Three Meals, Four People, $10 : The Magic Meat Loaf

Back in the ‘70s, when I was a senior home economist for Carnation, a television news show challenged me to serve four people a nutritionally balanced dinner for less than $5. Last month, after 17 years of rising food prices, the prospect of feeding four people three meals for $10 sounded 10 times more challenging.

The details of what I cooked for Eyewitness News have escaped my memory but I learned from the experience. I remember that in addition to being balanced and good-tasteing, the food had to provide pleasing texture and color contrasts. With two growing children, it had to feature energy foods. And forget about Nouvelle Cuisine--comfort foods are a lot cheaper to make.

I started out with the dinner menu because dinner offers the most choices. As a result, though, breakfast and lunch had to suffer some cutbacks.

I decided on pork stew. Although my local Alpha Beta had a good buy on bone-in country-style pork loin strips ($1.49 per pound), it meant getting at least 1 1/2 pounds to allow for the bone, so I bought boneless pork shoulder at nearby Vinh Hao Supermarket. For tomatoes I went to Alpha Beta (33 cents per pound), where there was another tempting bargain: a 10-pound bag of russet potatoes for 79 cents. Just think of what I could do with that for a couple of weeks! But I ended up buying just the potatoes I needed at a less discounted price, as well as lettuce for dinner salad and greens for lunch.

At Vinh Hao, extra-large eggs at $1.05 a dozen provided custard pudding for dinner, binder and extender for my luncheon meat loaf and possibly French toast at breakfast. At Alpha Beta, white or whole-wheat bread was three (1-pound) loaves for a dollar, or 34 cents per loaf, but I almost gave up on the idea of French toast when I saw pancake syrup was $1.59 a bottle. Then I spotted extra-fancy golden Delicious apples at 39 cents a pound and thought of making a cinnamon-flavored sugar syrup topping for the French toast and using the rest of the apples at lunch in fruit salad. An easy dressing for the mixed fruits was cherry yogurt, cheap at 37 cents for 8 ounces.

The most difficult was my lunch entree. I didn’t have much money left for the meat loaf that I wanted. You could get ground beef at 99 cents a pound from Alpha Beta, but you had to buy the 5-pound chub. At Vinh Hao, you could buy any amount you wanted for nearly the same price. I stretched my 1/2 pound of ground beef (it wasn’t the leanest, mind you) with cooked small elbow macaroni (the Mexican brand Gamesa was a great buy at 25 cents for a 7-ounce bag), the hard-cooked egg, shredded carrots and bread crumbs.

With all these plus milk for the children at breakfast, I’m proud to say I still have half a dozen eggs left for next day’s egg salad sandwich or omelet, tons of margarine for baking cookies, macaroni for salad or soup, and extra rice for accompaniment or dessert pudding.

CINNAMON-FRENCH TOAST WITH POACHED APPLES IN SYRUP

1/2 pound Golden Delicious apples

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Dash salt

Ground cinnamon

3 to 4 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Dash vanilla, optional

6 slices white or wheat bread

10 teaspoons margarine, optional

Peel, core and slice apples into 1/2-inch wedges. Place in saucepan and add 1/2 cup water. Poach about 8 minutes over medium-low heat or until tender. Remove apples from liquid with slotted spoon and set aside.

Combine cornstarch, salt, dash cinnamon, sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons cold water. Mix until smooth. Return to heat and cook until thickened and clear, about 5 minutes.

Beat eggs with milk, vanilla and dash cinnamon. Dip each slice bread in eggs. Melt 2 teaspoons margarine in non-stick skillet. Cook each bread slice on both sides until golden brown, about 10 minutes, adding more margarine as needed. Serve hot and top with poached apple slices. Pour in cinnamon-apple syrup. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

335 calories; 442 mg sodium; 191 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 42% calories from fat.

MEAT LOAF WITH MACARONI

2 large eggs

1/2 pound ground beef

1/3 cup small elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

1 small carrot, peeled and shredded (1/2 cup loosely packed)

1 small onion, chopped

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon crushed oregano or staple dried herb seasoning

Garlic salt (or minced garlic)

Salt, pepper

Place 1 egg in small saucepan with water to cover. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 15 minutes. Drain, peel and chop hard-cooked egg.

Combine ground beef, macaroni and remaining 1 egg in bowl. Mix in carrot, onion, 1/2 can tomato sauce, bread crumbs, milk and oregano. Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly until evenly blended.

Place in small baking dish or loaf pan and shape into about 7x4-inch loaf with slightly rounded top. Using moist rubber spatula, smooth top and all sides evenly to prevent cracking. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes or until done.

