Dinner on the cheap

You may have noted that Durham is one of the regions included in Harris Teeter's Super Doubles promo this week. I headed over after class Wednesday night and snagged some frozen fish sticks for under 50 cents. So, last night, we pulled out those plus the salmon I got for under a buck a couple of weeks ago, and used the other half of the 10-lb bag of potatoes we bought from Aldi for under $4. The bulk of our dinner cost 70 cents per person.

A side note: don't be afraid to use tools in nontraditional ways. I got three free scrub brushes during a promo last year. We keep one at each of the bathroom sinks for hand-washing, but we keep the third one at the kitchen sink for washing produce. It's made from all-natural materials and is gentle enough to wash the most delicate mushrooms but also sturdy enough for scrubbing potatoes.

Forgive the spatters. I should have photographed before using it on the potatoes!

And, since I just learned this myself, I'll share a tip with you. You don't have to wrap potatoes in foil to bake them! That actually steams them instead of baking them. When you skip the foil, they turn out SO nice and fluffy! Wash them well, poke each with a fork, place them on a baking sheet, and pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour. If they're evenly sized, they'll all be done at the same time. I took our smaller ones out about 20 minutes before the larger ones.

Also, don't be afraid to cook in larger quantities than what you'll eat. Why fire up the oven multiple times? We put the leftover potatoes in a storage container and then they warm quickly in the microwave for lunches or sides for dinner.

Because they've been scrubbed thoroughly, the skins are edible. That's where so many of the vitamins are found!

Again, you don't have to stick to butter and sour cream as toppings. We sometimes add cheese, bacon bits, and/or broccoli to ours, but my mom-in-law loves hers with salsa. Experiment!

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