Baked orzo with beef & mushrooms: $1.21/serving

Nothing particularly brilliant or groundbreaking about this meal; I had a little bit of beef sirloin and a small bowl of chopped shallots that needed to be used up, as well as a can of whole tomatoes from the pantry that was already two months past its sell-by date (one of the pitfalls of buying in bulk at Grocery Outlet). It would’ve been easy to just grind up the beef and make a simple sauce to serve over pasta, but I added mushrooms and orzo and chose to bake it for something a little different. If this sounds like it might be up your alley, feel free to experiment with different kinds of ground meat, different mushrooms, and even different cheese (I used Parmesan because it’s what I had), as your budget permits.

Mini cheese ’n’ cracker meatloaves: 60 cents each

As occasionally happens when you buy meat in bulk, you end up with odd bits and pieces in the freezer that are too small to use but too large to throw away—half a pork rib, perhaps, or just a few ounces’ worth of roast. Thankfully, this is what meatloaf is for. (Or originally was for, anyway; it seems most people these days go out of their way to purchase ingredients for it, rather than use it as a vehicle for scraps and leftovers.) To stretch those last few dollars even further, I like to divide the meatloaf mixture among the muffin cups in a muffin tin; that way portion control is easy (two or three with a garden salad is a perfect meal), and the rest become easy, freezable grab-and-go lunches to eat whole or slice up for a sandwich.

Cincinnati chili: $1.93/serving

Cincinnati chili—like a lot of things from the Midwest, in fact—is one of those things us dyed-in-the-wool West Coasters instinctively want to hate, but deep down inside just can’t. I mean, chili? Not to mention weird bastardized chili, with cinnamon and cocoa powder and kidney beans, on spaghetti? With more cheese than is reasonable by just about anyone’s standards? So shameful! But also so addictive. Adding fuel to Midwesterners’ likely growing irritation is the fact I’ve never even been to Cincinnati. In fact, I’ve never been to the Midwest at all, unless you count one half-hour layover in Chicago and two in Denver. (In fact, I’m not even sure Denver qualifies as “the Midwest,” but the view from the airport window was awfully flat, and I saw at least three Looney Tunes-embroidered denim jackets, which I would’ve sworn on a bible had all gone to the Big Goodwill in the Sky circa 1998.)

Steak with pepper cream sauce & garlic roasted potatoes: $2.70/serving

This is, I admit, a flagrant violation of my stated “don’t make meat the center of the meal” rule. Not only is meat the center of this meal, it’s steak, the most expensive meat. But as you’ll notice, the entire meal is still under $3, and the plate is equally balanced with inexpensive salad and potatoes. This makes a terrific company dish, as well as a great introduction to eating on a budget for those with steakhouse tastes. (It’s not true steak au poivre because I didn’t use cognac, but if you have some on hand, feel free to make it authentic.)

Beef and Guinness pies: $1.91/each

Sometimes you just want something wrong. Devoid of all vegetable matter and any worthwhile dietary value, full of everything you’ve been told will hasten your inevitable demise. It might be pizza, it might be macaroni and cheese, it might be a bowl full of nothing but beef and carbs. And that’s exactly what this is. No greenery, whole grains, or vegetables to get in the way. Just mouthwateringly tender beef, beer, and flaky puff pastry, tasting every bit as good as it looks and sounds. Toss aside the Weight Watchers pamphlet, ignore the Lose It app (for one day, anyway), and give in.

Beef bulgogi lettuce wraps: 53 cents each

Full disclosure: I know real bulgogi is usually grilled. This version is not. If you saw the weather outside right now (gale-force winds and a pelting snow/rain mix), you would understand and forgive me. That said, this is a version anyone can make at any time, provided they have kimchi on hand. I’ve made this before without the kimchi, so I can say with some authority that it really makes the dish. I know it’s tempting to want to just cook the meat up plain and serve it over some rice, but it’s not going to knock your socks off without the spicy tang of kimchi for balance. You have been warned.

Wine-braised short rib & parsnip ragout: $2.27/serving

When I was a kid, I remember noticing with not a small tinge of horror that my mom seemed to eat everything—eggplant, lima beans, Brussels sprouts…things that, to me, ranked up there with boiled rat spleen. I remember asking one day if there was anything on earth she didn’t like, and she responded that in fact there was: parsnips. I knew nothing about parsnips at that point, but somehow found myself subconsciously ignoring them well into my late 20s. After all, if someone who’s willing to eat Brussels sprouts doesn’t like them, why should I even try? Now that I’m well acquainted with $1.29-a-pound parsnips, they’re not only one of my favorite root vegetables, I can’t fathom why someone wouldn’t like them. At their worst they’re simply overgrown, knobby white carrots, at their best they’re shockingly sugar-cube-sweet, a perfect match for rich and beefy short ribs.

Lemongrass beef noodle salad: $1.24/serving

“Some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. A lot of people, that’s their story. Good times, noodle salad.” —Jack Nicholson, “As Good as It Gets”

What else can I say? This probably in no way resembles the kind of noodle salad invoked above, but it’s a noodle salad all the same. The recipe was originally featured in an older post extolling the virtues of marked-down meat at the grocery store, but it’s high time it had its own page. Not only is it simple to make and a proven crowd-pleaser (good times, noodle salad), it’s a great antidote to all those heavy seasonal braises and gratins that start to get a little old about now. Judging by the view out the window, Punxsutawney Phil (“the world’s most famous prognosticating rodent,” according to Wikipedia, where I went to look up how to spell Punxsutawney) is not planning to deviate from his 13% accuracy rate any time soon.

Splurge: Vietnamese beef noodle soup, hue-style (bun bo hue): $4.34/serving

As is often the case with upright chest freezers, sometimes things get forgotten about beneath the boxes of frozen butter and yogurt containers full of stock. Things you remember buying, but can’t exactly recall why—marked-down oxtails, turkey gizzards, a single vacuum-sealed plantain. This weekend it was the oxtails and a Ziploc bag of short-rib bones with most of the meat scraped off that had me scratching my head. What, exactly, had I planned to do with a measly 1 1/2 pounds of oxtails and some meatless bones? Make a stock, probably, but for what? It’s not enough meat for subtly flavored pho, and would make a pretty weak oxtail soup. Instead I decided to use them in a soup that gets enough flavor assistance from other ingredients: bun bo hue (pronounced “hway”). It’s similar to pho in that it includes beef and noodles, but the type of noodles, flavorings, and preparation are completely different. I obviously had bought the oxtails pre-$35-a-week, because I could NEVER afford them now, therefore, this meal didn’t exactly come out of our current budget. It’s not cheap, but as is always the case, it’s cheaper than eating out.

Steak & chard ravioli with sage-butter sauce: $2.43/serving

This is bordering on a splurge, I know, but the rest of our meals for the day consisted of bread and coffee, so we’re still on budget. This is not a quick weeknight meal by any means, but I assure you the returns on your time investment will be exponential. I’ve been on somewhat of a ravioli kick since tasting the pumpkin-chanterelle ravioli at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco (which cost almost a week’s worth of groceries), and while this is nowhere near that, it’s heads and shoulders beyond any ravioli you’d buy at the store or eat in a neighborhood restaurant. And it’s healthier, too.