splurge night: part 2

on to the 2nd type of splurging - budgeted splurging (click here if you missed the first type). eating wouldn't be fun if you couldn't use some pricier, more fun ingredients once in a while. here are my guidelines for making your splurge night still budget-friendly:

• plan ahead - if you're going to have a budget splurging meal, plan ahead for it and each extra cheaply the rest of the week to compensate. also, if you plan ahead you can get things for your splurge while they are on sale. (ex. we love the french dips recipe below, but i don't buy the roast unless i can get it for $1.79/lb or less and i try and find the pepper jack on sale as well)
  
• stay in your budget - splurging shouldn't have to mean buying the most expensive ingredients out there, just something you don't normally buy. and put it in the budget. if your food budget is a little tight that month, find another category to squeeze it into. i'm infamous for filing yummy, splurge ingredients into my date budget or my miscellaneous category.
• have a date/fun budget - sometimes the splurge we want is a saturday night with no cooking - we'd rather someone else cook and clean up. so we have a date budget and that way we can have eating out be a budget-friendly splurge.

this is probably our favorite budgetary splurge. we love, love, love these sandwiches. i never liked traditional french dips, but these are fabulous.

french dips
ala my bff maggi

my french dip decided to fall apart for the picture... but man, was it good!!!!!!

1 package onion soup mix
1 package zesty italian dressing mix (or homemade mix here)
a roast

put roast in crock pot. fill with water. pour in mixes. heat on high. it is done when it falls apart. (depends on your crock pot and the size of your roast.)

serve on yummy french rolls (don't go stingey here - get good ones!), broiled in the oven to toast with pepper jack cheese on them (broil with the cheese on them). carmelized onions are also delicious on them. dip in the juice from the crock pot.