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There are reasons that, in certain cultures, some things are “staples” - this is a staple dish of Eastern European cuisine that not only tastes great, but is super affordable to make. For this week’s Frugal Fridays, I chose to feature one of my favorites.

I think every time Paul’s sister Patti visits us (or we visit them), inevitably we end up making Cabbage Rolls. I think it was originally a Betty Crocker recipe (I found it online at Cooks.com), but is hands down the best version I’ve ever had. The sauce is where it’s at. The last couple of times, when I was in bad health, I couldn’t help much, but this time around I rolled them while she prepped the meat and cabbage leaves. Very, very time consuming, but well worth the effort.

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Do you ever buy marked-down meat? Do you think it’s a health hazard? I buy it all the time, and send it straight to the freezer. That’s how we ended up with a pack of beef osso bucco, four pieces for . And it’s the basis of my Frugal Friday entry for this week.
I bought the beef (), a vegetable soup-pack from coles (.95) and everything else was in the cupboard already. There may have been half a bottle of wine around as well, but that could just be a rumour. In the end (maybe because of the wine?) the soup veggies didn’t get mashed, just eaten as steamed veggies. They were really, really good with the sauce.
Osso Bucco with Soup Pack Mash
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Frugal Fridays is a new food blogging event that challenges you to feed a family of four for one meal for under $10.00. Even though I sometimes spend big bucks on fancy ingredients, I’m feeling the pinch too when it comes to my dollars stretching at the supermarket. This was a dish I developed when I was first out on my own - it ends up being a well balanced meal (all the major food groups) that feeds a whole lot of people (more than 4, easily) for not that much money. Feel free to jazz it up any way you wish, I’m still changing it a bit here and there every time I make it. If you like, you can stretch it out even further by adding black beans, salsa, etc.

<img style=”379px” height=”379″ alt=”Southwest Mac and Cheese” src=”http://www.recipemuncher.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/aa520_259593…