I experimented with cooking collard greens tonight at my daughter's request. Yes, my ten year old daughter asked to try collard greens. We were checking for produce clearance when we went Krogering the other day, and she picked up a fresh bag of collard greens marked down to 99 cents. She likes kale chips, so it didn't surprise me that much.
So, I decided to build a meal around them. Combining suggestions from friends and online research, I used pieces of bacon, garlic, onion, Sweet Smokey Sand (our house rub,) brown sugar, and a bit of chicken broth. The bacon was actually clearanced as well. I paid less than $4 for 1.5 pounds of brown sugar bacon that normally retails near $8. I only needed to use 2 slices. Not bad! Even the onion was in a bag of about 4 marked down to 99 cents.
For our protein, I used the large pork chops we bought at Louie's P & R. First, I marinated them for about half an hour in a can of guava nectar, freshly grated ginger root, and freshly chopped cilantro. Then I added just enough water to cover them and about two tablespoons of the Sweet Smokey Sand. After their little guava bath, they were patted dry with a paper towel so that I could rub on more Smokey Sweet Sand. The pork chops were actually very inexpensive because I purchased them with a local savings voucher. I paid $10 for a $20 voucher. With the voucher, I ordered a $22 mini meat bundle containing 2 pounds ground beef, 2 pounds bacon, 2 pounds of pork chops, and 2 pounds of pork steak. For all 8 pounds, I only paid $12.23 out of pocket, or $1.53 per pound! Three huge pork chops ended up only costing $3.06. I usually get the Jumex guava nectar under 50 cents a can at Walmart. Of course, I had to serve the pork chops with my trusted bottle of Salsa Lizano on the table...
I also found ears of corn on sale for only 30 cents per ear. I wrapped them in foil and baked them in the oven. Once they were done, I peeled back the husks to form a handle and the tassel pulled right off. Frozen basil pesto (frozen in an ice cube tray from our summer crop) was the base for the spread. I mixed a couple thawed cubes of the pesto with some softened butter, mayo, a pinch of sweet smokey sand, a shot of hot sauce, and a bit of agave nectar for sweetness. After spreading this on the corn ears, they were sprinkled with shredded Parmesan cheese. My nine year old son ate two ears of this...
I must admit, I cheated on the Mac 'n Cheese. While I was Krogering, I spotted a container of Bob Evans brand Mac 'n cheese marked down to $1.99...
So without figuring in the Sweet Smokey Sand, butter, mayo, and similar things we keep on hand, I'd say the break down for 3 people--with some leftovers--roughly went like this:
Collard Greens $1.20
Pork Chops $3.50
Corn on the Cob $1.80
Mac 'N Cheese $2.00
By freezing things when I can either buy them on sale or grow them combined with using fresh clearanced or sale produce, I spent less than some "value meals" cost to feed my family plus leftovers.