Heat remaining tomato sauce with salt, pepper and oregano to taste (if desired, stir in 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro). Serve with tomato sauce and garlic bread. Or serve as sandwich with lettuce leaves and staples such as mayonnaise, mustard and/or catsup. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

230 calories; 544 mg sodium; 147 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 17 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 41% calories from fat.

GARLIC BREAD

3 to 4 tablespoons margarine

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 slices white bread

Melt margarine in small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until tender. Spread over one side of each bread slice.

Place on baking sheet and toast at 400 degrees 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

174 calories; 358 mg sodium; 2 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0 fiber; 30% calories from fat.

CARROT-FRUIT SALAD WITH CHERRY YOGURT DRESSING

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and coarsely shredded

1 banana, peeled and sliced

1 orange, peeled and sliced

1 apple, peeled and sliced

1 (8-ounce) carton cherry yogurt

1 tablespoon sugar, about

Combine carrots, banana, orange and apple and toss just to blend. Add cherry yogurt as desired and toss gently. Add sugar to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

140 calories; 45 mg sodium; 2 mg cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 5% calories from fat.

SPANISH PORK STEW WITH POTATOES

2 tablespoons margarine or oil

1 pound pork shoulder butt, cut into large chunks

3 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, diced

3/4 to 1 pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 cup water or broth

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 bay leaf

Salt, pepper

1 small green pepper, chopped

3/4 pound potatoes, peeled and cut in thick chunks

Heat margarine in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pork and saute few minutes until lightly browned. Add garlic and saute well. Add onion and saute until tender. Add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes. Add water, vinegar and bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil. Cover and simmer until pork is almost tender, about 40 minutes. Stir in green pepper. Add potatoes around sides and simmer, covered, until tender, about 15 minutes. Avoid stirring or overcooking (potatoes will be mushy). Adjust seasonings to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

364 calories; 176 mg sodium; 76 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 25 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 41% calories from fat.

RICE WITH GREEN BEANS

1 cup uncooked rice

1 chicken bouillon cube, optional

1 (10-ounce) package frozen French-cut green beans

1 tablespoon margarine, optional

Garlic salt or dried herbs, optional

Add water to rice following package directions. Add bouillon cube. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in margarine. Fluff with fork. Stir in green beans and season to taste with garlic salt. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

187 calories; 95 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 1% calories from fat.

COFFEE FLOATING ISLAND

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee powder or 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons margarine

2 teaspoons vanilla, optional

Meringue

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in coffee powder.

Stir at least half of hot mixture gradually into egg yolks. Blend into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil, stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in margarine and vanilla. Pour into dessert dishes and chill. Top with Meringue and place in 350-degree oven 5 minutes or until golden brown on top. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

258 calories; 238 mg sodium; 153 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0 fiber; 34% calories from fat.

Meringue

2 egg whites

Dash vinegar or cream of tartar

3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla, optional

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly beat in sugar, beating until almost stiff but not dry. Beat in vanilla. Use immediately.

Bernardino Menu

BREAKFAST

Cinnamon - French Toast With Poached Apples in Syrup

Milk and coffee

LUNCH

Meat Loaf With Macaroni

Garlic Bread

Optional lettuce, mustard and mayonnaise

Carrot-Fruit Salad With Cherry Yogurt Dressing

DINNER

Spanish Pork Stew With Potatoes

Red leaf lettuce and homemade croutons with vinaigrette

Rice With Green Beans

Coffee Floating Island

SHOPPING LIST

Purchased mostly at Alpha Beta, Long Beach. Other purchases at Vinh Hao Supermarket, Anaheim Street, Long Beach 1 quart whole milk: .81 1 pound Golden Delicious apples: .39 1 dozen extra-large eggs: 1.05 1 loaf white or whole-wheat bread: .34 1/2 pound ground beef: .50 1 (7-ounce) box small elbow macaroni: .25 3/4 pound carrots at .39 per pound: .30 1 banana at .50 per pound: .15 2 onions at .39 per pound: .30 1 (8-ounce) carton cherry yogurt: .37 1 orange at .50 per pound: .15 1 pound pork shoulder, Boston butt: .1.29 1 pound tomatoes: .33 3/4 pound Russet potatoes at .30 per pound: .20 1-pound bag rice: .51 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen French-style green beans: .59 1 green pepper at .60 per pound: .15 1 bunch red leaf lettuce: .69 1 pound margarine: .50 1 (8-ounce can) tomato sauce: .25 TOTAL: $9.12 Staples: salt, pepper, oil, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, vanilla, cornstarch, coffee, dried oreganoor other herbs, garlic