Three Meals, Four People, $10 : Eat Your Spinach

Be prepared--and be flexible. Those are the two keys to bargain shopping. I marched off to market knowing that I’d be basing the evening meal on squid--which is usually no more than 79 cents a pound at my local Thai market--and that Ralph’s was having a special on canned tomatoes. But when I got to Lucky and discovered that big bunches of spinach were selling for 59 cents a pound, my whole meal changed.

I love spinach. And so I decided that I’d star spinach by serving it with shirred eggs for lunch and adding it to the calamari stew at night. I’d originally planned on making a sort of squid sauce for pasta, but when I saw the spinach, the pasta quickly turned into rice.

Then all I really had to worry about was breakfast. Since eggs were going to be a major ingredient at lunch, I decided breakfast had better be cereal. And since oatmeal is the cheapest--and for my money the most delicious--I decided to buy a big box and make oatmeal cookies later in the day.

I did hesitate a bit when I realized that I could have bought an entire pound of margarine for what I was spending on a single stick of butter, but I decided that even a budget can use a couple of luxuries. Cookies taste so much better when they’re made with butter.

OATMEAL LACE COOKIES

2 1/2 cups instant oats

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 pound butter, cut up

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix oats, brown sugar and baking powder in bowl. Add butter. Mix well. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto well-greased baking sheets and flatten with back of spoon. Bake at 350 degrees about 8 minutes, or until edges of cookies begin to brown. Remove from oven, let stand 1 minute, then remove from sheet. If cookies stick to pan, return to oven and bake 1 more minute. Makes about 50 cookies.

Each cookie contains about:

44 calories; 29 mg sodium; 9 mg cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 grams protein; 0 fiber; 45% calories from fat.

SHIRRED EGGS FLORENTINE

2 bunches spinach

2 tablespoons oil or butter

Salt, pepper

8 eggs

Fresh bread crumbs

Wash spinach thoroughly. Spin dry in salad spinner.

Melt oil in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from skillet and chop finely.

Butter 4 small baking or gratin dishes. Put 1/4 spinach in each dish. Make 2 little nests in spinach and crack 1 egg into each. Top with fresh bread crumbs.

Cover dish tightly with foil. Bake 7 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove foil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

250 calories; 318 mg sodium; 425 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 16 grams protein; 1 gram fiber; 64% calories from fat.

MEDITERRANEAN CALAMARI STEW

1/4 cup oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced peeled tomatoes

1 large bunch spinach, stemmed

1 1/2 pounds squid, cleaned and cut into rings

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Add tomatoes with liquid. Bring to simmer and cook away some of liquid.

Add spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add squid and cook 1 minute more.

Serve over cooked rice. Makes 4 generous servings.

Each serving contains about:

322 calories; 288 mg sodium; 396 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 29 grams protein; 1.16 grams fiber; 47% calories from fat.

Reichl Menu

BREAKFAST

Oatmeal with butter and milk

Sliced bananas

LUNCH

Shirred Eggs Florentine

Buttered toast

Tangerines

SNACK

Oatmeal Lace Cookies and milk

DINNER

Mediterranean Calamari Stew

Rice

Oatmeal Lace Cookies

SHOPPING LIST

Purchased at Ralph’s, Lucky, Bangluck Market in Hollywood

1 loaf generic bread: .59 1 1/2 pounds squid at .79 per pound: $1.18 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced peeled tomatoes: .55 3 bunches spinach at .59 per bunch: $1.77 1 dozen eggs: .99 1 quart milk: .79 4 tangerines at .49 per pound: $.49 1 pound bananas at .49 per pound: .49 2 onions at .39 per pound: .30 1 pound rice: .69 1 stick butter: .50 1 (18-ounce) box quick oats: $1.55 TOTAL: $9.89 Staples: oil, baking powder, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic