Garlic Pork Roast Cost Breakdown

Here's a link to the original recipe. I made modifications to suit my family's preferences. Also, because I'm feeling blog-y, here's a picture of the leftovers -- in my pretty blue pyrex to boot! The recipe came out more lemon-y than garlic-y for me, but that's easily resolvable for the next time I make this dish -- just use less lemon.

We ate this for leftovers Tuesday night and like most recipes it just got better with sittin'! It was still too lemon-y, but I think the flavors blended more. Definitely worth waiting for!

Cost Breakdown:

1/2 Boneless Pork Loin (about 2 lbs.) -- $2.87
1 T EVOO -- 10 cents
1 t salt -- 3 cents
1 t pepper -- 3 cents
1 C chicken broth -- 32 cents
1/2 a medium onion -- 16 cents
2 T garlic -- 10 cents
8 slices fresh lemon peel (from 2 lemons) -- 55 cents*
1 1/2 lbs. red potatoes -- $1.20
1 small bag of baby carrots -- $2
1/2 t dried thyme -- 5 cents
1 dozen drop biscuits -- $1 These, I'm certain, cost much less, but it's just an estimate.

*I had to use 2 lemons at 55 cents each to get enough lemon peel. However, I'm using the lemon juice in another recipe, so nothing will get wasted. Because of that I'm only counting 1/2 the cost of the 2 lemons.

Total cost: $8.41

This meal made 6 servings, which gives my family 2 meals -- one on Sunday night and another for a leftovers night. Each serving will cost about $1.40. Each meal will cost about $4.21.

How I made it:

I pretty much followed the directions from the original recipe.

1. Brown the pork on all sides in a skillet with the EVOO.
2. Transfer pork to a slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then add the broth, onion, garlic, lemon peel, potatoes and carrots.
3. Sprinkle everything with the thyme.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Notes:

• By looking at the original recipe and looking at mine you can see some minor differences. I almost always use EVOO as opposed to vegetable oil. I cut down the onion as none of us are huge fans. I used a smaller roast.
• The big change I'll make next time is to place all the veggies and whatnot at the bottom of the crock, sprinkle with thyme and put the pork on top. Usually when I do a roast this is what I do, but the instructions for this recipe call for the roast to go in first and everything else around it or somewhat on top as it all can't fit in the moat around the meat. The first time I make something I follow the recipe exactly, unless I know it's a mistake, and make notes for the second time around.
• I use garlic in a jar. Even with a garlic press getting it from a jar is so much faster!
• My baby carrots are expensive because I buy them organic. It's the only thing I consistently buy organic. Why? Because non-organic baby carrots are dipped in bleach before being packaged and shipped to the store. I don't want to be ingesting a chemical that was originally developed for chemical war-fare. Yes, LOTS of non-organic produce has something bad done to it, but it's all about the baby steps for me. My budget doesn't allow me to buy all organic or I would, but it's one small thing.
• The pork loin roast (boneless) was purchased when there was a sale at Kroger for $1.47/lb. I bought 2 roasts, both just shy of 4 lbs. One roast was cut in half so we will get 2 meals out of it, plus 2 meals of leftovers. The other roast was frozen whole and is being saved for when my parents come to visit in December. Any meat you can still get around $1.50/lb is a good deal and you need to scoop it up.
  
• In my original meal plan I had a salad and fruit both paired to go with this meal. I ran rather late with putting dinner on the table that night and since the meal had plenty of veggies, I skipped making a salad. I did slice 2 apples and placed those on the table for snacking after the meal was done. And I added the drop biscuits, because you just can't have a roast without some sort of fresh bread!