We've always thought of Buffalo roast, steak and patties as gourmet meals. We usually marinate in red wine or lime juice marinade, wrap in foil and bake on low [225F] to mid rare. DH all time favorite is Buffalo steak prepared chicken style, [dipped in beaten egg, flour + cornmeal] browned in a skillet and baked 225F until mid rare. It continues to cook during it's 'rest' period out of oven & before it is sliced at table.

Since there is no waste one steak can feed two with a salad and couple of side dishes.

Kim: I will look up braising to see how to do that. Thank you.

Cyd: Good ideas. We normally do not have steaks at home but the beef came with the hind quarter and my dad had sent us a variety pack of buffalo. It's the last thing because I was unsure of the cooking and didn't want to ruin them. I like both of your suggestions and will be trying them. Thanks!

The meal planning I have been using since the first of the year has been working well with our schedule and has made it easier for me to plan:

Monday: if any leftovers from weekend - if not carryout. This is my long day at work.

Tuesday: I make a casserole, salad, side
Enough for two days.

Wednesday: Leftovers
This is my day to run all my errands and no worries on dinner.

Thursday: Breakfast Thursday - Cheap Fast and Easy.

Friday: DH picks up something on the way home - I too have a long day at work.

Saturday: Pasta night

Sunday: Chicken night or Chef's choice (HA) since I have more time

I try to do any prep work I can on the weekends. Batch cooking of sauces, soups, waffles, bacon, dog treats etc. Anything I can put in the freezer to use later.

I just work on variations for each theme night. It has helped me with the ever popular "what am I going to make for dinner? Much easier to plan grocery too.

Juju, rather than grilling the steaks, you could pan fry them too. Since it is very lean, you could fry up a couple of slices of bacon for moisture in the pan, and then use them on baked potatoes, in salad or whatever.

Another thing you could do is to put in a fry pan and quick sear on high heat then cover with onion soup and let it steam for a bit. Thicken that for a gravy with potatoes or noodles.


My shopping trip the other day had me motivated. I cooked up 2 lbs of ground beef and made spaghetti sauce. Put it over cheese and beef ravioli from the freezer. SO and I have leftovers for lunch today and there are 6 individual bags in the freezer for later use.

Loving that I have all these extra shoe boxes.....I am using them on the freeaer shelves to hold the bags of frozen items and it is giving me more room in the process.

Have 2 more packages of burgers to portion and freeze. May only freeze one as SO's son is here this weekend which means we will have 2 to 3 teenage boys here for the weekend! I think burgers will be a good dinner for them Friday nite.

BL: Never thought to put on baked potatoes or salad. So glad I ask all of you. Always love to hear other peoples ideas.

I just checked the freezer and I have one four pound beef roast. DH not a traditional roast fan, I think I will put in the crockpot this weekend and make pulled barbeque. That should go a long way and should freeze well. I will only have to get one bottle of sauce since I have one I can use. Whee

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Juju, I really like your meal plan. I'd like to do something like that, but, so far, I've not been able to manage it.

I pulled out the packet of ground beef with veggies I had frozen the other day, and added 2 potatoes to it. I was going to use it as a filling for meat pies, with frozen puff pastry, but DD wasn't too keen on having meat pies. So, the meat/veggie mixture will be eaten with pita bread for lunch, today. I made apple turnovers with the frozen puff pastry, instead.

Bless: It was a process and has been tweeked so I would have more time during the week to be more productive. It has opened up more time and less stress coming up with a meal plans. I find when I look at recipes (always) it makes me think of what day I could use it for. Just been doing it steadily since the first of the year, but it seems to be working so far. Can you tell me how you made the apple turnovers with the puff pastry? I have one sheet of that in the freezer and would like to turn it into something.

Juju, I am going to try and see if I can adapt your meal plan to suit me (I don't do weekly take out, etc.) So far, my meal plan tends to be "Chef's choice", "leftovers", and "what do you want to eat" (asked of my DD).

Apple turnovers:

I used pre-cut puff pastry squares, but you can cut your sheet of pastry into squares (approx. 3" x 3"), once it has thawed a bit.

I peeled and cut apples (used 2 med. sized ones for 4 squares of pastry) into pieces (chunks) and precooked them in a bit of butter, some sugar, a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Then, put a heaping tablespoon of cooked apple in the middle of the puff pastry square (I added some raisins to 2, for me; DD doesn't like raisins), moistened the edges of the pastry with water, folded over the pastry to form a triangle. Pressed the folded edges with the tines of a fork to seal. Brushed the tops with a bit of milk and sprinkled with a little sugar, before baking. Approx. 15 mins. at 350F was enough to bake the pastry.

Juju, a traditional roast can be other things too. Cube it up for a beef stew, finely chop it and use for chili or for stroganoff or for beef based soup. That also opens up other ideas with the soup-taco seasoning, etc for a mexican flair, minestrone, beef barley, beef vegetable. I like to keep it simple and add easy ingredients.

For instance, I might cut off a chunk of the meat, dice it up and lightly brown it, then add in a few diced potatoes and a bag of frozen mixed veggies and some beef bouillion and garlic and dill and make a veggie beef soup.

Let your mind explore the possibilities. My only rule when cooking is that is has to be simple with things I regularly stock in my kitchen and that it doesn't require fancy prep time!

Another for instance. SO doesn't like my lentil soup. It is basic with ham stock and lots of veggies, and he admits very tasty, but he doesn't like it. Well he came home from work the other day raving about a soup one of the gals he works with made. Turns out that it is basically my lentil soup, but she adds some italian sausage for flavor, a small can of tomato sauce and some frozen spinach. I have more soup in my freezer. I can easily add some of those items into it for very little, I also happen to like those items and they are cheap and it makes for another option for a meal and now I know he will like it too.

What's the worst that can happen....you toss it out and are out a couple of dollars...

Bless: guess who is making apple turnovers this weekend? ME! Thank you for taking the time to tell me your recipe! Apples are on my list anyway for my trip to Aldi's after work today. Win-Win! Have fun with your meal plan. I played around with it for a while mostly based on my standard schedule every week and how it would make my life easier. Let us know what you come up with.

BL: Well, aren't you smart. I never cook roasts but those are great ideas and good way to stretch the meat. Love the chili idea - I am out of chili (a DH favorite) and never thought to a roast instead of ground beef. Since the roast is fairly big I think I will use some for chili and some for bbq. Got me thinking! Thanks so much.

Another goal I am hoping to achieve along with the "spending the least" project for February is to plan a month worth of menus for March. I have done up to two weeks before but would like to try a month. I have really enjoyed not having to think about dinner everyday. I seem to be more productive when I already know what I am having and don't have to take up time everyday to figure it out. I think I will print off a month calendar for March and start plugging in dinners as I look through recipes. By the time March rolls around I should have it complete. Thinking if I am a month ahead on planning I could make better use of sale items if it is something I could freeze for the next month. We will see how that works!

Juju: Enjoy making and eating your apple turnovers! I made a few more, again, last night, along with some sausage rolls (sausages, browned a bit to remove some of the grease, rolled up in strips of frozen puff pastry and baked).

Dinner last night: DD ate some sushi (California rolls) that I had bought for her, and an apple turnover. I ate some of the sausage rolls and an apple turnover.

Today:

B'fast/lunch/snacks: sausage rolls, apple turnovers, grapes plus Luna bar for DD

Dinner: I think I'll make some rice, fish curry, a cucumber salad, and maybe leeks.