 pound bag for $4.98)
1 (15 & 1/2 oz) can of black beans - I got progresso last week for around $0.99 a can
1 15 oz. jar of salsa $1.99 for PC brand (other brands may be on sale)
1 can corn $0.59 Green Giant niblets (may be able to find PC brand 2/$1)
1 8oz package of cream cheese $1.88 for PC brand tub

Instructions: Follow the recipe at Recipe Zaar here. It looks super easy and very delicious!
Final cost: Approximately $7.oo depending on other brands being on sale, what you have on hand, and what you coupons you have (may be able to find cheaper corn, black beans
This is one I haven't actually made yet. It received all rave reviews! If you try it, please feel free to give it a little review in the comments section of this post! Thanks!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Don't forget - if you're not a Price Chopper Shopper, you can click the link above to go to $5 Dinners and find a Bargain Meal of the Week for your grocery store!

Pork Spare Ribs with Green Beans & Noodles
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless pork spareribs $2.99/lb
1 lb fresh green beans $0.99/lb
2 packages of Top Ramen Pork Flavor $0.20 = $0.40
1 cup of Italian Salad Dressing $0.50 - hopefully you have some on hand from the sales from the previous weeks. You can also buy a bottle PC Italian dressing for about $1.50.
1 cup BBQ Sauce %0.50 - ditto the top - if you used your Kraft coupons, this would be free! Otherwise, your cost for a bottle of PC bbq sauce will be about $1.00.
Total Cost: ~$5.50
Instructions:
Marinate spareribs in Italian dressing for about 30 minutes. Let them sit on the counter and come to room temperature while they're marinating.
In the meantime, steam green beans and cook Top Ramen as instructed on package.
After marinating, pre-heat the grill with medium flame. Cover grill with foil and put ribs on to cook. Cook time is about 30 minutes. Brush with bbq sauce a few minutes before they're finished.

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Well, Price Chopper never ceases to befuddle me (not that it's so hard to do lately). It appears that they have several great deals this week with B1G1 meat sales - but they haven't listed the actual prices in the flier. Nothing frustrates me more than trying to guesstimate the prices to figure out a bargain meal. So here goes -

Steak and Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
1 lb London Broil - $1.99/lb
1 package of grape tomatoes B1G1 - guesstimate - $1.50, use about 1/2 package $0.75
1 package of PC elbow macaroni - $0.88
1 green squash - $1.29 lb/ $0.60
1/2 bottle of PC Italian Salad Dressing - $0.75 (hopefully you picked up some Kraft dressing with a coupon at Wal-Mart and paid $0.08, thereby getting an even better deal)

Instructions: Marinate London Broil in 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing. Then grill as directed.
Cook pasta as directed. Add tomatoes and cubed green squash. Toss with salad dressing. Serve cold. (Grill green squash first if desired).
Cost: About $5

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Apologies, Apologies! If you've been tuning in and I wasn't here, I'm deeply sorry! After 8 crazy days in Disney World, we returned home to a family illness, then I contracted a sinus infection this weekend! I've put together a new Bargain Meal of the Week for you and will start working on the Price Chopper Price Book soon!

London Broil and Grilled Veggies
Ingredients:
1 lb of London Broil $1.99/lb
Kraft BBQ sauce $0.99 (Use $1 off coupon from the Kraft website to get it free!)
Kraft Salad Dressing $1.69 (Use $1 off coupon from the Kraft website, get it for $0.69)
Green Squash $1.29/lb, get 1 = $0.75
Green Peppers $1.69/lb, get 2 = $1.00
1/2 Vidalia Onion $0.99/lb = $0.50
Loaf of Italian Bread $0.99

Instructions:
Marinate London Broil for about 30 minutes in Kraft Salad Dressing. Try Catalina, Italian, Tuscan House Italian or Sun-dried Tomato. Cut up onion, squash and green peppers and marinate those in dressing as well.
Put London Broil on the grill about 20 minutes before the veggies. Wrap veggies in foil and place foil pack on the grill. Cook until it's done the way you like it (if you like vegetables crisper, cook less time). About 10 minutes before removing London Broil, add bbq sauce and let warm through. Serve with Italian Bread and Butter.
Total cost with coupons should be about $6.00.

