Welcome to February! I hope it’s treated you kindly so far. For me, this month is all about doing more with less. Fewer days in the month leave a little less time to do the things I love. Rising grocery (and egg!) prices leave me trying to make my grocery budget stretch further. Maybe you are in the same boat. If you are, I’m sharing money-saving grocery tips that’ll help.

I’ve also been thinking about how to do the most with the least for Valentine’s Day this year. I of course opted for a luxurious-feeling, low-maintenance, inexpensive dinner at home.

I wanted to make braised short ribs with a garlicky mashed potato and beet salad. After seeing pork shoulder was more than $4 less per pound, I decided pork was getting the short rib treatment. Both cuts of meat are fatty and take well to being cooked low and slow. While the taste is a bit different, this pork feels just as luxurious!

I paired it with mashed potatoes and a beet salad for a multiple-course, cozy date night dinner at home. Add your favorite dessert for a low-maintenance Valentine’s Day. You’ll find the recipes for the braised pork shoulder and beet salad below.

3 ways to get more out of your grocery budget

I’ll just state the obvious: grocery prices have risen and continue to climb. I’ve always been good at grocery shopping on a budget, but it has become more difficult lately, so I’ve done my best to double down on grocery money-saving. Maybe you’ve had to as well. If you’re struggling with rising grocery prices, try these tips to get the most out of your grocery budget.

Plan your meals based on what’s on sale

As you think through what you want to eat, browse the sale ads for grocery stores in your area. You can usually find them online or in the grocery store’s app. See what’s on sale and could be useful to you. I often find deals on produce or meat and base my future meals on that.

This is great for saving money, but can also be a way for you to branch out from what you normally eat!

Go to the store with a plan

My biggest grocery impulse purchases happen when I don’t have a plan. (They also happen when I’m hungry, but that’s easy to avoid!) Make a grocery list and stick with it. If you struggle sticking to a list and your grocery store offers it, make your grocery run a pick-up order so you don’t have to go into the store and resist the temptation.

Shop around for the best price

If you have multiple grocery stores where you live, you don’t have to shop at the same store every week. Check out the prices at different stores for the items you buy regularly.

While I enjoy grocery shopping, I don’t enjoy spending my whole day doing it. To be efficient with my time, I rotate between grocery stores. One week, I’ll shop at Lidl because it has most of our staples at the best prices. If I’m mostly getting produce that I know is cheaper at H Mart, I’ll shop there the next week. If I need something I can’t find at either of those stores, I’ll pop into Wegmans.

This will look different for you, but my best advice is to find which store has the cheapest price for what you need and configure your shopping around that.

Red-Wine Braised Pork with Sumo Citrus Gremolata

Serves 4

Pork shoulder gets treated the same way I’d treat short ribs in this mostly hands-off, luxurious tasting meal. Sumo citrus is in season now (but not for long!) and adds a zippy brightness to the pork in gremolata, an Italian garnish. If you can’t find Sumo citrus, just use a normal orange! Pair this with mashed potatoes or polenta for a meal that’ll make you lean back in your chair and let out a sigh of happiness.

Ingredients

For the pork

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 2” chunks

• 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole

• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1.5” chunks

• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into wedges

• 1/2 cup red wine

• 3 cups of vegetable or beef stock

• Salt and pepper

• 2 bay leaves

• 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

For the gremolata

• Zest of 1 Sumo citrus or medium orange

• 2 medium cloves garlic

• 1 bunch parsley

• Pinch of salt

• Pinch of crushed red pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 275. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add one tablespoon of olive oil. Salt the pork evenly — you want an even cover of salt all over. Add the pork to the pot. Sear each side for 1-2 minutes, or until it is browned on all sides and some fat has rendered. Remove the pork from the pot. There will be crispy bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. This is good! Those crispy bits add flavor.

2. Ensure there is enough fat to cover the bottom of the pot. If there isn’t, add another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Add the garlic, carrots, and onion and sauté until everything starts to soften and get a little color, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the crispy bits off the bottom of the pot. Cook for 5 minutes or so, until the liquid in the pot has reduced by about a quarter. Add the pork back to the pot, then pour enough vegetable stock to cover the pork about three quarters of the way. For me, this was 3 cups. The pork should be sticking out of the liquid a little bit! Add the bay leaves and thyme.

3. Bring everything to a boil, then turn off the stove burner, cover the pot with a lid, put it in the oven, and bake for 90 minutes, or until the pork still holds its shape but comes apart easily when pressed with a knife or fork.

4. While the pork is in the oven, make the gremolata. Finely chop the parsley, mince the garlic, and zest the citrus. Add each ingredient to a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine. Add the salt and crushed red pepper and taste to ensure it’s seasoned how you like. It will be punchy and poignant! It will not taste as strong when in the final dish.

5. Once the pork is done and has been removed from the oven, remove it from the pot and set aside. Using an immersion blender, blend the liquid, carrots, onions, and garlic together to make a sauce. Pulse the blender until the sauce is completely smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a regular blender. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes, then transfer everything in the pot to your blender and pulse until completely smooth. Please be careful! If the liquid is too hot when you blend it, it will cause pressure to build up and can cause a hot liquid explosion.

6. Plate the pork with the sauce and garnish with the gremolata. Enjoy!

Notes

1. You can substitute dried thyme for the fresh sprigs of thyme. Just use a pinch of dried thyme! You can also use other fresh herbs if you have them on hand. Rosemary would be great!

2. Store leftovers in the fridge in a single container. They’ll keep for at least 3 days. This pork is great reheated, shredded, and used in sandwiches! I mixed the gremolata into mayonnaise and put it on a sandwich with the pork and melted cheddar and gruyère. It was delicious!

Time-Saving Tips

1. You can make the gremolata up to a few days ahead of time if you’d like. Store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

Citrusy Beet Salad

Serves 4 as a side

Beet salads are my go-to “fancy” salad. The salad itself isn’t fancy, but it just goes so well with hearty meals. The sweet earthiness of beets pairs well with the sharpness of arugula, and the creaminess of the goat cheese rounds everything out. Apples add crunch, and citrus adds a bit of brightness.