How to Make Eggnog

Eggnog Scones

Feeding a family of 4 for $150 a month

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Tuesday, July 15, 2025

When the Cat's Away, the Mice Will Play: Dinner Date for Two at Home

One night recently, both daughters were out and didn't want dinner saved for them. This is fairly rare for them both to be gone at dinner *and* not want something saved. Usually at least one daughter will want us to save a plate for them to eat later or have at lunch the next day. Not so this time.

My husband and I were completely free to do whatever we pleased for dinner. We talked about going out for dinner. We did that last fall when both daughters were out. But then I thought of the abundance of wonderful foods that we have in the freezer, fridge, pantry, and garden. So I set out to put together a first class meal using what we have.


Here's the menu:

fillet steak -- a good, but small beef fillet, the size that's just right for one or two
sautéed mushrooms -- rehydrated dried mushrooms given to me at Christmas from son and daughter-in-law
grilled zucchini -- from the garden
tossed salad -- garden greens, homemade croutons, homemade mustard vinaigrette
baked potatoes -- from a bag in the pantry

and let's not forget dessert!

strawberry sorbet topped with homemade dark chocolate magic shell -- sorbet, s & dil brought at birthdays; magic shell, melted chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate and coconut oil

My husband asked what I thought we'd pay at a restaurant for this type of dinner. My guess -- if we split a steak dinner at a casual steakhouse, but each got a small scoop of ice cream for dessert, I think we'd spend around $30 plus tax and tip. I'm certain our own cost for a steak dinner at home was under $10, likely closer to $7.

Every last bite was delicious!

What's one of your best homemade meals in recent memory?

2 comments:

  1. Around here, you'd be very lucky to get a meal like that for just $30. It sounds delicious, and it's nice to do something out of the ordinary.

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  2. That is something we would do also. We have a discount store near us that sold strip steak for around $4.99 to $5.99 per lb packaged individually in shrink wrap. To me that is a deal because the steaks are tender and delicious and I can pull out one at a time.We use them sparingly. Grilling them or in a cast iron pan makes a delicious steak pared with whatever we want makes for a meal well under $30. Last night we did an instant pot one pot pasta that had such basic ingredients that I pared down for a small recipe for two of us. It was mostly pasta and veggies but I added a handful of cooked sausage and it was absolutely filling and delicious. The simpler, the better.
    Alice

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