Here's a quickie meal for a Week-Night Rush Dinner:
French Bread Pizzas (with Italian Bread)
2 Loaves of Italian Bread $0.99 = $1.98
1 can of Furmano's Pizza Sauce $1.29
8 oz pack of Price Chopper Shredded Mozzarella $1.99
1 lb bag of baby carrots $1.50

Slice bread through the middle and across for 4 pieces in each loaf. Top with sauce and cheese and italian seasons/grated parmesan if you have some on hand. You can pop them in your toaster oven for about 7/8 minutes until cheese is melted. Or put them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for about the same amount of time. Serve with baby carrots.
Total cost = about $6.50

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Ok, I'm losing my mind! Between planning a surprise family trip to Dis next week and life in general...I forgot to post a bargain meal for this week. Well, better late than never. Also, it gets very frustrating planning meals only from the fliers so I'm going to do some scoping after my vacation and hopefully create a PC price book that we can use to price out more items that may not be sale items but may be a good price for a recipe. Also, I'll be able to more accurately price out portions of pantry staples that we'll be using in recipes - like cups of flour, tablespoons of sugar, soy sauce, that type of thing.
Next week I'll be away but I'm not leaving 'til first thing Sunday morning so I'm hoping to have your bargain meal up on Saturday night with the new flier for Sunday.
On to the Bargain Meal of the Week!
Let's Get Grillin'! I love summer because I love cooking on my grill. Here's a favorite summer recipe for me. We use it with steak, chicken, sausage, anything!
Kabobs Without Skewers (they just add an extra step)
1 lb Boneless Bottom Sirloin Steak $2.99/lb
1/2 lb red peppers $1.68/lb divided by 2 = about 80 cents
1/2 large Vidalia Onion 99 cents/lb divided by 2 = 80 cents
1/3 bottle of Italian Dressing - about 50 cents
White or Brown Rice - cook as directed - less than a dollar

Slice steak into strips and marinate with about 1/2 the Italian dressing. Put a cover on and shake it up - marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Cut up onions and peppers into chunks and marinate them with the rest of the dressing (in a seperate bowl).
Start warming up the grill. I put foil over my grill whenever I use it because I don't like charred food. Also, the juices tend to stay on the foil and it keeps the food moist. (As the food seems to finish cooking, I jab holes in the foil with my tongs.)
I partially cook the steak and then add the veggies to the other side of the grill and cook until everything is sizzling and full cooked through. Serve over or next to rice (if you don't like it when your food touches!).
If you feel nervous about the grill, check this website Grillin' Tips here for more info.
I was really scared of the grill until about 2 summers ago. I had my husband show me step by step how to start our gas grill and I've been grilling all summer, every summer since then!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

This week, Italian Sausage links are on sale at PC for $1.99/lb. This is a real bargain since when they are not on sale, they can be up to $3.59/lb. You will need to buy the large 2.5-3 lb package so I'm going to include a few recipes you can use with your sausage after you divide it up into 1lb packages. When a recipe calls for bulk sausage, just cut off the casing, throw it in the pot, and mash up with a big spoon.

Sausage & Broccoli Skillet, click here.
Sausage - $1.99/lb
Pasta - 99cents
Cream of Broccoli Soup - Buy PC brand for around $1.00/can
Broccoli Cuts - PC brand for around $1.00-$1.50
The rest of the items you should have on hand (garlic,parmesan cheese, milk).
Total - Right around $6. Good deal, you are getting protein, carbs and veggies in one dish!

Sausage Pizza
1/2 lb sausage - $1.00
can of Furmano's pizza sauce - $1.29 (only need 1/2 - I put the other half in the freezer)
Price Chopper pizza dough - 99 cents this week!
Price Chopper Shredded Cheese - $1.99 (you'll need about 3/4 of the bag if you like cheesey pizza)
Price - Right around $5. We usually have to make 2 pizzas for our family and we have a few leftovers for lunches the next day.
If you double the recipe buy one more pizza dough, one more shredded cheese and cook up a bit more sausage. You can make 2 pizzas for about $8, much less than the cost of one pizza delivery!!

Sausage Potato Casserole, click here.
Main Ingredients:
1 lb Sausage $1.99
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup $1.00
3 cups of sliced, peeled potatoes $1 or so, depending on what side of sale you can get (they are B1G1 5 lb bag for $3.99 this week)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese - $1.00 ($1.99 for a bag)
Other items you'll probaby have on hand - onion, salt, pepper
Total cost - Around $6

Then, of course there is the traditional Pasta with Sausage I posted about here. It was my first bargain meal of the week. However, this week, substitute:
Ronzoni pasta for 99cents
Ragu Sauce is B1G1 so probaby around $2 per jar
and follow the previous cooking instructions!

