Ode to potatoes

Tonight for supper we are having beef and peppers (2 lbs eye of round @$1.99 per pound; 2 red peppers which were 4/$1.99), mashed potatoes (3 pounds potatoes @20 cents a pound, plus say 40 cents for the milk, butter, salt and pepper) and boiled carrots (2 lbs @20 cents a pound). That is $1.06 per person, and I don't expect any leftovers! I guess that's not exactly a "frugal" meal, but it is a good price for a beef dinner. Serving cheaper side dishes brings down the overall cost of a meal when the entree is pricey. (I guess that should be a no-brainer, but it took me forever to figure out.)

The potatoes, carrots and peppers were all on sale this week. I got a lot of potatoes and carrots. My family loves them both - potatoes especially. They would eat potatoes every night of the week if I would make them. I got them this week for $2 for a 10 lb bag, which is 10 cents a serving!

So many ways to serve them too...

~boiled, with butter salt and pepper
~mashed - try using italian dressing instead of milk - it gives the potatoes a bit of a zing!
~baked potatoes - with or without toppings
~seasoned roasted wedges - sprinkle with oil and seasonings and roast them in the oven along side your main dish (I also like to grill these in the summer time)
~homemade french fries - I oven "fry" them
~fried potatoes - a good use for leftover potatoes, just chop them up and fry in some oil and butter
~hash browns - basically fried, shredded potatoes - they cook very quickly this way
~potato pancakes - serve them with sour cream!

There's more ways than that of course, but these are our favourites.