Tightwad Meal: Steak, Asparagus, and Tropical Dessert

Take the asparagus and lay them out over a cookie sheet side by side. Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and as much cracked ground pepper as you like. Bake at 350 degrees until sizzling and tender.

While the asparagus is baking, it’s time to prepare the steak.

First I use my mother’s LB rub:

• 1 whole clove of garlic
• salt
• pepper

Crush the garlic and mix until a paste.

Rub the garlic mixture over the entire steak. As soon as the asparagus is done, turn the oven over to broil to cook your steak to desired “doneness.”

A side dish is entirely optional at this point, as my husband and I often enjoy just a protein and vegetable. For a meal like this, mashed potatoes, biscuits/rolls or other bread may be a perfect compliment and can easily be obtained inexpensively for your pantry. I stock up on Betty Crocker’s Garlic Mashed Potatoes for occasions such as these so that our side is 99 cents or less.

This is my grandmother’s favorite dessert. At under 50 cents a pound, yellow bananas make an excellent dessert. Immediately after pulling out the London Broil, put the bananas in instead, but feel free to turn off the oven. The remaining heat should bake the bananas until the peel turns black. After dinner, remove them from the oven, discard the peel and drizzle with honey. You can even add granola if you like for some added crunch to your sweet treat. Since bananas are considered to be a “starchy” fruit, adding this for dessert pretty much negates the need for an optional side dish.