Bargain Meal of the Week Price Chopper

This week's recipe is a classic from the Campbell's website:

Campbell's 15-minute Chicken and Rice Skillet; It's fast, frugal, easy and tasty!
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. vegetable oil 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts ($1.99/lb)
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Reg or 98% Fat Free) $0.88 cents
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. paprika (?2 cents)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (?2 cents)
2 cups uncooked instant white rice (box is about $1.50, 2 cups will cost about $0.60)
*2 cups fresh OR frozen broccoli flowerets (bag of PC frozen veggies between 99cents - $1.39)
Total Meal cost to feed 4 = about $4.50

Click here for the full recipe.

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper NY

Week of 3/29/09

Ingredients:
Hatfield Country Style Whole Boneless Ham $1.99/lb
Dole Pineapple Rings 10/$10 buy 1 can for $1.00
Fresh Broccoli Crowns 99cents
Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes 99cents
(if you have a coupon for the potatoes or for Dole, your total will be even less!)
Note: You will have to buy a whole ham but you only need about a pound of it for your dinner.
My suggestion: Cut the ham before you cook it. First cut it in half. Then from each half cut about a pound worth of ham steaks. Bag them up seperately and put them in the freezer. Then put your other pound or so of ham into another bag to bake another time.

Instructions:
Place ham in baking dish. Pour pineapple juice over it and pineapple rings. Let pineapple rings on the pan heat through with the ham. It will add a nice flavor and warm pineapple from the oven is a favorite of mine!
Steam broccoli crowns as you normally do (I have a handy gadget from Pampered Chef that allows me to steam veggies right in the microwave - I think it's called the micro-cooker).
Cook potatoes according to directions on box.
Total cost: About $5...maybe a little more depending on how much ham you use!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Week of 3/15

Stir-Fry Steak with Asian Rice

Ingredients:
London Broil $2.99/lb
Price Chopper Stir-fry Vegetables (Oriental Blend) 16 oz. bag $1.79
Knorr rice sides (get Asian Variety) 99 cents
Soy Sauce (If you need to buy a whole bottle, will probably be about $1.50 for PC brand) we'll use about 50 cents worth
fresh ginger root (optional) 25 cents
Total Cost = $6.52 or $1.63 per serving for a family of four.

Instructions:
Whip up a little stir-fry sauce -
Mix together:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1TBS of corn starch
2 TBS of vegetable oil (or wok oil if you have it)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root (optional) Tip: I just buy a chunk and keep it in the freezer. When I need some for a recipe, I take it out, peel part of it with the vegetable peeler and grate the amount needed. I put it in a ziploc bag and keep it in the freezer until next time.
Whip up with whisk

Slice London Broil into strips and marinate with 1/2 of the sauce for about 30 minutes.
Next, heat skillet and add meat. Cook until meat is just about done. Add frozen vegetables and cover. Let cook through, stirring occasionally. Pour the rest of the sauce mixture over and stir just as the vegetables are finished cooking through.
Knorr Rice - Follow package directions.

Not living in the Northeast? Click on the button above to see a whole list of stores where you can check out bargain meals of the week!

Bargain Meal of the Week

Price Chopper - Northeast (3 Meals!)

Recipe #1 ~ Lazy Lasagna ($5.97 with beef)
Ingredients:
1 14 oz. bag of cheese ravioli ($1)
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese ($1.99)
1 can of Hunt's pasta sauce (99 cents)
(optional)1 lb of 80% lean ground beef ($1.99 lb)

Directions:
If using ground beef, brown the ground beef in skillet. Drain. Add sauce and warm.
Cook ravioli until just before al dente.
Layer ravioli, sauce/meat mixture and cheese in baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees until it heats through and cheese is melted. Yum!
Note: This meal would be very easy to double and freeze for next time you need to pull something out in a hurry!


Recipe #2 ~ Bruschetta Chicken Bake ($5.12) (this is a spin-off from Kraft Food and Family)
1lb skinless/boneless chicken breasts ($1.99)
1 can of Tuttorosso diced tomatoes (99 cents)
1 box of Price Chopper chicken-flavored stuffing mix ($1.39)
1/2 c. of water
2 cloves of garlic (I buy the little jar of minced garlic in oil and it goes a long way!) (50 cents)
1 tsp. of dried basil (25 cents)

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees
Mix water, tomatoes, stuffing mix and garlic just until stuffing is moistened.
Layer chicken, basil and cheese in baking dish.
Cover with stuffing mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is done. The chicken cooks up really moist in this recipe!
Suggestions for sides: PC canned veggies are on sale for $0.59 and frozen for $0.99
I am a true Italian who loves salad with Italian style food so although it detracts from my budget a bit, I usually make a salad to go with this.

