Cheap Eats

In times like these we can't always eat caviar and drink Champagne. Noel and I are moving in a few weeks and we have to tighten our belts to save some money. Tightening belts does not mean you have to eat or drink crap!! Noel and I came up with a great meal that cost close to nothing. It's a stir fry that you add to ramen noodles. I love ramen, they are 20 cents a package, but they can be pretty boring by themselves. By adding the stir fry to them we had a meal that not only cost less than $10 to make but also put a big smile on our faces. I bought some stew beef that was on sale at Shaws. I got pound and half for around $5 and was able to make two meals out of it. Then when at Russo's Market I bought a stir fry sauce that was $1.45 that I marinated the in beef over night. The next day I cut up some garlic, a shallot, half a yellow pepper, handful of snow peas, small amount of baby shiitake mushrooms and some bean sprouts. All these veggies cost us less than $3.

I started with the beef, cooking it for a few minutes before adding the garlic, mushrooms, shallot and a pinch or red pepper flakes. Then after a few minutes I added the yellow pepper and snow peas. As all this was cooking I started the water for the ramen. Ramen is great because it only take three minutes to cook. As all this was cooking in the bowls I was serving this meal in I added the seasoning from the ramen and the bean sprouts. I poured a half cup of the hot water from the noodles, stirred it all up and added the noodles. Then I topped it all off with the stir fry making sure to get some of the sauce in the soup. The meal came out great, there is a restaurant called Wagamama that makes meals just like this but charges $15 each. I made the same thing at home (Noel even said it was better) and it cost less than half that for two meal. Perfect for any day of the week. 

I picked one of my favorite vineyards for the wine. Viu Manent Reserva Malbec. It went great with the meal especially the sauce. I not a huge fan of Malbec, it can be boring at times. Viu Manent makes great Malbec. Great ripe fruits especially berry fruits, with hints of coffee, and mocha, it's got a great body and nice lingering finish. The people at Viu Manent really put love into all their wines and their Malbecs are not exception