Let’s Have the Blue Plate Special #menuplanningmonday #frugalmeals #comfortfood


Some of you may be too young to remember going to a diner and they have a card called the blue plate special. I remember my first one and being disappointed the plate was not blue and the food wasn’t all that special.

What is a blue plate special? After working in a reseraunt I learned it is food most people like, easy to prepare in quantities, easy to make ahead and have hot and ready to serve when people order. The longer it sets the better it tastes. It is also food that is cheaper bought in large quantities that serve many, such as Hamburger meat, roast, chicken.

Last week I thought I would make up several blue plate specials for you.

Monday:Country Fried Steak, Hashed browns with peppers and onions, green beans and biscuits with white gravy

To make the steak I used strips cut from a chuck roast. You can use round steak, skirt steak or any thin steak you like. I pounded mine with a meat hammer to tenderize

Then I dredge with flour, salt, and pepper and coat each side. Then I pan fry in a little canola oil. I only turn once. before starting them I cut up some potatoes in small cubes, finely diced half a bell pepper and half an onion, added to potatoes. I salted and added a tsp of garlic powder and onion powder you can add more if you like. And pepper. cook until brown in a little canola oil. When about half done fry your meat, put on your biscuits and make the gravy. I did use canned green beans. You can also get the biscuits frozen in a bag. These taste homemade and you can take out as many as you need. I made an extra biscuit for my breakfast the next day. Biscuit and gravy. Two meals from one.

Tuesday

Spaghetti and meat sauce and Garlic Bread. This was super simple. I had frozen the leftover sauce from a week ago. I pulled it out. defrosted, cooked a pound of ground beef added to the sauce as my noodles cooked and bread cooked. Dinner in less than half an hour cheap and easy.

Wednesday

Pork Chops, Sweet potato or Mashed potato, squash, peas

We caught a special on breakfast cut pork chops and shake and baked them On pan original the other barbeque. So simply baked the hops, made the mashed potatoes and frozen peas and Microwaved the sweet potatoes. We sauteed the squash. Another 30-minute meal. I had a couple of pork chops left and had biscuits and pork chops for breakfast.

Friday I made beef tips, peppers and onions. I had some beef I laid out from the chuck roast the steak came from cut in cubes for stew or beef stir fry. I decided I want beef tips. I dredged in flour and sauteed them with sliced onions and cut up sweet peppers. You can serve this with rice, noodles or mashed potatoes. You can add brown gravy but I ate it just like this.Nice and low carb. I forgot to take a picture. This too is another 30 minute meal.

Saturday Buffalo chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese. Shake and bake has a box that is buffalo chicken and very good. It isn’t hot at all. Very kid-friendly, But you can do It like I did my wings with the Hot sauce. I just brushed it on and let it bake. I made stove top mac and cheese but I don’t measure so this recipe is pretty close.

Sunday we had Stuffed bell peppers. I cut two peppers in half. mixed a pound of Hamburger meat, rice onions garlic onion powder salt and peper divided the meat among the four halves. put in a pan cover in a suace of 1 can tomato soup a can of fire roasted tomatoes thin with a little water or broth if you need to. Bake until peppers are tender and meat is cooked through. Here is a similar recipe
https://feastandfarm.com/classic-stuffed-peppers/

A great blue plate breakfast is pancakes. Instead of traditional syrup try the new syrups made for coffees and drinks. I like this caramel one with sliced banana. Top with a dollop of whipped topping and its not as fattening as it seems. this is sugar free syrup fat free topping and the topping is like 20 calories a spoonful.

Don’t forget the pie. What would a blue plate special be without a slice of pie. But this post is long enough and we can do pie another time! Make your favorite or go buy one!

I hope you enjoyed our menu of Blue plate specials. This is only what I made. Some other favorites would be fried chicken, meat loaf or pot roast. What is your favorite blue-plate special?


4 responses to “Let’s Have the Blue Plate Special #menuplanningmonday #frugalmeals #comfortfood”

  1. I haven’t heard the term “Blue Plate Special” for a long time. Great idea. My mom used to make the best stuffed peppers using whole peppers. Early on, I hated cooked green peppers but grew to love them. When I was married, my husband loved them. The kids…not so much. Great post, Cathy.

    • I am out of Peach and Raspberry. Musts for my tea and I like the raspberry in my coffee too lol The kids like the cheesecake one. They put on pancakes and I put it in that fruit dip that is cool whip and cream cheese it adds a bit of flavor.

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