Recipe #3 ~ Quick Chicken Soup (about $7 - this makes a whole pot of soup)
Ingredients:
6 cans of PC Chicken Broth ($0.59 each = $3.54)
1 can of PC carrots ($0.59)
1 box of PC elbows ($0.99)
1 lb of boneless/skinless chicken breasts ($1.99)
A few spices you already have on hand - garlic powder/garlic salt/black pepper

Directions:
Cook chicken breasts in the bottom of soup pot with a teeny bit of vegetable oil. Take them out, let them cool and then dice them up. Meanwhile, fill pot with water and cook your elbow macaroni just before al dente. (I like to cook it seperately to save on broth). While the pasta is draining, add the chicken and the broth to back to the pot. Add the carrots. Bring to a simmer. Add your pasta. You may not use all the pasta. Season to taste.

See seperate post for some Price Chopper notable sales this week! Have an idea for a bargain meal of the week at Price Chopper? I'd love to hear it! Send me an email at shopwithoutmoney@gmail.com.
Not near a Price Chopper? Just click the button above to see a Bargain Meal of the Week from your neck of the woods!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Week of 3/1 - 3/7
Ingredients:
1 lb granny smith apples $.99/lb
1 lb center cut rib pork chops $1.99/lb
1 lb fresh yams $.99/lb

Recipe:
Pork Chops With Apple Rings from http://www.kraftfoodandfamily.com/.
This dinner is about $5 with all ingredients.

Makes: 4 Servings Total Time: 1 hr 55 min
4 bone in or center cut pork chops
2-3 apples unpeeled cored & sliced into rings
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons margarine or butter (butter is 99 cents for 1 lb this week at PC with the special coupon on the front of the flier).

Preparation:
Brown chops on both sides.Place sliced apples in greased baking dish, sprinkle with brown sugar & cinnamon, dot with butter or margarine. Place pork chops on top of apple rings. Cover. Bake in pre heated oven 350-degree for 1 1/2 hours.
I did some research and found that here in the Northeast and most parts of the US, yams and sweet potatoes can be used interchangeabley.
For Yams as side dish you can bake them along side the pork chop dish and eat them as you would any baked potato.
You can find more Bargain Meals of the Week from different grocery stores all across the country by clicking the Bargain Meal of the Week button above!

Bargain Meal of the Week - Price Chopper

Okay, my first week's Bargain Meal from Price Chopper is pretty simple.

Ingredients:
1 jar of Bertolli pasta sauce $1.99
16 oz of Barilla Pasta $1.00
1 lb sausage $1.99 (you will have to buy a 2-3 pack but we'll only use one pound)
Fresh Italian loaf of bread 99cents
1 can DelMonte cut green beans
Final cost = $6.79 (serves 4 with leftovers = approx. $1.70 per person)

Recipe:
Pour sauce into a saucepan and bring to a low boil (you don't want to burn the sauce). Add sausage and let simmer for about an hour. Cooking the sausage right in the sauce will add more of a homemade taste to the jar sauce. Cook pasta as directed.

Green Beans - 2 options
1. Cook as directed and serve on the side with pasta and sausage
2. Marinate green beans in some italian dressing for an hour or so. It makes a tangy "italian" salad to go along with the pasta.

Click the Bargain Meal of the Week button above to see a bargain meal from one of your local grocery stores!

Bargain Meal of the Week!

I'm so excited to be participating in Bargain Meal of the Week with Erin at $5 Dinners. This is a new feature on her blog. Each week, I'll post a Bargain Meal of the Week featuring the Price Chopper and Hannaford ads for our local upstate NY readers. I'll use sale items to give you a bargain recipe and I'll try to keep the meal at as close to $5 as possible. If you aren't a local reader, just hop on over because Erin is featuring as many stores as possible - Kroger, Giant, Sav-A-Lot and more! You're sure to find your store and if you don't, you might want to join up to take part in the fun like I did, and be a contributor! So look right here for my new posts Monday to get your Price Chopper & Hannaford Bargain Meals of the Week.
-Heather